The glow that emanated from the box illuminated the entire basement with a
white light that burned the eyes but not the skin. It was an ancient light, one that
belonged to neither the modern world nor any known lamp or fire. Jacob covered
his face with his arm, squinting to try to understand what was happening.
When the light finally went out, a thick silence filled the place.The
circle of blood was gone.
The box was still in the center of the basement, but now it was open… and inside was
something that
It should never have
resurfaced.A parchment.Old wrappings, so fragile it seemed impossible they wouldn't fall apart with aa
simple sigh.
The Hebrew letters were perfectly preserved, shining with a dark hue.that seemed
to move as if it were alive.
Sara was the first to catch her breath.
—Jacob… please, don't touch it. This is not of God.
Rebecca, still in her mother's arms, trembled and spoke again in that strange voice:
—It's not… from Him… but it was allowed…
Rick took a step back.
"That's not a relic. It's a curse. Leave it there. Let's go upstairs, close the door,
and..."
Let's call Father Samuel or whoever...
But even as he spoke, Jacob knew there was no turning back.Job's box
only appeared when a test had been granted.
And the fact that it was in his basement, untouched, was a clear sign: the evidence
was not
It was not just personal… it was generational. Universal.
"I have to read it," Jacob said, feeling the words weigh heavily in his mouth.Rick
grabbed his arm.
"Don't be an idiot! You don't know what might happen if
you do that." Jacob stared at him.
—Rick… the tests have already begun. Whatever is in here… it's information.
It could save us.
Rick clenched his jaw, powerless.
Jacob stretched out his trembling hands toward the parchment. When he touched it,
he waitedHe felt either scorching heat or profound cold. But he felt nothing. It was
as if his fingers were touching solid air.
He slowly unwrapped the parchment.
The letters moved subtly beneath his eyes, as if they were
breathing.And then, the contents were revealed.There was a title:
"The Second Permit."
Jacob read in a low voice, with reverential fear:
—"And the Most High said: I will protect the righteous, but if their descendants turn
away from my voice, theTests will be multiplied…"
Sara breathed in short
gasps.Jacob continued
reading.
—"In the first test, Job was found faithful. But his children, confused by the
shadows, were taken. The second test will be for a descendant… and for the world
around him."
Rick opened his eyes, horrified.
—That… that says something about you.
Jacob nodded.
Rebekah
murmured:
—He knew… even before you were born…
The scroll continued, and Jacob felt a cold sweat run down his back.
—"When the Adversary walks among men again, he will seek to enter not through
thenot through flesh, but through fears. It will enter through walls, through cracks,
through dreams… until it breaks the faith of the righteous."
Sara brought a hand to her
mouth. The murmur in the
walls.
The crack in the sky.
The voice inside the
house.Everything matched
Jacob continued, his voice growing increasingly frail:
—"If the righteous one falls… all will fall. But if he endures, the world will be preserved by one"More time."
Rick swallowed hard."For a while? Isn't it even a definitive victory?" Jacob
shook his head slowly.
—It never was.
The parchment trembled in his hands, as if something inside him were
awakening.And then it happened.
A shadow emerged from the ink itself, rising like black smoke.Sara
screamed.
Rick stepped back, stumbling on the
stairs.Rebecca covered her ears, crying.
The shadow rose before Jacob, taking the form of a disfigured face, without
eyes,without a mouth, but with the expression of eternal horror.
The voice that came out did not originate from any throat.
—You've already read what you needed to... Jacob.
Jacob felt like he couldn't breathe.
—Who… who are you?
The shadow vibrated, producing a sound like bones breaking.
—I am the guardian of the Permit. I am the echo of the first trial. And I have been
awakened…
for you.
Rick tried to speak, but the voice silenced him abruptly.
—Your lineage was marked from the beginning. And now your time has begun.
The darkness no longer waits outside… it awaits your fall. And every hour you
resist… it will only make it more voracious.
The shadow slowly turned towards the box… then towards the stairs.
—You won't be able to protect them all.
Sara clung to Rebecca, desperate.
—Don't come any closer!
The shadow vanished like smoke swallowed by an invisible abyss.Silence returned.
Jacob stood motionless, the parchment trembling between his
fingers.An impossible truth had just fallen upon him:
He wasn't just being tested.
Not only did humanity depend on his faith.
Instead, everything she loved would be used against her.
Rick broke the silence.
—Jacob… we can't stay here. This house… it's not a house anymore.
Jacob looked at the parchment.
—No. It isn't anymore.
Sara looked at him with tears in her eyes.
—What are we going to do?
Jacob took a deep breath and answered in the firmest voice he could muster:
—Get upstairs. Pack. And get out of here before nightfall.
But before they reached the stairs, the basement door slammed shut.as if an
invisible hand had pushed her.
They were trapped.
Another voice echoed from
above…a familiar voice…
Robert's.
—Brother…? Are you down there?
Jacob felt the fear take on a new form.