Nagi sat quietly, lazily scrolling through the news on his phone while occasionally taking a sip of tea. Across from him, Kashvi devoured her potato sandwich, looking far less like an officer from the Narcotics Department and more like an exhausted daughter finally enjoying a meal after days of overwork.
A headline suddenly caught Nagi's attention.
"Experts suspect the recent drug case may have ties to a larger international organization."
Before he could read further, Kashvi scoffed.
"That's rubbish."
Nagi looked up.
"What do you mean?"
Kashvi rolled her eyes.
"The media loves making everything sound bigger than it is. It was just a small criminal group operating near the border."
She took another bite.
"They're acting like it's some global threat."
Nagi tilted his head.
"Then why are they comparing it to the Mexico incident?"
Kashvi's chewing slowed.
Her expression became serious.
"Because people are scared."
"Scared of two names."
She put her sandwich down and picked up her phone.
"Cartel del Infierno."
"And..."
"La Mano Roja."
Even saying those names felt heavy.
Nagi leaned back in his chair.
"I've heard those names before."
"But I don't know much about them."
Kashvi smirked.
"Of course you don't."
She enlarged a picture on her phone and pushed it toward him.
The moment Nagi saw it...
His expression stiffened.
A skull stared back at him.
But it wasn't an ordinary skull.
The upper portion had been violently split apart.
Jagged cracks ran across its surface like scars left behind by madness itself.
The top half was shattered open, revealing only endless darkness within.
Behind the skull burned black flames.
Not bright.
Not raging.
But slow and sinister.
As if the flames were feeding on despair.
Even though it was only a symbol...
It felt alive.
Nagi frowned.
"That's disturbing."
Kashvi nodded.
"And that's exactly the point."
She leaned forward.
"This is the emblem of Cartel del Infierno."
"The Hell Cartel."
She paused.
"But to call them a cartel is an insult."
"They're an empire."
"For decades they have controlled the darkest corners of the underworld."
"Drugs."
"Weapons."
"Human trafficking."
"Illegal laboratories."
"Smuggling routes."
"They control everything."
"But money isn't what made them feared."
Kashvi tapped the cracked skull.
"It's this."
"Their philosophy."
Nagi remained silent.
Kashvi lowered her voice.
"The cracked skull isn't just their symbol."
"It's their signature."
"They don't kill people."
"They destroy them."
"First..."
"They destroy the mind."
Nagi looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"They isolate their victims."
"Spread lies."
"Manipulate their surroundings."
"They make them distrust their friends."
"Their family."
"Themselves."
"They slowly take away everything a person relies on."
"Until..."
She paused.
"The victim begins questioning reality itself."
Nagi quietly listened.
"They see enemies where none exist."
"They hear voices."
"They become paranoid."
"They lose hope."
"And when their mind finally shatters..."
Kashvi slowly looked back at the symbol.
"The Hell Cartel ends their suffering."
"The same way their emblem shows."
"By crushing the skull."
A cold silence spread across the kitchen.
Nagi stared at the cracked skull once again.
Suddenly...
It looked less like a logo.
And more like a warning.
Kashvi took a sip of tea before continuing.
"There was once a mayor in Mexico."
"He publicly declared war against Cartel del Infierno."
"He had armed guards."
"Bulletproof vehicles."
"Government protection."
"He even appeared on television and promised to expose them."
Nagi folded his arms.
"And?"
"A week later..."
"The guards found him sitting alone inside his office."
"The doors were locked."
"The windows sealed."
"There were no signs of anyone entering."
"No fingerprints."
"No evidence."
She paused.
"But..."
Nagi looked at her.
"He was smiling."
Nagi frowned.
"Smiling?"
"Like a man who had completely lost his mind."
"His eyes were empty."
"He kept talking to people who weren't there."
"Begging invisible voices to forgive him."
Nagi felt a chill.
"And behind him..."
Kashvi slowly whispered.
"The cracked skull was painted on the wall."
Silence.
"The next morning..."
"He was dead."
"And his skull..."
She hesitated.
"Broken in the exact same pattern as the cartel's emblem."
Nagi unconsciously tightened his grip on the teacup.
"The horrifying part wasn't his death."
"It was what happened afterward."
"No witnesses spoke."
"No police officer investigated."
"The case was immediately closed."
"Because everyone understood one thing."
Kashvi looked directly into Nagi's eyes.
"If you ever see a victim marked by the cracked skull..."
"It means Cartel del Infierno has already judged them."
"And nobody..."
"Absolutely nobody..."
"Wants to become their next target."
For a moment...
Even the sound of the clock ticking seemed loud.
Nagi slowly exhaled.
The Hell Cartel...
Didn't sound like a criminal organization anymore.
It sounded like fear itself.
But Kashvi wasn't done.
She swiped to another image.
And this time...
Even she unconsciously straightened.
A crimson handprint appeared on the screen.
Simple.
Yet strangely terrifying.
Nagi looked at it carefully.
"This is..."
"La Mano Roja."
"The Red Hand."
Kashvi's voice had changed.
If she spoke about the Hell Cartel with hatred...
She spoke about the Red Hand with unease.
"They don't control territories."
"They don't run businesses."
"They don't seek fame."
"They simply appear."
"And people die."
Nagi frowned.
"An assassin organization?"
Kashvi slowly shook her head.
"Nobody knows."
"Some say they're assassins."
"Some say they're vigilantes."
"Some say they're ghosts."
"And honestly..."
She shrugged.
"Nobody has lived long enough to confirm the truth."
Nagi raised an eyebrow.
"And their signature?"
Kashvi became quiet.
Even after years in Narcotics...
The memory still unsettled her.
"Every victim chosen by La Mano Roja..."
She swallowed.
"Is found in the same horrifying state."
"The victim's right hand disappears."
"And somehow..."
"A crimson hand appears to bloom from their chest."
Nagi stared at her.
"No one knows how?"
Kashvi shook her head.
"No witnesses."
"No clues."
"No traces."
"The rooms are always spotless."
"As if nobody had ever entered."
She showed him a heavily classified photograph.
The image was blurred.
But even then...
Nagi felt a chill run down his back.
"The first detective who investigated them resigned."
"The second refused to talk about the case ever again."
"And the third..."
Kashvi looked away.
"Burned all his files."
"And left the country."
Nagi silently stared at the picture.
The crimson hand.
Simple.
Yet terrifying.
"The Red Hand doesn't leave corpses."
Kashvi said quietly.
"They leave warnings."
A warning repeated throughout the underworld.
'We held your fate in our hands long before you realized it.'
Nagi lowered his eyes.
The Hell Cartel.
The Red Hand.
Two organizations.
Two nightmares.
One shattered the mind.
The other delivered judgment.
And according to Kashvi...
The hatred between them had lasted decades.
But recently...
Something had changed.
Kashvi locked her phone.
"The entire underworld is panicking now."
Nagi looked at her.
"Why?"
She smiled nervously.
"Because these two monsters..."
"Might be preparing for war."
And if that happened—
Mexico wouldn't be the battlefield.
The world would.
TO BE CONTINUED....