Maria struggled to walk while enduring the burning pain in both of her eyes. Every time she tried to open her eyelids, all she could see was a blur of shapeless shadows moving across her vision. She was forced to steal a few seconds to make sure she was heading in the right direction before closing her eyes again whenever the stabbing pain became too intense.
Tears continued to stream down her face uncontrollably. Maria let them flow, hoping they would help wash away some of the irritation caused by the spray that had hit her eyes. Every so often, she wiped the tears pooling around her eyelids, trying to make her vision a little clearer, though the effort hardly seemed to help.
She still couldn't see properly.
But she had no choice except to keep moving.
The sound of footsteps and people's voices grew clearer as she approached a busier area. Maria tried to determine her direction based on the sounds around her, but someone suddenly ran toward her from the opposite direction and accidentally collided with her.
Her balance disappeared instantly.
Maria nearly fell when a hand quickly wrapped around her shoulder, keeping her upright.
"Maria, are you okay?"
Maria recognized the voice despite the burning in her eyes.
"Rania."
Rania tightened her grip on Maria's shoulder.
"What happened?"
Maria blinked several times, but her vision remained blurred.
"That pickpocket sprayed something into my eyes." She drew a short breath, trying to endure the pain that stabbed through them again. "I need water to rinse them."
Rania didn't waste any time asking further questions.
"Follow me."
She guided Maria toward one of the nearby vendor stalls. After buying a bottle of water, Rania immediately handed it to Maria.
Maria opened the bottle and poured the water over both eyes.
The water ran down her face, carrying away some of the heat that had made her eyes feel as though they were on fire. She rinsed them several times, lowering her head so the water would reach her eyes instead of merely running across the surface of her face, then slowly tried to open them wider.
Her eyes were still red and heavy.
But this time, she could see.
"Your breathing is still pretty fast," Rania said anxiously.
Maria wiped her face with the back of her hand.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Maria rinsed her eyes one more time before closing the bottle and handing it back to Rania.
Rania watched her face anxiously.
"What actually happened?"
Maria took a deep breath. Once the pain in her eyes had eased slightly, she began explaining what had happened after they encountered the hooded teenager. She described how the pickpocket had managed to evade her, how they had come face-to-face at close range, and how the teenager had eventually used the spray to blind her before escaping.
Rania listened carefully, occasionally glancing at Maria's still-reddened eyes.
"So he deliberately carried that spray?"
"Looks like it."
Maria narrowed her eyes, trying to suppress the discomfort that still lingered.
"He didn't panic when I approached him. Even when I was about to catch him, he still had enough presence of mind to think of a way to escape."
Rania let out a quiet sigh.
"Then he's used to situations like that."
"Yes."
From somewhere within the distant crowd, someone suddenly called out.
"Mari! Rani!"
The voice was faint, nearly swallowed by the roar of vehicles and the chatter of the crowd. Maria and Rania turned at the same time.
Aline was struggling to make her way through the crowd. Several times, people blocked her path without knowing what was happening. Once she finally made it through, Aline immediately ran toward Maria and Rania.
"Where's the pickpocket?"
That was the first thing she asked.
But as soon as she got closer, Aline's attention shifted to Maria's red, tear-soaked face.
"Maria, what happened to you?"
Rania immediately answered before Maria could.
"The pickpocket sprayed something into Maria's eyes and ran."
Aline immediately clenched her fists.
"Bastard."
She exhaled sharply before looking toward the road where Arlan had disappeared.
"He really had the nerve to use something like that."
Aline then turned toward Rania.
"Then why are you fine?"
Rania raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"You were with Maria, weren't you? Why didn't you stop him?"
Rania sighed, looking slightly annoyed that she had to explain something that should have been obvious.
"I got there too late. By the time I arrived, Maria had already been sprayed."
Aline clicked her tongue in frustration.
"If I'd gotten there sooner, that kid wouldn't have had a chance to do anything."
Maria, who had been listening all this time, finally let out a small laugh despite the lingering pain in her eyes.
"Whose fault is it that both of you were late?"
She carefully rubbed the corner of her eye.
"I already met him first."
Aline shot Maria an annoyed look, while Rania simply smiled.
The three of them fell silent for a moment.
