HAANI

Episode13

HAANI

Episode 13

The underground room was completely silent.

Haani was holding the old photograph in her hands, while Eric's eyes remained fixed on the face of his grandfather.

His lips moved, but no words came out.

Finally, he said quietly,

“This photograph shouldn't be here.”

Haani asked,

“Why?”

Eric didn't take his eyes off the photograph.

“Because my father always told me that my grandfather had nothing to do with 1887.”

Maya immediately said,

“But he is standing in this photograph with the other four people.”

Eric didn't answer.

Haani turned the photograph over and read the sentence again:

“He was the one who chose the silence.”

“What did your grandfather remain silent about?”

Eric looked at Haani.

“I don't know.”

Haani said,

“But your father knew.”

A look of concern appeared in Eric's eyes.

“Maybe.”

Sophie asked,

“Did your father never tell you anything about 1887?”

After remaining silent for a moment, Eric replied,

“He only told me one thing.”

“What?” Emma asked.

Eric spoke quietly,

“Some truths are such that once you know them, you can never remain the same person.”

Haani remembered the words she had encountered again and again.

Truth. Choice. Silence.

It felt as if all the clues from 1887 were different pieces of the same story.

Maya looked at the metal box again.

“There was more inside it.”

Haani asked,

“What?”

Maya picked up the folded document.

Several old signatures were visible on it.

Four names were clear:

Edward Johnson

Thomas Johnson

Yusuf Rahman

Michael Carter

But the fifth space was empty.

Only a small symbol had been drawn above it.

Maya immediately recognized it.

“This is the same symbol I found in my grandfather's files.”

Haani looked at her in surprise.

“Did your grandfather know what this symbol meant?”

“Maybe. But his research stopped before he could finish it.”

Eric suddenly took the document from Maya.

His eyes fell on the symbol.

His expression changed.

Haani noticed immediately.

“You recognize it.”

Eric didn't answer.

“Eric?”

He remained silent for a moment.

Then he said,

“I saw this symbol when I was a child.”

Everyone looked at him.

“Where?” Maya asked.

Eric replied quietly,

“In my father's study. Inside an old book.”

Haani asked,

“What was in the book?”

Eric lowered his head.

“I don't know. I wasn't allowed to read it.”

“And now?”

“The book disappeared after my father died.”

Silence filled the room again.

Haani felt that perhaps, for the first time, Eric himself was trying to understand the mystery.

That same night, Eric was sitting alone in his family's study.

His laptop was open in front of him.

He typed into the search bar:

“Islam and Jesus.”

He read several pages.

He discovered that Islam considers Jesus a great prophet and gives Mary a respected and honored position.

Eric leaned back in his chair.

He remembered something Haani had said weeks earlier:

“Disagreement doesn't have to mean hatred.”

After a few moments, he typed another question:

“What does Islam teach about kindness?”

He found a hadith.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:

“Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.”

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6013; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2319)

Eric stared at the sentence for a long time.

It was a very simple teaching.

But it raised a question in his mind.

If Islam was only what he had been told about since childhood, then why did its teachings place such emphasis on mercy and compassion?

He didn't close the laptop.

Instead, for the first time, he decided that he would not rely on what other people told him.

He would research for himself.

The next day, Haani was sitting in the library.

Maya walked over to her.

“I found something else.”

Haani looked up.

“What?”

Maya placed an old university register in front of her.

“This is an 1888 record.”

Haani began turning the pages.

Suddenly, her finger stopped.

It read:

Edward Johnson — Present

Thomas Johnson — Present

Yusuf Rahman — Present

Michael Carter — Present

And underneath was a sentence:

“One member refused to sign.”

Haani looked at Maya in surprise.

“This could be the fifth person!”

Maya nodded.

“But his name isn't written.”

Haani turned to the next page.

The page had been torn.

Only one word remained:

Johnson.

Haani's heart began beating faster.

“One Johnson refused to sign.”

Maya said,

“And perhaps that's why his name was later removed from the records.”

At that moment, Haani's phone vibrated.

There was a new message.

“Ask Eric what happened to the book.”

Haani read the message.

Her eyes immediately searched for Eric.

He was standing at the other end of the library.

Haani walked toward him.

“Eric.”

He stopped.

Haani asked,

“Where is your father's old book?”

Surprise appeared on his face.

“How do you know about that book?”

Haani replied,

“Just tell me where it is.”

Eric looked at her for a moment.

Then he quietly said,

“I don't have it.”

“Then who has it?”

Eric looked away.

“I don't know.”

Haani asked,

“Are you telling me the truth?”

For the first time, Eric answered without anger.

“This time… yes.”

Haani remained silent.

Eric looked at her for a moment before saying,

“But there is a room in my father's old house that has been locked for years.”

Haani's eyes widened.

“And you never opened it?”

Eric shook his head.

“No.”

“Why?”

Eric spoke quietly.

“Because the last time my father mentioned that room, he told me only one thing…”

He stopped.

Haani asked,

“What?”

Eric said slowly:

“If you ever find the key to that room, don't use it.”

Haani stared at him.

The mystery was no longer only beneath the Old Chapel.

Perhaps another part of the 1887 secret was buried inside the old Johnson family house.

And perhaps…

the book that Eric's family had kept hidden from the world was still inside that room.