For long minutes after we started driving, I waited for him to explain. It felt like he wasn't going to say anything unless I pushed. I was just about to ask the obvious question when he finally spoke.
"What happened last night?"
I turned to him, not quite understanding what he meant.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about you and Kerem."
"So all this tension was just so you could find out why we broke up?" I snapped. "God. And here I was, sitting here eating myself alive, thinking you were about to give me some terrible news."
"What breakup?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Didn't Kerem tell you? After you left last night, we fought. And we broke up."
He glanced at me briefly without saying anything. For a split second, I thought I saw something like understanding on his face, but the hard look he fixed back on the road immediately proved it must've been my imagination. I turned forward too, then frowned and looked at him again.
"Wait. If you didn't know we broke up, how did you decide that something was wrong?"
As I waited for his answer, his phone buzzed with a notification. Instead of replying, he checked it. A few seconds later, he pulled the car over.
I looked around, trying to figure out where we were. Until that moment, I hadn't paid any attention to the road. I'd been too focused on why he wanted to talk to me.
"I need to see someone. I'll be back in ten minutes."
As he opened the door, he turned back like he'd suddenly remembered something. His voice was more serious than usual.
"Duru."
"Hmm?"
"Don't even think about getting out of the car."
Was this a joke? A hidden camera prank?
I was just about to snap at him when he stepped out quickly, shut the door, and walked off without another glance.
I sat there, speech stuck in my throat, staring after him, and for a moment I seriously started to think this had to be a dream.
Given the circumstances, though, it could just as easily have been a nightmare.
I pinched myself and rubbed my arm at the sting, then leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling.
"I know I said I wanted a more exciting life, but…"
My complaint was cut short by shouting from outside. I looked around, trying to find the source of the strange noise. Nothing looked wrong, yet the rising rumble kept reaching me.
I narrowed my eyes and listened more carefully.
It sounded like chanting. Cheering, even. But there was no sign of any sports event nearby.
Besides, the area we were in was completely ordinary. On one side of the road were tall buildings still half under construction. On the other were prefabricated structures, followed by rows of houses. At best, you'd expect a neighborhood match on streets like these.
Which somehow made it more intriguing.
And there was only one way to find out where the sounds were coming from.
I reached for the lock, about to open the door, when Rüzgar's warning echoed in my head. Part of me wanted to get out just because he'd ordered me not to. But then I remembered the chain of bad luck that always followed whenever I ignored Kerem's warnings.
And when Rüzgar walked away, I hadn't bothered to pay attention to where he went. If I followed the sound, there was no guarantee I'd find him. Worse, if something went wrong, we wouldn't be able to reach each other. Neither of us had the other's number.
That would only make things messier.
The noise kept growing, then suddenly stopped—cut off as sharply as a knife.
I frowned and turned my face back to the window.
What was that?
Something was definitely wrong.
Was Rüzgar at the place the sound had come from?
Finally, I ended my hesitation. I opened the door and stepped out of the car.
A quick scan of the area revealed not a single person in sight, which only fed the unease curling in my stomach. Still, my curiosity won. With calm but determined steps, I started walking toward the warehouse buildings on the side where we'd parked.
The air was much colder than it had been during the day, so I pulled my hood up and shoved my hands into my pockets. As I passed the buildings, I studied them carefully, hoping to spot some clue.
That's when I noticed something strange.
From a distance, the buildings looked separate. Up close, I realized they were all connected at the back by long, enclosed tunnels leading to one central area. Where all the tunnels met seemed to function like a main building.
I had no idea what this system was used for, but I was certain I'd never seen anything like it before.
As I walked toward the next warehouse, muffled sounds came from behind me—the one I'd just passed. I immediately turned back.
Yes. This was where the earlier noise had come from. The same rumble, slower now but still audible, had returned.
When I reached the warehouse door, I hesitated. Knock or barge in? I chose something in between and pushed the door open slowly.
It didn't matter. The result would've been the same.
A large man leaning against the wall on the left lowered his phone and looked at me. It was clear I needed his permission to see anything beyond where I stood.
"What do you want, little one?"
Little one?
If you're going to put a guard at the door, at least make sure his eyes work.
As much as I wanted to snap back with every ounce of my sharp tongue, I wasn't suicidal enough to do that sober. I replied evenly.
"I'm looking for a friend."
As he scanned me from head to toe, an ugly grin spread across his face. I couldn't decide what was worse: his yellow teeth—so bad they could convince kids to brush three times a day for life if he appeared in a dental PSA—or his shoulder-length hair, greasy enough to produce a liter of oil with one squeeze.
"There's no one you know here, little one. Your friends already drank their milk and went to bed."
I grimaced at his pointless, crude joke. I wanted to smack the back of his head, but that wouldn't help. I swallowed my irritation and kept going.
"I don't know how old you think I am, but I'm twenty-two. I'm an adult. I'm just going to check if my friend is here and leave."
The way he examined me more closely, like he was enjoying this, made my skin crawl.
"So you're an adult. Then why don't you forget that friend inside and—"
I barely caught the end of his sentence. I was trying to make sense of the sounds behind him. I couldn't see anyone, but voices came from multiple directions, overlapping at different levels. The chaos made it impossible to understand words or draw any clear conclusions.
Then silence fell again.
I focused back on the man in front of me. His expectant look told me it was my turn to speak. I needed to say something that wouldn't reveal I hadn't been listening.
"Uh… well…"
Whatever he read into my hesitation, he suddenly reached for my hood.
I stepped back instinctively.
His gaze hardened, and that was when I knew things had officially gone bad.