Failing to catch the pickpocket wasn't entirely new to Maria. Over the years, while handling various cases, she had encountered plenty of people who managed to escape. Some got away because they knew the terrain, some used crowds to their advantage, while others simply got lucky because the officers arrived too late.
But this time felt different.
Their target hadn't merely managed to escape.
He had also been able to fight Maria at close range, recognize an opening almost instantly, and use a method they had never anticipated to create distance between them. He hadn't moved like someone cornered and relying on nothing but luck.
That meant one thing.
They weren't chasing an ordinary pickpocket.
Aline broke the silence.
"Maria, what is he actually like?"
Rania looked at her as well.
"What is he like as a person?"
Maria fell silent for a moment. She tried to recall the face she had only managed to see up close for a brief moment. That face was still vivid in her memory—a young face with delicate features and an unreadable gaze, so beautiful that it was almost difficult to believe its owner could move that quickly.
"Beautiful as the moon," Maria finally answered.
Aline frowned.
Maria continued in a serious tone,
"But he behaves like a wild animal."
Rania and Aline exchanged a glance.
They tried to imagine someone with a face as beautiful as the moon who behaved like a wild animal. The harder they tried to make sense of the description, the more impossible it seemed.
Aline eventually shook her head.
"That explanation doesn't help at all."
Maria gave a faint smile.
"You'll understand later."
She then looked toward the wall and alley where the teenager had disappeared. The passage now looked completely ordinary, as if it had never been the scene of the brief chase that had cost them their target.
"Besides, we'll catch him soon."
Aline nodded confidently.
"When I meet him, he won't get away again."
Maria turned toward her.
"You might change your mind after meeting him in person."
"What do you mean?"
Rania shrugged.
"I don't know either."
Maria merely smiled.
"You'll understand later too."
After making sure her vision had mostly returned to normal, Maria decided not to waste any more time. The remaining pain was still irritating, but it wasn't strong enough to stop her.
"We'll continue tonight."
Aline nodded.
Rania immediately prepared herself as well.
The three women resumed the pursuit using the gold bracelet Arlan had stolen. The tracking device they had previously used to locate their target was still attached to the bracelet. Maria took out her phone and checked the screen.
The red dot was still moving.
"He's heading east."
The three of them began moving along a safer route, keeping their distance from the crowds that could make them lose track of the signal. Maria continued watching the screen while Rania and Aline kept an eye on the surrounding streets, making sure they didn't miss any alleyways or intersections.
Several minutes passed.
The red dot was still there.
Then it stopped.
Maria frowned.
"Why did it stop?"
Rania moved closer to look at the screen.
"Maybe he's standing still."
Maria shook her head.
"No."
A few seconds later, the red dot moved again, but only briefly. Then it stopped once more.
And then—
it disappeared.
Maria stopped walking.
Aline stared at the screen, her expression tense.
"Did we lose the signal?"
Maria zoomed in on the map and checked the device several times. She confirmed the connection, reopened the tracking application, and waited a few seconds, but the screen still showed nothing.
No signal.
"It's not disconnected."
Rania began to understand what might have happened.
"He found it."
Maria nodded slowly.
"And he destroyed it."
Arlan had finally realized that the bracelet wasn't simply a valuable piece of jewelry. He knew they were following him, or at the very least, had begun to suspect that the object he was wearing served another purpose.
The three of them immediately looked at the last location that had appeared on the screen.
A building.
A gaming center.
Maria pointed toward the location.
"Let's go."
They arrived not long afterward.
But the teenager was already gone.
As soon as they entered the building, they found an atmosphere far from peaceful. Several gaming machines were damaged, a number of chairs had been overturned, and parts of the room were in complete disarray. Several drops of blood remained on the floor, not yet completely dry.
Several young men were either sitting or standing while holding injured parts of their bodies. One covered his nose with his hand, another held his swelling cheek, while a third seemed to have trouble standing because of the blows his body had taken.
Maria immediately showed her police identification.
"Who is responsible for all of this?"
There was no immediate answer.
Several people merely looked at one another, as though none of them wanted to be the first to speak.
An employee then approached hesitantly.
"There was a fight."
"Who was involved?"
"Some of the young people who were playing here."
