Suspect...

I looked at Riff seriously, anxiously waiting for an answer. He, in turn, seemed unconcerned, smiling and looking around. This confused and frightened me. Was he following me? What did this mean? How did he manage to get into the cave, when even I had trouble figuring out how to get in? My thoughts were in turmoil. Finally, I managed to calm down a little and noticed that he was looking at me with a wry smile on his lips.

"How did you find this place?" - he asked, as he sat down on the old bed there.

I began to break into a cold sweat, feeling that there was no way out for me. All I could do was answer and hope he wouldn't hurt me.

"What? Ah... you want to know how I knew you were here in the cave? I was following you"- Riff replied, standing up as if he was going towards me, but stopping suddenly and staring at me seriously.

"Why?", I asked still confused.

"Why do you ask?" - he tilted his neck, looking up at the table where I accidentally left the journal.

I instinctively put my hand over the journal, almost as if I was trying to protect it. Riff began to laugh, further adding to my confusion.

"I can feel the magic emanating from this journal. Besides, I have been searching for it for a long time, but could never find it. It was a surprise for me to discover that it was with you all the time. Only with the help of this diary can I finally break this barrier," Riff explained, as he sat down on the bed again.

I had the feeling that he was more nervous than usual.

"How do you know about the diary?" - I asked, unable to contain my doubts any longer.

I looked at the diary in my hands, perplexed. I never imagined that a simple notebook could be the reason he was stalking me. In fact, I didn't even know I was being stalked until then. I suspected, of course, because I felt someone watching me, but it seemed like the delusions of someone who was so tired that he was beginning to lose track of what was real and what was not.

"I, like you, am a magic user. However, as someone who was already born with magic, it is natural for me to be able to see it. " - Riff made a small purple flame appear on his finger and disappear soon after.

"A wizard... I see. But that doesn't explain... Why do you want to break this barrier?" - I asked, finally plucking up the courage to question Riff's intentions.

"Because this barrier is the cause of all the problems in this city. People are stuck in an eternal loop, repeating the same day indefinitely. I want to break this curse and set them free," Riff answered with conviction.

"Set them free?" - I tried to put the words together in my mind.

Riff answered promptly:

"Sure. I have been trying for a long time to break this damned barrier and I can't. I watch these poor souls repeat the same day over and over again, and I have never found a solution. But you, Louie, can help me. It was you who found this cave that I have been searching for. I didn't imagine that the diary was with you..." He clasped his hands nervously, waiting for some answer.

My vision was a little blurred. Maybe I had used more magic than I should have, or I was more hungry than I thought. I tried to look around, trying to breathe deeply, but the air in the cave was damp and heavy, smelling of a mixture of earth and mold. The floor was uneven and slippery, with small pools of water formed by the stalactites that dripped incessantly. The walls were covered with moss and lichen, and in some spots, there were small streams of water running down. The small room I was in was almost claustrophobic, with a low ceiling and walls that seemed to close in on me. The smell was unbearable, a mixture of mold, wet earth and something worse, something I could not identify. With each breath, I felt weaker, as if the air was sucking the vitality out of me. It was hard not to feel overwhelmed by the feeling of oppression that hung in the air, but I knew I couldn't give up now.

Riff looked at me with pity from top to bottom.

"You're getting weaker every day, aren't you? I can see that just by looking at you. The curse of the city is consuming you. If you don't help me break the barrier, you will never be healed and will be stuck here forever."

Still hesitant to believe him, I asked:

"But that still doesn't explain why you were following me.... You could have told me everything from the beginning."

"Because I still wasn't sure if you would be useful," Riff replied, looking around and swinging his right leg, looking anxious.

"Useful?"

"Useful for helping me break the barrier. What else would it be useful for?"

He raised his voice, showing nervousness, but soon pulled himself together and tried to smile forcefully as he walked toward me, looking menacing.

"You are not the first to show up here. Many have come before you, and, well... you can find them around town, repeating the cycle along with the other people."

I remained silent, processing all the information. A curse? It was possible, since I had been feeling strange since I arrived in town. I still didn't know if I could trust Riff, but I needed his help to escape the city and find a cure for the curse that was weakening me every day.

I tried to get up, moving toward the exit of the small room to breathe better and to have an escape route in case Riff proved dangerous. But the dizziness intensified and my body softened. I sought support on the damp wall, but my legs failed me and I ended up on my knees on the muddy floor.

Riff's voice seemed more and more distant, while darkness invaded my vision. I knew I was fainting, but the thought of falling unconscious in front of a possible enemy terrified me. I fought to keep my eyes open, to resist, but a strong pain in my head overwhelmed me and everything went black...