The truth under the shadow

The atmosphere that was forming while they were there, surrounded by Viktor's magic circle that was getting hotter and hotter, making them sound in their clothes, the smoke prevented the rain from reaching them. Grace and Viktor stopped trying to fight the thing after they realized it wasn't attacking them, especially Viktor who was using his powers, quickly tiring due to the lack of use during the years he was away from the supernatural world.

Just as it began, the cloud of black smoke lost speed and disappeared below the wooden floor, sinking into the creases. Grace dropped the cup that was in her hand, having picked it up to try to defend herself, after they made sure the thing wouldn't come back, she threw herself on the sofa, feeling her body protest against everything that had happened in that short space of time, the cemetery thing, the conversation she had with Viktor, the sudden appearance of that ugly thing.

His life had been turned upside down in less than 12 hours.

Viktor's cell phone started ringing, emitting a sickening ringtone in the middle of the room. He answered the phone and walked away so he could have a more private conversation with the person who called him. The rain had stopped a few minutes ago, leaving behind only the damage that she and the thing had left behind, her room was soaked with water, her books were wet and she hoped for all that she could fix them, but despite everything and her concern for them, that was her least concern now.

Grace looked at the broken glass on the floor, remembering her cell phone that was now broken, she really wanted to talk to her grandfather, to know how he was, she hadn't said goodbye to him before everything happened, but he seemed to be fine, since he sent Viktor to rescue her. Speaking of the boy, he was still an unknown to her, he wasn't annoying or anything, but she didn't know anything about him other than that her grandparents trusted him since he was a wizard's apprentice, but he helped her and protected her and she owed him now, after all, if he wasn't here, she probably wouldn't even be alive right now.

The thing had completely scared her, she didn't know what had actually happened, he was still trying to understand why all that had happened to her. In fact, she knew, Viktor had told her the reasons, but there were still some gaps in his story, not that it was her fault, since he seemed to not know more than what he had told her, but the doubt was still eating her alive.

Viktor returned to her. His expression was worried.

“Grace, we need to go, your grandfather called me, he was also attacked in the cabin, he asked me to take you there.”

The words 'attacked in the cabin' worried her more than anything, making her stand up quickly.

"What? Let’s go there now!”

Grace wasted no time in leaving the house through the space where the window had broken, not caring about the shards of glass along the way. She was already starting to feel anxious, a feeling of tightness in her chest betrayed the anxiety attack that was about to come, the nervousness of not knowing what was waiting for her on the other side of the city made her hands shake.

“Grace, wait!” Viktor asked as he ran to catch up with her in the middle of the field, she had already walked a while, quickening her pace, hoping to get to her grandfather's house as quickly as possible. Knowing whar he would say, Grace said: “No, we can’t, your car is too low to pass through the mud road, after the rain no automobile passes until it is completely dry.” She replied as she continued to walk towards the exit of the grounds.

Viktor didn't take long to follow her, he was thinking about going back and getting his car, but he didn't live there and she knew the terrain better between the two. And if his car got stuck in the mud, it would be a headache for him and they would waste more time than necessary to get to Dante's house.

He was still amazed at how Grace was handling everything that was going on and he knew it wouldn't take long for her to completely break down after not being able to deal with all the emotions anymore.

Grace felt her heart beating in her throat, each beat resounding like the thunder that echoed in the sky earlier that night, her only thoughts were how everything had gotten out of her control, how everything had suddenly gone wrong, how she no longer had the last word to say in situations. The bad feeling that had consumed her since that dark spirit invaded her dreams now became unbearable. Something terrible had happened and was still happening and she was the protagonist.

At a certain point on the way, they started to run slightly, now Grace was grateful more than anything that Cicury was a small town. When they arrived at the street where their grandfather lived, they could already see the results that the fight had left behind, some curious residents who still had the courage to leave the house after the episode and the heavy rain that had fallen were around the fence, slowing down and getting closer and closer to the land, the first thing they saw was that the gate was ajar, creaking under the force of the wind. The normally well-kept porch was littered with debris – pieces of wood from the columns were splintered, and the main door, wide open, swung lazily on its broken hinges.

Grace barely waited for Viktor to react. She rushed inside, ignoring the people who now whispered at her arrival, gossiping about what had happened. His grandfather's house, now just the ruins of what it had been earlier that day, was dark and wet, there was the wreckage of everything it could possibly hold.

“Grandpa!" His voice was choked, a mix of despair, anger, anxiety and fear.

