Twisted Shadows

Chapter 7: The Warehouse Trap

A few minutes after Houssam left, I departed the house with breathless and decisive steps. I did not head to the pharmacy this time; instead, I took a taxi and went straight toward the outskirts of Damascus, specifically toward those old, abandoned warehouses in Ghouta whose red dot had been blinking on his laptop the previous night. I was wearing Raghad’s olive-green leather coat and her wide sunglasses, carrying within me a towering determination that refused to break.

I arrived at the place, and the warehouses looked like abandoned concrete ghosts under the remnants of the rain. I slipped through the rusted iron gate with meticulous caution, beginning to explore the dark corridors using my secret phone’s flashlight. Suddenly, I spotted massive wooden boxes hidden behind a dirt barrier, bearing the exact same chemical codes that I had copied from Raghad’s secret notebook!

While I was examining the boxes, I heard the sound of a car engine approaching from the outside at high speed. I looked through a c***k in the wall, and my heart trembled; it was Houssam’s car! He had come himself, driven by the terrifying message I sent him at breakfast, to check on their suspicious merchandise behind the crowds.

I quickly hid behind a huge iron container, lower my sunglasses over my eyes with a cautious coolness. Houssam entered with Nadine, and his voice echoed with sharp nervousness throughout the warehouse:

- "Nadine.. someone knows about the code! The messages are chasing me in every corner, and today they mentioned the name of the warehouse exactly cash cash! Is it possible that Raghad is still alive?"

- "Impossible, Houssam! Raghad disappeared and the file is closed. Focus on your work and don't let hallucination destroy our psychiatric drug plans!" Nadine answered in a sharp voice while examining the boxes carefully.

At that exact moment, I deliberately moved with steady steps to make my leather coat give a slight creaking sound, and I made my shadow extend clearly over the concrete wall opposite them! Houssam suddenly turned toward my shadow, and when he caught a glimpse of the familiar olive coat passing quickly, he stepped back and his bag fell to the ground in pure psychological terror and a killing madness.