Light in the Darkness (English)

Prologue

May 19, 2014.

My life changed completely on my fourteenth birthday.

Which is today.

After school, I started heading home. All the way, I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Everything seemed strange. Everyone at school was gossiping about something, although I had no idea what the topic was. Chris, my only friend, and I always spent our time alone, avoiding other people's conversations.

Honestly, I didn't care much. They didn't talk about it seriously; they were making jokes, so it couldn't be important.

As I walked down the street on my way home, I was surprised to find the usually busy road completely deserted. The sun was shining, and the weather was lovely, but I didn't see any kids playing in the yard as they did every day at this time. Most house windows were covered with curtains, and at one house, I saw people struggling to push a cabinet against the window.

I found this a bit peculiar.

Maybe I should have just asked what they were talking about.

When I reached the end of the street, I turned the corner and finally found myself in front of our house. I was relieved to see that nothing had changed at our house. I didn't see any cabinet in the window.

I went through the gate and walked up to the front door, and as I opened it, a delightful aroma wafted out from the kitchen.

Mom hadn't noticed my arrival. She paced nervously by the table, studying a newspaper. She had her brown hair tied in a bun, as she always did when cooking, working, or reading.

"Hi, Mom! I'm home," I greeted.

My mother looked up from the newspaper, somewhat surprised. She placed the newspaper on the table and hugged me. Meanwhile, I glanced at the newspaper.

"The Darkness Begins! Is this true, or are they just trying to scare us?"

"Hi, Ana! What happened at school today? Is Chris coming later?"

"Yes, Chris will arrive later. At school, they were talking all day about something that wouldn't normally be interesting because it's always like this. But today, non-stop, and I saw some frightened faces too. But I think it's nothing serious, nothing I'd want to know about because many just made jokes about it."

My mother's face darkened.

"What were they talking about?"

"I have no idea. I didn't hear the topic exactly. I caught a few words, though: 'Made up, doesn't exist.' And I heard a name too, maybe 'Dorian.' I glanced at the newspaper again and then turned to my mother. 'Mom, what does it mean, "The Darkness Begins"?' I asked, pointing to the newspaper. But before she could answer, we heard the front door close, and a few moments later, Dad walked into the kitchen. He looked extremely distressed. His face was pale. He cast an anxious glance at Mom and then at me. He wanted to say something, but no words came out.

Finally, he left without a word.

Mom picked up the newspaper and threw it in the trash. She returned to cooking, and in the meantime, I told her what I got from Chris. The topic of Darkness was not brought up again.

Later, our conversation was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

"I'll open it. It's probably Chris who arrived," I quickly got up and ran to the front door. After I opened the door, instead of Chris, there was nothing there. No one stood in front of the door.

I was about to step out to look around when a figure jumped in front of me.

I screamed.

But when I heard the figure start to laugh, I fell silent.