My grip around her throat tightened like a vice and I snarled at her face, “Chi sei davvero?” (Who are you really?) Her reply came in a delayed whimper, a muffled whisper, “Maya.” A dangerous smirk graced my lips as I muttered, “Illusione…” That’s what her name means. Illusion. A trick. A lie. That looks innocent but is innately dark. “Illusione Nera…” A dark illusion. _________________________________ Illusion. A false perception that seems to be true but isn't. Like a mirage in the empty desert. Like a trick of the magician. Like the belief that a young girl had in the carefully built world in a deserted part of the island of Sicily. A belief that was nothing but the deception of her senses that she thought she could escape. But escape... it was not the prize you would receive by following the rules of that world. It was the mistaken belief of the innocent minds who were made known that the rules of that world were the only laws of the land. She thought she could escape the darkness. What she didn't know was that what awaited her was darker, crueler and a maze of illusions. A world far worse than the one which she escaped. And she knew it when she met the guardian of what she perceived as a mirage. He was the personified version of hell. Illusionary for those who don't believe in it, but the reality of those who have seen it, suffered it and failed to survive it. But was he really the mirage in the ocean of sand or the lukewarm water that would soothe your sore soul? They called her ‘Veleno’, like the poison. She called her ‘Maya’, like some pleasant magic. And he called her ‘Illusione’, an illusion– innocent but dark. Benvenuti nel mondo delle illusioni oscure, dove l’inganno prevale e l’innocenza perde, finché non impara a essere la vincitrice. (Welcome to the world of dark illusions, where deception prevails and innocence loses, until it learns to be the winner.)