When Cesare learned that he had to kill her seven times, he didn't think it would be difficult.
After all, she was only a presence in a dream—a figment of his imagination. Like any fleeting dream, he thought he could end it quickly and return to reality.
The first time he killed Eileen, it didn't bother him. The second and third times weren't much different. But as the repetitions stacked, Cesare began to notice how each instance chipped away at him.
By the seventh and final time, he couldn't go through with it.
Instead, Cesare spent long, quiet days with Eileen in their little brick house, having cast everything else aside. It was a perfect world, just the two of them.
The peaceful days were intoxicatingly sweet. Even though he knew it was all a fabricated illusion, he couldn't bring himself to leave. At times, he even wondered if the outside world was the dream and this place was reality.
