After an hour up the slope, we reached the top. It was a relief, all but Erica were tired. Several girls sat on the stone edges of the path. I looked around: we were at a break, the end of the uphill path. From there, there was a large park with people resting and children playing. There was also the beginning of another path, a stone stair that circled the top of the hill. In the distance I could see the top of the fort, a sturdy tower, the highest place on the hill.

It was a nice place. Of course, I had been there before with my parents and other relatives, but every time it was nice, well maintained.

The teacher gave us ten minutes of recess, but asked us not to go too far, because afterwards we were going to continue with a tour of the top of the hill.

-Hey, Ocko, come with us!- Pekos invited me.

I looked at him, my friends were together and ready to have a good time relaxing. Then I noticed Erica, she didn't say anything, she just looked at me a couple of times, resigned.

-You go ahead, I'll stay with Erica- I said.

Pekos opened his arms as if to say "Really?", but Galica dragged him along with the others, and they walked off towards the park. I turned to Erica, who was smiling guiltily at me.

-You don't need to do this- she said.

I had forgotten how tender she could be.

-Nah, I like it better this way.

We went to sit on an unoccupied bench, away from the rest, because the nearest ones were already taken. Behind us there were several bare trees, the pavement was wide and we didn't need to shrug our legs for people to pass. It was a nice spot, just distant from everything. We left our backpacks in a corner and sat down to rest.

We continue to talk whatever we felt like.

-This year, yes, I will finish the school year- she said, after a pause.

-What are you talking about?- I asked, but immediately remembered that we had already talked about it- oh, right. You never manage to do it because of your... accidents.

-Yes, it's horrible. But this time it's going to be different!- she exclaimed- This year I'll make it to graduation...

I sighed.

-As long as you don't kill anyone else, I'm sure you'll make it.

She gave me a scathing look.

-Hey!- she pleaded.

-What? It's your decision!- I argued- Look, the next time you're faced with a life or death situation, think that you can also try to run away.

-Run away?

-Yeah, so you don't have to kill anyone. I'm not telling you to do it all the time, but it might help. Haven't you thought about running away and asking the teachers for help or something? That's what normal people do.

She ducked her head, unconvinced.

-I don't get on very well with authority.

-As you wish, just think about it.

She sighed with a grunt. Then she stretched and jumped to her feet.

-I feel like having an ice cream. You want anything?

I looked at where the teacher was. Nearby there was a kiosk with lots of sweets and bottles of water. The day was cool and not for ice cream, but after a climb like the one we had just had, it didn't sound bad.

I looked at her as she walked away and towards the salesman. I noticed there was no one around, so I plugged in my headphones and started listening to music. The sky was grey, our classmates were hanging out, the teacher was talking to the guide on the hill. Everything was going well. Despite what had happened that year, everything was fine.

I closed my eyes for a moment, concentrating on the song.

After a few seconds, I looked at Erica. She was still talking to the guy at the kiosk. Then I looked at our backpacks, off to the side. They were fine, but as I looked at them I noticed something strange: a girl's ponytail. I leaned over, the girl was climbing the railing into the trees. I stood up and approached her as she slipped away. Then she looked at me, surprised, and hurried away. It was Krois.

-Hey, what are you doing?- I shouted.

But she was already gone.

I turned to our backpacks. For a second I thought she had wanted to steal them, but they were still there. That relieved me.

Soon Erica returned with the ice cream. She was halfway there, when the teacher blew a whistle.

-Tour time, children!- she announced loudly.

Erica came back with me, gave me my ice cream and I passed her her backpack.

-Hey, you won't believe what happened, I saw...- I was about to tell her, but the teacher interrupted me.

-Erica, Ocko, come over here!- he said over the distance.

Erica turned and walked towards him. Then she nodded for me to follow her. I figured that Krois could wait a bit. After all, she hadn't managed to steal anything from us.

The tour was about the history of the place, as if there could be any other subject on top of a half-millennium old fort. The guide led us along the walk on the top of the hill, around the perimeter of the park. He told us about the settlers, the natives, the battles that had been fought and a few fun facts to make us laugh. I'm not much of a history buff, but I found what he said quite interesting.

