HAANI

Episode9

The night had grown very late.

In the underground room beneath the Old Chapel, the dim light of the bulb flickered from time to time. Outside, rain continued to fall over London. Drops of water struck the windows of the old building, creating an eerie sound in the quiet night.

Haani held the folded piece of paper in her hand.

Only two words were written on it:

Michael Johnson

She kept looking at the name.

Eric stood silently in front of her. The arrogance Haani had seen in him since their first meeting at the university was missing. Instead, there was something else on his face—something close to worry.

Finally, Haani asked,

“Michael Johnson… that’s your father’s name, isn’t it?”

Eric did not answer immediately.

For a few moments, the only sound in the room was the rain.

Then he quietly said,

“Yes.”

Haani looked at the paper.

“Then why is this page here?”

“I don’t know.”

Haani looked directly at him.

“You do know.”

Anger appeared in Eric’s eyes.

“You always think you can understand everything.”

Haani calmly replied,

“No. But when someone keeps trying to run away from something, it usually means there is something important behind it.”

Eric’s voice became cold.

“You don’t need to know anything about my family.”

Haani answered,

“And you didn’t need to keep getting in our way.”

Maya immediately stepped between them.

“Enough. We didn’t come here to argue. We came here to find out what really happened in 1887.”

Haani nodded.

“And to find out who Yusuf Rahman was.”

Eric immediately looked at Maya.

“I told you not to mention that name.”

Maya stared at him.

“How do you know Yusuf Rahman’s name is written here?”

Eric fell silent.

Maya’s eyes narrowed.

“I never showed you the diary.”

Eric said nothing.

For a few seconds, he simply stared at the old diary before stepping back.

“I shouldn’t have come here.”

Haani immediately asked,

“Why?”

Eric walked toward the door.

“Because some questions have answers people don’t want to hear.”

He began walking toward the stairs.

Haani watched him go.

When he reached the door, Maya called,

“Eric.”

He stopped.

“If you really don’t know anything, then why are you so afraid?”

Eric looked back.

He said nothing.

Then he walked up the stairs and disappeared.

Silence returned to the room.

Sophie quietly said,

“He is definitely hiding something.”

Haani looked at the diary.

“And we need to find out what.”

Maya examined the final pages of the diary.

“This diary is incomplete.”

Haani looked at her in surprise.

“What do you mean?”

“Several pages are missing. At least seven.”

Emma looked shocked.

“Seven pages?”

Maya nodded.

“And I think those pages contained the most important information.”

Then Maya noticed a small symbol inside the diary’s cover.

It was a circle with a tiny cross-like mark in the center.

She became silent.

Haani asked,

“What happened?”

“I’ve seen this symbol before. In my grandfather’s old files.”

Haani’s eyes widened.

“Were those files also related to 1887?”

“Yes.”

Maya took an old photograph from her pocket.

It showed five people standing in front of a stone building.

Written on the back were the words:

London — 1887

Maya handed the photograph to Haani.

“This is Edward Johnson.”

Haani studied the photograph.

“And the others?”

“I don’t know.”

Haani turned the photograph over.

There was another sentence written on the back:

Five people knew. Only one spoke.

Haani quietly translated it.

“Five people knew… only one spoke.”

The room became silent.

Emma asked,

“Could that person have been Yusuf Rahman?”

Maya didn’t answer.

Haani opened the diary again and looked at the torn page:

“…and Yusuf knew the truth.”

She placed the photograph beside the diary.

Edward Johnson.

Yusuf Rahman.

1887.

Michael Johnson.

And Eric.

One question kept returning to her mind:

What was Michael Johnson’s connection to all of this?

A little later, Eric moved toward the door.

Haani watched him but said nothing.

He stopped and said,

“Some questions have answers people don’t like.”

Then he walked up the stairs.

Sophie whispered,

“He is hiding something big.”

Haani closed the diary.

“And we’re going to find out what it is.”

The next morning, London looked different.

The rain had stopped, but the streets were still wet. Water droplets covered the old university buildings, while the cold wind moved through the trees.

Haani, Sophie, and Emma were sitting in the university café.

Sophie placed her cup on the table.

“I barely slept last night.”

Emma smiled weakly.

“Neither did I.”

Haani was quietly looking at the old photograph.

Maya joined them.

“I’ve received permission to look through the old archive records.”

Haani immediately asked,

“Can we search for Michael Johnson?”

Maya nodded.

“Yes. But there’s a problem. Some of the Johnson family records aren’t kept at the university.”

“Then where are they?”

“In a private collection. I don’t know who has them yet.”

A voice came from behind them.

“Maybe I do.”

They all turned.

It was their professor.

He placed an old file on the table.

“Michael Johnson conducted research at this university almost twenty years ago.”

Haani’s heart began beating faster.

“On what subject?”

The professor answered,

“Religious and social events of 1887.”

Sophie looked surprised.

“So Eric’s father was researching the same thing?”

“Yes.”

Haani immediately asked,

“Why did he stop?”

The professor shook his head.

“There is no answer in the records.”

He took out an old piece of paper and placed it in front of Haani.

It contained a sentence written in Michael Johnson’s handwriting:

“The truth was not lost. It was deliberately buried.”

Haani read the sentence quietly.

Emma said,

“That means someone deliberately hid the truth.”

The professor closed the file.

“And that is why I advise all of you to be careful.”

Haani asked,

“Sir, did you know Michael Johnson?”

The professor remained silent for a moment.

“No.”

But something in his expression made Haani feel that he was hiding something too.

At that moment, Haani looked through the glass window of the café.

Eric was standing outside.

His eyes fell on the file, then on Haani.

His expression immediately changed.

He turned and walked quickly toward another part of the building.

Haani stood up.

Sophie asked,

“Where are you going?”

“After him.”

Maya immediately said,

“Haani, don’t go alone.”

But Haani was already walking down the corridor.

A few moments later, she saw Eric near the old staircase.

“Eric!”

He stopped and turned around.

“What do you want now?”

“You saw the file.”

“I’ve seen many files.”

“That file had your father’s name on it.”

Eric’s expression became serious.

“Stay out of it, Miss Malik.”

Haani replied,

“If your father was researching 1887, why didn’t you tell us?”

Eric’s voice was cold.

“Because it’s my life.”

“And maybe that’s why you run away every time you get close to this secret.”

Eric stared at her.

For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then he said quietly,

“You have no idea what you’re getting close to.”

“Then tell me.”

Eric looked away.

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

He remained silent.

Haani asked one final question.

“Did your father discover something in 1887 that changed your entire life?”

Eric stopped.

After a few moments, without turning around, he said,

“Whatever my father discovered… it changed our entire life.”

Haani froze.

“What did he discover?”

Eric said nothing.

He simply walked away.

That evening, Haani sat in her room.

The old photograph, a copy of the diary, the silver key, and Michael Johnson’s note were spread across the table in front of her.

She studied each piece carefully.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

A message from an unknown number appeared.

It contained only one sentence:

“Ask who the fifth person was.”

Haani’s eyes widened.

Five people.

She immediately picked up the old photograph.

There were five people in it.

Edward Johnson.

Yusuf Rahman.

And three unidentified people.

Haani held the photograph closer to the light.

One person’s face looked strangely blurred, as if someone had deliberately hidden it.

She turned the photograph over.

Only one word was written on the back:

Johnson.

Haani’s breath caught.

A new question formed in her mind:

Was the fifth person also from the Johnson family?