♣︎ Pieces on a Bloodstained Board ♣︎
In an unknown place, where neither time nor light existed...
Layan:
I opened my eyes very slowly, as if being pulled out from the depths of a dark nightmare. My tired gaze locked onto the cold metal ceiling, struggling to catch my breath as I examined the space around me. Nothing looked familiar... no scent, no window, no light. Just icy metal walls and the faint sound of two rats scurrying in the corners of the abandoned room.
I sat up in a panic—but the terror only deepened when I realized I was restrained... Tight metal cuffs bound my wrists and ankles, preventing me from moving. I bit my lip hard to stop a scream rising in my throat.
I looked down at my body, and the fear dug deeper into me. I whispered in horror:
— "What is this?... Why am I wearing something like this?"
I was dressed in tight shorts that barely covered my thighs, and a red crop top that exposed my stomach and shoulders... like something meant for dancing—or seduction. I stared at myself in shame and confusion, as if this body no longer belonged to me.
Then... footsteps.
Slow, heavy, deliberate... and growing louder with each step.
I gasped and pressed myself against the wall, screaming:
— "Who's there?! What do you want?! If it's about money—I'll pay whatever you want, just let me go!"
I tried to hide the tremble in my voice, but the fear was obvious, undeniable.
Suddenly, mocking laughter filled the room... once, twice, three, four, five times.
It was clear—I wasn't alone... there were more than one of them. Their laughter echoed through the space like ghostly shadows.
BOOM!
As if the air exploded in front of me... five figures appeared out of nowhere, like they had stepped out of the void.
• The first: A thin man with long neon green hair, wearing an open red shirt and black leather pants. His body was covered in interwoven tattoos—even a dark mark above his left eyebrow. Rings covered his ears and wrists, and two silver pistols gleamed at his hips. (Code name: Viper)
• The second: A huge, muscular man—bald, wearing only torn black pants. A massive iron axe rested on his shoulder, and his tattooed chest looked like it was alive. (Code name: Beast)
• The third: Wasn't human at all. A moving shadow, faceless and featureless, just a black figure with a wide, soulless white grin. (Code name: Shade)
• The fourth: A woman with short orange hair, dressed in tight, revealing clothes covered in chains and metal. Her body was filled with tattoos, and her face was pierced from her lips to her neck. (Code name: Venom)
• The fifth: A girl no older than sixteen, wearing a black hat like a gravedigger's. Her long pink hair hung over her shoulders, and she held a massive headless doll. She had no tattoos, but her childlike smile hid something demonic behind it. (Code name: Dollface)
I stared at them, my eyes wide with terror, my heart pounding so violently I thought it might burst through my ribs.
The green-haired man sneered, eyeing me mockingly:
— "Well, well... what do we have here? A little bird trembling with fear!"
The orange-haired girl replied with disgust:
— "Idiot! Of course she's scared!"
I looked at the shackles... then gasped as they began to transform before my eyes—sprouting tiny blinking eyes that fluttered at me.
I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut—
Then a voice came from the shadows:
— "The Master... wants to see her."
Beast stepped forward, his heavy footsteps shaking the ground beneath him, and snapped the shackles with his bare hands as if they were made of paper. I barely had time to process it before Venom seized my arm roughly and dragged me down a long, dark corridor. The walls were filthy, the air reeked of mold, and strange whispers crept from nowhere.
Venom stopped in front of a massive black door with no handle.
She rasped:
— "Master... the girl has arrived."
The door creaked open on its own... without a sound, without any visible force. Just a cold breeze drifting out, like it was calling me in.
I took a step back, whispering in fear:
— "I... I won't go in."
Venom smirked sideways, then shoved me hard through the doorway.
The door closed behind me.
❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀
Inside... the darkness swallowed everything.
Then... a voice.
A man's voice, deep and cold as ice, but holding a dangerous undertone:
— "Sit. In the chair in front of you."
I froze where I stood, my heart pounding like thunder in my chest.
I spoke, trying to steady my trembling voice:
— "Who are you?! What do you want from me? Why did you bring me here?!"
He paused... then answered, his tone even more cryptic:
— "Ask yourself—who are you? Where is your family? And what does your memory hide from you?"
He added:
— "If you truly want answers... sit down."
♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛
At the Montclair Residence...
Zoe:
I sat at the edge of the white sofa in the living room, unmoving, speechless. The chandelier light spilled onto the marble floor like pale water, and yet everything felt devoid of life. I clutched my phone tightly, eyes fixed on the screen, waiting for a message... a call... anything to tell me she was safe.
Behind me, the window was half open, and the cold wind toyed with the sheer curtains like ghosts swirling around me. The house felt strange, unnaturally quiet... as if the silence itself were watching me.
I sent another message:
"Layan... please, just tell me you're okay."