We walked past the tower. A colleague asked if we could go up, but the guide said we could do it later, as it was not part of the tour. However, I wasn't going to let a silly tour leave me without seeing it.

I quickly grabbed Erica by the wrist, and with a nod of my head.

-You want go to the tower?- I asked.

-But we are going to separate from the group- she argued.

I played it down with a shrug of my shoulders.

-We'll find them later. Let's go!

She turned red and was silent for a moment.

-Well, if you want to.

We went into the tower. There weren't many people inside, there weren't many people in general inside the hill, because it was a weekday. I thought it would be a good opportunity to finally make out with her. It was a romantic place, relatively hidden and right after breaking the rules. Yes, it was a good idea.

We hurried up the tower. It was only about three stories high. The walls were sturdy, built to resist attacks and full of canyons pointing out. The steps were small, awkward and uneven, the windows compact, there were no bathrooms, not even rooms, the two inner floors consisted of empty circles. That's why we went quickly to the roof.

The sky seemed clearer, even though we were only about three floors higher than before. But the most impressive thing was that from there we could see the rest of the city. The buildings, the streets, the squares, the cars like ants. It was worth walking up there.

The tower was a sturdy and wide construction, the whole class would have fit easily on the roof, but we had it all to ourselves. I noticed that the railings around us were not very high, barely reaching our hips. I tried to imagine how many moustached conquerors would have fallen down there 500 years ago. Even their helmets couldn't have protected them from breaking their necks.

I also noticed a rubbish bin overflowing with plastic and wrappers from the sweets sold in the kiosk. There were even some glass bottles put to one side, because they didn't fit inside. It was the only unpleasant thing about the place.

-What a nice view!- commented Erica- I didn't know Katra had anything like this.

I turned to her with a smile. She had made just the right comment for a heart killing response. I could almost taste her lips.

-Not as pretty as y...

-What are you doing?- pleaded a familiar voice.

I turned, rather irritated, towards the stairs. Raquel emerged from them.

-We've been discovered!

-What's wrong?- I asked.

-The teacher sent me to look for you two because you were lost. What are you thinking, Ocko? You're going to get in trouble!

Her tone implied that these problems were not with the teacher, but with Erica. I decided to ignore the latter.

-Raquel, come on, we just wanted to spend a little time here- I pleaded- Why don't you go ahead and tell the teacher we're coming?

-No, no, no way!- she grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the stairs- you too, Erica.

I was about to plead, but then I noticed something underneath, someone watching us carefully. I looked up and noticed Krois. She was surprised to see me, but it was too late to try to hide.

-Hey, that's Krois!- I pointed.

Raquel let go of me, we both watched her as she made a poor attempt to hide. That reminded me of when I saw her before.

-What is she trying to do?- Raquel asked.

-I think she wants to steal Erica's backpack- I said.

They both looked at me, puzzled.

-What? Why would she want that?- Raquel pleaded- It sounds like a very... childish revenge.

I shrugged my shoulders.

-What do I know? I recently saw her trying to steal our backpacks.

-When was it?- asked Erica.

-When you went to buy ice cream... oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you.

We all looked at Krois. She poked her head out of a bush every now and then, focused on her own backpack.

-What is she doing?- I asked.

Raquel turned quickly to Erica.

-Your backpack! What's in it?!

I looked at Raquel, puzzled. She looked pale. Then I looked at Erica. She quickly opened her backpack and pulled out a square, whitish package, from which some wires came out and connected to the other side of the same package. Erica turned pale, too, and dropped it like a spider. The package flew a couple of meters and landed next to the dumpster, crashing into the beer bottles.

Then it dawned on me.

-It's a bom...!- shouted Raquel, but she didn't finish.

The bomb exploded. The impact hit me like a giant punch; I felt it all over my body. The force knocked me to the ground, I crashed into the railing on my back and fell to the ground, sore.

Two, three seconds passed. I could still feel my body. I ached all over, but I was whole. My ears were ringing louder than they ever would have in my life. Still, I could hear a voice screaming.

I was conscious, but I couldn't think. I could only feel. It took a few more seconds for things around me to start to make sense. First I confirmed that I was still alive, that I was still in one piece and that I had no major injuries, at least not that I felt at the time.

