Hidden face:

The rain have been falling for hours, washing the city in a blur of silver and shadow. in the dim glow of the streetlamps, people moved quickly past, faces hidden beneath umbrellas, masks, and scarves. but among them become one determine who regarded to hold more than just the load of the hurricane — a man whose face become by no means seen, handiest whispered approximately.

They called him the Hidden Face.

No person knew his actual name. some said he changed into a fugitive, others believed he become a grieving soul who had lost everything. however what unsettled the metropolis maximum changed into not his anonymity — it changed into the silence that followed him. wherever he walked, conversations faltered, laughter died, and even the rain regarded to hush.

The come upon

Sara had by no means believed in city legends. She turned into a journalist, trained to chase information, not shadows. but whilst her editor exceeded her a skinny file marked Hidden Face, interest stirred. The document contained most effective fragments: blurred photos, witness statements, and a unmarried chilling word — “He knows your sin earlier than you confess it.” That night time, Sara accompanied the trail into the antique quarter of the town. The streets narrowed, the lamps flickered, and the silence grew heavier. She spotted him close to a boarded‑up bookshop, status flawlessly nonetheless, as though waiting. His face changed into hid under a hood and a masks, however his eyes — sharp, unyielding — locked onto hers.

“Why do you conceal?” she asked, her voice trembling.

He didn’t answer. rather, he handed her a folded piece of paper. On it was a unmarried line: “You broke a promise.” Sara iced up. no person else knew approximately the promise she had failed to maintain — the night she overlooked her more youthful brother’s name for assist, too busy chasing a tale. He were in trouble, and by morning, he changed into gone.

The burden of secrets and techniques

The Hidden Face vanished into the rain, leaving Sara shaken. She attempted to brush aside it as twist of fate, however the phrases gnawed at her. Over the subsequent week, she heard whispers from others who had seen him. A banker who had stolen from customers. A trainer who had falsified facts. A baby-kisser who had betrayed his human beings. each had received a notice, every have been faced with their inner most, maximum non-public sin.

Sara found out the Hidden Face became no longer just a man — he became a mirror. He contemplated the guilt human beings carried, forcing them to face what that they had buried.

but why? and the way did he recognise?

The Revelation

Determined to uncover the truth, Sara traced him to an abandoned church on the threshold of the city. inside, the air smelled of dirt and forgotten prayers. Candles flickered against cracked walls. And there he changed into, kneeling before the altar, his hood reduced.

She approached cautiously. “ absolutely everyone’s sins. How?”

His voice was low, nearly damaged. “because I carry them.”

Sara frowned. “What do you mean?”

He lifted his mask, revealing no longer a scarred face however a weary one — coated with sorrow, eyes heavy with grief. “i used to be as soon as a priest. human beings came to me with their confessions. I listened, I forgave, however I in no way forgot. while the church burned, while the records had been lost, I became the keeper of their secrets. Their sins live in me. I conceal my face due to the fact it is no longer mine — it belongs to them.”

Sara’s breath stuck. the burden of his words pressed down like the storm outdoor. He wasn’t a ghost or a legend. He became a man fed on through the sins of others, sporting them like chains.

The selection

“You don’t need to undergo this by myself,” Sara whispered.

He shook his head. “If I prevent, the silence breaks. The metropolis will drown in its own lies. i am the reminder that fact can't be buried forever.” Sara desired to argue, however deep inside she knew he became proper. The Hidden Face was no longer a curse — he become a consequence. A residing embodiment of guilt, forcing people to confront what they'd attempted to erase. As she left the church, the rain eased. Sara regarded lower back one final time, but he become already long past, swallowed by means of shadows.

Epilogue

Weeks later, Sara published her story. She didn’t monitor his identification, best the legend: a man who is aware of your sin before you confess it, a man who hides his face as it incorporates the weight of all of us else’s.

The city buzzed with fear and fascination. some disregarded it as myth, others swore it became real. however Sara knew the truth — the Hidden Face became accessible, walking amongst them, silent yet unyielding.

And whenever she heard the rain fall, she remembered his phrases: “I bring them.”