That morning was different. The headache was unbearable. Sleep had left him very exhausted, and the dizziness had come and gone steadily since the early hours of the morning. His mind refused to let go of the memories of Arash and the scream...

«XIIIIIIN!»

But when he wanted to call for help, and from the other end of the phone at the reception desk he was asked to come down with his passport to order a doctor's visit, he noticed something that, whether through innocence or stupidity, he had not yet realised.

"My wallet... where is it?" he wondered.

With difficulty Xin recalled everything he had done the day before, starting from the moment he had left the hotel to explore the city, and calculating and fighting against inaccuracy until he reached the instant of returning, dead tired, from the streets of Tehran.

He had hardly eaten, and the only thing he had bought was the amulet of Sandaramet; which in fact, had been the last time he had used his wallet, as he had walked back to the hotel. After thinking it over without wasting much time, he decided to retrace his steps with the intention of retrieving his money and documents, no matter how much despair would overwhelm him.

To his chagrin, when he stepped out onto the street, the heat and the crowds of people crowding around him did not help his headache. But that didn't matter much to him. Echoing the same strength that, perhaps, Arash had needed to carry his arrow, Xin decided to stay focused and not draw too much attention from passers-by, as he had always hated that very much.

After an hour and a half of walking, he returned to the same place that had so captivated him yesterday: the prevailing bazaar of the 12th district, next to the royal mosque and the ancient palace. Then, amidst another dizziness and another distortion of his vision, a shout, or perhaps it was an echo in his memories, startled him with his name once again, and when Xin turned to get his bearings, he was met with a sudden burst of applause and whistles.

When Xin's eyes found the source of the noise, he noticed that he had finally arrived at his destination, right at the stall of the vendor from whom he had bought the amulet the day before. Relieved and optimistic, he quickly walked over to the crowd that was currently enjoying the vendor's spectacle; the vendor was once again doing his routine of juggling in the air, while a woman, the customer, kept her eye on the object that was going up and down.

Curiously, had it not been for the dizziness and his lack of concentration, Xin would not have discovered how behind the customer, mesmerised by the act of entertainment, a tall man with a slim and swift build was making a very discrete signal to the salesman, who nodded almost imperceptibly. Suddenly, the opportunity to take the wallet out of the poor unwary woman's purse became apparent, as did the joint work to bring the event to fruition.

It was then that Xin understood what had happened to his wallet.

The man quickly began to slip away through the crowd, and without a second thought, Xin made a mad dash to chase him down. Just as he was about to disappear down an alternate alleyway in the bazaar, Xin managed to grab him by the wrist and stop him.

"Give me back my wallet."

"What?"

Xin repeated the same thing, spitting it almost in the man's face as he turned around. The man looked at him in annoyance and said something in Farsi, which Xin couldn't understand as he tried to break free to continue his escape, but Xin held him even tighter.

"I know you have it, and I want it back."

"Pfff, you're confusing me with someone else," the man told him as he managed to wiggle free of Xin's grip. "Now get lost."

The stranger gave him such a shove that Xin felt his hand more like a stone against his chest than a person's hand. Suddenly the man began to walk away, and as he watched the man walk away, he began to call out loudly for the police. People all around began to turn in the direction of the alley. Instantly, the guy turned back with an unfriendly face....

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" he roared in Xin's face as they came face to face again.

"I want my wallet back... POLI..!"

But the man interrupted him by pulling him by the arm and shushing him against the wall. The two stood very close to each other and, for a second, Xin doubted the criminal's ability to scare him, observing in detail the framing of his thick beard, his sun-browned lips, and his brown eyes.

"Are you really willing to make a fuss over a simple wallet?" the guy whispered, bringing his face as close to Xin's as he could.

They were both cramped together.

"What are you, twenty, nineteen? Get out of here before you run into someone really dangerous," the man threatened once more.