Then I realized that the person shouting was next to me. It was Raquel. I looked at her. She was bleeding. She was holding her face. She was screaming.

-No, Raquel!- I thought.

I tried to approach her, but my body did not respond immediately. I fell face first to the ground, but picked myself up with my hands, then stood up, still unable to sit up at all. I approached her, supporting myself with my hands, but as I did so I saw her: Raquel was bleeding profusely, her blood running as fast as water from a faucet. I tried to hold her head, but I didn't know what had happened to her. I leaned over, noticing a piece of glass the size of my hand, covered in blood and stuck on her left eye. Raquel held her hands close, protecting the wound.

-No! No! Don't die, Raka!- I shouted.

I turned to the railing, I started shouting. I called for help, people paid attention to me and many grabbed their mobile phones to make calls. I kept screaming just in case, I didn't know what else to do, I didn't want to take the piece of glass out of Raquel and unintentionally take a piece of her brain. I couldn't live with the guilt.

When my mouth dried up and I couldn't scream any more, I turned to Raquel. Erica had gone over to attend to her. Raka's screams had diminished to sobs. At that moment someone also appeared from the stairs, the last person I would have expected to see: Krois.

-I'm sorry!- she said.

She looked distressed. For a moment I wanted to kill her for what she had done, but that didn't matter now. Raquel had to be saved, nothing else.

Nevertheless, Erica stood up and strode towards Krois.

-No, Erica!- I shouted.

I tried to stand between them. It was no time to fight, not this close to Raquel. Erica directed her hand to Krois' neck, she backed away, frightened. I managed to get between the two of them. I held Erica by the arms, waiting for her to react.

-Erica, you have to restrain yourself!

-Move!- she yelled.

In anger, Erica threw me aside as if I were a handkerchief, to continue towards Krois.

My body traveled through the air, close to the ground. My legs hit the railing, which spun my body and sent me upside down over the edge of the tower. I tried to reach the railing with my hands, but I didn't react in time. I noticed that Erica was holding Krois by the neck. Then I saw the sky and went head first down.

The last thing I saw was the city, my beloved city of Katra, where I had been born and raised.

Then I felt a pain in my neck. Finally, nothing.

---------------------------------------------------------

The bomb exploded. I saw a long, thin shadow for an instant, then intense pain, and suddenly I could no longer see.

I screamed in agony. I felt the hot blood rushing out of my head. I became desperate. I heard Ocko and Erica talking to me. I thought I was going to die.

I didn't know what to do. I was holding the piece of glass embedded in my eye so that it wouldn't come out and make things worse, but at the same time moving it as little as possible so that it wouldn't go in any further.

Erica stayed with me while Ocko started shouting at people.

-Yes, call, everyone call them- I pleaded in my mind. Anything to end the horrible pain and the fear of dying.

Then I think someone else arrived. Erica stood up, the three of them argued.

-Move!- Erica yelled.

I felt a thump. I looked up with my remaining eye, just to see Ocko fall over the edge.

I couldn't say anything. I stayed shocked for a moment, then I reacted.

Despite the pain, my injury took a back seat. I held my breath for a second. I tried to stand up, but before I could, I heard the thump below.

-No...- I growled.

I approached the edge while the two girls were arguing. I peered over. Below was the body of a boy, Ocko's body. He wasn't moving. His neck was twisted in a strange position.

-No! - I exclaimed - No! No! OCKO, NO, PLEASE! NO!

I headed for the stairs. The glass was shaking inside me with every step, it hurt horribly, the blood was dripping out of me, but I couldn't stop. I ran down from the third floor to the base, went outside, rounded the fort and found Erica holding Ocko. She held him in her arms, but Ocko was not responding.

I ran towards them, pushed her away and took him in my arms. I could barely see with my good eye, everything was covered in blood, but his silhouette alone was enough for me to know that it was already too late. Still I checked his pulse. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, it was difficult. I dug my fingers into his wrist, then into his neck. Nothing. There was no pulse. How could there be a pulse? His neck was broken, blood was gushing from a wound in the back. It was horrible. Ocko was dead.

My Ocko was dead.