Viktor was right behind, holding his cell phone with the flashlight on. The beam of light swept across the room, revealing battle marks everywhere. The carpet was singed, as if a magical explosion had been released there. The mirrors were broken, and strange symbols burned faintly on some surfaces.

That's when Grace saw it.

In the midst of the destruction, under the rubble of a fallen bookcase and pieces of the ceiling, was the frail body of his grandfather.

"No!" Grace ran to him, ignoring the pain as she knelt over the wreckage. Her fingers shook as she tried to remove the debris from him. Her eyes were beginning to well up with unshed tears.

The old man opened his eyes with difficulty, his breathing ragged. The bloodstain on his clothes and the cut on the side of his forehead told him he was struggling to be conscious, but the determined gleam in his eyes was still there.

"Grace… you came quickly…" he murmured, his voice weak but full of urgency. Dante took his gaze to Viktor, gratitude and sadness was what he was feeling for the boy, knowing that he had done what he asked earlier on the phone, which luckily was in his pocket when he was attacked, not being damaged enough to prevent him from making some calls.

" What happened? Who did this to you?! " Pain and fear mixed in Grace's voice.

"A servant of Lazarus... came to stop me... I tried to call you a few times but you didn't answer." He tried to move, but a groan of pain escaped his lips.

Viktor, who until then had been observing the scene in silence, knelt next to Grace, analyzing the severity of the injuries. His heart still ached and he feared for when he found out what he had done, but this was Dante's last request, he couldn't deny his friend something.

"We can't move it like this. Something might be broken.”

"There is no time… " Grace's grandfather closed his eyes for a moment, thinking about all the decisions he had made in life, the loss of his wife and the neglect he had done to Grace, and then he opened them, focusing on her. “Listen to me, Grace. I won't last long. And before it's too late, I need you to obey me, at least do it as if it were the last thing you would do for me.”

“Don't say that! Let's get out of here, take you to a hospital, you'll be okay, please!" Dante grabbed his granddaughter's hand.

''No!'' He coughed, squeezing her hand tighter. ‘’There is no salvation for me, Grace, that is the curse that runs through our veins, my day has come, a new guardian is about to take over... there is salvation for you, my dear. Promise me you will listen.”

Grace He felt his eyes burn, but he nodded.

"The first thing you need to do… is find Ezren Valefar's diary. You know where it is.”

She blinked. In fact, she had no idea where the diary was.

"Ezren's diary? My ancestor? Grandpa, I don’t know where it is”

“Yes, you do. Think about it Grace, unfortunately I can't reveal where it is, there are people who would kill for that diary, you need to be careful and above all trust your instincts... It contains answers about the family curse... and about you.''

Grace He swallowed hard, feeling a lump tightening his throat. She nodded to her grandfather, showing that she understood his request.

‘’My second order… is that you must follow Viktor."

She looked in surprise at the investigator, who remained silent, his expression closed.

"He can train you, he can recommend the best witchcraft mentors so you can understand what's going on with you, Grace. You need to understand what you are capable of… and what is coming your way.

Grace He looked away at Viktor, but the man remained serious, just observing.

"And finally… " Her grandfather took a deep breath, his hand shaking over hers. "Accept your heritage. I was a fool to follow your grandmother's recommendations, she was tired of living on the run, of living based on the wrong decisions of our ancestors, she imagined that if you lived isolated from this world, oblivious to the knowledge of the supernatural, you could free yourself from what was to come, but we were wrong.”

The weight of those words fell on Grace like an avalanche.

"What does that mean?”

"It means you can no longer run away from who you are. The curse… the fate of the Valefar… it's all intertwined with you. There's no escape anymore."

A thunderous clap of thunder shook the house, making the walls shake.

The old man's eyes began to lose their shine, his breathing became weaker.

"I always knew this day would come... You've always been strong, Grace... But now you need to be more. You need to fight. Remember dear, everything happens for a reason, you may... think it's destiny or our choices, but everything that happened today was the work of someone else's decision, it was meant to happen, me being here now was meant to happen. I hope you achieve what our ancestors couldn't, make this family a name to be respected again, make all the sacrifice worth it and most of all, Grace, never stop believing in yourself. I hope one day you can forgive me.”

Grace He felt tears run down his face as he held his grandfather's hand tightly, which slowly began to lose strength under his grip.

"Grandpa, please don’t go…”

But the only response she received was silence.