The boy that knows too much
1086 Words
Morning in Ebonreach didn’t arrive with light.
It arrived quietly… like the darkness just loosened its grip a little.
I woke up before I meant to.
Not because I felt rested. I didn’t. My body felt heavy, like sleep had touched me but refused to stay.
Something felt… different.
Same room. Same walls.
But the air had shifted.
Like something had passed through while I slept.
I sat up slowly, holding my breath without realizing it.
Listening.
Nothing.
No whisper.
No voice.
Just that same silence… thick, patient… waiting.
I hated how quickly I noticed it.
Downstairs, my aunt was already awake.
Of course she was.
She stood at the stove, stirring something. The smell didn’t comfort me. It wasn’t familiar enough to feel safe.
“You’re up early,” she said.
She didn’t turn.
“I didn’t sleep well,” I replied.
A pause.
“That will happen here.”
Something in my chest tightened.
“Because of the town?” I asked.
She turned then.
And for a second… just a second… her face softened.
Not kindness.
Not quite.
Just… something close.
“Because of what the town remembers,” she said.
That made my stomach drop.
“What does that mean?” I wanted to ask.
But she had already turned away.
Conversation over.
Just like that.
I left the house not long after.
I didn’t have a plan.
I just needed to move.
Being inside felt worse.
The streets looked clearer in daylight.
And somehow… that made it worse.
Now I could really see everything.
The buildings weren’t just old.
They looked… tired.
Like they knew something and had been carrying it too long.
People passed me again.
Same quiet.
Same careful steps.
Same quick looks.
Every glance felt like it lingered just a little too long.
Like they were checking something.
About me.
I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone until I heard footsteps keeping pace with mine.
Not behind me.
Beside me.
Calm.
Intentional.
“You walk like you’re afraid the ground will notice you,” a voice said.
I turned slightly.
A boy.
Walking next to me like he’d always been there.
Hands in his pockets. Relaxed.
Too relaxed.
“I’m Kael,” he said.
I didn’t answer right away.
Something about him felt… off.
Not dangerous.
Just… too comfortable here.
“You’re new,” he added.
“That obvious?” I said.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
Real.
And that made me lower my guard just a little.
We kept walking.
I didn’t invite him.
He just… stayed.
And weirdly, it didn’t feel like a choice.
It felt like something had decided it for me.
“You shouldn’t go too far alone,” he said.
“I’m not a child,” I replied.
“I didn’t say you were.”
A pause.
Then quieter:
“This place just behaves differently when you don’t understand it.”
That unsettled me more than I expected.
“What does that even mean?” I asked.
He hesitated.
Just for a second.
“Some parts of Ebonreach notice new people.”
I let out a small breath. “That sounds like superstition.”
“Most things here do,” he said.
But he didn’t smile.
That bothered me.
We stopped near an overlook.
The ocean stretched out below.
Closer now.
I could feel it.
That same low… endless sound.
“Do you hear it?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“Hear what?” he said.
“The ocean.”
He went quiet.
Then:
“People stop hearing it after a while.”
That didn’t answer me.
I turned to look at him properly.
And something in his face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Like he knew exactly what I meant.
He just didn’t want to say it.
“There are places you shouldn’t go,” he said carefully.
“Like where?”
“The cliffs. At night.”
“Why?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because things sound different there.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have.”
The wind moved between us.
Cold.
Slow.
It made my skin prickle.
“You’re not from here,” he said suddenly.
“No.”
“Where are you from?”
I opened my mouth to answer.
And froze.
Because for a second…
I didn’t know.
Not clearly.
My memories felt distant.
Blurry.
Like I could see them…
but couldn’t reach them.
“I don’t know,” I said quietly.
The words felt wrong in my mouth.
But they were true.
He didn’t laugh.
Didn’t question me.
He just nodded.
“That happens here.”
My chest tightened again. “What does?”
“People forget things they didn’t know mattered.”
That stayed with me.
Longer than it should have.
We started walking back.
The light was fading already.
Too early.
It made me uneasy.
And then I saw it.
At the far end of the street.
Near where the road curved toward the cliffs.
A house.
Tall.
Dark.
Broken.
But not empty.
I felt it instantly.
My steps slowed.
Then stopped.
The Mourning House.
I didn’t know how I knew the name.
But I did.
It didn’t look abandoned.
It looked… aware.
Like it was watching everything.
Waiting.
For something.
Or someone.
Beside me, Kael stopped too.
The air changed.
Sharper.
Heavier.
“You shouldn’t look at it too long,” he said quietly.
I didn’t look away.
“Why?”
“Because it looks back.”
That made me turn to him.
“Is that supposed to scare me?”
He hesitated.
Then said softly,
“It depends… has it already?”
My chest tightened.
Something shifted in the corner of my vision.
I looked back at the house.
And for just a second—
It felt different.
Like something inside it had noticed me noticing it.
My breath caught.
Not fear.
Something worse.
Familiarity.
Like I knew it.
Like I’d been there.
That didn’t make sense.
“Have you ever gone inside?” I asked.
“No.”
Too fast.
Too firm.
That answer didn’t comfort me.
It made something twist in my chest.
Because deep down…
I wasn’t asking about him.
I was asking about me.
And then—
A whisper.
Soft.
Barely there.
Inside my head.
Come.
I froze.
It wasn’t the walls this time.
It wasn’t the air.
It was closer.
Too close.
Because this time…
I didn’t know if it came from the town.
Or from me.
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