It had been a few days since the incident at school.
Since Matteo stabbed another child.
Since they sat him down in the living room, voices gentle but firm, explaining why hurting people wasn’t okay.
Matteo had listened, his small hands in his lap, his eyes wide and serious.
“I understand, Mama,” he had said softly. “I won’t do it again.”
He had even apologized to the boy he had hurt. The boy had apologized back, saying he shouldn’t have bullied Matteo.
For a moment—
It felt like things were getting better. But Carmen couldn’t shake the feeling in her chest. That feeling that something was off.
And soon enough—
She found out why.
Carmen was tidying up Matteo’s playroom, humming softly to herself.
The small space was filled with his favorite things—
His stuffed animals neatly placed on the shelves, toy cars lined up in a perfect row, and an easel with bright-colored finger paints.
It looked normal.
It felt normal.
But then—
Something caught her eye.
A stack of drawings on the small table.
Carmen paused, wiping her hands on her jeans before walking over.
She picked up the papers, flipping through them absentmindedly.
The first few were innocent enough—
A house. A dog. Him and his parents, holding hands. But then—
Her breath hitched. One of the drawings… was different.
It showed their family again—her, Marco, and Matteo standing together.
But in the background, just beyond them—
A dark figure lurked. A shadowy shape. Faceless. Carmen’s chest tightened. She flipped to the next page. Another drawing.
Another figure in the background. Watching. Lurking. Carmen’s heartbeat quickened.
The next one was worse. This time, the dark figure was closer. Almost like it was moving toward them. Carmen swallowed hard.
A cold shiver ran down her spine.
She grabbed the whole stack of drawings and marched straight to Marco’s office.
Marco was sitting at his desk, brows furrowed, flipping through documents when Carmen stormed in.
He looked up, startled.
“What—”
She slammed the drawings onto his desk.
“Look at these.”
Marco frowned, picking up the stack.
Carmen crossed her arms, watching as his expression shifted. Confusion. Then realization. Then… something darker.
Marco slowly put the drawings down.
“Carmen—”
“What the hell is this?” she demanded.
Marco exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
“It’s just a kid drawing, Carmen. You’re overthinking—”
“Overthinking?” she snapped. “Look at them, Marco! He keeps drawing the same thing! That shadow—” She pointed at the picture. “That thing is always there.”
Marco stared at the image for a long moment.
His jaw clenched.
“He’s still not okay, is he?” Carmen whispered.
Marco finally looked at her. His expression was serious.
“We need to send him back to therapy.”
Carmen let out a shaky breath, nodding.
“Yeah. We do.”
But deep down—
She wondered if it would be enough. Because Matteo wasn’t just acting strange. Something was still haunting him.
And she was terrified to find out what.