CHAPTER 16-THE SECOND JOURNAL
1865 Words
The warehouse burned behind them.
Orange flames devoured the old building, sending thick black smoke into the night sky. Rain poured heavily, hissing against the flames as distant sirens echoed through the streets.
But Emmeer didn't move.
His storm-grey eyes remained fixed on the inferno.
He wasn't looking at the fire.
He was thinking.
“He escaped…”
His jaw tightened.
“Again.”
Aimaara slowly approached him, still clutching Hakim's leather journal against her chest.
“Emmeer…”
He finally turned.
“You knew there were two journals.”
“I suspected.”
“You never told me.”
“I didn't have proof.”
Aimaara lowered her gaze.
“I don't know what to believe anymore.”
The words struck deeper than any wound.
Before Emmeer could respond, Rayyan helped Nurin into the SUV.
“You okay?”
Nurin nodded weakly.
“I'll survive.”
Rayyan smiled.
“Good. Because Boss would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”
Nurin raised an eyebrow.
“Your boss?”
“My boss.”
Rayyan paused.
“…And maybe someone else.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
He quickly looked away.
Emmeer glanced toward them.
“We're leaving.”
“Where?” Aimaara asked.
“Our safest place.”
Rayyan frowned.
“You mean…”
Emmeer nodded.
“Libreria Aurora.”
Aimaara blinked.
“The bookstore?”
“It isn't just a bookstore.”
“It never was.”
---
ONE HOUR LATER
The streets were almost empty when the black SUV stopped behind Libreria Aurora.
The old bookstore looked exactly as it always had.
Quiet.
Peaceful.
Almost forgotten.
If anyone walked past, they would never imagine what lay beneath it.
Emmeer unlocked the heavy wooden door.
The familiar scent of old paper filled the air.
Aimaara looked around.
Everything appeared untouched.
Bookshelves.
Candles.
Ancient maps.
Nothing unusual.
Until Emmeer approached one particular bookshelf.
He pulled out an old leather-bound book.
Click.
A soft mechanical sound echoed through the room.
The bookshelf slowly slid aside, revealing a hidden staircase.
Nurin stared in disbelief.
“…You've got to be kidding me.”
Rayyan grinned.
“I told you the bookstore wasn't normal.”
They descended into the darkness.
Stone walls surrounded the narrow passage. Iron lanterns lined the walls, casting dim light across ancient architecture.
It looked less like a bunker…
…and more like a forgotten monastery.
At the end of the corridor stood a massive circular door.
The same symbol carved into the iron key was engraved across its surface.
Aimaara's breathing slowed.
“This…”
“This is what the key opens.”
Emmeer nodded.
“For fifteen years, I've never been able to open it.”
“But you had the key.”
“No.”
He reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out another iron key.
It looked almost identical to Aimaara's.
Except one side was broken.
Aimaara looked at her key.
Then at Emmeer's.
Slowly, she brought them together.
They fit perfectly.
Silence filled the chamber.
Rayyan stared.
“…Hakim split the key.”
“So no one could open the door alone,” Emmeer replied.
Aimaara's hands trembled.
“My father trusted you with one half…”
“…and trusted me with the other.”
Emmeer gave a small nod.
“He knew one day we'd have to stand here together.”
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment, they weren't strangers.
Not protector and protected.
They were simply two people bound by a promise made fifteen years ago.
Then—
BEEEEEP!
A loud alarm echoed through the underground chamber.
Red lights flashed across the stone walls.
Rayyan spun toward the security monitor.
“Boss!”
“We've got company.”
More than twenty black SUVs surrounded Libreria Aurora.
Men in black tactical gear poured into the streets.
The Covenant had found them.
Much faster than Emmeer expected.
His expression became unreadable.
He loaded a fresh magazine into his pistol.
“Get Nurin downstairs.”
Rayyan nodded.
“What about you?”
Emmeer glanced at Aimaara.
“They're not here for a fight.”
“Then why are they here?”
“To stop us from opening that door.”
His gaze hardened.
“Whatever happens, don't let go of that key.”
Outside—
BOOM!
The front doors of Libreria Aurora exploded inward.
The bookstore shook violently.
Books tumbled from the shelves. Glass shattered across the floor.
“They're inside,” Rayyan said.
Emmeer turned toward Aimaara.
“You, Nurin and Rayyan go downstairs.”
“What about you?”
“I'll slow them down.”
“No.”
“Aimaara.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Emmeer stepped closer.
“If they take that key…”
His voice dropped.
“…your father died for nothing.”
Her expression fell.
Slowly, she lowered her eyes.
“…Come back.”
Emmeer didn't answer.
Instead, he gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I'll try.”
“Boss.”
Rayyan stepped beside him.
“I'll stay.”
“No.”
“They outnumber us.”
“Exactly.”
“You'll need backup.”
Emmeer looked at him.
“I need someone I trust…”
“…to protect them.”
Rayyan understood.
He smiled faintly.
“You really know how to make me feel guilty.”
The corner of Emmeer's lips lifted.
“Go.”
Rayyan nodded.
“I'll protect them.”
“With my life.”
“I know.”
