Chapter One: The Woman Who Chased Monsters
1284 Words
The rain had a way of making Blackridge City look innocent.
It washed away bloodstains from alleyways before sunrise, blurred the flashing lights of police cruisers, and reflected the towering glass buildings that housed men capable of destroying lives with the stroke of a pen.
To tourists, the city was beautiful.
To Elena Brooks...
It was a graveyard waiting for its next victim.
She adjusted the camera hanging from her neck as she crouched on the rooftop of an abandoned building opposite the luxurious Astoria Grand Hotel.
The wind whipped strands of her chestnut hair across her face.
She brushed them away impatiently.
"You'd better be worth frostbite," she muttered while focusing her camera lens.
Inside the penthouse suite across the street, floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a lavish party attended by politicians, billionaires, celebrities, and business moguls.
Everyone wore smiles.
Everyone held champagne glasses.
Everyone lied.
At least, that's what Elena believed.
She had spent the last four years exposing corruption one article at a time. Drug trafficking disguised as charity organizations. Politicians accepting bribes. CEOs laundering money through fake foundations.
Some called her fearless.
Others called her reckless.
Her editor preferred the word expensive because her investigations often ended with broken cameras, legal threats, and occasionally hospital bills.
She smiled to herself.
Worth it.
Her phone vibrated.
SOFIA
She answered without taking her eyes off the camera.
"You've reached Elena Brooks, professional troublemaker."
"You've reached Sofia Kane, professional hacker who's wondering why her best friend is standing on another rooftop during a thunderstorm."
"I'm sitting."
"That somehow makes it worse."
Elena chuckled.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to stop you from dying."
"You say that every week."
"Because every week you give me a reason."
Lightning flashed across the skyline.
Sofia sighed dramatically.
"Tell me you're at least wearing a safety harness."
Silence.
"...Elena?"
"I have excellent balance."
"Oh my God."
"I'm kidding."
"You'd better be."
"I am."
She wasn't.
"Anyway," Elena continued, "Senator Richard Hale is finally making a mistake."
"You've been following him for two months."
"And tonight he's about to ruin his political career."
"You sound excited."
"I am."
A limousine pulled into the hotel's private entrance.
Elena immediately raised her camera.
Senator Hale stepped out first, waving confidently at the photographers waiting outside.
Perfect smile.
Perfect suit.
Perfect husband.
Or so the newspapers claimed.
Five minutes later, he quietly disappeared through a private elevator with a woman who definitely wasn't his wife.
Click.
Click.
Click.
The camera shutter echoed softly.
"Got you," Elena whispered.
More photographs.
A kiss.
His hand around the woman's waist.
The hotel room door closing behind them.
Enough evidence to dominate tomorrow's headlines.
Sofia laughed through the phone.
"I know that smile."
"What smile?"
"The one that says another rich man is about to cry."
"I don't enjoy ruining lives."
"No?"
"I enjoy exposing hypocrisy."
"That's somehow scarier."
Elena packed away the camera.
"I'll see you tomorrow."
"Promise me you'll go straight home."
"I promise."
She hung up.
Then immediately broke her promise.
---
Half an hour later...
The Astoria Grand Hotel's underground parking garage was nearly empty.
Elena crouched behind a black SUV while photographing Senator Hale climbing into his car.
She wanted one final shot.
Something undeniable.
The senator looked around nervously before handing a thick brown envelope to another man waiting beside a silver sedan.
Money?
Documents?
Either way...
Interesting.
Click.
The flash accidentally fired.
"Oh, no..."
The two men looked up simultaneously.
"There!" one of the bodyguards shouted.
"Someone's taking pictures!"
Elena's eyes widened.
"Seriously?"
She turned and sprinted.
Footsteps thundered behind her.
"Stop!"
"Not happening!"
She darted between parked vehicles as security guards chased her through the garage.
One reached for her backpack.
She twisted away just in time.
Another blocked the exit.
Great.
