The sun was setting, and streaks of orange had spread across the sky. Guests were leaving Yunus's apartment one by one.
Dafid, Sudais's father, sat in the car after saying goodbye to his brothers. Sudais, standing in the middle of the street near the gate, came back to himself at his father's voice: "Sudais! Come on, son, get in."
"I'm coming, Father," Sudais replied. He turned to Yunus and said, "Goodbye, Uncle, see you." Yunus kindly patted his shoulder: "Go with God, and say hello to your mother." Khalid, leaning against the wall, with his usual cold, curt tone, said, "Go safely."
Sudais got in, and they drove off. As soon as the car moved away, Khalid closed the gate. Yunus suddenly stopped and said to his son: "Khalid, did you see? Sudais was beyond expectations today."
Khalid approached his father with a small frown. "I know… but something's strange. I didn't feel any 'mana' from him."
Yunus looked surprised. "Are you sure?"
Khalid nodded. "Yes, completely empty. But… we can't judge what we don't understand. We need to keep observing him closely."
Meanwhile, in Tahir's car, the atmosphere was tense. Tahir sneered, "What a disaster! How could you not pay attention? Our reputation's ruined, Sohrab!"
Sohrab, staring at an unknown point outside the car window, remained silent. In his mind, he replayed the moment over and over: "I don't even know how I got hit by that strike…"
Night arrived. Sudais and his father were walking through the streets near home when Sudais said: "Father, can we stop here? I need to send my friend some phone credit."
Dafid stopped the car. Sudais got out: "You go ahead; I'll walk the rest of the way." His father emphasized, "Okay, but come quickly. Don't be late."
A little later, Sudais walked along the dark sidewalk. He checked his watch: 7:41.
"I need to hurry. They shouldn't wait for me."
He made a call. "Hello? Did it come or not?"
His friend, on the other end with an annoyed tone, said: "Yeah, it came, but you're stingy! You should've added a little more."
Sudais laughed. "Oh, come on, don't talk nonsense!" and hung up.
It was 8:30. At home, Sudais's mother, worried, said: "Dafid, why hasn't Sudais come yet? Call him."
At that moment, the door opened, and Sudais entered: "Hello, I'm here."
His father looked at him warmly, pride lighting up his face: "Welcome home, son."
At the dinner table, laughter and joy did not cease. Dafid enthusiastically told the story of Sudais's heroics to his wife and daughter.
His mother, eyes shining, said: "I'm proud of you, my son." His sister teased: "Well done, brother! But next time, don't be so harsh, okay? Haha."
After dinner, Sudais saw his father asleep on the couch from exhaustion. He told his mother: "I'm going to bed."
The next morning, Sudais woke up, a little sluggish as usual. He stretched his body and loudly said: "Good morni—"
The sentence caught in his throat. The TV news anchor's voice broke the house's silence:
"…Breaking news; this morning at 8:00, the police found the bodies of two more people on the street. This is the latest in a series of murders in this area…"