Aiden's phone rang.
"I have a surprise for you. Your surprise is waiting in your car. Go get it."
As soon as that was said, the caller abruptly cut the call.
"Hello! Hello! Who is this?!" Aiden kept saying, but it was too late. The call was already disconnected.
Aiden's heart clenched. He wasn't sure whether he should go or not. It could very well be a trap. Throughout his life, he had made more enemies than friends. Many people wanted him destroyed, and were just waiting for the right moment to attack.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Aiden exhaled sharply and decided, Standing here won't solve anything. Let me go and check myself.
He quickly walked toward his car. To his shock, the door of the car was already open. That sent a chill down his spine. On the passenger seat, there was a red box. He picked it up, staring at it in silence for a moment. Then he slowly opened it.
A scream escaped his throat and the box fell from his hand.
Inside it… was a human hand. Severed. Fresh.
Aiden's heartbeat spiked. His chest tightened. The shock made him freeze for a few seconds. But he noticed something: on the finger of that cut hand was a black diamond ring. Aiden's mind instantly replayed the face of that boy who had misbehaved with him earlier that evening the same ring.
His face turned pale.
There was also a folded paper inside the box. With trembling fingers, Aiden took it out and opened it.
Sorry baby boy, I didn't mean to scare you. I sent you this hand only to make you understand the price of taking a step toward you… is death. This hand dared to reach for you today. I stopped it. Forever.
Aiden threw the paper aside and anxiously looked around. He felt like someone was still nearby. In that moment, his eyes suddenly caught something in the car mirror a silhouette standing in the dark. The face wasn't visible. Aiden spun around to look but the figure slipped behind a bush. Aiden ran that way, but by the time he reached, there was nobody there.
Just as he was turning back, his eyes caught another piece of paper stuffed between the bushes. He carefully pulled it out.
It's not time for us to meet yet. But very soon… we will meet.
Aiden's eyes filled with rage. He tore the paper into pieces and walked away furiously. Behind him, the dark shadow slowly stepped out from behind a tree… a terrifying smile on his lips.
Aiden reached back near his car and froze. The severed hand was burning. There were no flames, no fuel yet it was burning on its own. Even in the cold night, sweat appeared on his forehead.
He wasn't new to violence… but this felt darker. Unnatural.
He quickly locked the car and headed back toward the party.
Caleb was sipping his drink, eyes scanning the dance floor where beautiful international girls were dancing. He had a unique taste. While most men ran behind fair-skinned girls, he was more attracted to dark brown or black girls. He found them hotter.
At that moment, his eyes were fixed on a stunning black beauty. He'd been watching her for a while… just to make sure she didn't already have a boyfriend. After several minutes of observing, Caleb finally stood up and took two steps toward her when suddenly, a white guy came and kissed her.
Caleb rolled his eyes. "Bad luck."
"Bad luck," a voice repeated behind him.
Caleb turned around. A boy wearing a black mask was standing there.
Raising an eyebrow, Caleb stared at him.
The masked boy smiled under the mask and offered his hand. "Hi, I'm Evan."
Caleb hesitantly shook his hand. "Caleb."
Seeing Evan with a mask made Caleb curious.
"Can I ask you something?"
Evan smiled, "You want to ask why I'm wearing a mask, right?"
"Yeah…"
"I just like it that way."
"You always keep it on?"
"Yeah… except one place."
Caleb frowned. "Which place?"
Evan leaned closer, voice deep and playful, "In bed."
Caleb blinked. "In bed? Oh, you mean while sleeping you remove it?"
Evan smirked, "No."
Caleb was getting confused. "What are you trying to say?"
With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Evan said, "Okay, let me make it easy for you, sweetheart. I only remove my mask when I'm in bed with someone."
Caleb smirked, "Well… nobody would like to wear a mask in that situation."
"Do you come here often?" Caleb asked.
"Yes," Evan replied.
"Why?"
Evan's eyes suddenly turned serious cold. "To hunt."
Caleb stared at him in surprise. "What?"
Evan smiled again, "I mean beautiful girls from all over the world come here. So I spend some quality time with them."
Caleb smirked, "To talk to them? Or something else?"
Evan laughed, "You're smart. You got it without me saying it. What about you? You come for the same?"
"No. I just talk. Flirt a little. Nothing more. I respect girls a lot. Yeah, sometimes my intentions shake a bit, but I control myself."
Evan's eyes narrowed. "Ever thought about guys?"
Caleb laughed. "No!"
"Think about it. Guys can be pretty hot too."
Caleb smiled awkwardly.
Just then, Caleb's phone rang. Because it was too loud inside, he stepped away to answer the call. Evan watched him walk away. The second Caleb disappeared from his sight the smile vanished from Evan's face. His eyes became ice cold. Slowly, his gaze moved toward the same black girl Caleb had been watching earlier.
A girl was hanging upside down by ropes. She was naked, bleeding from cuts all over her body. She screamed in pain.
In front of her, sitting on a chair, was Evan. Calm. Smiling. A big knife in his hand.
As he stood up and approached her, the girl trembled in terror.
"Baby girl… this is the exact fear I wanted to see in your eyes."
She cried, "Please… please let me go."
"I can't. Because if I let you go now, you'll run outside and tell everyone about me, right?"
"I swear I won't tell anyone!"
"How can I trust you? I don't trust women. Not even for a second. You can trust a wild animal… but not a woman. Women are not worth trust." Evan's eyes turned stone cold.
He looked at his knife… then started carving something on her back. She shouted in unbearable pain and fainted.
He lifted her down and poured water on her face to wake her up.
"You fainted so soon? You're the weakest hunt I've ever had." The girl shivered in terror meaning he had done this to many girls before.
"Enough of this world. Now get ready to go above," Evan whispered.
The girl shook her head desperately, "Please… please don't"
But Evan had turned into a complete monster. He pressed his hand over her mouth and, in one swift slash, slit her throat. Her painful scream turned into silence.
Blood covered his face.
He calmly walked to the bathroom, washed the blood off, returned, picked up a large black bag, stuffed her body in, and carried it out. His car was parked outside. He put the bag in the trunk and drove.
Half an hour later, he stopped near a deep cliff, opened the trunk, and threw the bag down. He stood there for a few moments… a strange peace on his face… then quietly drove away.
Back at the club, Caleb returned but Evan had disappeared. Caleb found it odd but shrugged and continued drinking. Soon after, Aiden rushed in, breathless.
"Caleb, we need to leave. Now."
Caleb sensed something was wrong and followed him outside. Both sat in the car.
While driving, Caleb asked what happened. Aiden told him everything from the call to the hand to the shadow every detail.
Caleb's face became serious. "This is very serious, Aiden. You need to be extremely careful."
"I know, Caleb…"
"Who the hell could it be?"
"Relax. We've handled more critical situations than this. Don't overthink right now. Once we get home, we'll figure it out."
Aiden nodded. They were so deep in conversation that neither of them noticed a dark car following them from a distance. When their car stopped in front of a small house, that car also slowed down.
The man inside watched as Aiden and Caleb entered the house. Once they were gone, he turned his car around and disappeared into the darkness.