Rome was alive that night. Ancient streets, the murmur of tourists, warm lights… but for Aaliyah, everything felt gray. Italy was supposed to be a breath of fresh air, a new beginning after the chaos, but Dove's disappearance turned every corner into a threat.
Damiano, Aaliyah, Estrella, and Thomas were walking together toward the Colosseum, trying to distract themselves after rehearsal. The air was cool, the ground still damp from the rain.
And then… they saw it.
A bag.
Not just any bag.
Dove's bag.
Aaliyah froze. Her heart stopped for a second.
"No… it can't be…" she whispered, stepping closer slowly, as if the bag might disappear if she moved too fast.
It was lying against an old stone wall, as if someone had dropped it while running.
Estrella crouched down first, her hands trembling.
"It's hers. No doubt."
Damiano swallowed hard.
Thomas looked around anxiously, as if expecting a shadow to move.
Aaliyah opened the bag carefully, almost fearfully. Inside were three things… and all three felt like silent warnings.
1. Dove's phone, completely shattered.
The screen broken into a hundred pieces, like it had been thrown or stepped on.
2. A crumpled photo of Aaliyah and Dove as little girls.
The same photo Dove kept in her wallet since they were twelve. The one she called "her treasure."
Now wrinkled… and torn at the corner.
Aaliyah felt a burning knot rise in her throat.
"Why would she leave this…?" she whispered.
3. A piece of paper.
Folded many times, with a single name written on it… and crossed out over and over again, so aggressively it looked almost carved into the page.
The name was Italian.
Damiano read it aloud, a chill running down his spine:
"Leonardo Vescovi."
Aaliyah snapped her head up.
"Who is that?"
Damiano shook his head.
"I don't know. It's not anyone I recognize."
Thomas frowned.
"But whoever wrote this crossed out the name so many times. That's… not normal."
Estrella looked at Aaliyah, worried.
"Do you think Dove was following this person? Or… that this person was following her?"
Aaliyah held the paper between her fingers, gripping it tight.
"I don't know… but Dove would never leave her bag. Or this picture. Or her phone.
This isn't an accident. This is a message."
Damiano stepped closer, his face serious.
"Then we need to find out what it means. Fast."
Aaliyah closed her eyes for a moment.
She took a deep breath.
Her voice came out low, firm, cracked… but determined:
"Dove is somewhere. And I'm not letting her disappear again."
If there had been a camera, it would have pulled back slowly, leaving the four of them standing under the warm glow of an old streetlamp, holding an abandoned bag in a city full of secrets.
And on the wall, right behind them, a small mark.
An initial carved into the stone.
An 'L'.
None of them saw it.
Not yet.