Maria surveyed the wrecked room.
"Was there someone wearing black clothes and a hood?"
The employee hesitated before answering.
"Why?"
"Just answer the question."
The employee finally gave a small nod.
"Yes."
Maria and her two partners exchanged glances.
"Where is she now?"
"I don't know. She already left."
Maria sighed.
"Then we'll need to see the CCTV footage."
The employee turned toward the manager, who had been standing nearby. The manager looked uncomfortable, but after seeing Maria's identification, he finally nodded.
"Of course."
He then led them toward the security room.
The security room was located at the back of the building. Several screens covered the walls, each displaying a different angle of the gaming center. The light from the monitors reflected off the faces of everyone inside, making the room feel colder than the rest of the building.
The manager then called over a female employee who had been on duty when the incident occurred.
"She was here when everything happened."
Maria nodded.
"All right. Let's start from the beginning."
The footage began playing.
On the screen, the room was still orderly. Young people were playing games, several customers were sitting in front of the machines, while the female employee could be seen serving customers near the reception desk.
A few minutes later, someone entered the camera's range.
Black clothes.
A hood covering the head.
A small frame.
Maria recognized the figure immediately.
"That's her."
Aline stepped closer to the screen.
"What is she doing?"
The hooded teenager walked toward the reception desk and spoke to the female employee.
The employee then explained,
"She came to rent one of the private rooms."
Maria turned toward her.
"Private room?"
The employee nodded.
"A private room for gaming. But all of them were occupied at the time. I told her to wait because one of the customers would be finished soon."
Maria turned her attention back to the screen.
The teenager pulled out a chair and sat down to wait. There was no sign of restlessness, nor did she appear to be paying excessive attention to her surroundings. She simply sat with her head slightly lowered, as though waiting was something she was already accustomed to.
But Maria immediately noticed something.
"Why did you call her a girl?"
The employee fell silent.
Maria looked at her.
"Did she ever uncover her face in front of you?"
"No."
"Do you know her?"
The employee shook her head.
"No."
"Then how do you know she's a girl?"
The employee looked slightly nervous.
"From her build and her voice."
Maria narrowed her eyes.
"Explain."
"She comes here often. Almost always wearing the same clothes and a hood covering her face. But I can tell from her voice that she's a girl."
"How often?"
"Quite often."
Maria immediately glanced at her two partners.
So the teenager hadn't merely visited this place once.
She had made it one of her regular destinations. She knew the place, understood how it operated, and was comfortable enough to wait there for hours without feeling the need to go somewhere else.
"When does she usually come?"
"From night until daytime."
Rania frowned.
"From night until daytime?"
The employee nodded.
"She rents a private room for a long period. She usually arrives at night and doesn't leave until the following afternoon."
Maria turned toward the manager.
"This place actually allows minors to rent private rooms for that long?"
The manager grew even more rigid. He opened his mouth but couldn't immediately find an answer that would defend himself.
Rania stepped forward.
"Don't you have any age restrictions?"
The manager lowered his gaze.
Aline stared at him sharply.
"If you knew she was underage and still allowed her to stay here overnight, you need to fix the rules at this place. You can't simply rely on customers' payments without considering their safety."
The manager swallowed.
"I'm sorry. We'll fix it."
Maria nodded.
"We'll discuss that later. For now, continue the footage."
The recording resumed.
The teenager was still sitting and waiting.
Time passed.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Eventually, a young man emerged from one of the private rooms.
The female employee pointed at the screen.
"That young man was one of the customers whose time was almost up."
The teenager immediately stood. Her movement showed that she had been waiting for quite some time, but she didn't appear angry or impatient.
The young man instead approached the reception desk and began talking to the employee about extending his rental time.
The teenager waited for several seconds.
Then she approached.
"That girl had been waiting for a long time," the employee explained. "But the young man still wanted to extend his time. He said he wasn't finished yet."
Maria watched the screen intently.
The teenager appeared to say something to the young man. The audio wasn't clear because the recording had no sound, but from their body language, it was obvious that the conversation had turned into an argument.
Aline asked,
"Then what happened?"
The employee continued,
"They argued. Arlan said his time was already over and that it was her turn now."
A few seconds later, the teenager suddenly moved.
