Samuel hears footsteps, then someone through the peephole looks at him.
<<Who is it?>>
<<Hi >> greets the boy with a smile <<I’m here for the appointment.>>
<<Appointment?>>
<<Yes. With the doctor.>>
The front door opens slightly and a middle-aged male figure shows up; he is not very tall, he has a skeptical air, and he is well dressed <<And who are you?>>
<<My name is Samuel.>>
<<Samuel? I don’t think to have appointments with anyone with that name.>>
The boy smiles slightly <<Yes, I know. >> puts a hand on the door so as to prevent its closing; he has gloves, so he is not afraid to leave fingerprints <<I just want to talk to you, doctor.>>
The man is confused. In the meantime, Samuel smells his fear, tastes it, sees it in the air … and the silent guest inside him growls.
That’s the “doctor”. And he has a weak aspect. The appearance of an insect eager to be crushed.
<<Do you want … do you want to talk to me? But who are you?>>
Two hundred and thirteen are the ways he could kill him. Almost double the ways he could neutralize him. The doctor has no hope. He cannot escape and he cannot defend himself. Aware of this, Samuel pushes the door forcing it to open and enters the house. The doctor tried to block him, but the boy’s strength is too high and he is forced to let him pass; he looks at him with eyes as incredulous as offended, but Samuel pretends not to notice him and moves forward as if nothing had happened; he finds the house disgustingly familiar.
<<Hey! What are you doing?>>
Samuel turns to the man << Close the door. >> he says with a firm but at the same time nonchalant tone, then moves towards the kitchen.
The man is stunned and afraid. He doesn’t understand what’s going on.
<<Hey! I’m gonna call the police! Understand?>> the doctor closes the door in anger and runs after Samuel, who in the meantime has opened the fridge and pulled out a particular fruit juice. Seeing it, the doctor calms down… and the anger he feels quickly turns to worry.
Samuel takes off his backpack, sits on the table and drinks straight from the bottle. The taste he feels is familiar and almost touching … that was the juice he was rewarded with when he “behaved well”. He could drink half a glass a month if he was a good boy.
Calmly savor both the juice and the memories it evokes, then cast an eloquent glance at the doctor <<Get comfortable.>> he says.
The doctor remains speechless. He has the face of someone who has just seen a ghost.
He obeys though. Keeping his eyes fixed on the boy, who is now towering over his kitchen, he sits as close to the door as possible.
<<So?>> the doctor asks, with a voice much more calm and frightened than before <<Who … who are you?>>
Samuel finishes drinking, closes the bottle and places it on the table.
<<I’ll make it very simple, I’m not good with speeches. You will be arrested today. I’m just here to tell you that you have two choices.>> he looks him straight in the eye <<The first one is to be arrested whole. The second one, is to be arrested in pieces. Tell me how you prefer to end up in handcuffs. In the second case you could even save yourself from prison by ending up directly in a nursing home.>>
It takes a second for the doctor’s brain to understand that he is in trouble, after which all the tension in his body explodes in a panicked shot towards the kitchen exit. But he’s slow. Samuel reaches him when he hasn’t even gotten to the door, and folds him over himself as easily as he would fold clothes.
The doctor would like to scream, argue, fight… but he is literally overwhelmed. The force with which he finds himself crushed by the boy’s body is so devastating and swift that he doesn’t even have time to lose his breath before being gagged.
Every move made by Samuel is pure perfection: it’s precise, powerful, just as violent as it needs to be, merciless and free from indecision, but most importantly… it’s beautiful. It is art. If someone saw him subdue, tie up and gag the doctor, he would be so enraptured by the inhuman fluidity of his actions that he would probably stay there and watch him just to enjoy the show.
Reviewing the scene from the doctor’s point of view, I can say that the attack was experienced as a road accident, or even better as if a robot had attacked him. Samuel has an extremely trained and solid body, six feet tall and ninety lbs. That constitution combined with his martial perfection made him a real war machine.
Returning to the description of the events …
Samuel leaves the doctor in the living room with the same delicacy with which he would leave a sack of potatoes. He rolled him up on itself, tied him up and gagged him; the doctor’s bones are almost all bent and cracked, but they are not broken because he’s still able to breathe, albeit with extreme difficulty.
The boy is quite satisfied with his work, but he is not finished. The doctor looks at him with pleading, aching eyes as he quietly walks out into the garden to reach the cellar. Samuel knows that there is a hidden door under there, and he opens it easily since he has already escaped from that place.
In front of him, beyond the door, everything is black. It’s all dark. And for the first time since he left that hospital he was afraid.
But he is not afraid because he does not know what he will find in the dark, it is the exact opposite: he is afraid because he knows exactly what there is in there.
He covers his face with the balaclava he’s brought with him, enters, and turns on the lights.