Chapter 9: The Secret Jose Can’t Hide
748 Words
Carly stared at Jose in disbelief.
“You’re in my bedroom.”
Jose didn’t move.
The faint city light from the window fell across his face, making his expression look unusually serious.
“I locked the door,” Carly continued slowly.
“You did,” he replied.
Her heart started racing.
“Then how did you get in?”
For a moment, Jose didn’t answer. His eyes drifted toward the window as if he was listening for something outside.
Then he looked back at her.
“That’s not the most important question right now.”
Carly pushed the blanket aside and stood up from the bed.
“It is to me.”
Silence filled the room.
Finally, Jose sighed quietly.
“I came through the window.”
Her eyes widened.
“You’re on the twenty-second floor!”
“Yes.”
“That’s not possible!”
“I know.”
Carly ran a hand through her hair, frustration rising.
“First glowing reflections. Then strange dreams. Now you climbing twenty-two floors like some kind of superhero?”
Jose almost smiled.
“I’m not a superhero.”
“Then explain what’s happening!” she demanded.
He studied her carefully, as if deciding whether she was ready to hear the truth.
“Tell me about the dream,” he said.
Carly hesitated.
The memory of the glowing-eyed man sent a shiver down her spine.
“There was a field,” she began slowly. “Silver grass… strange stars. Everything looked beautiful at first.”
Jose’s expression tightened.
“And then?”
“I heard someone calling my name.”
She swallowed.
“At first I thought it was you.”
His gaze sharpened.
“But it wasn’t.”
“No.”
Carly wrapped her arms around herself.
“He looked like you… but his eyes were glowing.”
Jose’s jaw clenched.
“What did he say to you?”
“That he’d been waiting for me,” she replied quietly. “Longer than you.”
The room grew very still.
Jose turned toward the window again.
Outside, the city stretched endlessly, bright and unaware of the danger slowly moving within it.
“He found you faster than I expected,” Jose murmured.
Carly’s patience snapped.
“STOP talking in riddles!”
Her voice echoed through the room.
Jose turned back to her.
For a moment, the calm man she knew seemed to disappear.
In his place was someone older… heavier… like a person carrying too many secrets.
“You deserve the truth,” he said finally.
“Yes, I do.”
He walked closer to her slowly.
“Carly… the light inside you isn’t normal.”
“I figured that much.”
“It’s ancient.”
Her heart skipped.
“Ancient?”
“Yes.”
Jose took a deep breath.
“For centuries, there have been people born with something called The Lumen Heart.”
Carly frowned.
“That sounds like a fairy tale.”
“Most people think it is.”
“But it isn’t?” she asked.
Jose shook his head.
“The Lumen Heart is a power that only appears once every few generations.”
“And you think I have it?”
“I don’t think,” he said quietly.
“I know.”
Carly felt the strange warmth in her chest pulse again.
Soft.
Bright.
Alive.
“Why me?” she whispered.
Jose hesitated.
“That part… I don’t fully understand yet.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Yet?”
“Yes.”
“And the man in my dream?”
Jose’s expression darkened.
“That’s the problem.”
Carly’s stomach twisted.
“Who is he?”
Jose’s voice dropped to a near whisper.
“Someone who hunts people like you.”
Fear crawled slowly down her spine.
“Hunts?”
“Yes.”
“And if he found me in a dream…” Carly said slowly, “…does that mean he can find me in real life?”
Jose didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he stepped closer to the window and looked up at the dark sky.
Then he spoke.
“He already has.”
Carly followed his gaze.
For a moment she saw nothing.
Then suddenly—
Far above the city lights…
Something moved across the night sky.
Not a plane.
Not a bird.
Something darker.
Something watching.
Carly’s voice trembled.
“What… is that?”
Jose’s eyes hardened.
“That,” he said quietly,
“is why I never wanted you to wake up.”
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