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True Silence :
"The silence that precedes the truth… is the most terrifying of all"
In the moment when darkness was about to swallow Luca, the door opened.
Without any prelude, a faint light slipped into the room, and soft shadows shifted with his ragged breaths.
The light was just enough to reveal one thing… the room was no longer as it had been.
There was no basement.
There was no mirror.
Everything was just as it was supposed to be… a clean bed, a half-open window, and a wooden wardrobe casting its reflection on the wall.
But Luca wasn't a fool.
"You were here… I saw you."
His eyes stayed fixed on the spot where that distorted smile had been.
But in that moment… there was only the wall, silent, as if nothing had ever happened.
Then, he heard it.
Soft footsteps.
And then she entered…
A small girl.
Her black hair swayed with her steps, and her large eyes gleamed in the dark. She was holding something in her hand — an old doll that looked as if it had been through a lot.
She stood in the doorway, watching him without speaking.
"Iris…"
Her name was a whisper, as if it didn't belong to this world.
Iris, his younger sister… the only child who never treated him like a mistake, who didn't believe what they said about him, who didn't avoid looking into his eyes like the others did.
But Luca never felt she was normal. She didn't make him feel at ease.
To the family, she was the pure angel, the beloved daughter, the spoiled little girl who had everything.
But… she never smiled at them the way she smiled at him.
In her simple way, she saw him as something unbreakable, even when they tried to convince her otherwise.
"Were you talking to yourself again?"
She tilted her head. Her eyes… they weren't human eyes — they were pale, white, terrifying.
Her voice was soft, in contrast to her features, yet it carried something else… sadness.
He didn't answer.
She took another step inside, stopping at the exact spot where that shadow had stood.
She looked back at him.
"It was here, wasn't it?"
Luca didn't move.
"How do you know?"
"I've seen it before"
Something cold poured over him, like freezing water.
"What did you say?"
"Luca…"
She whispered.
"It's not just in the mirror."
"It's always been here, hasn't it? Even before you saw it."
Everything began to twist around him, the walls melting into one another. The only thing he could see were her deadly eyes, a faint light flickering chaotically as if traveling through time. His breathing grew heavier, then…
He fell.
As if the ground had swallowed him for a moment.
He opened his eyes again.
Everything seemed familiar… he was in the stable, as if someone had reshaped it.
He stood slowly, a heavy sensation pressing on his chest, as though the air here was denser, as if the walls were closer than they should be. His eyes moved immediately to where Iris had been moments ago…
But the doll?
It was there.
Lying on the ground, with the same distorted smile he had seen before.
His fingers tightened.
Then… as if the place itself was holding something… someone…
Something moved.
Not in the corner.
Not behind him.
But inside him.
As if something was rising with him, stretching within his body…
And suddenly… the voice returned.
"You've started to see now, haven't you?"
It wasn't audible — he felt it. A voice that didn't come from a human mouth.
He tried to move, but… that heaviness began to drag him down again, as if the darkness had decided it wouldn't let him go this time.
But before it swallowed him completely, he heard it…
A whisper…
"Don't be afraid…"
Then, the light shattered.
And he saw everything.
He tried to look, but the darkness was absolute — no features, no directions, just a void stretching into infinity.
Yet still…
The one thing that was visible — that shadow — was there, watching him, surrounding him, seeping into his breath.
"Who are you?"
Luca spoke… his voice was low.
Its faint laughter echoed in the darkness — not human, not natural. Not deep, not close — blended in a way Luca couldn't define. But the shadow spoke again…
"You already know me, Luca"
His breath quickened, but he steadied himself.
"I don't know you."
"Oh… I am the rage that consumed you when you were a child"
The void around him began to shift… as if it was pulsing.
"I am part of you, Luca. I was born with you. I am the reason you were born."
The vision began to clear… No, it wasn't light returning — the darkness itself was taking shape before him.
And then… he saw it.
It wasn't a person, nor a shadow.
It was a reflection… distorted.
The same features, the same eyes — but not him.
Something else. Something wearing his face, but not him.
"What… are you?"
The reflection smiled — the same sinister smile he had seen in the mirror.
"I am the truth you could never see"
In that moment, Luca felt something crack inside him.
"I am the one who spoke in your moments of helplessness...."
"No… in your moments of silent rage."
Everything seemed to collapse from within, tearing at something he hadn't known existed.
The truth?
What truth?
But he didn't ask.
The darkness moved around him — it wasn't just a void, it was something alive, something waiting for the right moment to devour its prey entirely.
"You've always been here…"
His voice was weak, uncertain if he was speaking to himself or to the thing in front of him.
"Of course"
"I've always been here, waiting for you to say it"
Then, it began to approach.
Luca didn't move.
But he felt the weight in his chest, the dizziness, as if the ground beneath him was no longer real, as if his very existence had become uncertain.
"What do you want from me?"
The reflection stopped — Luca's reflection, identical except for the eyes… they were pure darkness. The same glossy black hair, the same blue eyes.
It looked at him for a moment, then smiled.
"I want you to remember"
Before Luca could respond, the world around him collapsed.
And he fell again.
He woke up…
But the world was not as he'd left it.
Everything was in its place, exactly as it should be — the walls solid, the floor cold, the air carrying the same old scent. Everything was normal… to a terrifying degree.
He rose slowly, his fingers brushing the floor's edge, but he felt nothing — as if it wasn't there.
He took a step forward — the ground made no sound beneath his feet.
He walked further until he stood before the hanging mirror. It reflected the room behind him perfectly… but it didn't reflect him.
"What is this?"
He whispered, but no sound came out.
Something heavy clung to his chest — not fear, but something deeper… something like helplessness.
He ran out of the room, his footsteps silent, as if nothing was moving between the walls. He called Iris's name — but his voice didn't touch the air.
Then he saw her.
She was standing in the main dining room, setting the dishes, holding a glass cup, speaking in a quiet tone.
"Iris!"
He ran towards her.
He reached out to pull her towards him — but his hand passed right through her. As if he were a ghost… No — as if he were nothing at all, while Luca was the real one and the people were the ghosts passing through him.
He stared at his hand, then at her.
But she didn't see him.
She didn't feel him there.
As if… he no longer existed.
As if he had never existed at all.
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