THE FACELESS SOUL

GHOST AND PROMISE'S

# THE FACELESS SOUL

## Chapter 3: Ghosts and Promises

The fire in Murree cracked and popped.

Ayaan watched it. The mask was on the table next to him.

Aayat was asleep on the couch, blanket pulled up to her chin.

Victor’s message was still burned in his head:

*Bring me the girl. Or I burn everything you love.*

Ayaan picked up his phone. Typed one word to Hamza: *Location?*

Reply came in 10 seconds: *Textile mill. Kot Lakhpat. 12 guards. Victor inside.*

Ayaan looked at Aayat. She stirred in her sleep and mumbled his name.

He couldn’t leave her.

He couldn’t stay.

He made coffee. Strong. Black. Sat by the window and watched the mountains turn grey with morning.

At 9 AM, Aayat woke up.

"Morning," she said, voice rough.

"Morning," Ayaan replied. "How are you?"

"Alive. Thanks to you." She sat up. "What’s the plan?"

Ayaan handed her coffee. "We don’t have a plan. We have a problem. Victor."

Aayat took the cup. "I know Victor. He doesn’t negotiate. He doesn’t forgive."

"I know."

"He wants me because of the USB. Because I have proof."

"You don’t have proof," Ayaan said. "I do. And I’m going to use it."

Aayat frowned. "What are you going to do?"

"What I do best." Ayaan picked up the mask. "Become Faceless."

---

**Kot Lakhpat. 11:30 PM.**

The textile mill was dead. Machines silent. Windows broken.

12 guards. 2 on the roof. 4 at the gate. 6 inside.

Ayaan watched from the roof across the street. Binoculars.

Black suit. Black mask. No Ayaan. Only Faceless.

His earpiece crackled. Hamza. "Boss, are you sure? Police are 20 minutes out."

"20 minutes is too long," Faceless said. His voice was distorted.

He moved.

First the roof guards. Silent. Fast.

Then the gate.

Inside was worse.

Victor sat in a chair, drinking whiskey. Like he was waiting.

"Took you long enough," Victor said. He was 50. Grey hair. Suit. Smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "I was starting to think you’d gone soft."

Faceless didn’t answer.

"You’re looking for the girl," Victor said. "Aayat. Pretty thing. Smart too. She cost me 40 million."

Faceless stepped forward.

Victor laughed. "Relax. She’s not here. Yet. But she will be. Unless you give me something."

"What?"

"The USB. The real one. Not the copy you gave to Interpol."

Faceless tilted his head. "How do you know about that?"

"Because I have people everywhere, Ayaan." Victor stood. "Take off the mask. Let’s talk like men."

Faceless pulled a gun. "Where is she?"

"Safe. For now." Victor smiled. "But every hour you waste, she gets less safe."

Gunfire from outside.

Hamza. "Boss, more men coming. 8 cars."

Faceless shot the lights out. The room went dark.

When the lights came back on, Victor was gone.

And on the table was a phone.

It rang.

Faceless answered.

Aayat’s voice. Shaking. "Ayaan?"

His blood froze. "Aayat?"

"Ayaan, they’re here. At the safehouse. I’m—"

The line cut.

Victor’s voice came on. "That was fun. See you soon, Faceless."

Click.

---

Ayaan didn’t remember driving.

He remembered tires screeching.

He remembered breaking the door down.

He remembered the safehouse was empty.

No Aayat.

No guards.

Just a note on the table.

*We have her. Come alone. Warehouse 18. Docks. Midnight. Bring the USB. - V*

Ayaan crushed the note in his fist.

Hamza came in, breathing hard. "Boss, I’m sorry. They were too fast."

"Get the team," Ayaan said. His voice was ice. "Full gear. We’re going to war."

"You can’t go alone."

"I’m not." Ayaan picked up the mask. "I’m going as Faceless."

---

**Midnight. Warehouse 18. Docks.**

Rain. Containers. Fog.

Ayaan walked in alone. No gun. Just the USB in a metal case.

Victor was waiting. 20 men. And Aayat. Tied to a chair. Gagged.

"Ayaan," she mumbled through the gag.

"Let her go," Ayaan said.

Victor clapped slowly. "Brave. Stupid, but brave. Give me the USB."

Ayaan held it up. "After you let her go."

"Deal." Victor snapped his fingers. One man untied Aayat.

She ran to Ayaan. He pulled her behind him.

"Now the USB," Victor said.

Ayaan tossed it.

Victor caught it. Opened it. Plugged it into a laptop.

His smile faded. "This is fake."

Ayaan shrugged. "You should’ve asked nicer."

Victor’s face went red. "Kill them!"

The warehouse exploded into chaos.

But Ayaan wasn’t alone.

Hamza and 4 men came through the roof.

Police came through the doors.

15 minutes later, it was over.

Victor was in cuffs. Screaming.

Ayaan checked Aayat. "Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, crying now. "I thought— I thought I’d never see you again."

"You will," Ayaan said. "Every day. If you want."

Aayat looked at him. "I do."

Police took Victor away.

Ayaan and Aayat stood in the rain, watching.

"It’s over?" Aayat asked.

"For now," Ayaan said. "Victor goes to prison. This time for life."

Aayat leaned into him. "What happens now?"

Ayaan looked at her. Really looked. "Now we stop running."

---

**One Week Later.**

Alina Tower. Morning.

Ayaan was in a meeting when his assistant knocked. "Sir, Ms. Khan is here."

Aayat walked in. No fear. No running.

The board stared.

Ayaan stood up. "Meeting’s over."

Everyone left.

Ayaan walked to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I quit running," Aayat said. "I want to work here. With you. On the shelter program."

Ayaan stared. "You’re serious."

"Very." She smiled. "And I’m serious about this too."

She kissed him.

Right there. In his office.

When they broke apart, Ayaan was smiling. A real smile.

"You’re trouble," he said.

"You like trouble," she replied.

"I do."

That night, they went back to the Murree safehouse.

But this time, it wasn’t a safehouse.

It was home.

Ayaan put the mask in a box. Closed it.

He didn’t need it anymore.

Because the man with no face...

Finally had something to live for.

---

### End of Chapter 3