Chapter 6
The winds turned colder along the coast. Amira noticed Elias drifting into silences more often. The fire between them still burned, but shadows danced along its edges.
One afternoon, she discovered an old photograph hidden in the lighthouse attic—Elias as a child beside a woman with storm-gray eyes and a weary smile. On the back, a single word was written: Selene.
When Amira asked, Elias shut down. "Some things are better left in the dark," he whispered.
But the whispers—those soft voices in the wind—grew louder for Amira. They weren't just warnings anymore. They began to show her visions. A shoreline. Blood in the tide. A storm that had already claimed someone once before.
Elias, restless, began wandering the cliffs at night.
One night, Amira followed.
There on the edge, he finally spoke the truth: Selene was his twin sister. She had drowned during a storm fifteen years ago—right below the lighthouse. He was the one who couldn't save her. Ever since, the sea hadn't forgiven him… and neither had he.
Amira, moved by the rawness of his pain, reached for his hand.
"We can't run from our wounds," she said. "But we can choose not to bleed alone."
He didn't reply. But he didn't let go either.
And beneath the tangerine dusk, the whispers fell silent—for the first time in weeks.