Chapter 32: circling the prey
925 Words
Sinclair Headquarters - Two Days Later
Adrian noticed it first.
Something was wrong.
Or rather - someone was watching.
He felt it during training.
He felt it while walking through the hallways.
He felt it when sitting at his workstation.
A presence.
Not physical.
Not visible.
But deliberate.
He turned slightly during work hours and caught small details:
Security cameras adjusting angles.
Employees whispering quietly.
A car parked across the street from the building for too long.
His instincts sharpened.
Someone was studying him.
And that realization made his spine go cold.
The Killer - Watching
Across the city, inside his underground control room, the killer watched multiple live feeds.
He had shifted strategy.
Instead of randomly kidnapping...
He would test.
He would provoke.
He would observe reactions.
On one screen:
A young woman leaving Sinclair Media after a late shift.
On another:
Adrian walking alone toward his apartment.
The killer smiled slowly.
"Let's see..."
He tapped a few keys.
Minutes later -
The young woman exiting the building received a message on her phone.
Unknown number.
She opened it.
It was a photo.
Her.
Captured from behind.
Taken moments ago.
Her breathing quickened.
She looked around nervously.
Then another message arrived.
"You look beautiful when you're unaware."
Her heart slammed violently.
She turned toward the parking lot.
And that was when she saw him.
Standing near her car.
Hood up.
Mask hiding his face.
He didn't rush.
He didn't run.
He simply watched.
She screamed.
People turned.
Security guards approached.
But before anyone reached her -
The killer stepped back into the shadows and vanished.
No struggle.
No direct capture.
Just fear planted.
He had tested response time.
Security reaction.
Police involvement.
And he smiled at the results.
"Good..."
He whispered.
"They care about him."
He meant Adrian.
Because the response was too fast.
Too coordinated.
Someone powerful had immediately mobilized resources.
That meant protection.
And protection meant value.
The killer leaned back.
His obsession deepened.
Damien - Suspicion Deepens
Damien received the alert immediately.
Security reported suspicious activity near the building.
He watched the surveillance footage carefully.
The hooded figure.
Standing near the car.
Watching.
Leaving.
Damien zoomed in.
Paused the frame.
Analyzed body posture.
Height.
Weight.
Movement.
His jaw tightened.
"This is the same person."
He turned to Min-Jae.
"Track the license plates of every vehicle parked near the building."
"Pull traffic camera footage."
"I want his movement path."
Min-Jae nodded quickly.
Damien then did something unexpected.
He opened a separate folder.
Footage from the training room.
He replayed the moment when Adrian defeated him.
He paused at the exact frame where Adrian knocked him down.
Damien stared at the screen quietly.
Then whispered,
"You're hiding power."
His eyes narrowed.
"If the killer is watching this company..."
He paused.
"Then he's watching you."
Damien stood slowly.
Picked up his coat.
And made a decision.
He would follow Adrian tonight.
Secretly.
Not as CEO.
But as an observer.
To see whether Adrian attracts danger...
Or creates it.
Underground Facility - Prison Cell
The woman chained inside the cell had been working quietly.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Her fingers had rubbed against the thread stitching her lips for hours.
Painful.
Burning.
But she refused to stay silent forever.
Tonight -
She succeeded.
One stitch loosened.
Then another.
Blood trickled down her chin as she pulled the thread free.
She suppressed a scream.
Tears streamed down her face.
Her lips were still partially connected...
But now-
Air could pass through.
She could whisper.
She glanced around at the other women.
They stared at her with shock.
Hope.
She moved closer to one of them.
"Listen..." she whispered weakly.
Her voice cracked from pain.
"The cameras..."
She tilted her head toward the ceiling.
"They watch."
The other woman nodded slightly.
The escaped woman continued carefully.
"The guard checks the monitors every hour."
"He leaves the hallway unguarded for five minutes."
The prisoners listened closely.
She had studied his routine.
Watched him.
Memorized patterns.
She whispered again.
"When he leaves..."
"We move."
One of the women blinked slowly.
Understanding.
For the first time -
Resistance replaced helplessness.
Adrian - Research Breakthrough
Late at night.
Adrian sat alone at his desk inside Cyber Security.
He reopened hospital birth records.
He filtered deeper.
Not just by date.
Not just by hospital.
But by unusual registration notes.
And then-
He saw it.
Several records from twenty-five years ago had been altered.
Names.
File transfers.
Data encryption.
He zoomed in.
The edits were made by an internal system administrator.
Someone with direct access to medical databases.
Adrian whispered:
"Insider..."
He traced the access logs.
The username linked to the edits had been deleted.
But system archives stored remnants.
Encrypted fragments.
He bypassed the protection carefully.
And recovered one more detail.
The system access had been routed through:
A cybersecurity contractor.
Connected indirectly to Sinclair Infrastructure.
Adrian's fingers froze.
The trail did not lead to random criminals.
It led closer.
Much closer.
He leaned back slowly.
"This is bigger..."
His eyes darkened.
"Someone inside the system erased birth identities."
His breath slowed.
Then he whispered:
"The killer isn't just hunting."
"He's correcting something."
Suddenly-
His phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
Adrian stared at it.
Slowly answering.
Silence.
Then breathing.
Heavy.
Controlled.
A familiar whisper came through.
"You're digging."
Adrian's eyes sharpened instantly.
The killer.
The voice continued softly.
"I like that."
Adrian replied coldly,
"Show your face."
A quiet laugh echoed through the phone.
"Soon."
The call cut.
Adrian stood slowly.
His heart beating fast.
For the first time...
The killer had directly acknowledged him
- Writer
