Santiago couldn't sleep.
The ouroboros symbol wasn't just a macabre mark. He had seen something similar before… in an old heraldic book he found in the Roman criminal archives. He got up in the middle of the night, opened his laptop, and began searching through the files he had saved.
And then he found it.
Five families.
Five coats of arms.
And at the center of all of them, a nearly invisible detail: a golden snake biting its tail.
"The killer isn't choosing victims at random…" he muttered. "He's erasing a bloodline."
The next morning, Santiago was called urgently to another crime scene. Another mansion. Another murdered family.
But this time, something was different. The symbol wasn't on the body… it was on the wall, written in blood.
And next to it, a message:
"Stop digging, Santiago. Or your bloodline ends next."
A chill ran down his spine. The killer knew his name. Knew who he was.
While Santiago analyzed the scene, he received a call from Amara.
"Israel is gone. We were at the park… I looked away for one second and—she vanished!"
His heart dropped. "I'm coming."
He jumped in the car, called the police, the judge, Bianca—everyone.
Minutes later, a mysterious woman approached Amara at the park holding a child by the hand.
"Is this your daughter?"
Israel was unharmed, but she held something in her tiny hand: a folded piece of paper.
When Amara opened it, the message was chilling:
"One more step… and next time, you won't see her again."
That night, Santiago, Amara, and Israel were placed under full protection. The judge ordered 24/7 security. Even Bianca was shocked.
"You're not just solving a case, Santiago," she said. "You're facing a secret society that has lived in the shadows for centuries."
"And now," Santiago whispered, watching his family sleep, "it's personal."