But I already knew... no reply would come.
Minutes passed like hours. I stood up, pacing back and forth, glancing at the clock, then the landline, then back to my seat.
My father entered at last. His steps were quiet as always—but his face... held no news.
I spoke before he could:
— "Did you find her? Did anyone call? The cameras? Police? Anything?"
He shook his head calmly:
— "Zoe, we're following every lead. We're still searching... It's not easy, and she may have disappeared for personal reasons. There's no need to panic."
I stared at him in silence, then whispered:
— "I feel something is wrong... I can't explain it, but I can't ignore it."
He stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder:
— "We'll find her. I promise."
But I didn't answer. I looked out the window at the mist rising into the sky.
There was something strange in the air...
Something that pressed on my chest—hard.
And I had no idea... that my best friend was now slipping into a world my mind couldn't imagine, even in its darkest nightmares.
♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛♛
Night draped the city like a black veil.
Fog crept through the alleys, swirling under dim yellow lamps. In an abandoned, crumbling district no one entered unless they had to, a black motorcycle stopped in front of a collapsed building.
Raine dismounted, hands in his pockets, a lazy smile tugging at his lips:
— "I can't believe I came out in this cold just because of a hunch... and I don't even know what it is."
Aren appeared behind him out of nowhere, as if birthed from the wall's shadow. Silence preceded him. His expressionless face was more terrifying than any growl.
He said quietly, sharply:
— "The energy... has changed."
Raine glanced at him sideways, muttering sarcastically:
— "Genius observation. So what now? Are you saying what happened to that girl... wasn't us?"
Aren stood still, unmoving, his icy blue eyes locked on a fixed point—as if watching something unseen. Then he murmured:
— "It's begun."
Raine stepped closer until their shadows merged in the foggy street. He lifted his collar and asked lightly:
— "Are we moving? Or standing here till we grow roots?"
Aren replied coldly:
— "It's not our job to save anyone."
Then turned to him with a sharp, sideward glance:
— "But we do need to know... who dared to move the first piece."
Raine smirked confidently and began walking:
— "Finally... some fun."
The two vanished into the shadows, just as silently as they had appeared.
———
Back in the abandoned place...
I sat on the cold chair like a lifeless doll. My limbs were still, my eyelids heavy, and my lips dry as if the voice piercing the silence never reached me at all. I felt nothing... as if I had become a hollow shell, breathless and defeated.
I shook my head again and again, and with every shake, my whisper grew louder:
— "You're lying... all of this is a lie... you're trying to break my mind... crush my soul..."
But his voice remained steady, cold, unshaken:
— "I have evidence... plenty of it. But... I don't think you're in a state to see it right now."
I gasped, my body trembling like even the air had become an enemy to my skin. I whispered, barely hearing my own voice:
— "I want to go home... I want to see Zoe... let me go... please..."
He didn't answer. As if my pleas were nothing more than distant buzzing—not even worth ignoring.
Then... a strange sharp sound cut through the silence, from my left—very close to my shoulder:
— "Sir, there are intruders..."
I froze, my eyes widening as if trying to swallow what couldn't be believed. I turned my head slowly toward the voice... and saw a nightmare with no face.
It was the shadow.
Round voids where eyes should be... a huge, deformed mouth stretched in a hellish grin. Its body had no features, no color, no solid shape—just a shifting mass of blackness, like the room itself had birthed it.
I placed a hand over my chest... my heartbeat pounding violently within me.
— "What... is that? Who are you...?"
But no one answered.
The voice returned, from behind the shadows, with the same calm that precedes catastrophe:
— "Don't worry... they won't hurt you... yet."
The shadow moved toward the man behind the iron desk and bent down to whisper something I couldn't hear. Their eyes met briefly, then the man nodded.
He stood slowly, but his tone became firm:
— "Take her back to the cell. She must not be touched... until she sees the truth."
I screamed inwardly, seized by terror. I tried to push the chair back, but it was too heavy, and my body too weak to resist.
The orange-haired woman stepped forward, grabbed my arm roughly, and dragged me away.
As for the little girl with the black gravedigger's hat, she smiled as if whispering to my soul:
— "Don't worry... tomorrow, you'll understand everything... or maybe... you won't."
The black door closed behind me once more.
And I was dragged through the dark corridors, pipes groaning above, and the air brushing my neck with chilling whispers.
What I didn't see...
Was another shadow.
Watching silently from behind the walls.
A shadow... with blue eyes.
And a silence that promised only doom.
To be continued....
💬 Did this chapter keep your heart racing?
Your support means the world! 🌌
Tap that ⭐ to vote if you're loving the mystery,
and drop a comment — I read every single one.
Let me know your theories...
Who's the man behind the desk? Who's the shadow with the blue eyes? 👀
Let's talk below ⬇️