Then...
The world shifted again.
Darkness wrapped around him, crushing, suffocating..
Then, light.
Back to Reality.
Jack gasped, staggering backward.
He was in his car.
The door was open. The engine was still off. The streetlights flickered dimly in the air.
He turned sharply, Fabio's house was still empty. The world was… normal.
But the chill in his bones told him otherwise.
That wasn't a dream.
Jack sat in the driver's seat, gripping the wheel. His breath was uneven.
He had been given a choice.
Walk away. Forget everything. Live.
Or keep going… and face something far beyond his understanding.
Jack exhaled, steadying himself.
Then, he turned the key in the ignition.
Because no matter the warning, no matter the king's threats...
He wasn't backing down.
"The world is already full of people who look away. " He murmured to himself.
FEW YEARS AGO,
The city of Ainsa thrived under the golden hues of the evening sun. From the towering office buildings to the narrow, cobbled alleyways, life pulsed through its veins like an unstoppable force. Amidst the chaos of rushing pedestrians and the hum of car engines, Timothy Henderson sat in the corner of a dimly lit café, his fingers wrapped around a steaming cup of black coffee.
He had a routine, one so deeply ingrained that even the unpredictable nature of the world outside did little to disturb it. Every morning, he woke at precisely 5:30 AM, before the sky had fully shaken off the remnants of night. His first task was always the same. Standing by the window of his small apartment, sipping his first coffee as he watched the city awaken. It was a habit from his younger days, a quiet ritual of reflection before facing the demands of life.
Timothy wasn't an extraordinary man in the eyes of the world. He was a history professor at the local university, a man who had dedicated decades to books, students, and quiet contemplation. His apartment, though modest, was lined with shelves of old manuscripts and rare first editions. While others sought companionship in bustling nightlife or extravagant gatherings, he found solace in the written word, in the whispers of long-forgotten histories.
But beneath his composed demeanor and scholarly pursuits, Timothy carried a past that most would never suspect.
Timothy Henderson hadn't always been a professor. Once, he had been a man of action,a man who had touched the edges of things most people couldn't begin to comprehend.
Born into a family of military officers, Timothy had followed in his father's footsteps, enlisting at a young age. He was trained to fight, to strategize, to obey. But unlike the others around him, his true passion wasn't in combat. It was in knowledge. He devoured books on ancient civilizations, cryptic symbols, and long-lost texts. His ability to decipher codes and languages made him invaluable, and soon, his role in the military shifted.
He wasn't just a soldier,he was a seeker of truths.
In his late twenties, he was assigned to a classified mission, one that took him to the ruins of an unnamed civilization, buried deep beneath the earth. What they found there had changed him forever. Symbols older than time itself, artifacts humming with a power that defied logic, and writings that spoke of a world beyond this one. A world that lurked just beneath the surface of reality.
That was when he realized that history wasn't just about the past. It was alive, breathing beneath the streets, hiding in the cracks of forgotten buildings and whispers of old bloodlines. And it was dangerous.
The things they unearthed weren't meant for human hands.
By the time Timothy returned from that mission, he was no longer the same man. He left the military, distancing himself from that life, but the ghosts of what he had seen never truly left him. He immersed himself in academia, believing that if he surrounded himself with ordinary people and ordinary routines, the past would fade into obscurity.
It never did.
Now, years later, Timothy had perfected the art of normalcy. He spent his days lecturing students on the importance of understanding the past, grading papers in his cluttered office, and engaging in quiet conversations with colleagues who respected him but never truly knew him.
His evenings were predictable, dinner with his loved one, Margaret, at the same restaurant he had visited for nearly a decade, followed by a walk through the park, where the cool air and the distant sound of the city helped ground him. Although he was curious about the ancient ruins and artifacts, he never really poked his way into it.
Neither than his passion, all Timothy wanted is to live a happy life.
But some nights, he felt it,the pull of the unknown, the feeling that something was watching, waiting. It wasn't paranoia, it was instinct.
There were places in Ainsa that most people ignored,old churches with doors that never opened, alleyways where the air felt too still, libraries that held books that no one should read. Timothy knew where they were. He avoided them when he could.
But every now and then, he wondered...was he avoiding them, or were they avoiding him?
YEARS LATER,
Though Timothy kept to himself, there was one person he had always watched over,his son's closest friend, Fabio. The boy reminded him of himself at that age. Curious, relentless, unwilling to accept the world as it was presented to him. Timothy had never interfered in Fabio's life, but he had kept an eye on him, making sure that if trouble ever came, he would be ready.
And now, something was stirring.
His past was catching up to him.
Timothy had spent years pretending to be nothing more than a simple professor.
But deep down, he knew the truth...
The past never stays buried.
And soon, he would have to decide whether to walk away or step back into the world he had tried so hard to forget.
- TO BE CONTINUED.