### Chapter 28: *"The First Lie"*
> _"Some truths are buried not to protect the world… but to protect those who told them."_
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Majid didn't speak for three days.
He sat in silence, eyes closed, breathing shallow.
Not asleep.
Not awake.
Just… waiting.
No one dared touch him.
Not even Rana.
Only Layla came close — watching him like a scholar watches an experiment unfold.
She wrote everything down.
Every twitch.
Every breath.
Even the way his shadow moved when there was no light.
On the fourth day, he opened his eyes.
Still black.
Still hollow.
But this time…
He spoke.
Not in Arabic.
Not in English.
In something older.
Something that made the air vibrate.
Fatima covered her ears.
— What is that?
Layla whispered:
— I think it's a language.
— I think… he's translating.
Rana knelt beside him.
— Majid.
— Can you hear me?
His head turned slowly.
Then he spoke again.
This time, in broken Arabic.
> _"It shows me things."_
> _"Things I never saw."_
> _"Things I was never meant to see."_
Samir stepped forward.
— What things?
Majid looked at him.
And smiled.
Coldly.
— That none of this was real.
Silence fell.
Thick.
Heavy.
Then the Black Harlot laughed.
Softly.
She had been sitting in the corner of the room, unnoticed until now.
Watching.
Waiting.
Like she always did.
— Oh, little vessel, — she said. — You're finally starting to understand.
Rana turned sharply.
— Understand what?
The woman stood.
Slowly.
Gracefully.
As if gravity bowed to her.
— The spiral isn't just time.
— It's memory.
— And someone decided long ago… that some memories were too dangerous to keep.
She walked toward Majid.
Her heels clicked against the stone floor.
One.
Two.
Three.
Each step echoed more than it should have.
She crouched beside him.
Whispered:
— Your grandfather didn't open the first gate.
— He tried to close it.
Majid blinked.
— But he failed.
The woman smiled.
— Or maybe he succeeded too well.
She reached into her coat again.
Pulled out a small, leather-bound book.
Old.
Faded.
Covered in dust.
She placed it on the floor between them.
— Read it, — she said. — If you dare.
Layla moved first.
She picked it up carefully.
Opened it.
Her breath caught.
The pages weren't blank.
They were filled with writing.
In **her** handwriting.
Dated years from now.
She flipped through.
A journal.
Detailed.
Describing events that hadn't happened yet.
Including one entry dated tomorrow.
Titled:
> _"How to betray the man who saved you."_
She slammed the book shut.
Looked at the Black Harlot.
— What is this?
The woman smiled.
— A warning.
— A confession.
— Or maybe… a prophecy.
Then she turned to Majid.
— The first lie was told to protect you.
— The second was told to control you.
— The third… will be told by you.
Majid's voice was barely above a whisper.
— What was the first lie?
The woman leaned closer.
Until her lips almost touched his ear.
— That your father was your father.
Rana took a sharp breath.
Samir stepped back.
Fatima whispered:
— No…
The woman pulled away.
Smiling.
— The truth is worse than you can imagine.
— But don't worry.
— You'll learn soon enough.
Then she vanished.
Like smoke in the wind.
Leaving only the book.
And the silence.
And the question that would change everything.
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