CHAPTER 5 — The Boy in the Silence
824 Words
The footsteps on the staircase were slow, steady, and unbearably calm—almost thoughtful.
Kezia felt each one sink into her spine like cold needles.
Elias grabbed her wrist, whispering, “Don’t move.”
But Kezia couldn’t breathe, much less run.
She could only stare.
A shadow appeared on the wall first—tall, slim, human-shaped.
The kind of silhouette belonging to someone young.
But no body cast it.
No figure stood at the top of the stairs.
Only the shadow, moving on its own as if walking down an invisible path.
Step.
Step.
Step.
When it reached the last step, it stopped.
The lights went out.
Kezia gasped as the darkness swallowed them whole.
Elias fumbled for his phone flashlight. “Kezia—stay close.”
But the moment the beam turned on, something whispered right behind her:
“Don’t be afraid.”
She spun around, flashlight trembling—
No one.
The air around her pulsed, warm for a second, like someone had just stepped away.
Elias raised his phone, scanning the hall. “It’s here. I can feel it.”
Kezia clutched her chest.
“I heard it,” she whispered. “It spoke to me.”
“What did it say?”
She hesitated.
“It told me not to be afraid.”
Elias stared at her like she had said the most terrifying thing imaginable.
“Kezia… that means it knows you.”
The house creaked violently, like a warning.
A gust of icy wind swept down the corridor, scattering old papers across the marble floor. From somewhere deeper inside the mansion came the faint sound of running—quick, light footsteps, like a boy sprinting down an empty hallway.
But no young boy lived here.
No child had stepped inside this mansion in years.
“Kezia, we need to get outside,” Elias said urgently.
She shook her head. “No. If this presence knew my parents… if they were looking for him… then he might know what really happened.”
“Kezia—”
“I came here for answers,” she said, her voice trembling, “and whatever that thing is… it’s trying to talk to me.”
A loud slam echoed from the left wing.
The study room.
The door she had shut earlier.
Elias grabbed her arm again. “Don’t—”
But Kezia was already walking toward it, driven by something deeper than fear.
A pull.
A connection she didn’t understand.
The hallway stretched endlessly, each step heavier than the last. When she reached the study door, she felt it before touching the knob.
Warmth.
A gentle warmth, like a hand resting over hers.
She froze.
Someone—something—was standing behind her.
She didn’t turn.
She didn’t breathe.
The warmth slowly moved…
From her hand
to her arm
to her back.
A presence, close enough to touch her.
But not harmful.
Almost protective.
Like it was guiding her.
She whispered into the dark, “Who are you?”
The answer came softly, close to her ear.
A breath.
A whisper.
A single word:
“Remember.”
Her skin broke into chills.
The lights flickered violently, bursting back to life. Elias stumbled backward as the study door opened by itself, slamming against the wall.
Inside, the portrait of her father was no longer slashed.
It was whole.
Restored.
Perfect.
Kezia stared in disbelief. “It was torn… Elias, it was destroyed.”
Elias shook his head slowly.
“Kezia… that’s not the only thing.”
On the desk beneath the portrait lay another photograph.
A boy.
Maybe seventeen.
Dark eyes.
Soft expression.
Standing beside her father like they knew each other.
Like trust existed between them.
But the photo was old.
Very old—years older than Kezia.
Elias picked it up carefully.
“This boy… he’s the one your parents were looking for.”
Her pulse hammered.
The shadow boy.
The whisperer.
The presence that followed her.
The one who didn’t know he was dead.
Kezia stared at the photograph, her throat tightening.
“Why does he keep following me?” she whispered.
Elias looked at her, face pale.
“Kezia… look closely.”
She lifted the photo to the light.
The boy’s eyes—dark, intense—looked familiar.
Too familiar.
Because she had seen them last night.
In the mirror.
In the shadow.
Behind her.
“Kezia,” Elias whispered, “I think he’s trying to tell you something.”
Before she could speak, the air shifted.
A soft breath warmed the back of her neck.
A whisper curled around her like a fragile plea:
“Don’t leave me.”
Kezia’s heart cracked open.
For the first time, she wasn’t terrified.
She was hurting.
Because the voice didn’t sound like a monster.
It sounded like someone lonely.
Someone waiting.
Someone who needed her.
Someone who didn’t understand he was already gone.
And that made it so much worse.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD