"No! Please, Mom! Dad! Help! Help me!"
A little girl cried out, her voice filled with desperation as a group of shadowy figures clad in black robes carried her away.
She reached for her parents, her cries echoing in the silence, but they remained unresponsive. It was as if they were void of any emotion, cold and distant. Instead, they turned their attention to a boy who bore a striking resemblance to her. They took his small hand and led him into their home, shutting the door firmly behind them.
"Listen, Adam," one of them said, their tone unnervingly calm. "From now on, you never had a twin sister. You are the only child of the Chambers family."
Before Adam could process these words, a wave of dizziness swept over him, blurring his vision and distorting the world around him.
...
"Sigh, not this dream again."
For ten long years, Adam Chambers had been haunted by this recurring nightmare. He never fully grasped what it meant; he didn't subscribe to the notion that dreams held any significant power or insight.
Today was particularly heavy for him, as he prepared to attend the funeral of his parents, who had tragically passed away in a car accident just days prior.
He rose from his bed, feeling a weight in his chest, and took a shower. After styling his black hair neatly, he slipped into a black suit—a painful reminder of his loss. It might seem odd, but Adam had never felt particularly close to his parents, which explained why sadness didn't wash over him as he dressed for the day.
In his heart, however, lay a profound unease. Over the years, he couldn't shake the feeling that his parents were hiding something from him, bound by secrets that lingered between them. While Adam understood that every family has its complexities, the air of mystery surrounding his parents felt especially suffocating.
Ten years ago, after experiencing a week of vivid dreams about an unseen sister, he had bravely asked them if he had a twin. Their adamant insistence that he was their only child left him bewildered. As a teenager, he accepted their words without question, trusting that no parent would keep such a monumental secret.
Yet, as he matured, his suspicions grew. Did they hide a truth so painful that it warranted lies? His struggles to make sense of their behavior often led to arguments, straining the fragile bond they shared.
Eventually, Adam sought independence, moving into a small studio alongside his high school friend, Kyle McGuire. With his curly brown hair and bright eyes, Kyle had always been a supportive presence. Coming from a wealthy family, it was surprising that he chose to live with Adam, who was trying to carve his own path as a journalist at a local news magazine. They often collaborated, capturing stories of life in their town.
With Kyle out of town visiting family, Adam faced this sorrowful day alone. After preparing himself, he took a deep breath, gathering the courage to leave and head to the cemetery where his parents lay to rest. When he arrived, he found that the burial had just concluded, and he had nearly missed the service.
The priest, a warm and gentle presence, began to pray, honoring Adam's parents amidst the small gathering. To Adam's surprise, very few people attended the funeral. This lack of support felt disheartening, especially for individuals who had once wielded influence and built networks in the community.
In the midst of his thoughts, a flicker of movement caught his eye. A group of robed figures stood off to the side, their hoods obscuring their faces. A shiver of recognition coursed through him as they triggered memories from his dreams. He felt an urge to confront them, to understand their connection to his recurring nightmares. But just then, the priest beckoned him as the only family member present.
"My child, I'm deeply sorry for your loss," he said, his voice a soothing balm in this moment of grief. "I hope you can find a way to let go of them gently."
"Uh, yeah... sure," Adam replied, his voice strained. The truth was, he didn't quite know how he felt. There was no overwhelming sense of sorrow, no tidal wave of grief. He wasn't heartless; rather, he just had a collection of mixed emotions about the people who had always seemed so distant and secretive.
As attendees began to express their condolences and leave, Adam remained rooted in place, grappling with his feelings. Soon, he found himself alone with the priest, who was now readying to return to his church.
"My child," Father Chris, an elderly man with warmth in his eyes, gently patted Adam's shoulder. "For now, it would be best to rest at home, to find peace with your parents' memories, and to focus on the future that lies ahead."
In those words, Adam sensed the understanding and compassion that enveloped him, a reassurance that resonated even in his confusion.
Father Chris, the one who led the funeral patted Adam on the shoulder before turning to go back to the church in the center of town, he was an old man around 60 years old, a friendly man who was known and loved by the surrounding community and he was also quite close to Adam because for the past 10 years father Chris was the only person who listened to his complaints about the dreams he had repeatedly without judging him.
