Chapter 6 - The Shadow at the CemeteryThree weeks after the digital explosion destroyed Irene and Leonel’s lives, forcing them to flee Monterrey under police protection, Daniel visited the cemetery.
The morning fog rolled off the Cerro de la Silla, clinging to the marble headstones and the manicured lawns of the municipal park. Camila’s grave was covered in fresh white roses—sent anonymously by strangers from across Mexico who had followed her story online and sent their condolences to her father.
Daniel sat on a folding camp chair beside the plot, holding a steaming cup of black coffee in one hand and Capitán in the other.
—You know, kiddo, the house feels too big without you —he spoke softly, his breath pluming in the cool air—. I tried to fix the kitchen sink yesterday, and I flooded half the floor because I forgot to shut off the main valve. You would’ve laughed at me for an hour.
A sudden gust of wind swept through the cypress trees, rustling the dry leaves and carrying a faint, inexplicable scent of strawberry bubble gum—Camila’s favorite flavor.
Daniel paused. He looked down at the gray rabbit.
He noticed something strange. The stitching on the rabbit’s other ear—the one that had always been normal—looked slightly bulkier than it used to.
Frowning, Daniel set his coffee cup down on the grass. He picked up his pocket knife, carefully snipped the thread on the second ear, and reached inside.
May you like
His fingers brushed against something hard and metallic. It wasn’t a digital watch this time.
It was a small, folded piece of lined notebook paper, covered in Camila’s shaky, childish handwriting.
