A thick fog had swallowed the entire surroundings; as if particles of dust were suspended in the air to witness the end of this battle. Sudais, holding the gun tightly in his hand, stood there as his breaths came out of his chest with difficulty. With every ounce of strength he had left, he panted, and in the end, he threw the gun with all his might onto Ajid's lifeless body.
The environment had sunk into a deadly silence. Sudais, whose chest was still burning from excitement and pain, muttered under his breath: "I just got lucky… the difference in skill and power between us was very… very high. If I didn't have this gun with me, I'd be finished!" Having no strength left in his body, he bent down to the ground from sheer weakness.
Suddenly, the sound of his phone ringing rose. With difficulty, he stood up and grabbed it; it was Bahir. The call ended, but that brief vibration was enough to bring Sudais back to himself. Now that his breathing had calmed a little, he began to move, limping:
"I have to go… as soon as possible… I need to get away from here."
On the other side of the fog, Bahir sat inside the car, angrily punching the steering wheel:
"Damn it! What should I do? No… I have to go… I have to go after him."
He quickly got out of the car. As he moved a little forward, he noticed someone coming toward him through the fog. Thinking it was an enemy, Bahir stared ahead with a harsh face and sharp eyes.
But suddenly, he was shocked.
Sudais emerged from the fog, limping with injured steps. Seeing his condition, Bahir was left speechless. Without saying anything, Sudais passed by him, dragging his feet. Bahir stuttered:
"Sudais! What happened to you?"
Sudais only replied: "Let's go."
Then suddenly, he froze in place. His vision went dark, and he only said:
"Bahir…"
And collapsed onto the ground.
Bahir rushed toward him in panic:
"SUDAIS!!"
⸻
At that same moment, at the scene of the fight, two men were standing over Ajid's body, staring at him in shock. One of them growled angrily:
"Who did this? Why didn't you call earlier, damn it?!"
The man who had taken the money (the informant) stepped forward in fear:
"It was a boy… I didn't recognize him. But he killed Ajid! I couldn't do anything, I froze, sir!"
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his collar from behind and slammed him to the ground. A man stepped forward and stared at him angrily:
"One person! One person comes and kills everyone, and you just watched? Idiot!"
He stood directly over Ajid's body. The man on the ground suddenly felt a deadly aura pass through his body; a paralyzing fear took over him, and he couldn't speak.
That man, surrounded by a yellow aura, said with authority:
"Take this body and move it. I have business with this one."
As he moved forward to take the money back, he sensed someone's presence.
A man with glowing red eyes appeared from within the fog.
"A sharp sense of foreboding washed over the man." He prepared his technique and shouted:
"Who the hell are you now?!"
But that person… was Khalid.
With a speed like a spirit, he passed through them. The two men beside the other man fell to the ground before they even realized what happened.
Khalid stood behind the man. His expression was indifferent; he didn't even look at him. As the man was about to turn, Khalid's powerful kick struck his face, sending him meters away to the ground.
The man, his nerves bursting, mouth full of blood, tried to get up and shout:
"You messed with the wrong pers—"
But he froze.
Khalid stood above him with pure presence; his eyes shone in the darkness of the fog, sending chills through the man's body. The hem of Khalid's coat moved gently in the air.
He slowly sat down in front of the man and said:
"How interesting… a member of the Silver family? You're connected to criminals?"
Khalid continued:
"If you're involved with them, it won't end well for you. These incidents… were they your doing? The killings?"
He stood up and, as he was about to leave, paused and said with a mysterious smile:
"And one more thing… give my regards to your family. Tell them… I saw Khalid."
The man on the ground, his anger mixed with fear, could only mutter under his breath:
"Bastard…"
Maheeb Square had sunk into a heavy silence; as if the city itself was afraid of what had happened. Only the steady sound of raindrops hitting the cold stone pavement broke the silence.
Khalid stood firmly in the middle of the fog. He pulled up the collar of his long coat to block the biting cold. His house was only two alleys away; from the balcony, he had heard the echo of the clash—a sound that, to ordinary ears, was just noise, but to him, carried the scent of blood and the battle of elites.
Khalid did not expect to find the dirty traces of the Silver family in this area. He glanced at the fleeing, trembling shadows and murmured to the wind:
"What is your goal? We will see…"
⸻
Kilometers away, deep inside a safe house, the air was heavy and saturated with the sharp smell of disinfectant.
Sudais's eyes suddenly opened.
The flickering light of an old lamp hanging from the ceiling hit his eyes. He tried to move and sit up, but a terrible pain twisted in his side and pinned him back to the bed.
A commanding voice came from the corner of the room:
"Don't move!"
Bahir, while cleaning a heavy metal surgical tool, continued:
"You're lucky you're still breathing, Sudais. That wasn't just a fight… it was a formal declaration of war."
Sudais felt a bitter cough in his throat. With half-open eyes, he looked at Bahir's hands:
"Why… why do you have surgical tools?"
Bahir paused and, with a serious face, said:
"Some of your wounds had reopened. I stitched them again."
Sudais asked in surprise:
"You know how to do that?"
Bahir smirked:
"When I was an apprentice at the hospital, I watched the surgeons carefully. I learned a few things. Forget that… tell me what happened."
Sudais fell silent for a moment and stared at the ceiling.
"I got lucky. Ajid was distracted for just a moment… I used that one second."
Bahir, putting the tools aside, said:
"It's obvious he pushed you to the edge of death. Good thing you made it out. But Sudais… the game has changed now. The Silver family isn't just after you; they'll go after anyone related to you by blood. And also… don't forget the others. Silver is nothing compared to Aryan and Bladenmore."
Sudais sank into deep silence. The weight of those family names pressed heavily on his chest.
To break the atmosphere, Bahir said:
"Well?"
Sudais looked at him.
Bahir continued:
"First, get better. After that… it's you and me."
Sudais gave a bitter smile and tried to change the mood:
"I'm fine, man! This kind of stuff always happens to the heroes (movie guys), right?"
Bahir replied sarcastically:
"Yeah right! Now what are you going to tell your parents? With this condition?"
A brief silence fell between them.
Sudais suddenly laughed and said:
"I'll say this, Bahir… I'll tell them ten guys jumped me because I didn't pay for kebab!"
Both of them laughed under the flickering light of that hidden room.
Bahir looked at Sudais… it was as if he had become his old self again—his laughter was alive, real… not forced.