Chapter Fifteen: The Ink Labyrinth and Eyes of Darkness
Edward leaned back against the antique wooden chair, the sound of turning pages being the only noise in that silent room. As he traced his tired eyes over his grandfather's cipher, they fell upon a line written in an almost invisible script on the last page of the will: "To know the truth, you must learn everything.. literally."
At that moment, Edward froze. He looked around at the library shelves that embraced the ceiling; thousands of volumes that had seemed like nothing more than gloomy decor to him suddenly transformed into pieces of a giant puzzle. He realized the stunning truth: this book was not the secret, it was the "Index." The cipher was not a single text, but invisible silk threads distributed between the covers of every book in this hall.
Edward whispered in a low voice: "You didn't leave me a treasure, Grandfather.. you left me an entire lifetime to live among these shelves. The cipher is scattered, and the picture will not be complete until I read the very last word in the very last book."
Edward closed the book cautiously and extinguished the lamp. He left the room heading to his bed, his heart dancing to the rhythm of anxiety and excitement.
In the Darkness of the Room
As soon as the door closed and the sound of Edward's footsteps faded, something happened that no human would believe. From a completely dark corner, the air began to condense and ripple like black steam. From the heart of this void, Tula materialized.
This was not the Tula everyone knew; he was something else. His eyes burned with a blood-red glow that pierced the darkness, reflecting a frantic desire to uncover what this boy was hiding. Tula began to search the room with the skill of a predator; he flipped through papers, examined the edges of the table, and looked at the books Edward had been browsing.
But he found nothing. Edward was too clever to leave any physical evidence behind.
Tula stood in the middle of the room, his red eyes gleaming with suppressed rage. He did not speak, but the aura of anger around him was enough to scatter terror in the place. He made his decision in silence: "If I don't find the secret here, I will find it in your eyes, Edward. I will watch every breath, every page you turn, and every word you whisper.. until the fruit falls into my hand."
The red glow suddenly vanished, and Tula returned to the void, leaving behind a faint smell of sulfur and a biting cold that enveloped the place