"Some voices don't come from outside… but from the part of us that was broken and never repaired."
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Luin woke up suddenly — gasping, his chest rising like someone drowning in air.
But he wasn't dreaming.Or perhaps the dream no longer separated him from reality.
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His room was dark, except for a faint glow coming from... something on his skin.
He slowly raised his arm.
And there... the scar behind his ear was pulsing, as if it were a tiny heart bleeding light.
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Then... a voice.
But this time, it was not a whisper.It was an echo, coming from deep within his bones:
"The first seal is broken... and the first door is broken.""But now... I am no longer asleep."
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And in that moment, he felt something moving beneath his skin.As if shadows were creeping, searching for a way out.
⸻
In a brief moment, no longer than the blink of an eye, he saw his face in the room's mirror.
But it wasn't "him."
His eyes were... completely black.And a small smile was drawn on his face... but it was not a human smile.
⸻
He blinked.
Everything returned to normal.
But this time, the silence... was deceitful.
⸻
The next morning, Luin did not go to the market.He couldn't.
The morning light felt wrong — too bright for someone who hadn't truly woken up.It was as if his legs refused to move... He felt as if the streets had begun to whisper things that should not be said.
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But behind the windows... someone was watching.
A man wearing a long gray coat, a scarf stitched with a faded church sigil around his neck.
His eyes were half closed,but behind them... was measuring something.
He looked toward the bar, toward the room where Luin lived,then wrote something in a small notebook,and walked away silently.
⸻
In the evening, while Luin was drinking a glass of water just to silence his fear...
The voice returned.
"The first seal released the pain.""But the pain... is not the end."
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This time, he didn't run away.
He answered.
"Who are you?""Am I your madness?""Or are you my madness?"
⸻
There was no answer.
Instead, there was an image.
His mind was suddenly filled with a scene:
An old church... its stones burned.And a little boy, standing in its ruins, silent, covered in blood.
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He heard one last whisper."Everyone who opened the seal... saw that church."
Then silence.
⸻
End of Chapter Four