Thinking quickly, Elena slid across the hood of a sports car, landed on the opposite side, and bolted toward the emergency stairwell.
"She's heading upstairs!"
"Cut her off!"
She burst through the heavy metal door and climbed the stairs two at a time.
Fourth floor.
Fifth.
Sixth.
Her lungs burned.
The footsteps grew louder.
"She's trapped!"
"No," Elena whispered.
"They are."
She pushed open another door leading onto the hotel's maintenance balcony.
Rain hammered the metal railing.
Far below...
The alley.
Far ahead...
The neighboring building.
There was only one way across.
A narrow maintenance beam connected both rooftops.
Sofia would kill her.
"If I survive."
She took a deep breath.
Then ran.
The beam swayed beneath her feet.
Halfway across...
A strong gust of wind nearly knocked her sideways.
Her heartbeat pounded inside her ears.
Don't look down.
Don't look down.
Too late.
The ground looked impossibly far away.
She forced herself forward.
One more step.
Then another.
Finally...
She jumped.
Her boots slammed onto the neighboring rooftop.
She rolled across the wet concrete before coming to a stop.
Behind her, the security guards stared in disbelief.
"No way..."
"She actually made it."
Elena stood, bowed dramatically, and disappeared into the darkness.
---
The next morning...
Blackridge News Headquarters erupted into celebration.
"She did it!"
"The article's gone viral!"
"Our website just crashed!"
Marcus Grant, editor-in-chief, stood in the middle of the newsroom trying—and failing—to look annoyed.
He dropped a newspaper onto Elena's desk.
Across the front page...
SENATOR'S SECRET AFFAIR EXPOSED
Beneath the headline were Elena's photographs.
Crystal clear.
Undeniable.
Sofia walked over carrying two cups of coffee.
"I hate being right."
"You usually are."
"You almost died."
"I didn't."
"You jumped between two rooftops!"
"I calculated the distance."
"You guessed."
"...Close enough."
Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Brooks."
"Yes, boss?"
"I'm giving you exactly thirty seconds to explain why there's a video online of you running across a steel beam six stories above the ground."
Elena blinked.
"There's a video?"
Marcus turned his tablet toward her.
Someone had recorded the chase from another building.
Millions of views.
Thousands of comments.
THIS REPORTER IS INSANE.
SHE DESERVES A MOVIE.
SOMEONE GIVE HER A RAISE.
Elena smiled.
"Free publicity?"
Marcus looked as though he might have a heart attack.
"You are the reason my blood pressure medication exists."
The newsroom burst into laughter.
Then Marcus' expression changed.
Instantly.
His smile disappeared.
"Everyone out."
The room fell silent.
Within moments, the staff returned to their desks, sensing something serious.
Marcus placed a thick manila folder in front of Elena.
"I wasn't going to give you this."
She frowned.
"Why not?"
"Because this investigation gets people killed."
The joking atmosphere vanished.
Elena slowly opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
Missing people.
Powerful people.
A judge.
A banker.
A billionaire investor.
A senator.
Each photo had a red stamp across it.
MISSING
"When did this start?" she asked quietly.
"Three months ago."
"The police?"
"They claim there's no connection."
"And you don't believe them."
Marcus looked her straight in the eye.
"No."
He pulled one final photograph from the folder.
Unlike the others...
This wasn't a missing person.
It was a surveillance image.
A tall man dressed in black stepping into a limousine.
His face was partially hidden by shadows.
Only his sharp jawline and cold, unreadable eyes could be seen.
Written beneath the picture were two words.
Damien Blackwood.
Elena had heard the name before.
Everyone in Blackridge had.
The city's ghost.
The man every criminal feared.
The devil no one could prove existed.
Marcus spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
"If Damien Blackwood is connected to these disappearances..."
He paused.
"...you're about to investigate the most dangerous man in the country."
Elena stared at the photograph.
Something about those eyes unsettled her.
She couldn't explain why.
But she had the strange feeling...
That somewhere...
He was already watching her.
- Writer
