I turn around.

The skeleton stands a few steps behind me. But now I see it clearly — not just bones. The violet light isn't radiation. It's an aura. The eye sockets burn with steady light.

He doesn't attack. He just stands there.

"You're not a mutant," I say.

"No," he replies. His voice is dry, like paper. "I'm what's left of someone who searched for the same thing you are."

I don't move.

"What are you looking for?"

"The coin."

He takes a step forward.

"And look what I became."

He laughs. A dry, hollow sound that echoes through the ruins.

"Ha-ha-ha."

I grip the arquebus.

"You think I care about money?" he says, his voice sharp. "I can't leave this place. Not because I want the coin — because of the curse. The coin is the only way out."

He tilts his skull.

"And I've been here for a very long time."

I look at him — at the violet glow, at the hollow eyes, at the bones that move like they're still alive.

"What does the coin do to a person?" I ask.

He doesn't answer right away.

"It doesn't give you anything," he finally says. "It takes. It takes your time. Your life. Your chance to leave. You find it — and you become like me."

He raises his hand. The bones glow brighter.

"That's the warning. You can still turn back."

"I can't turn back," I say.

He laughs again.

"Then you're already lost."

He pauses.

"But I can show you the way. I can't go with you — the curse holds me here. But I can tell you where to look."

"Why would you help me?"

"Because I don't want the coin," he says. "I want it destroyed. If you find it — destroy it. Don't give it to anyone."

Don Juan whispers in my head.

"Don't trust him. Liches lie."

But I don't know if he's lying.

I take a step forward.

"Talk."