The summer they were eleven, they killed a man and buried his body in a cave. Since then, every year, one summer night has marked a ritual: a ritual never to forget, and never to betray. Five years have passed. Their sixteenth summer. The body, now a skeleton. Unraveled lies. A faceless blackmailer. The phone rings, and a life is torn apart. The bones, like their crime: never rotting, never fading away. Now, a living hell begins.
The summer they were eleven, they killed a man and buried his body in a cave. Since then, every year, one summer night has marked a ritual: a ritual never to forget, and never to betray. Five years have passed. Their sixteenth summer. The body, now a skeleton. Unraveled lies. A faceless blackmailer. The phone rings, and a life is torn apart. The bones, like their crime: never rotting, never fading away. Now, a living hell begins.
The summer they were eleven, they killed a man and buried his body in a cave. Since then, every year, one summer night has marked a ritual: a ritual never to forget, and never to betray. Five years have passed. Their sixteenth summer. The body, now a skeleton. Unraveled lies. A faceless blackmailer. The phone rings, and a life is torn apart. The bones, like their crime: never rotting, never fading away. Now, a living hell begins.
Five friends killed a man and buried the body. Five years later, the body is stolen. The thief: unknown. His hostage: a corpse. There is nowhere to run, only the mystery blackmailer's cruel, repulsive "instructions." And so occurs a tragedy, under the sun, in the woods. The indelible scent of blood. Friendship and peaceful days, gone. Exposed skin and stolen dignity. What is crime? And what is punishment? Unable to answer, they plunge, head first, through the gates of hell.
They cut up the headless body. If only it were someone else. If only they didn’t know his name. Pushed to their psychological limits, the friends return to the cave where everything began, and peer into each other’s faces. Among them is a liar. A nighttime disappearance. A journey to the sea. A life-risking scheme. Just when they think they can breathe again, their hard-won peace is torn apart.
Betrayed by what they had believed in, they commit one new crime after the other. The shards of the truth that begin to appear cut into their skin, deeper than anything before. …And anyway… when did this case begin?
A crime, and a deepening mystery: the answer becomes apparent as the four friends line up the pieces of the truth. They have lost time, and a lot of it. Beneath the moon’s light, they finally see the crime incarnate—but the road back has been buried beneath a flurry of ever more mistakes. Dark voices begin ringing in the depths of the night. Resentment. Curses. Laments. Together, these voices announce the end. At the end of a long road lined with sacrifices, will they finally encounter the source of it all…?
The dead cannot speak. The blackmailer they chased already dead, freedom at last from the lady of the park provides little solace as the four friends find themselves on thin ice. Sealing up darkness with darkness, painting over lies with lies. Now one overlooked reaches out for their tangled web. They cannot efface the crime, and so they can at least finish this with their own hands… Holding the light of the truth against the dark of the culprit, in place of an apology, I will find you.
The truth comes to light at last. One after another, the lies come undone, laying bare the core of the mystery in their tatters. To kill another is an unbearable sin—and thus this tale of murder draws to a close. Though my sins should never be repaid, though my spirit should groan with every breath I draw, I would bear it all for you. So please, listen to my only plea. Stay with me. Now and forevermore…