Act One - City of the Damned — Chapter 16

Pep arrives at David Martín’s home with grim news: Manuel Sagnier has died in the Puigcerdà sanatorium and has already been buried at his daughter’s request. David persuades Pep to let him, not Pep, meet Cristina’s returning train, despite Pedro Vidal’s instructions.

During a fierce summer storm, David waits at Estación de Francia and finds Cristina still on the train, withdrawn and grieving. With no taxis and the city dark from a power cut, he brings her to his tower house. He lights candles and offers her a room, soup, and privacy as she gathers herself.

As Cristina settles, she notices the manuscript of Vidal’s novel that she and David secretly crafted. They speak quietly about Manuel, about absence and loneliness, and she shares a family album. Together they revisit memories, including a photo of David learning to drive with Manuel and an enigmatic seaside picture of young Cristina with an unidentified man.

The conversation turns intimate as Cristina admits she always knew David’s feelings but felt constrained by obligations. They surrender to the moment, seeking solace from grief and isolation, and spend the night together in darkness while the storm moves on.

At dawn, David wakes to find Cristina gone. She has left Manuel’s album and taken Vidal’s manuscript. Alone in the quiet, David extinguishes the candles, aware their night was both a farewell and a confirmation of what cannot last.