Reyan didn't move for a long time.The words echoed in his mind, sharp as broken glass.They're not after me anymore. They're after you.
Outside, thunder cracked across the skyline, and the whole apartment seemed to shiver.
He finally found his voice."What do you mean, they're after me? Who are they, Aarvi?"
She hugged her arms, eyes darting toward the dark windows."The ones who made me leave. They called themselves the Circle. I never saw their faces, but they were everywhere—banks, cops, even inside your company."
Reyan's throat tightened. "That's impossible. My company doesn't—"
"They used your name," she interrupted softly. "They said your signature would cover everything. I didn't believe them, until I saw the contracts. The money trails."
He stared at her. "So you thought I was part of it?"
"I didn't know what to believe. All I knew was that if I stayed, you'd end up like—"She stopped herself, shaking her head.
"Like who?" he pressed.
She hesitated, then whispered, "Your father."
Reyan felt the ground shift beneath him."My father died in an accident."
"Did he?" Aarvi asked quietly.
Her words struck harder than any scream.He stepped back, anger and confusion twisting together. "Don't play games, Aarvi."
"I'm not." Her voice cracked. "He found something he wasn't supposed to. The night before the crash, he called me. Said if anything happened, I should run."
Reyan's chest felt hollow. "You expect me to believe this now, after five years of silence?"
"I expect you to believe your own eyes," she said, pointing toward the phone on the table. "Check the last message you got."
He unlocked it. A new text had arrived while they argued:
You were never supposed to know.
No number. No trace.
The apartment lights flickered once, twice, and went out completely.
Aarvi gasped. Reyan grabbed her hand instinctively. The emergency lights along the hallway kicked in, painting everything in cold blue.
He moved toward the fuse box, but she tightened her grip."Don't. If they've cut power, they could be inside."
He looked around — every shadow felt alive.
A faint tapping echoed from the elevator shaft.Tap. Tap. Tap.Too rhythmic to be random.
Reyan whispered, "Stay behind me."
He opened the drawer near the counter and pulled out the only weapon he had — a baseball bat.
The elevator doors slid open halfway, stopping with a metallic shriek.A man stepped out, wearing a hood, face hidden behind a black mask.
Reyan's heart pounded. "Who the hell are you?"
The man tilted his head. "You shouldn't have brought her here."
Then he lunged.
Reyan swung the bat — the impact cracked against the intruder's arm, but the man didn't fall.Aarvi screamed his name. The fight was quick, messy, desperate. Reyan pushed the attacker toward the balcony, catching a glimpse of something tattooed on his wrist — a symbol like a circle with a single line through it.
The Circle.
Reyan slammed him against the glass wall. "Why are you after me?" he shouted.
The man grinned beneath the mask. "Because you're already one of us."
And then, before Reyan could react, the man threw himself backward — crashing through the balcony glass and disappearing into the storm below.
Aarvi ran to the edge. The street lights far below flickered, but there was no body.
Reyan's hands shook. The bat clattered to the floor."What the hell was that?"
"That," Aarvi said, voice trembling, "was a warning."
He turned to her. "You said they wanted me. Why?"
She looked straight into his eyes. "Because of what's inside you, Reyan. Something they couldn't control."
He frowned. "Inside me?"
"You don't remember, do you?" she whispered.
The lightning flashed again, and for a second he saw pure fear in her face.
"What am I supposed to remember?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper."The night your father died… you weren't just there, Reyan. You survived something no human should have."
His mind went blank. "What are you saying?"
Before she could answer, a sharp beep came from her phone. A video message.Aarvi's fingers trembled as she opened it.
The screen showed security footage — dated five years ago.A hospital room. Reyan lying unconscious, machines all around him.Then, suddenly, his heart rate flatlined.Doctors rushed in. And just before the video cut off, his body convulsed, eyes glowing faintly with a strange light.
Reyan stepped back, his breath caught in his throat."That's not real," he said, but his own voice betrayed him.
Aarvi whispered, "That's why they want you back. You're not just their target, Reyan… you're their creation."
The video ended. Silence filled the room — heavy, unreal.
Reyan looked at her, every word breaking like glass in his mouth."What did they do to me?"
Aarvi took a step closer, tears in her eyes. "That's what I came back to find out."
Before either of them could speak again, the elevator lights blinked once more.Another message buzzed onto his phone:
Round Two begins now.
And somewhere below them, the elevator started moving up.