Chapter 10: The Vanishing Trust
Darkness swallowed the room completely, and for a moment, Anaya couldn't even hear her own breath. The voice still echoed in her mind, cold and haunting. "Kabir?" she called out again, her voice trembling, but there was no response—only silence. Her heartbeat grew louder, almost deafening. Slowly, she stepped back, trying to control her fear, trying to think. This couldn't be happening. Not like this. Not when everything was already falling apart.
Suddenly, a dim red emergency light flickered on, casting eerie shadows across the file room. The scattered papers, the broken drawer, everything looked even more unsettling now. But Kabir was nowhere to be seen. Anaya's chest tightened. He wouldn't just leave… would he? The thought itself felt wrong, yet doubt had already begun to creep in. The voice from moments ago—it didn't sound unfamiliar. It sounded like someone who knew her… closely.
Before she could gather herself, the monitor screen at the far wall turned on automatically. Static flashed for a second, and then an image appeared. Anaya froze.
It was Kabir.
Tied to a chair. Unconscious. Blood at the corner of his forehead.
Anaya's breath hitched. "No… this isn't real…" she whispered, stepping closer to the screen. But it was real. Too real.
Then the same voice returned, this time clearer.
"Looking for him?"
Anaya's hands clenched. "Who are you?!"
A soft chuckle echoed. "Someone who knows the truth… something Kabir never told you."
Her heart pounded harder. "What truth?"
The screen flickered again, and a second image appeared beside Kabir's—an old photograph. A young girl… standing beside two people whose faces were blurred out.
But the girl…
It was Anaya.
Her eyes widened in shock. "This… this is my childhood… How do you have this?!"
The voice grew colder.
"Because I was there."
Silence.
Anaya's mind spun. Pieces of memories she never fully understood began to surface—fragments of faces, a fire, screams… and then nothing.
"You were never supposed to forget, Anaya," the voice continued. "But they made sure you did."
"They?" she whispered.
A pause.
Then the answer came—slow and sharp.
"Kabir… is one of them."
The words shattered something inside her.
"No… that's a lie!" she snapped, but her voice lacked conviction.
"Is it?" the voice mocked. "Ask yourself… why was he always one step ahead? Why did he have your file? Why did he never tell you the truth about your past?"
Tears filled Anaya's eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Her mind fought between trust and doubt, between fear and belief.
Then suddenly, the screen glitched again. Kabir moved—just slightly. He was alive.
Anaya stepped closer, desperation taking over. "Kabir… hold on… I'm coming…"
The voice laughed softly.
"That's exactly what I want."
Before she could react, a location flashed on the screen—coordinates, followed by a single line:
"Come alone."
The screen went black.
The room fell silent again.
Anaya stood there, frozen, her heart torn between two impossible choices—trust Kabir and walk into a trap… or stay back and lose him forever.
Her fists slowly tightened, determination replacing fear.
"Whatever the truth is…" she whispered, her voice now steady,
"I'll face it."
And without waiting another second, Anaya stepped out of the room—toward the unknown, toward the trap… and toward a truth that could change everything.
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