CHAPTER 6: THE THIRD HEIR
CHAPTER 6: THE THIRD HEIR
No one dared speak.
The old woman's words lingered in the chamber like smoke.
Three Valenti heirs.
I looked at Julian.
Then Elias.
Only two boys stood before me.
"So..."
My voice echoed through the underground hall.
"...where's the third?"
The woman smiled, but there was no warmth in it.
"The third has been standing here all along."
Her eyes settled on me.
Silence.
Then laughter.
Not from everyone.
Only from me.
A short, disbelieving laugh.
"You're mistaken."
"I never had children."
"I'm not Victor's son."
"I'm his brother."
"You are," she replied calmly.
"But blood doesn't always decide inheritance."
She tapped the stone floor gently with her cane.
"The first rule of the Valenti legacy..."
"...is that the title of heir is earned."
Lucien finally stepped forward.
"Madam Helena..."
"You shouldn't have come."
So that was her name.
Helena.
The woman everyone seemed to fear more than bullets.
She looked at Lucien with quiet disappointment.
"I left you in charge."
"And you failed."
Lucien lowered his head.
"I know."
"You allowed them to find the tunnels."
"I know."
"You allowed Adrian to learn the truth before he was ready."
"I know."
Each answer sounded less like obedience...
And more like guilt.
Helena turned toward me.
"You've been asking the wrong questions."
"I've been asking for the truth."
"No."
"You've been asking who."
She smiled.
"When you should have been asking why."
She slowly walked toward the enormous chessboard carved into the floor.
Every person instinctively stepped aside to let her pass.
She placed her cane on the center square.
"The Valenti family built hospitals."
"Banks."
"Shipping companies."
"Entire cities."
"None of those were their real purpose."
She looked directly into my eyes.
"They were guardians."
"Guardians of what?"
Her smile disappeared.
"A prison."
The word echoed through the chamber.
Again.
A prison.
Rinaldi whispered,
"My grandfather said the estate was built to imprison something..."
Helena nodded once.
"He was right."
Julian stepped forward.
"What prison?"
Helena looked at him with surprising kindness.
"You've lived above it your entire life."
She pointed toward the glowing tunnel beyond the chamber.
"Everything beneath this mountain was sealed centuries before your family existed."
"The Valentis were chosen only to keep the seal intact."
Elias folded his arms.
"And if the seal breaks?"
No one answered.
Not immediately.
Then Marco quietly spoke.
"People die."
Helena shook her head.
"No."
Her voice became softer.
"That would be mercy."
A chill swept through the chamber.
The golden light in the distant tunnel grew brighter.
The vibration beneath our feet became stronger.
Stone cracked somewhere far below.
Helena sighed.
"It has begun."
Lucien looked horrified.
"It shouldn't open for another nineteen years."
"It wasn't supposed to."
Helena looked at me.
"But someone forced it."
My mind raced.
"Who?"
For the first time...
Helena hesitated.
Then quietly answered.
"Your brother."
The world seemed to tilt.
"Victor?"
"Impossible."
"He died."
"No."
Helena looked almost sympathetic.
"He disappeared."
Julian's breathing became uneven.
"My father is alive?"
Helena closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
Lucien suddenly interrupted.
"That's enough."
His voice was sharper than before.
"You promised."
"I promised to protect them."
Helena answered calmly.
"I never promised to keep lying."
Before anyone could speak again...
A loud metallic crack echoed through the glowing tunnel.
The chamber shook violently.
Several stone pillars split down the middle.
The golden light suddenly pulsed.
Like a heartbeat.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Each pulse made the air feel heavier.
Harder to breathe.
One of the masked soldiers fell to his knees.
Blood streamed from his nose.
Another dropped his rifle.
"My head..."
A third screamed.
"They're starting!"
Helena didn't even look at them.
"They're too weak."
Then...
A voice.
Not loud.
Not whispered.
It simply appeared.
Inside every person's mind.
Welcome...
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
At last...
The gate opens.
Several people clutched their ears.
Others collapsed.
The sound wasn't painful.
It was ancient.
Like hearing something the human mind had forgotten thousands of years ago.
Julian staggered backward.
"What..."
Elias grabbed the wall.
"You hear it too?"
"I hear everything."
Marco fell to one knee.
Lucien whispered a prayer.
Only Helena remained perfectly still.
I heard the voice more clearly than anyone else.
Adrian...
It knew my name.
Come closer.
Something inside me wanted to obey.
One step.
Then another.
Before I realized it...
I was already walking toward the glowing tunnel.
"Sir!"
Rinaldi grabbed my arm.
The instant he touched me...
He was thrown backward as if struck by an invisible force.
He crashed into a stone pillar.
Blood ran down his forehead.
Helena watched without surprise.
"It chose him."
"What chose him?"
She looked toward the light.
"The one beneath."
The golden glow suddenly disappeared.
Darkness flooded the tunnel.
Then...
Two eyes opened.
Far below.
Impossible to judge their distance.
Or their size.
They simply existed.
Watching.
Waiting.
The chamber became deathly silent.
Every person instinctively stepped backward.
Except me.
I couldn't.
My feet refused.
The voice returned.
Only for me.
You finally came back.
Back?
"I've never been here."
A soft laugh echoed inside my mind.
You have.
You were only too young to remember.
My heartbeat stopped.
What did that mean?
The eyes slowly blinked.
Then vanished.
The pressure disappeared instantly.
Everyone gasped for air.
As though the entire chamber had been underwater.
Helena lowered her head.
"It remembers him."
Lucien looked terrified.
"No..."
"It remembers his mother."
I turned sharply.
"My mother died when I was eight."
Helena's expression changed.
Not to pity.
To regret.
She spoke only six words.
"No..."
"That's what they told you."
May you like
The chamber fell completely silent.
END OF CHAPTER 6
