Novel & Cerita The Gentle Voices Lie

> Hello, Mother. Mira froze. “Adrian… did you hear that?” He stirred, half-asleep. “Hear what?” > You kept your promise, the voice said again, soft as tidefoam. You let us dream. Mira’s hands trembled. The sound wasn’t in her ears—it came from the child’s crib. Solenne’s eyes were open, calm, aware. --- By morning, the entire village had felt it. Every candle flickered at once; every sleeper woke with the same phrase on their lips:

My eyes wouldn’t stay open; I'm still so tired, so I sink back into the darkness. In and out, time passes fast. As I keep my eyes shut, I hear murmurs at some point, but the voices are low and grave. I can’t seem to open my eyes or even move my body, but I can listen. So I clung to the sounds of the voices that came like a lifeline. Uncertain of where I am and who has captured me. The first voice came, and though a bit raspy, it’s soft and feminine. “She’s okay now. She’s shifted back; it was a bit rough, but... I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

As she focused her spirit, the air around her seemed to hum with energy, charged with unseen forces. Moments of silence stretched, heavy with anticipation, when suddenly a voice, as delicate as the wings of a butterfly, whispered through her consciousness—ethereal and layered with mystery. “Let the sleeping dog lie, Aria,” it urged, each word tinged with meaning and depth, echoing in her soul.

"It’s pretty basic stuff. I’m sure you must have heard it over and again. But differently,” she started. "For sometime, everything was blank. Just blank. Literally felt life less. It was like this for a while. This was until I began to see myself in a dark room. It was terrible at first, as I kept having nightmares about the accident. And some other stuffs I barely recall. God, it felt like hell. Reliving that terrible event every minute of the day. I wanted to run mad. Just went I thought I was at the verge of losing it, it suddenly just. . . stopped. I stopped having those nightmares and started hearing voices. I am pretty sure that deep husky voice was Nicolás'."

Not outside of the people we trusted. But they do. Zalie exhales, slow and deliberate, and when she finally speaks, her voice is unsettlingly calm. A softness so unnatural it sends a shiver down my spine. “I’m going to ask you nicely,” her voice is smooth as glass, the kind of quiet that precedes devastation. “I don’t know who you people are, but I suggest you leave while my patience is still intact.” The air thickens, charged, electric with the weight of unspoken violence.

I held on to Ryan’s sleeve tightly, and a mix of emotions surged through my being. “I’m sorry. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” Ryan blinked and looked at me with confusion. “What? I can’t hear you. Come closer.” This time, it was my turn to feel confused. He was already blind. Could he have lost his hearing too? As I leaned in, Ryan suddenly smiled and pecked me on the cheek. “Now that’s the best way to apologize.” I instantly blushed.

Her voice is reaching no one. Katarina closes her eyes, and the air around her picks up. It swirls her hair around her head. The voices die down as people start to catch on to what’s happening. Katarina opens her eyes, shining a white light. “Quiet.” Her voice is low but strong and resolute. All sounds cease, and the pack is enthralled in the sight before them.

I can still hear her soft and trembling voice from last nigh against my ear. ‘Please… be gentle.’

I stayed slumped against the wall for a long time, his release still sliding down my thighs. The house was quiet now. Too quiet. Later that night, I couldn’t sleep. I wandered the halls, trying to find water, when I heard voices from the guest wing, low, intimate. I froze outside the slightly ajar door. Lia’s voice. Soft. Trembling. “I never stopped thinking about you,” she whispered. His reply was quieter, rough with something I couldn’t name. “They took you from me.”

And before the world went quiet, before the imagined prayers went mute and the Saints, candles aglow, fell silent and still, before her knees buckled and bent, the cane slipping from her grasp to topple with a tumble and a clanking bang, her cheek meeting the comforting cool of polished wood as she lay, she saw the dangerous gleam of beloved white teeth shining from the dark. *** Safe in bed, her pride bruised more than her body, she exhaled, calm and slow. She could hear them whisper. From beneath the floorboards. From within the walls. In the ceiling. Voices distinct, yes, but the words, the sentences, as blurred and hazy as a vicious lie half-told. Snippets here and there landing quick en