As Rayyan led Aimaara and Nurin toward the hidden staircase, another explosion shook the bookstore.
A cold voice echoed from above.
“Search every room.”
“Find the girl.”
“Kill anyone who resists.”
Emmeer slowly removed his suit jacket and placed it neatly over an old wooden chair.
He rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt.
The bandage around his injured arm was already stained red.
He ignored it.
He checked his pistol.
Eight rounds.
Another magazine.
A combat knife.
Everything he needed.
His gaze shifted toward the staircase.
For a brief second, his eyes softened.
“Stay alive…”
Then the warmth disappeared.
Black Eagle returned.
The first operative charged through the doorway.
He never saw Emmeer coming.
One precise strike.
The man collapsed.
Emmeer caught the falling rifle before it hit the floor.
The second operative fired.
BANG!
Emmeer moved behind a wooden pillar.
One shot.
The rifle flew from the man's hands.
A second shot struck his leg.
He fell.
Three more entered together.
Emmeer didn't retreat.
He stepped forward.
One punch.
One disarmed attacker.
One warning strike.
Within minutes, five men lay unconscious around him.
The remaining operatives hesitated.
One whispered,
“Is he even human?”
Another swallowed.
“Now I understand…”
“…why they fear Black Eagle.”
Then—
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Every operative stepped aside.
A tall man walked through the broken doorway.
Perfectly tailored black suit.
Silver gloves.
Black cane.
Silver mask.
The same man from the warehouse.
The leader.
“I knew ordinary soldiers wouldn't be enough.”
He stopped a few metres from Emmeer.
“It's been a long time…”
“…Emmeer.”
Emmeer raised his pistol.
“So…”
“…you finally came yourself.”
The masked man laughed.
“I wanted to see whether the greatest mistake of my life…”
“…had become my greatest enemy.”
“I was never yours.”
“No.”
The masked man tilted his head.
“You were…”
“…until Hakim stole you from me.”
Silence.
For the first time, Emmeer's expression changed.
The masked man continued.
“Do you still remember the first time you held a gun?”
“I remember.”
“You were thirteen.”
“You could barely pull the trigger.”
Aimaara watched through the hidden camera downstairs.
Thirteen?
Her eyes widened.
“What happened to you, Emmeer?”
The masked man smiled.
“You cried after your first mission.”
“You couldn't sleep for days.”
“You kept asking me…”
“Why do people have to die?”
He chuckled.
“And now…”
“Look at you.”
“The world's deadliest man.”
Emmeer's jaw tightened.
“You trained children.”
“You called it survival.”
“I call it cruelty.”
“I made you strong.”
“No.”
A shadow crossed Emmeer's face.
“Hakim did.”
The masked man's eyes hardened.
“That old fool…”
“He stole my greatest weapon.”
“I was never your weapon.”
“You murdered innocent families.”
“You kidnapped children.”
“You turned them into killers.”
Emmeer paused.
“I was one of them.”
Aimaara covered her mouth.
The masked man sighed.
“You always were different.”
“The others obeyed.”
“But you kept asking questions…”
“…until Hakim found you.”
Emmeer closed his eyes for a moment.
Fifteen years ago, he had been nothing more than a frightened boy.
A boy who believed monsters couldn't cry.
Then Hakim found him.
Not with a gun.
Not with violence.
But with a blanket, warm food, and one sentence that changed his life.
You're not what they made you, son.
Those words had saved him.
Emmeer opened his eyes.
Storm-grey.
Determined.
“Hakim gave me a second life.”
“He gave you weakness.”
“He gave me humanity.”
The masked man's laughter faded.
“Humanity gets people killed.”
“It also gives people something worth dying for.”
Silence.
The masked man's gaze slowly shifted toward the hidden passage.
Toward Aimaara.
“So…”
“It isn't Hakim's promise anymore.”
“It has become the girl.”
Emmeer's silence confirmed everything.
The masked man smiled.
“I knew it.”
“You've fallen in love.”
Aimaara froze.
Her heartbeat seemed to stop.
The words echoed inside her mind.
You've fallen in love.
She looked toward the hidden camera.
Emmeer didn't deny it.
He didn't confirm it either.
But he never took his eyes off the staircase.
As if everything he wanted to protect was down there.
The masked man sighed.
“What a shame.”
He pulled a small remote from his pocket.
“I was hoping you'd stay focused.”
BEEP.
Deep beneath Libreria Aurora, a red warning light suddenly flashed.
Rayyan's expression changed.
“Oh no…”
Nurin looked around.
“What's happening?”
The ancient circular door marked 214 began to move.
Stone mechanisms groaned beneath the chamber.
Aimaara stared in horror.
“It's opening…”
“No.”
Rayyan's voice dropped.
“We didn't unlock it.”
Emmeer spun around.
His eyes widened for the first time that night.
“Impossible.”
The masked man smiled.
“I told you…”
“The key was never the only way.”
The ancient door slowly opened.
Just enough for complete darkness to spill from within.
Then—
A low voice echoed from the darkness.
“…Emmeer.”
His face turned pale.
Almost as if…
he recognised the voice.
-TO BE CONTINUED-
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