Zara glanced at her watch as the elevator doors closed behind her. It was already 11:30 p.m. The office floors were deserted, a faint hum of the air conditioning following her as she stepped out into the night. The city had gone quieter at this hour, only the occasional roar of a car breaking the stillness.
She wrapped her scarf tightly around her neck and started walking. The streets were dimly lit, the shadows stretching long across the pavement.
Her phone buzzed.
Rhea: "Done for the day? So late again?"
Zara typed a quick reply: "Yes. Heading home. Will call once I reach."
She tried to shake off the unease crawling up her spine. Late nights were part of her job. Tonight felt different.
Footsteps echoed behind her. Slow. Measured.
She turned slightly. A tall figure followed at a distance, face hidden beneath a hoodie.
Zara looked away. You're imagining things, Zara. People walk behind you all the time.
She quickened her pace. The footsteps matched.
Her breath caught. Coincidence. Just coincidence.
She turned a corner into a narrower street she rarely used. The figure followed.
By the time she reached the next junction, the rhythm of those steps was louder, closer. Sweat pricked her palms.
Don't panic. Maybe call Rhea?
She unlocked her phone but hesitated. Rhea was fast asleep. Malik. Malik would answer.
The footsteps behind her quickened.
She broke into a walk that was almost a run, darting into another lane, hoping to lose whoever it was.
But when she glanced back, the figure was there—closer now, deliberate, unwavering.
Her mouth went dry. This isn't just in my head.
Her hands shook as she pressed Malik's name on the screen.
"Pick up… pick up…" she whispered as the call connected.
The phone rang. She could hear it ringing.
Another set of steps echoed—closer.
Suddenly, a hand grabbed her from behind.
Zara gasped. "Help!" she shouted into the phone.
The call cut off.
---
Malik sat frozen for a fraction of a second in his study, the single word burning through his ears. Then he was moving.
He grabbed his phone, activated location tracking. Two streets from her office.
When he reached the narrow lane, the night was silent again.
All he found was Zara's phone on the ground, its screen cracked. Beside it lay her scarf, half-soaked in dirt, fluttering slightly in the breeze.
"Zara…" His voice broke, rage boiling beneath his ribs.
He made a call. "Get everyone. Now."
---
Within minutes, two black SUVs screeched into the lane. Malik's security team, men who owed him loyalty, fanned out under his clipped instructions. He wasn't just a wealthy businessman—Malik Khan was known for his reach, for the way the city listened when he spoke. Tonight, that power was focused on one goal: find Zara.
At the police station, the inspector looked at him nervously.
"Sir, we have retrieved nearby CCTV footage."
Malik's eyes narrowed as the footage played.
Zara appeared on the screen, walking fast, looking over her shoulder. Then, behind her, a tall figure. The face remained hidden, the hoodie pulled low.
"Pause. Zoom," Malik ordered.
As the video enlarged, a detail emerged—on the stalker's forearm, partially visible as the sleeve lifted when he grabbed Zara: a tattoo of a snake, inked in crude lines.
The inspector stiffened. "Sir… that's the mark of the Xen Gang."
Malik's jaw tightened. "Where is their base?"
"Outskirts. Abandoned warehouse. But sir—it's dangerous. They—"
"I don't care." His voice was calm, but beneath it, a storm. "Get every unit there. Nobody stops until she's found."
---
Hours later, Malik stood outside a rusted warehouse. Police cars formed a silent barricade behind him.
He stared at the graffiti of a snake spray-painted on the corrugated metal door.
He could feel it—Zara was here, somewhere inside.
His phone buzzed. Rhea. "Malik? Please tell me you found her—"
He ended the call without answering. There was no time.
He took a step forward when a scream—faint, but sharp—echoed from deep inside the building.
Malik's heart froze. "Zara…"
The heavy doors creaked as he pushed them open.
And the world went black.
To be continued…