The Candle And The Boy

The Whirlwind of Truth

The images began to fade before Ren as he struggled to comprehend what he had just seen. The truths he had uncovered were harsher than anything he could have imagined. Everything was strangely tied to his past-his family, the man with the red face, and the abandoned cabin... all woven together in a tapestry of buried secrets.

But one thing was now clear: his parents were not who he had believed them to be all his life. They were hiding something dangerous from him, something that explained their disappearance and the reason for his return to this cabin after years away.

"You need to know that I am a part of you, Ren. No matter how hard you try to escape, the truth will always chase you." The words spoken by the man with the red face the last time Ren saw him still echoed in his mind.

"What do you mean? How can you be a part of me?"

But the answer did not come. Ren was alone again, trapped in the dark room that felt like an extension of himself, a mirror reflecting his tormented soul.

He began to wander through the dark room, which seemed to expand with each step he took. The floor beneath him started to change, transforming into solid wooden planks, and walls emerged around him-those old walls of the cabin. But now, something was different. New images adorned the walls... images of people he did not know, or at least could not remember.

"Who are these people? Why do their faces seem familiar?"

He approached one of the images, trying to distinguish the faces. There was a middle-aged woman looking at the camera with empty eyes, holding a small child in her lap.

"Mom...?"

The picture was very old, but Ren had no doubt. That was his mother, but she looked different. There was something dark in her features, as if she were hiding a heavy secret. The small child sitting in her lap was him.

"How... how can this picture be here?"

The cabin he stood in had been closed off for years, away from any civilization. How did this picture get here? And who placed it?

As he tried to understand what was happening, he began to hear faint voices coming from behind him. He turned slowly, his eyes widening in terror. From the shadows filling the room, faces began to emerge. They were the same faces as those in the pictures on the walls, staring at him with empty eyes as if demanding something from him.

"Get me out of here..."

He backed away slowly, feeling a chill enveloping his body. He didn't know what to do or where to go. But something inside him urged him to continue. He had to know the truth, no matter the cost.

With each step he took, he felt the room itself change, as if it were breathing with him. The walls seemed to close in and pull away, the floor shifting beneath his feet, and the air thickening, nearly suffocating him.

As he approached a corner of the room, he found a new door that hadn't been there before. It was wooden and covered in dust, as if no one had opened it in years. Yet he felt something pulling him toward that door, as if it were the key to everything that had happened.

"This must be the only way out..."

He reached for the handle and opened it slowly. Behind the door was another room... but it was unlike any room he had ever seen. The walls were covered in strange writings, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and sweat.

In the center of the room was an old chair, and sitting on the chair was a strange figure. The man there wore a white mask, and his eyes gleamed coldly from behind it.

"Finally, you've come."

The words flowed slowly, as if directed straight at Ren's soul.