Chapter # 05: The Eyes That Watched Back
1249 Words
The morning after, they looked into the graveyard felt really quiet. Halt sat at his desk surrounded by papers about the eight people who died.
Eight victims died.
Only one clue, “Ace.”
The name “Ace” would not leave Halts' thoughts.
Across the room, Lucien stood by the window watching the city of Necthera wake up in the morning light.
Finally, Lucien said something.
"Sir."
Halt looked up from the papers.
"What is an Absolute Shade?"
The room got really quiet.
Kael, who was leaning against the wall, slowly opened his eyes.
“You are asking about things that're not safe for someone who joined recently… Mr. Fool.”
Lucien turned to face him.
“I’m part of this investigation.”
Kael looked at Halt. For a moment, neither of the detectives said anything.
Then Kael sighed, “Fine.”
He folded his arms.
“Every Shade wants something in return.”
Lucien looked confused. “Something in return?”
Halt answered.
“Memories.”
Lucien's face changed.
"Memories?"
"The moment a Shade appears,” Halt said. “Memories start to fade away with each use.”
Kael continued, "For some people, it is small things."
“A face.”
“A name.”
“One day.”
His eyes looked down at the floor.
“For most people, it is a lot of time.”
The room got quiet again.
Lucien looked at the two detectives.
“And what about an Absolute Shade?”
This time, the silence lasted longer. Not because they were thinking. But because neither wanted to answer too quickly.
Finally, Halt closed the file.
“That’s when the Shade goes further than it should.”
Lucien frowned, “Further?”
Kael’s voice lowered, “When it starts taking more than it gives back.”
A pause. Halt spoke again.
“And when that balance breaks…”
He stopped for a moment.
“…it stops being a Shade you control.”
Kael looked away, “That’s when people stop calling it a Shade at all.”
Lucien’s voice softened.
“And what do they call it?”
No one answered immediately.
The silence itself was the answer.
For the first time, a Shade didn’t feel like a power. It felt like something you survive.
Later that afternoon, the three detectives walked through the city. The streets were crowded. There were a lot of people around. Merchants shouted to get people to buy things from them. Children ran between market stalls. Everything looked like it always did.
Then Kael suddenly stopped walking.
Halt noticed this away. He asked Kael what was wrong.
Kael rubbed his forehead like he had a headache. For seconds he did not say anything.
Then he started laughing. It was not a happy laugh. He said he forgot where the detectives were going.
Lucien looked confused. Asked Kael if he really forgot. Kael was still. It did not look real.
Halt looked away because this was not the time something, like this happened to Kael.
Kael said, “The dead always take something back with them when they die.”
Neither Halt nor Lucien said anything to Kael about this.
The messenger got to the place just before the sun went down.
His face looked really white. He was breathing in a way.
“Detectives,” he said.
Everyone turned around to look at him.
“Another body has been found.”
The room fell into silence.
“Where is it?” someone asked.
“The Eastern District again,” the messenger replied.
Halt immediately got up from his seat. Kael’s jaw tightened. Lucien felt his stomach get all tight and nervous.
When the detectives got to the scene, the area was already crowded.
The dead body was lying in the middle of an alley. It resembled the eighth victim’s scene.
Halt knelt beside the body studied it closely.
“This wasn’t meant to be hidden,” he said.
Lucien looked at Halt.
“Why?” he asked.
Halt looked around the scene.
Someone had carved a symbol into the wall behind the body.
It was the symbol they had seen before.
Again.
“This was left for us to find,” Kael said.
The investigation continued. Kael took a look around.
Halt examined the victim's body. Lucien watched the crowd.
Then suddenly an uneasy feeling crept over his skin.
Kael froze.
Someone was watching them.
Not the crowd. Not the guards. Someone else.
He looked up slowly.
There was on the rooftop.
He was standing there.
Tall. Motionless.
Wearing a black-and-white mask.
The same mark was on the clothes he was wearing.
For a moment, he watched them. Like he was studying them.
Lucien pointed upward.
"There!"
Halt turned immediately.
The moment he saw him, his expression changed.
The figure melted into the darkness and disappeared.
The investigation continued at the crime scene.
Kael moved carefully around the area, scanning rooftops and blind spots.
Halt stayed beside the victim’s body, studying every detail in silence.
Lucien stood slightly back, watching both the scene and the growing tension in the air.
The city around them felt normal. Too normal.
As if nothing had happened here at all.
Then it happened.
A sharp sound cut through the air. Not loud enough to draw attention from the crowd. But precise enough to change everything.
Kael’s body suddenly jolted.
He stopped mid-movement.
For a moment, he didn’t react.
Lucien noticed immediately.
“Kael?”
Kael’s hand slowly moved to his shoulder.
Blood.
A small stain was spreading through his coat.
His expression tightened instantly.
“…Sniper?”
Halt’s head snapped upward.
Rooftops. Windows. Shadows.
Every angle of attack. Nothing moved. No disturbance. No trace.
Whoever did it… was already gone, or had never been seen at all.
Lucien stepped forward.
“Where did it come from?”
Kael gritted his teeth.
“I didn’t see anything…”
His voice was steady but strained.
Not confusion. Control. Like he was forcing himself not to collapse.
Halt stepped closer, “Can you move?”
Kael nodded slightly.
“…I’m fine.”
But the blood told a different story.
Halt made a decision instantly.
“Take him back.”
Lucien looked at him.
“Where?”
Halt didn’t hesitate.
“Headquarters. Now.”
Within minutes, they left the crime scene. Kael was supported as they moved through the city.
The streets felt longer than usual. Heavier. As if the city itself was watching them leave.
The Silent Eyes headquarters felt colder than usual.
Kael was immediately taken inside for emergency treatment.
Guards moved quickly without question.
No one wasted time.
Not in cases like this.
Halt stood near the corridor, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
Lucien stayed beside him.
Neither spoke for a while.
Finally, Kael was taken out of sight.
Only then did the weight of what happened settle properly.
Halt turned slightly.
His eyes were sharper now.
“This wasn’t random.”
Lucien frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Halt didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he looked toward the direction of the crime scene. As if replaying the moment in his mind.
“Serial killers don’t announce themselves.”
A pause.
“They don’t leave symbols.”
“They don’t watch investigations.”
Silence followed.
The words felt heavier inside HQ than they did outside.
Then Halt lowered his voice.
“…But someone is.”
Kael, injured inside the facility, muttered faintly from behind the door (barely audible):
“…We were being watched.”
- Writer
