THE UNBREAKABLE PIECE (FIRST BOOK OF THE HIDDEN WORLD) English version

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: RUNNING IN CIRCLES

I sighed once more as the hair constantly struck my face. I observed the Eternal Sea from that high point where the waves barely made a sound as they crashed against the rocks. Thin, pink petals bathed my feet, like a pond reflected in the afternoon sun. Eamon had remained silent, and I knew he was making an effort because, since waking up in Alice's house, he was confused by the events that led me to contemplate the sea with the intention of diving headfirst. Ekaitz had found his way home, and although I saw frustration in his eyes at letting me go with Eamon, he had escorted Helena to the Ward residence. There, his father could take action and find out who was behind the deaths of the witches. Although our suspicions about their origin only pointed to one place, I had promised him that I would entrust the information to my father, and he to his. Within me, the fuse of a new premonition began to ignite, setting my mind on fire. It wasn't just the covens in England that were being attacked without reason. It was those all over the world.

I could feel the energy flowing into my legs; all my instincts told me I should run. Run until I reached New York and confirmed my suspicions. Those that Helena had planted in my head, and that I now watered with memories.

His gray eyes, sharp jaw, ashy hair, and his characteristic scar. That same scar I had observed so many times under the dim light of the café or the neon blue of Blue's letters. That scar had given me the first hint of how disordered my world truly was. I was constantly running in circles, and time and time again, I was deceived. I was a participant in a game I didn't know how to play.

"Amy, we should go inside. The cold is making you shiver."

"Just a few more seconds. I want it to sink into my bones. I need to remember that I'm alive and not stuck in this fucking endless nightmare."

I relaxed my shoulders, debating the words that would come out of my mouth when facing my father. My escape to London without his consent probably wouldn't please him, although the past few weeks had accustomed him to my small rebellions. I knew that internally, he accepted that burden due to the guilt he felt for lying to me for years.

However, this time, it was I who had hidden the truth from him, the truth about his son. I could see the sky light up with rays at the same time my mind was pierced by questions. Was Cade, my brother Chris? Or maybe Cade was another of Drahceb's henchmen, imprinted on my life to torture me, to keep me watched, making sure I didn't return to Alba to assume the place that belonged to me. I tried to breathe in the calm that the sea brought, but nothing passed through my lungs. I had carried the weight of lies for a long time—those told to me and those I had told—and now the burden was starting to tighten my chest.

I had kept my episodes in New York to myself; I lied to myself every day, ensuring that those moments where everything became confusing were normal. I kept the secret of my brother's unexpected resurrection because I didn't really know whom to trust. And today, after hearing Helena describe Cade, I realized that maybe Chris wasn't who I idealized in my dreams, and that lie was hitting me in the face again. If only I had told my father about Chris, he would have sent guards to search for him; perhaps they would have found him, and now I wouldn't be staring at the horizon with the question of Cade or Chris.

I wanted to throw up everything that resided in my stomach, everything my body had kept all this time. I knelt on the ground and placed my palms on the earth. Experiencing Madelaine's dreams—another thing I had hidden from my father—had made me more sensitive to my surroundings; the energy of the earth, air, and sea became purer when I was in Alba. My eyes filled with tears, threatening to spill, and I screamed. I screamed inside my head because if I let it burst out of me, I would shake the ancient stones of Albus with my anguish.

"Amy, please, we need to find your father. You must tell him the truth."

"What truth, Eamon? I don't know what the truth is. I'm so confused and tired of all this. I can feel the weight of all the lies on my muscles, calling me to the earth."