CAPTURED BY THE ALIEN Chapter 16: 16

I was completely lost. The feeling that everything around me was happening too fast, uncontrollably, made it hard to breathe. The temple, which once seemed to be the answer to the questions that tormented me, now appeared as just another obstacle in my path. Every step I took was distancing me further from the reality I knew, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to discover what would come next.

Varek was ahead, as always. He seemed confident, determined, as if this place was the key to something greater. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was unfolding dangerously. I approached him, trying to stay calm, but there was something in his posture, something in the way he looked at the runes, that told me he wasn’t as sure as he was trying to appear.

“Varek,” I said, my voice hesitant. “Are you sure this is what we should be doing?”

He didn’t look at me immediately, but I saw the muscle in his jaw tighten. When he finally turned, there was a hint of frustration in his eyes. But it wasn’t just that. There was something more, as if he were fighting against a feeling he didn’t want to admit, even to himself.

“We can’t go back, Carmem,” he replied, his voice harsher than I expected. “Destiny brought us here, and this temple is the only way to find out what’s happening.”

I knew he believed that. He was so immersed in the mission that he seemed unaware of what was happening with me, or what was happening with him. What was that feeling in the air? Why did everything seem so wrong now?

Before I could continue questioning him, something strange happened. The air around us grew thicker, the light of the runes flickered as if it were being overloaded, and I felt a pressure in my chest, as if the temple itself were closing in on us. The ground began to tremble slightly, and a voice echoed in the air. It was a deep voice, a sound that seemed to come from within the temple, as if the walls were alive.

“Who dares to invoke the ancestral power?” The voice spoke, reverberating in my mind.

I shuddered, my body frozen by the force of the presence now surrounding us. Varek, beside me, stood still. He seemed to be in a trance, as if he recognized the voice and knew what to do next. I, on the other hand, had no idea what was happening. Whatever it was, it wasn’t something I was ready to face.

“It’s us,” Varek finally responded, his voice firm, but something in his posture was more tense than ever. “We’ve come seeking answers.”

The voice in the air fell silent for a moment, and the temple seemed to wait. Then, the runes began to glow with a blinding intensity, illuminating the space with a white light that temporarily blinded me. The air around us thickened, and I felt an intense heat on my skin.

And that’s when I heard another voice. Softer, sweeter, but laced with a sense of urgency.

“Carmem, you don’t understand what’s happening.” It was Theresa’s voice, and I recognized it instantly. She was somewhere, but where? I tried to focus, but everything around me was becoming a whirlwind of lights and shadows. “You have to leave. Varek is being manipulated.”

These words hit me like a shock of electricity. I wanted to respond, ask what she meant by that, but the pressure around me increased, and Theresa’s voice disappeared like a whisper in the wind.

“Carmem, don’t listen to that voice,” Varek said, more agitated than before. He stepped closer to me, his eyes locked on mine. “You need to trust me. What’s happening here is much bigger than you realize.”

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to feel the security he was trying to convey. But Theresa’s words were still echoing in my mind, and the feeling that something was wrong only intensified. I could no longer ignore what was happening. There was something dark in all of this, something that was being hidden from me.

And then, without warning, the light around the stone platform where we stood grew even brighter, and an explosion of energy filled the space. I dropped to my knees, my chest tight, struggling to breathe, trying to understand what was happening. My vision was blurred, and everything seemed to distort, as if time itself were unraveling around us.

Varek was beside me, but his expression had changed. He was in some sort of trance, as if he were listening to something I couldn’t understand.

“Varek, what’s happening?” I shouted, but my voice was drowned out by the rising sound of an approaching presence.

His response came in a tense whisper, almost inaudible. “I don’t know, but we can’t leave now.”

And it was in that moment, in that temple full of mystery and ancestral power, that I knew the answers I sought would come at a cost. But was I ready to face it?