Second
339 Words
Chapter 2
Chapter 2 â The Shadow Behind the Light
Lucero was always admired by those around him. At school, his quiet aura drew in his classmates, and his gentle words felt like balm to wounded hearts. To his teachers, he was the diligent young man who never disobeyed nor broke a single rule.
But when he returned home at night, the whispers of the world were different.
He could feel itâa pull of darkness, lingering like smoke in the air. Others could not see it, but for Lucero, it was as real as the beating of his heart. From time to time, he would hear voices softly murmuring his name, urging him to turn away from the light everyone else saw in him.
âWhy do you resist?â a voice pressed inside his mind. âYou were never meant to belong to them.â
Lucero would clench his fists tightly whenever the voice came. He tried to drown it in prayer, in the laughter of friends, in the warmth of sunlight. Yet in the silence of night, he could not escape the truthâsomething was stirring within him, and he did not know how long he could keep it hidden.
One evening, after another day of pretending to be the perfect son and friend, Lucero wandered to the old abandoned chapel at the edge of town. Its doors were broken, its windows shattered, yet an unseen force pulled him inside.
Candles flickered on their own. A cold breeze brushed against his skin.
There, before the ruined altar, he saw itâa mask. Half white, half black. Its smile was crooked, almost mocking, and its eyes were hollow.
When he touched it, the voices grew stronger.
âAt last, you have foundâĶ your true face.â
Lucero dropped the mask, trembling. His chest pounded as though two hearts beat inside himâone pure, the other tainted with darkness.
And for the first time, he feared himself more than anything else in the world.
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