CHAPTER 1 — The Shadow Over the
Righteous
Dawn arrived with an eerie silence, a heavy silence, as if the world were holding
its breath. Jacob awoke before the sound of his alarm, drenched in sweat,
breathing rapidly, his heart pounding in his chest like a desperate drum. The room
was dark, but he could feel the presence of the dream he had just left, a cold echo
that still stirred within him.
In the vision, a deep voice had spoken from a mountain engulfed in fire:
"The test returns, son of Job."
It wasn't the first time Jacob had dreamed of that voice. But this time it had
beenDifferent. Stronger. More real. Closer. As if the earth itself had spoken
Sarah stirred beside him. Still asleep, she murmured something inaudible. For a
moment, Jacob felt the urge to wake his wife and tell her what he had seen, but
something stopped him. A feeling that if he spoke the words aloud, the prophecy
would hasten to be fulfilled.
The sun was beginning to filter through the edges of the curtain, but the light had a
sickly, reddish hue. Jacob sat up, trying to ignore the unease that was creeping over
him.She dressed in silence and went down to the kitchen. The smell of coffee
always brought her back a sense of normalcy. But today the aroma seemed weak,
almost absent, as if reality itself were losing its substance.
As he poured the cup, a faint whisper drifted through the room, as if the wind
had passed through the walls. Jacob turned immediately, alert, uneasy. NoThere
was no one there. The sound disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
"Not today, Lord," he murmured. "Please, not
today." But the sky did not answer.
Translated from Spanish to English - www.onlinedoctranslator.comDaniel went downstairs first, yawning and dragging his feet. Rebekah followed him
soon after, with her usual energy, although Jacob noticed that her eyes had a strange
gleam, as ifI would have cried during the night.
"Dad, did something happen?" the little girl asked,
frowning. Jacob forced a smile.
—Nothing, little one. Just a bad dream.
Rebeca watched him for a few more seconds, with that intuition that only
children possess, capable of detecting the silences that adults try to hide.
Sara finally descended the stairs, beautiful even in the simplicity of dawn.Their eyes
softened when they saw him sitting at the table.
—Jacob… you look pale. Dreaming again?
He did not respond immediately.
"It was different," he admitted. "More real."
Sara sat down next to him and took his hand.
—God will protect you as always.
Jacob wanted to believe it. He had lived his entire life under the shadow of an
impossible legacy: being a descendant of Job, the man who faced the greatest trial
ever bestowed upon a mortal. His family repeated it generation after generation, as if
it were an honor. ButJacob perceived it as a sword hanging over his head. And
today, that sword seemed to be beginning to descend.
The journey to work was through a thick fog that seemed to rise from thepavement.
People walked briskly, as if they sensed something they couldn't explain. A dog
howled in the distance, a prolonged, desperate sound that made Jacob tremble.
Upon arriving at his office, he noticed something unusual: the lights were
flickering as if they were about to go out, and the air was cold, too cold for a
modern building.
Rick, his best friend, appeared from his cubicle, raising his hand in a distracted
greeting.
—Brother, did you also feel that strange atmosphere? It seems like the world
wantstell us something.Jacob let out a nervous laugh.
—Did you feel it too?
"Me, and everyone here. There's something... heavy going on." Rick lowered his
voice. "And I don't want to worry you."But I've been dreaming things. Shadows. A
face without eyes. And I always hear the same name in my dreams: Robert.
Jacob felt a chill.
"My brother," he whispered.
Rick nodded.
—I know I told you to be careful with him, but now I mean it. There are
Something… dark about him. As if he were being watched, or guided.
Jacob's jaw tightened. His brother had never been a simple man. A millionaire,
arrogant, always thinking himself superior. But dark? Possessed by shadows?
Demonic influences?
It was a ridiculous idea. Or maybe not?
Around mid-morning, the sky suddenly darkened. There were no clouds, but the
sunIt went dark as if something gigantic had passed in front of it. People rushed to
the windows, murmuring with concern.
Jacob was the first to see them.
Crows. Hundreds. Thousands. A black swarm crossing the sky, covering the light
like a veil of death. They flew in circles, as if waiting for something. Something
that hadn't happened yet.
"This isn't normal," Rick murmured. "I haven't even seen anything like this in
horror movies." Before Jacob could reply, his phone rang. It was a message from
Sara:
"Jacob, come home. Something's going on with Rebecca."
His heart froze.
When she arrived, she found her daughter on the floor, trembling, her eyes rolled
back. SaraHe was crying, trying to hold her up.
—Rebecca! My love! Breathe!The girl suddenly stopped convulsing. Her body went still. The silence was
terrible.Jacob almost stopped breathing.
Suddenly, Rebecca slowly opened her eyes… and spoke in a voice that wasn't her own.
—He's coming for you, Jacob…
—The test returns… as it returned for our ancestor…
—And if you fall… the world will fall with your hands…
Sara screamed and backed away. Jacob felt his soul being torn apart. But the voice
didn't stop.
—The Adversary has requested your name before the Throne…
—And it has been granted…
Rebecca closed her eyes and
fainted.Jacob fell to his knees.
The same phrase he heard in his
dream. The test returns.
That night, Jacob sat motionless in the living room, his hands trembling. Outside,
the crows continued circling the city like harbingers of doom. Rick called several
times to check if everything was alright, but Jacob didn't answer. He didn't know
what to say. He didn't know if anyone, except his family, could bear to hear what
had happened.
Sara sat down next to him.
"Do you think... this is the beginning?" she asked in a whisper.
Jacob didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the window, on the shadow that was
slowly...It was forming at the end of the street. A human figure, motionless,
watching them from a distance. It didn't move. It didn't breathe. It was just there.
And Jacob felt, with indescribable terror, that this figure knew
him.That he had come for him.
That the test had begun.