Chapter 4: The Record No One Understood

I shouldn’t have come back.

I knew it the moment my foot touched the first step.

The air below doesn’t breathe.

It presses.

Heavy.

“Stay close,” I whisper.

“I am,” my dragon says quietly beside me.

I step down.

The light disappears too quickly.

The tunnel is narrow. Cold. The walls brush my arms.

Each step echoes—

but the sound doesn’t leave.

Why did I come here?

The question keeps repeating.

The tunnel ends.

I step inside—

and stop.

Books.

Everywhere.

Shelves bending under their weight. Stacks on the floor. Pages half-open like someone left in a hurry.

Dust hangs in the air.

But not evenly.

Something has been here.

My chest tightens.

“How am I supposed to find anything here…”

No answer.

Only that feeling.

Like something is watching.

I move anyway.

My fingers run across the spines.

Old leather. Cracked edges.

Nothing.

Nothing—

Then—

My hand stops.

I didn’t choose it.

A small book.

Worn more than the rest.

It doesn’t belong.

I pull it out.

Dust falls slowly.

One word.

Diary.

I hesitate for a second.

Then open it.

The writing—

It doesn’t make sense.

Words are there.

But they don’t connect.

Lines repeat. Break.

I turn a page.

Then another.

Still nothing.

“This doesn’t make sense,” I say under my breath.

“Look again,” my dragon says.

I exhale quietly.

“I am looking.”

“You’re reading it like it’s normal,” he replies.

I pause.

Then I look again.

Not at the words—

at how they were written.

Pressed too hard.

Scratched out.

Written again.

Not calm.

Not controlled.

I read slower.

“Not protection.”

Another page.

“Still here.”

Another.

“Watching.”

My chest tightens slightly.

“They don’t leave.”

“They stay.”

“Closer than breath.”

I frown.

This isn’t like mine.

Then—

A word.

Clear.

Untouched.

Chosen.

Everything stills for a second.

“I was chosen.”

My grip tightens on the page.

I don’t need a name.

Ancestor.

I keep reading.

“They said protect.”

“They lied.”

“She saw it.”

I stop.

“She pulled me back.”

My chest feels heavier.

“She broke it.”

“How?” I mutter.

The next lines aren’t clear.

“Pride.”

“Control.”

“Not divine.”

I don’t fully understand it.

But I feel it.

Then—

“I sealed it.”

My breath slows.

“Beneath—”

Next page.

“Church.”

I stare at the word.

If he sealed it…

A small sound behind me.

I freeze.

I don’t turn.

I can feel it.

Close.

“Did you hear that?” I ask quietly.

“Yes,” my dragon answers.

That’s enough.

I close the diary.

“We’re leaving.”

I move fast.

The tunnel feels tighter now.

Like it’s shorter.

Like something is behind me.

I don’t look.

I climb out—

A scream.

Sharp.

Right outside my room.

My heart drops.

I run.

The hallway feels longer than before.

My door is open.

Something is on the floor.

I stop.

I already know.

I look.

My friend.

Still.

Too still.

My chest tightens.

Then—

I feel it.

I lift my head.

It’s there.

Closer than before.

Black feathers.

Still.

Watching.

My body freezes.

I try to move.

Nothing.

I try to speak.

Nothing.

My throat locks again.

Just like before.

Its eyes stay on me.

Cold.

Empty.

But aware.

It tilts its head slightly.

One slow step forward.

The air feels heavier.

My heart starts beating faster.

It knows.

It waited.

For this.

For me to see.

My fingers twitch—

then stop.

I can’t look away.

I can’t move.

A few seconds pass.

Or maybe longer.

Then—

It spreads its wings.

And disappears.

Just like that.

But the feeling stays.

Because now I know—

It’s not just killing.

It’s choosing when I see it.

If my ancestor sealed it…

Why is it waiting for me?

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