"Yes"
Father Chris, the kind man who had led the funeral, gently patted Adam on the shoulder as he prepared to return to the church at the heart of the town. He is around 60 years old, he was a familiar and beloved figure in the community, always radiating warmth and understanding. For the past decade, Father Chris had been Adam's steadfast listener, never judging him as he shared his struggles with the recurring dreams that haunted him.
"Thank you," Adam murmured softly, nodding his head, feeling a wave of gratitude as he watched Father Chris make his way back to the church, leaving the quiet cemetery behind.
"Sigh, whatever."
Adam walked slowly to where he had parked his car, the sky had become cloudy and he had no other business to attend to. As he opened his car door, he noticed a brown envelope sticking out slightly from the dashboard.
Panic surged through him as he immediately thought someone had broken into his car. He opened the car door fully and checked the dashboard to see if anything was missing.
Thankfully, nothing was missing; his camera, money, and a few packs of cigarettes were still stored in the dashboard. However, his attention was drawn to the brown envelope, which he was sure he had never seen before.
Adam picked up the envelope and saw the words "For Adam Chambers" written on it. As he opened it, he found a candid photo of a young woman who bore a striking resemblance to him. No, they were not just similar; they were fraternal twins, and the likeness between them was quite uncanny.
"What the... who is she?"
Adam pulled the photo out of the envelope and examined it, but found nothing else inside. Turning the photo over, he noticed an inscription that contained the bio of the woman in the picture.
[Evangeline Chambers
25 years old
Alive]
"Evangeline..."
Suddenly, Adam was hit with a massive headache as he recalled the name of the woman in the photo he was still holding.
"Is she my sister? Why did my parents always tell me I was an only child?"
Adam questioned why his parents went to such lengths to keep his sister's existence a secret. However, he felt there was little point in pursuing these questions anymore, especially since his parents had passed away. He decided to go to his parents' house, which was not far from the small studio where he currently lived, though he rarely visited them.
Taking the spare key he had, Adam opened the door to his parents' house. The interior was tidy, with only essential items such as kitchen utensils scattered around. Although Adam was not particularly close to his parents, he regularly sent them money. Despite this, there was hardly anything new in the house since the last time he lived there.
Everything appeared normal. He attempted to open his parents' bedroom door, but it was locked. Since the key had gone missing after his parents' accident, he couldn't gain access.
Determined to find a spare key, Adam spent a considerable amount of time searching the house until he discovered it hidden above the chandelier in the dining room, along with a piece of paper containing a number combination.
With the key and the paper in hand, Adam hurried back to his parents' room, unlocked the door, and stepped inside to inspect its contents.
Like the rest of the house, the bedroom seemed ordinary. However, Adam soon noticed a safe concealed behind a family photo frame hanging on the wall.
"Is there something here?" he wondered.
Thinking the combination of numbers he found earlier was the code to open the safe Adam tried to turn the analog dial on the safe according to the code he found.
The safe was opened but he didn't find what he wanted, inside he only found a kind of tree carved amulet made of gold, the amulet looked majestically and artistically designed, besides that he also found a pair of diamond-coated rings that looked like apples and snakes and a piece of paper with the words [you can't trust anyone in this town].
Confused by what he found and not understanding the meaning of the letter he found, what exactly did his parents keep secret?
The sky began to darken and the clock showed 5:55 pm, Adam decided to stop his search and intended to stop by the police station to file a missing person report.
Adam stepped out of his parents' house and locked the door behind him. Climbing into his car, he drove to the police station, unaware that several people were watching him from a distance as he left.
It took about half an hour for Adam to reach the police station in his small town. There was only one police station, and considering it was a peaceful area, there weren't many officers on duty—only about five, if Adam remembered correctly.
Upon arriving and parking, Adam entered the police station. Inside, he was greeted by Paul, a police officer who had been assigned to this small town two years earlier. Paul was a burly Black man with a bald head and several scars on his face. He was three years older than Adam and, although he looked intimidating, Paul was a kind and gentle person.
"Hey man, how are you doing? It's rare for you to come here. Is something wrong?" Paul asked with a friendly smile.
"I want to report a missing person. Here, this is the person I want to report," Adam replied, pulling out a photo of Evangeline from his suit pocket and handing it to Paul. Paul carefully examined the picture.
"Such a beauty. Is she your sister? She really looks like you—more like a twin, to be precise."
"I guess? Honestly, I just found out about her today."
"What do you mean 'today'? You've never met her?"
"It's complicated, but I want to find her."
"Well, sure. Anything else?"
"No, that's it. I trust this matter to you, and for now, I just want to go home and rest."
"Okay, be careful on the road," Paul said as Adam walked out of the police station, feeling exhausted after everything that had happened that day.
Paul returned to his office to write a missing persons report. Since the individual he was searching for resembled Adam, he decided to check the resident database. However, no matter what he searched, he couldn't find any information about a woman named Evangeline.
"She's not from here?" he wondered aloud.
At that moment, his senior officer entered the office and saw Paul at the computer.
"What are you doing? Is there a new case?" the senior asked.
"Yeah, Adam wants me to find his sister," Paul replied, showing the photo of Evangeline. However, his senior looked perplexed at the image.
"What do you mean 'his sister'? The Chambers family only has one child—Adam is their only child."
"What?"
...
When Adam arrived home, it was already 7 PM. He parked his car in the garage and opened the door to his room, discovering another brown envelope lying just inside the entrance, as if someone had slipped it in.
"Another envelope, huh?" he muttered.
Adam picked it up, entered his room, placed it on his work table, and then went to take a shower. After changing into a regular t-shirt and shorts, he prepared dinner for himself.
After eating and cleaning his plate, he returned to his room to examine the brown envelope. He opened it, finding a letter and another amulet, this one engraved with the image of a gate.
[Your sister is still alive, but it's no use asking anyone in your town; nobody knows she exists except for us.
Don't worry, we are not bad people. If you want to meet her, go to the border of the town through the path near the mountain. There, you will be able to meet your sister.]
"Okay, now what the hell is this?" Adam exclaimed.
It felt like someone was playing with him. Ever since he had seen the mysterious crowd at the cemetery, Adam had felt as if someone was watching him.
Throwing the envelope containing the letter and amulet into the trash, Adam climbed into bed to rest. Everything he had experienced that day left him utterly exhausted, so he decided to go to sleep.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Adam, a large fire had erupted at his parents' house. Many fire trucks were deployed to prevent the flames from spreading further.
"Where the hell did the fire come from? It seemed to appear out of nowhere," the fire chief commented, bewildered by the massive blaze engulfing several buildings.
About half an hour earlier, he had received a call about a significant fire from an unknown source. Initially, he thought it was a prank, but since the caller provided an address, he decided it wouldn't hurt to check.
When he arrived, there was no sign of fire at first. But within a minute, the house directly in front of him suddenly caught fire, flames erupting without warning and quickly consuming several nearby houses.
Fortunately, there were no casualties, which the chief found strange, considering the fire had seemingly materialized out of thin air. It appeared as if the residents nearby were aware there would be a fire, yet somehow everyone had escaped unharmed. It took several hours to finally extinguish the flames.
It took a few hours to finally put out the fire. A nearby resident was still watching the firefighters extinguish the flames when the chief approached the man and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, you! Why are you here? Do you know anything about the fire?"
"Can't you hear it? The voice of God guided us to leave even before the fire started."
With a crazy smile on his face, he explained what he knew as if it were obvious. He then prostrated himself, clasped his hands together, and prayed, thanking God for directing them.
...
Adam woke up in the morning to the sound of his alarm and noticed a message from his boss, telling him to take a longer vacation, especially since his parents' house had caught fire.
"What? What do you mean my parents' house caught fire?"
Adam rushed to take a shower and get dressed before hurrying to his parents' house, which was now reduced to debris from the fire.
"How did this happen?"
Confused, Adam recalled that just yesterday, he had been investigating something about his parents. Although he hadn't found anything important, the house still held memories for him, despite his strained relationship with his parents.
"Should I find her?"
It felt as if someone was guiding him to find his sister. Honestly, he didn't care much; they had never met, and he had no real memories of her apart from dreams he'd had for the past ten years.
With a sigh, he thought, "I guess there's no other way."
In the end, he decided to return to his house to prepare. Adam grabbed a medium-sized backpack, filling it with a few bottles of water and canned food. He also remembered to bring a flashlight, a camping knife, a handgun, and several boxes of ammunition.
On his way, Adam first stopped by the church, where he met Father Chris and asked for directions. Father Chris was someone he could trust, as he was the only person who believed in Adam's dreams.
The church was crowded, a typical Sunday with many devout worshippers attending service. Adam left his luggage in the car, walked into the church, and sat in the second bench from the back. He listened carefully to Father Chris's sermon while praying for safety on his upcoming journey.
After about three hours of waiting, Father Chris finished his sermon. Adam waited for the church to quiet down before meeting Father Chris in his office, where he'd been allowed to meet him directly for the past few years.
"Father Chris, I wanted to say goodbye before I go to see my sister."
"Your sister?" Father Chris replied, puzzled, as he knew Adam was an only child.
"Yes. It seems my sister actually exists, and for some reason, someone wants me to meet her."
Adam pulled out a letter, which indicated where he should go to find his sister. Father Chris took the letter, read it, and then handed it back to Adam.
"I see. So it's time for you to fulfill your destiny."
"What do you mean?"
"You see, dreams are one of many ways God communicates with his followers. I believe the reason you've been dreaming the same thing for ten years is that God wants you to meet her."
Father Chris walked over to Adam and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "That's why you should meet and help her. God will not abandon His followers, and I believe He will definitely protect you."
Father Chris then opened his desk drawer and took out a key shaped like a cross. "Follow me, my child."
Adam nodded and followed Father Chris to the basement of the church. Father Chris used the key to unlock the door.
Inside, there were various items, from a sword like something out of a fairy tale to a modern digital camera.
"Is this it?"
"There is something I want to give you," Father Chris replied, taking a black cross necklace from a nearby table and handing it to Adam.
"You can think of this as a protective charm. I can't explain the details about this place, but trust me, I'm on your side."
Father Chris helped Adam put on the cross necklace, a soft and satisfied smile on his face as he saw Adam wearing it.
"Thank you, Father."
Adam kissed the cross necklace, even though he didn't fully understand his situation or why Father Chris had given it to him. Nevertheless, he was sure that Father Chris was someone he could trust.
Father Chris escorted Adam out of the church basement, ready to embark on his journey.
Father Chris escorted Adam out of the church basement, re-locked the storage room door, and signaled to one of the sisters to guard it before handing over the key to the assigned sister.
Father Chris then drove Adam to where he had parked his car.
"May God bless you, my child," he said.
Adam simply nodded, started the engine, and left the church to sort things out, meet his sister, and possibly save her too.
Father Chris watched silently as Adam drove away, his usual friendly expression turning serious.
"Don't lose your watch on that child. If necessary, protect him at all costs; we need him to stay alive for our grand plan to save humanity from them."
---
The journey to the border was quite far from the church, and with only a little gas left, Adam decided to stop at a gas station. He didn't particularly like the owner, as he found the old man somewhat creepy.
However, he had no other choice and ended up filling his tank at the only gas station near the town border.
As usual, the owner, Miguel, was drinking in the middle of the day. He was a drunkard of an immigrant, living in this town for almost 20 years but rarely interacting with its residents.
"It's unusual for you, hick, to come to this place, boy," Miguel said, still semi-conscious from his hangover despite having downed three bottles of beer, which he kept on the cashier's desk.
"It's not like I never use this route," Adam replied.
"It's dangerous, kid. If you want to get out of this town, you'd better take another route or wait until next month," Miguel warned, tossing his empty beer can into the trash behind Adam, which annoyed him. However, Adam didn't have time to deal with Miguel's antics.
"Sigh, I wish I could," Adam said.
He paid for his items, ate his sandwich, and finished it just as the gas was filling up. After drinking his soda, he disposed of the trash in the nearest can.
Continuing his journey, suddenly a thick fog rolled in, so dense that Adam's headlights barely illuminated the road ahead.
Out of nowhere, a bright light appeared on his right side—a truck was speeding straight toward Adam's car. Strangely, the right side was literally a mountain.
"What the—"
Crash!
The truck collided with Adam's car, and both vehicles plummeted into the ravine.