Xin held his gaze, and struggled to get away from the oppressive presence of the criminal. The man ignored him and simply began to walk away to get out of the alley, which Xin refused to allow, so he started to follow him. When he saw that they were moving away from the centre of the bazaar, the boy stopped and faced the criminal again. He was shaking from head to toe with fever:

"I just want to get back what you stole from me."

"I didn't steal anything from you, okay? Stop slandering me or you'll get into bigger trouble. Besides, what the hell is wrong with you, look at you... You look sick. Are you okay?"

"I just saw you. You robbed the lady at the stall..."

"That doesn't mean it was me, particularly, who stole your wallet, do you understand? It's demeaning that you're so insistent. Anyway, for a bit of small change, if you really are so interested, and in need apparently, I could take you to the thief... the real one."

Xin hesitated to make a decision, but the dizziness was getting worse and worse, and anyway, even if he was healthy, he couldn't walk around in Tehran without a proper ID.

"I think you'd better accept my help... Xin."

When the thief called his name, the boy was startled. But he didn't have time to react, as the thief had already continued on his way. Driven by the situation, and with no other alternative, Xin followed him.

「 心 」

"Welcome to the cave," said the criminal as he opened the door of a small house away from the bazaar and the commercial district of Tehran.

Inside the place there were little more than a dozen people. All greeted Xin with suspicious glances. The thief in turn was met with looks of fury.

A woman approached quickly; she seemed to be the eldest of the group, and as she caught up with Xin and the thief, she began to say many things in Farsi. The only thing Xin could make out from the conversation was that the woman was very upset and nervous about something.

"Calm down, Ava, can't you see the poor bastard is about to faint? Besides, look at his spoiled baby face. He's harmless."

Xin looked at him reproachfully, but the guy, surprisingly, winked mischievously.

"We're not supposed to bring anyone here, Amir," she protested anyway, switching to English, "Hassan's not going to like it when he finds out."

"Hassan will be taken care of by me, don't worry," Amir soothed her, not giving her worries a second thought. "By the way, this was the boy you robbed yesterday, wasn't it?"

Suddenly she opened her eyes in surprise and terror. She immediately tried to defend herself, but Amir interrupted her.

"You should make him some tea or something, to bring his fever down, he's burning up" he said as he placed a hand suggestively on Xin's forehead and watched him with something the boy couldn't help but qualify as desire. "He's sweating like a pig."

"I'm fine," Xin protested, coming apart from Amir's touch. "I just want my wallet back and I'll leave. I won't say anything to anyone, not the police or anything. I promise you'll never see me again."

"Don't talk rubbish and come and sit down," Amir replied with a wave of his hands.

Seeing that Xin did nothing, in disbelief, he walked over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders to push him onto some cushions in the middle of the dusty room. The children sitting on them fled with laughter and jeers at the sight of him up close.

"He's only Chinese, you little brats, don't be rude!" reprimanded Amir before turning to look Xin in the eye. "Because you are from China, aren't you?"

"How do you know my name?" Xin ignored the question.

Amir just shrugged:

"I read your mind," he said. "Easy enough."

"Don't mock."

"I'm not," Amir insisted.

For an instant Xin didn't know what to think. Amir had heavy shadows under his eyes and his long eyelashes gave him an intriguing, mysterious look, something that went well with his dishevelled hair and week-long beard. He felt unsettled somehow, but he certainly didn't sense danger around him.

"Is this your wallet?" asked Ava, returning to the room and interrupting Xin's thoughts, who lost sight of Amir to pay attention to the woman.

"And the tea I asked for, Ava, where is it?" interjected Amir in confusion and annoyance.

"I... am... not... your.... thing, Amir," she emphasised. "I don't have to listen to you."

"Al-hamdu lillah" he replied wryly. "Thank God..."

"Is this your wallet or not?" insisted Ava with irritation.

With her hands she waved a small purse in front of Xin's eyes.

"Yes, thank you very much," he replied.

She threw the wallet at him with hurry.

"Then you can go now."

