Chapter no 9
The Warning in the Shadows
The next morning came wrapped in uneasy quiet, as though the world itself sensed something shifting around Lina. The sky hovered in a thin grey, neither bright nor dark, and a stillness hung over the orphanage yard like a held breath. Lina stood near the gate with her slate board tucked under her arm, rubbing her thumb across its smooth edge while she waited for Marla to finish tying the straps of her sandals. She felt removed from her own body, as though her mind were still wandering the halls of yesterday's library, where the soft whisper and the warm touch had wrapped around her like a veil. Every time she blinked, she saw again the faint shimmer of invisible hands resting on her shoulders, their presence quieter and yet more real than anyone she had known.
Marla looked down at her. "You're quiet this morning," she said softly. "Did you sleep well?"
Lina nodded but her gaze strayed out toward the rooftops where the wind whipped long tendrils of dust up and over. "I think… someone was watching over me," she whispered. "Not someone bad. Someone kind."
Marla's face tightened ever so slightly, but she touched Lina's cheek with a soft, steady hand. "Some children feel things the rest of the world forgets to look for. Don't be afraid of that." Dusting off the girl's shoulder, she said, "Just remember: kind spirits protect, but shadows follow where fate grows strong." Lina didn't understand entirely, but her heart stirred like something was trying to wake inside her.
They walked to school, passing the early vendors setting up their baskets of fruit and handmade toys. People greeted Marla warmly, but their eyes slid over Lina with uncertainty, as though the child carried something unexplainable on her skin. Lina felt their stares but stayed close to Marla, her fingers curled around the woman's sleeve until the school gate appeared.
Inside, children chattered about games and snacks. Adriel boasted loudly of a marble he won in a street game, spinning it in his palm like a treasure. Lina slipped quietly into her seat. She took her slate board out, tracing soft patterns with her chalk while the teacher wrote new letters on the board. But her mind kept drifting-to the glowing presence in the library, to the mysterious voice that whispered her name, to the strange heaviness pressing against her chest this morning.
After the first lesson, the teacher announced, "Group reading today. Pair up." Groans echoed around the room, followed by the rustle of children scrambling for their friends. Lina stayed still, expecting to be left out as usual. But before she could lower her head, a shadow fell across her desk.
"Want to read together?" someone asked calmly.
She looked up to see Raven, the quiet boy with dark eyes who rarely spoke. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning either. He simply waited, like he already knew her answer.
Lina blinked. "Me?"
"Yes," he said simply.
She hesitated, but something about his eyes, deep and still and a little older than his age, tugged at her. She nodded. Raven sat beside her as the teacher handed them a simple storybook. They started reading alternate pages, Lina stumbling over the longer words while Raven read with slow, careful precision. His voice was steady, almost melodic, and it caught at her wandering thoughts.
Lina, upon mispronouncing a word, felt Raven lean closer, to whisper the correct sound without mockery or hurry. His warm breath brushed her ear and sent a small shiver down her spine, not of fear, but of this unfamiliar sensation of being helped without judgment. She repeated the word perfectly. He nodded once in approval.
"You learn fast," he said.
Lina lowered her eyes. "I try."
"No," Raven said, his head in a tilt. "You listen. Most people talk too much to learn."
Before she could reply, a sudden breeze had swooped through the open windows, fluttering pages and lifting chalk dust into the air. Lina stiffened. There was a whisper on the breeze—soft, almost hidden.
"Be careful, Lina…"
Her grip on the book tightened. She looked around, but the children were all focused on their work, oblivious. But Raven lowered his eyebrows a little, as though he too sensed a shift in the air.
At lunch, Lina disappeared into the quiet corner of the courtyard, where a crooked tree leaned over a patch of grass. She sat at the base, squeezing her knees to her chest, hugging them, not knowing whether she felt scared or comforted. Her heart thumped like a distant drumbeat.
A soft warmth brushed her shoulder.
She froze.
A faint shimmer appeared beside her, like ripples in sunlight. She could not see a shape, only a presence—a gentle pull, like a hand lightly guiding her attention.
"Why are you here?" Lina whispered to unseen air. "Who are you?"
Nothing happened for a few seconds.
Then the whisper came again, clearer this time, echoing inside her mind rather than around her.
"Danger walks behind you. Listen to the shadows. Trust the hand that does not harm."
Lina swallowed hard. "What danger?"
Silence swept the courtyard heavy and empty. The presence faded like morning mist dissolving under sunlight. Lina breathed out shakily. Questions tangled in her chest, too mysterious for a child to untangle.
But before she could rise, a figure emerged from behind the tree trunk: Raven.
"You were talking," he said softly.
Lina's breath caught. "I-I wasn't talking to anyone."
Raven's gaze sharpened as he looked around the air surrounding her. "You weren't alone."
Her skin prickled. "What do you mean?"
Raven took a slow step closer. "I saw the air bend, like someone was standing there." His voice lowered. "I've seen it near you before."
Lina's heart was pounding. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I wasn't sure if it was dangerous," he replied. "Now… I'm not sure if it's watching you or protecting you."
Lina clasped her hands tightly. "I think it's trying to protect me."
Raven stared into her eyes, as though searching for something hidden beneath her small, frightened expression. Then he said, "Some shadows warn. Some shadows lie." He knelt down beside her, lowering his voice to a whisper. "If something follows you… you need to be careful. Not all spirits are kind."
Lina opened her mouth to speak, but in that very moment, a cold gust ripped across the courtyard with enough power to sweep dust in swirling circles. Raven shielded his eyes. Lina felt the wind's cold force slam against her as if invisible claws scraped across her back.
The warm presence disappeared.
The cold one remained.
Lina gasped, fear cutting into her like a blade. Instinctively, Raven reached for her wrist and pulled her closer to him.
"Lina—run."
The wind shrieked around them, unseen but merciless. A warning. A promise.
And somewhere beyond the courtyard, the whisper that once had been so soft now echoed with a trembling urgency—
"Don't let the darkness touch her."