Black
I brought her back to reality. Her breathing became erratic, her eyes remained fixed on mine, heavy with conflicting emotions.
"I'm sorry I showed you everything without your consent, but otherwise you wouldn't have believed me, even if the truth was right in front of you. We don't want to hurt you, only protect you from your parents' murderer. We must find the right time to get rid of Yahar... only then can you live safely."
"Yahar?"
"Yes. He was your parents' best friend. But ambition and jealousy led him to betray your father to steal power and rule Noctisvael," my brother replied, his voice deep and restrained.
Annia took a deep breath, trying to process everything she had just heard. Her hands were trembling in her lap.
"If everything you've shown me is true... does that mean I'm one of you?"
They both nodded determinedly.
"Is she royalty?" Lucía asked, still trying to grasp the magnitude of what was happening.
They nodded again.
"Wow... How powerful."
Heclares held Annia's gaze. He sidled closer and uncovered her left arm, revealing a diamond-shaped mark.
"All of us Chosen have it. Each side represents an ability, but only two of our kind possess a greater power."
Annia slightly rolled down the neckline of her dress to reveal the mark on her left breast. Lucía leaned toward her and cautiously took her hand.
"If she has abilities... why have you never realized it?"
Heclares took out another packet of chips and sank down onto the sofa, as if this were nothing more than a casual conversation.
"Because they're dormant. Not having grown up in our world, she never received training to develop them." Sometimes abilities can be awakened by a fit of anger or a surge of intense emotions. But apparently, she's never experienced any of them strongly enough.
The girls looked at each other. They were communicating without words.
Annia took a deep breath before speaking.
"I understand..." She paused. "I don't want to seem rude, but there's a lot to process. And I think that's enough information for today."
We looked at each other. Heclares stood up and walked toward the back of the house. I stayed for a minute longer, watching them.
"I'll be close. We don't know when Yahar will move again, and this time it might not be just a warning."
With that, I turned and headed toward the exit.
Annia
Just watching them leave the house made me collapse on the couch. My heart was about to beat out of my chest, as if I'd run a marathon.
Everything I could see through that man left me shaken, with emotions swirling and my body on end.
I was supposed to just have a parade today and return home with Mom, to hole up in my room while watching a movie.
Lucia moved toward her kitchen. I could see her searching through the drawers for one of her teas.
"What will you do with this information? Honestly, I don't think they're lying... after seeing that boy nursing his wound. It's obvious they're different."
"I don't know. It's clear they're not lying. The way he showed me his memories is..."
"Crazy," she replied, pushing a cup of tea toward me. "Drink it. It'll help a little."
I took a sip and my face twisted. It was disgusting.
"So... are you a princess?"
"It seems so."
Lucía stared at a fixed spot in the room, as if she were analyzing something and didn't know how to say it.
"They said someone wants to hurt you," she whispered, her tone barely audible.
"It seems so."
"It seems so? Annia... it's a very delicate matter. They could kill you."
I didn't respond. Because, deep down, I knew it.
Lucía let out a sigh and squeezed my hands in hers.
"Look, I don't know how we're going to deal with this, but there's one thing I can assure you: You're not alone."
I looked up, meeting the firmness in her eyes.
"Lucia..."
"No, seriously. I don't give a damn if those guys are from another world or if your life is written in some prophecy, but I'm not going to let you face it alone."
Her words settled in my chest like an anchor.
Maybe I couldn't trust everything, but I could trust her.
Lucía didn't say anything else. She just wrapped me in a strong, warm hug, one that carried the silent promise that no matter what happened, she would be with me.
I didn't know I needed that gesture until my arms wrapped around hers too. For a moment, everything that had happened seemed less overwhelming.
When we finally broke apart, she looked at me with a mixture of concern and curiosity.
"Are you going to tell your mom about this?"
My throat closed.
The answer seemed obvious, but the reality was more complicated.
The drive back was silent. The city was less active, the lights in the storefronts flickered, and the sounds of a few cars mingled with the scattered laughter of a group of young people. But I... I was just there, trapped in my head, trying to grasp the magnitude of what had happened.
Part of me wanted to believe it was all an absurd fantasy. A bad dream. A joke that had gotten out of control.
But then I remembered the feeling of memories washing over me, the weight of those images etching themselves into my mind with unnerving precision.
When I got home, Mom was in the living room, sitting on her favorite couch with a glass of wine in her hand. Her gaze was lost somewhere in the room, but as soon as I walked through the door, her eyes focused on me.
"Is everything okay, sweetheart?"
My body tensed for a moment. I knew she had a knack for reading me, even when I tried to hide my emotions.
"Yeah, I'm just tired. It's been a long day."
She didn't respond immediately. She took a small sip from her glass before tilting her head, analyzing me with an unreadable expression.
"If anything's bothering you, you know you can talk to me."
I swallowed, feeling the weight of her words.
"I know, Mom."
He didn't insist, but his gaze remained fixed on me for a second longer before he looked away.
"Rest, then. I don't want you to tire yourself out too much."
I smiled slightly, leaning closer to place a kiss on his cheek before going up to my room. I couldn't tell him anything. Not when I didn't even understand what was happening.
Hours later, back in my room, the weight of what I'd experienced still weighed on my chest. I couldn't sleep; my mind whirled in and out of thoughts.
I got up and walked to the window, slowly drawing the curtains. The night outside seemed peaceful, the moon bathing the trees in a faint glow.
And then I saw him.
Amid the darkness of the forest, a firm silhouette.
He was there. Watching me.
My heart skipped a beat. My breathing quickened.
Black.
I couldn't see his face clearly, but his presence was undeniable.
He was keeping his word.
He had said he'd be close.
And he was.
I didn't know how long I stared at him, but when I blinked, his figure was no longer there. The shadow in the woods had vanished.
But I knew he'd come back.
And I... I had no escape.