Xin, meanwhile, looked through the contents of his wallet, worried. Luckily his passport was there, as were his cards, but all the cash was gone.

"Where is my money?"

"It's gone," Amir said from his cushion on the lounge.

Xin glared at him, but Amir just shrugged as if it was nothing.

"I said I could help you get your wallet back, not your money. If you want your money you'll have to convince me to give it back..."

And as he said that, without any subtlety whatsoever, Amir settled himself on the floor in a rather suggestive pose. Ava rolled her eyes in further annoyance as she noticed it:

"Agh, enough is enough, get out, now..."

"What are you talking about," Xin asked Amir, terrified and confused.

"I know you have a good time in my presence, little one, stop playing hard to get," Amir blurted out shamelessly as his mouth twisted into a rebellious smile. "I know I'm irresistible."

"You're insane, and you're sick," Ava snapped at him with annoyance. "And I've had enough of both of you, so let's go, NOW!" she insisted. "Enough fun for today."

"Ok, ok" Amir stood up laughing as he raised his hands above his head. "I promise to be good, my dear friend."

And after saying that last part, he kissed the woman gently on her cheek. She glared at him and then focused her feline eyes on Xin.

"If you come back to this house I promise I will kill you with my own hands, do you understand, child?"

"Stop calling me a child! I'm twenty years old," Xin claimed. "And I'm not coming back anyway."

His eyes quickly sought Amir's, who immediately blew him an irreverent kiss in response. Xin turned his back on the thief, and Ava opened the door for him, but Xin hadn't even taken a step in the direction of the street when suddenly, Ava slammed the door shut again and pulled Xin inside, terrified.

"What's wrong?" snapped Amir, now with seriousness in his gaze, walking to the entrance.

"Worms" Ava gasped with anger.

"Shit, really?" protested Amir as he peered discreetly through one of the windows covered by old curtains. "Shit, shit, shit! Call the kids! We need to get out of here right now. Gather everyone here in the living room, Ava, quick!"

She ran out into the house and shouted orders in her native language. Xin didn't understand what was happening. While he was oblivious to the terror around him, he was amazed at how Amir, who until recently had been the epitome of carefreeness and easygoing, had in an instant turned into a serious man with a protective and intimidating look.

"What's going on, why is everyone so scared?" he asked as he followed closely behind Amir.

"What do you mean why, didn't you hear what Ava said?! The worms are here, and that just means they're going through house to house to take someone away! Come on, help me move this."

Amir began to push a heavy old wooden boot with great difficulty and Xin didn't hesitate to help him.

"The worms? What do you mean? The police?"

Amir stopped pushing to look Xin in the eyes completely confused.

"You're joking, right?" he asked incredulously.

Seeing Xin shake his head, a shiver ran down his spine.

"You're telling me you're a sorcerer and yet you don't know who the white worms are?"

But if Xin had been confused before, now he felt completely out of place and lost.

"Sorcerer? What are you talking about, I'm not a sorcerer!"

"We're ready now, Amir," Ava interrupted, entering the room surrounded by children and elders.

Amir nodded and stamped his foot on the floor. His eyes glowed silver for a moment, and suddenly, the part of the floor he had tapped opened as if it were a hatch leading into the earth, revealing a long, dark, underground corridor.

Everyone rushed into the hole to run underground like blind moles. The last to jump were Xin and Amir, and once inside the tunnel, the thief's eyes shone again like polished silver, and the earth swallowed them up. Already underground, while the dust still settled in the darkness, Amir spoke again:

"If you are not a sorcerer" a torchfire flooded the tunnel, "then what are you doing helping that millenarian spirit..."

But Xin didn't answer, he didn't know what to say. His mind was blank. The only thing that remained in his head was Amir's intimidating eyes, silver and glowing, like living, gleaming chrome, and that strange realisation that what he had mistaken for a torch before, was actually Amir's hand covered in flames....

"XIN!" echoed in his head from within, with Arash's tone of voice, like a distant call, and Xin felt his body shudder.