Day 1

Luca arrives in London buoyed by the promise of a new life and a job in a bookshop. In his shabby hostel room, he finds a red envelope. The letter’s author knows intimate details of Luca’s past and accuses him of abandoning his missing sister Telma, declaring he has 21 days to save her before she dies.

Shocked and panicked, Luca crumples the letter, pockets it, and exchanges tense messages and a call with his best friend Joe, briefly suspecting a prank. Overwhelmed, he flushes the letter in the hostel bathroom. He confronts the receptionist, Javier, demanding to know who entered his room; the argument escalates until Luca pays to change rooms.

Memories and guilt flood back: the siblings’ hide-and-seek games and Telma’s last challenge to “save” her, his mother’s grief, and a past false sighting on the street. Luca recalls the ferry crossing with Joe, their parting, and his awe at England and London as he made his way to Camden and checked into the hostel earlier that day.

Back in the new room, Luca tries to calm down, secures the window and curtains, and attempts sleep while the letter’s ultimatum echoes in his mind. Nightmares return: Telma receding behind a car window, smothered cries, and the chorus of his parents’ anguish. He is jolted from this restless half-sleep by a real scream just outside his door.