Alina: Light & Shadows

Chapter 4

I couldn't move. The eyes of that figure, glowing like moons, were fixed on mine.

Every fiber of my being screamed to escape, but something held me back. Invisible roots seemed to wrap around my feet, anchoring me to the ground.

And then, as if the world itself was holding its breath, that cloaked figure took a step forward, slowly raising a hand.

"You don't know it yet, but it's inside you," they said, their voice resonating in my bones, low and grating like the wind blowing through stones.

"The power we seek... you hold it."

Those words shook me to my core. How could they know? What did they know about me that I didn't?

Yet, I felt a strange truth in their words, as if that secret had always been there, buried deep, and they had just unearthed it.

Before I could ask anything, before I could flee or scream, something unexpected happened.

The blue light of their staff went out, as if the wind had snuffed out a candle.

The shadows surrounding them thickened, enveloping their form until they vanished completely, as if they had never been there at all.

I was left alone in the forest, my breath still heavy and my heart racing wildly.

The roots that had held me down faded away, and finally, I could move again.

I ran, without looking back, until I reached home, my thoughts swirling like a nest of snakes.

When I burst through the door, I found my mother sitting at the table, her face pale and her hands trembling slightly.

She stared at me with wide eyes, as if she knew something had happened.

"Alina..." she whispered, her voice cracked with anxiety.

I couldn't hide the truth. I told her everything: about the light, the cloaked figure, and their cryptic words.

Every detail.

And as I spoke, I watched my mother grow paler, until it seemed like she was about to faint.

"You should never have known," she murmured at last, bringing a hand to her face as if she wanted to hide from some uncomfortable truth.

"You shouldn't have found out this way."

Her words pierced me like a blade. "Find out what? What have you been hiding from me?"

My mother slowly stepped closer, but there was something in her eyes that I had never seen before. Fear.

As if she were about to reveal a secret that would change everything.

"Your birth... it wasn't like the others," she began, her voice low and trembling. "You weren't born into this world by chance. The power inside you doesn't belong to us. It's older, darker than you can imagine."

My heart raced in my chest. I felt a terrible truth coursing through her words, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

"Your father... we never told you because we wanted to protect you. But the truth is, he is not your biological father. Your real father was not like other men. He... belonged to another realm, a realm of shadows, a realm that for centuries has sought to reclaim our world. And you, Alina, are the result of that union."

I recoiled, as if her words were poison. "What? My father isn't my real father? Are you saying I'm... that I'm a part of them? That I belong to that dark world?"

My mother nodded weakly. "Not everything is lost, Alina. You are our daughter; you grew up here, in our world. But the power that flows in your veins... it's from the realm of shadows. That's why you've always felt different. That's why the shadows seek you. And now... now they have found you."

I could hardly breathe. Her words spun in my head, making me feel like I was sinking into a bottomless abyss.

How could this be true? How could my own blood be tied to that dark world I had only heard stories about?

My mother stepped closer again, this time gripping my hands between hers.

"Alina, listen to me. You are not destined to become one of them. You have the strength to choose. But to do so, you must learn to control the power within you before they do."

"What must I do?" I asked, my voice breaking with fear and confusion.

"You must find your father."

Those words struck me like lightning. My father? My real father? The man I knew nothing about, the man from another realm, a realm of shadows? How could I ever find him?

But before I could ask more questions, a loud noise came from the door.

My mother turned sharply, and I saw her pale even more.

"Alina, go," she whispered.

"They're here."