Chapter 3: What Was Hidden

I don’t sleep.

Not that night.

Not after that.

Every time I close my eyes, I see her hand reaching for me.

Shaking.

Waiting.

And me—

Standing there.

Doing nothing.

Morning comes anyway.

It always does.

Like nothing happened.

Like something didn’t break inside me.

The house is quieter now.

Not peaceful.

Just… careful.

People don’t speak loudly anymore.

They don’t laugh the same way.

They don’t look at me the same way either.

No one asks me what I saw.

Not again.

Because they already know I won’t answer.

But they still look.

Not directly.

Just enough to make me feel it.

I stay in my room.

My dragon is there.

He doesn’t say much.

He doesn’t need to.

“…It’s not random,” I say finally.

My voice sounds dry.

Distant.

“No,” he replies.

“It knew she was there.”

“Yes.”

“It waited.”

He doesn’t answer immediately.

Then—

“Yes.”

The word settles like something heavy.

I press my hands against my face.

Think.

Think.

Think.

“There has to be a reason,” I whisper.

“There is.”

I look at him.

“You know something.”

“I know enough.”

“Then tell me.”

He watches me for a moment.

Like he’s deciding something.

“You won’t like it.”

“I don’t care.”

Silence.

Then—

“This house isn’t just a house.”

I let out a small, humorless breath.

“Don’t start with that—”

“Listen.”

Something in his voice stops me.

“There are things here,” he continues. “Things that were never meant to be found.”

My mind flashes—

The broken floor.

That darkness.

That feeling.

“…The place where I almost fell.”

He nods.

“You felt it, didn’t you?”

I don’t answer.

Because I did.

“That wasn’t just an accident,” he says.

My chest tightens.

“Then what was it?”

“A mistake.”

The word doesn’t make sense.

“A mistake?” I repeat.

“Yes.”

“A mistake by who?”

He doesn’t answer.

And somehow—

That’s worse.

Silence stretches.

Then he speaks again.

“You were chosen long before you understood what that meant.”

I frown slightly.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

He shifts slightly, his wings adjusting against his small body.

“My kind does not stay with a family by chance,” he says.

“We are not pets. We are not guardians given freely.”

I stare at him.

“We choose,” he continues.

Something in my chest tightens.

“Every generation… one of us is born. Not raised. Not passed down like an object.”

His voice is calm, but there’s something ancient in it.

“We remember more than we should. More than we are meant to say.”

I don’t interrupt.

I can’t.

“And when the time comes…” he looks directly at me,

“We choose who we stay with.”

The room feels quieter.

Heavier.

“You chose me?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

He doesn’t answer immediately.

Then—

“Because you were the only one who didn’t blindly believe.”

That wasn’t the answer I expected.

“You question things,” he continues. “You don’t accept them just because they exist. That makes you dangerous… and necessary.”

My thoughts slow down.

Settle.

“…So you’ve been watching me this whole time?”

“Yes.”

“How much do you know?”

“Enough to know this was going to happen.”

The words land harder than anything else.

“…And you didn’t stop it.”

His eyes don’t change.

“I can guide you,” he says quietly. “I cannot choose for you.”

Silence.

Then I stand up.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“I’m going there.”

His expression sharpens.

“That’s not a good idea.”

“Neither is waiting for the next person to die.”

He doesn’t argue after that.

We walk through the house quietly.

No one stops me.

No one notices.

Or maybe they do—

And they choose not to.

The part of the house where the floor broke is empty.

No one goes there now.

The broken wood is still there.

Untouched.

Avoided.

I step closer.

My heartbeat picks up.

It looks the same.

But it doesn’t feel the same.

Now—

It feels like something is beneath it.

Not empty.

Not hollow.

Watching.

“You don’t have to do this,” my dragon says.

“Yes, I do.”

I kneel down.

Carefully.

The broken part is wide enough.

If I push it—

It shifts.

Dust falls.

Old wood cracks further.

And underneath—

Darkness.

Not just shadow.

Something deeper.

There’s space down there.

More than there should be.

“…That’s not a basement,” I whisper.

“No,” my dragon says.

My hand trembles slightly as I reach down.

There’s something there.

Not just empty space.

A surface.

Flat.

Wood.

A door.

My breath catches.

“…There’s something under the house.”

“Yes.”

I pull my hand back slowly.

My thoughts are racing now.

Faster than I can control.

“This… this has been here the whole time?”

“Yes.”

“And no one knew?”

“They weren’t supposed to.”

The words don’t sit right.

I stare into the darkness again.

Then I remember something.

The story.

My ancestor.

The chosen one.

The one who sealed something.

“…This is connected,” I whisper.

My dragon doesn’t deny it.

That’s all the answer I need.

I stand up slowly.

“What’s down there?” I ask.

He looks at me.

Long.

Careful.

Then he says—

“Something that should never have been let out.”

My chest tightens.

“…And now it is?”

Silence.

That’s enough.

I look down again.

At the hidden door.

At the darkness waiting beneath it.

For a moment—

I think about walking away.

Pretending I never saw it.

Going back to my room.

Closing the door.

Ignoring everything.

But then—

I see her again.

Reaching for me.

Asking for help.

And me—

Doing nothing.

My hands curl into fists.

“…Not this time,” I whisper.

I look at my dragon.

“Stay close.”

He doesn’t smile.

He doesn’t warn me again.

He just says—

“I always do.”

I take a breath.

Then I reach down—

And push the hidden door open.

Darkness answers.

And for the first time—

I feel like something down there…

is finally ready to meet me.

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