Her hand shot forward.
The first punch struck the young man's face.
Aline raised an eyebrow.
"She started it."
The young man became furious and tried to retaliate. The female employee immediately moved in to break them apart, but the young man shoved her instead.
The employee lost her balance and fell.
The young man stepped forward again.
His fist flew toward the teenager.
But the teenager dodged.
The second punch missed as well.
She moved quickly to the side, then struck the young man in the body, sending him stumbling backward until he crashed into one of the gaming machines.
The commotion immediately drew the attention of everyone nearby.
One of the private-room doors opened.
Three young men stepped out.
They saw their friend on the ground and immediately moved toward the teenager.
"His friends are coming," Rania said.
The three of them tried to overwhelm the teenager.
But her movements were far faster. She dodged one punch, twisted her body, and sent one of them stumbling off balance. When the second young man tried to attack from the side, she had already moved.
Aline watched the screen intently.
"She really is used to fighting."
Maria said nothing.
She watched the way the teenager maintained her distance, how she always moved before her opponents could lock her into position, and how she used the surrounding space to prevent herself from being cornered.
She didn't fight like a child who had only recently learned how to defend herself.
She fought like someone who had been forced to protect herself far too many times.
On the screen, the situation grew increasingly chaotic.
The first young man who had fallen earlier got back to his feet and spotted a wooden chair nearby. He grabbed it with both hands.
"Don't!" the female employee shouted.
But the young man had already thrown the chair toward the teenager.
The chair slammed into her body, knocking her to the floor.
The young man didn't stop. He grabbed another chair and raised it, preparing to strike her again.
But this time, she wasn't caught off guard. The teenager moved, pushing the first chair away from her, but the second attack was already coming.
That was when Maria noticed something.
The gold bracelet on Arlan's right wrist was still intact.
"Look."
Rania and Aline moved closer.
The three women watched the bracelet carefully. A few seconds later, they finally saw what had happened.
Arlan raised her right arm to protect her head from the chair.
The chair struck her arm.
But the gold bracelet took the force of the impact as well.
A small part of the bracelet visibly cracked.
The tracking device hidden inside it came loose.
Maria immediately understood.
"So that's what happened."
Aline stared at the screen.
"The impact destroyed it."
Maria nodded.
All this time, they had assumed the teenager had deliberately destroyed the tracking device after discovering it. Apparently, that wasn't the case. She may have already suspected that the bracelet was suspicious, but the final damage occurred when she used her arm to block the chair attack.
On the screen, the teenager got back to her feet.
The young man was still holding the chair.
The teenager picked up the first chair that had been thrown at her. She raised it, then swung it toward her opponent.
The wooden chair struck the young man's head.
His body immediately collapsed.
Several drops of blood began running from his head.
The teenager stood motionless.
For several seconds, she didn't move. Her gaze remained fixed on the young man lying on the floor.
Maria studied her face carefully.
There was no satisfaction.
No smile.
No expression of victory.
Only silence, as though she herself were weighing what she had just done.
Then Arlan turned around.
She left the place without waiting for anyone and without looking back.
The female employee pointed at the screen again.
"After that, she left."
"Where did she go?" Maria asked.
"I don't know."
The footage showed the teenager leaving the gaming center and disappearing from the camera's range.
Maria paused the video.
The room fell silent again.
Rania stared at the screen.
"So she really does come here often."
"Yes," Maria replied.
Aline leaned against a chair.
"And she can rent a room from night until daytime?"
Maria didn't answer immediately. Her gaze remained fixed on the screen, frozen on the image of the teenager just before she left.
Now they had more information.
They knew that the teenager frequently spent time at the gaming center.
They knew she could fight.
They knew she had used the bracelet without fully knowing the function of the tracking device hidden inside it.
And most importantly—
they knew she didn't act randomly.
She had habits.
She had places she frequently visited.
And every habit, no matter how small, could leave another trail.
Maria stood.
"We lost her tonight."
Rania nodded.
"So what's next?"
Maria looked at both of her partners.
"We search for the places she usually visits."
Aline sighed.
"So we start with every gaming center in the city?"
"Not just that."
Maria looked back at the CCTV screen.
"We look for patterns."
They then left the security room.
Outside, the gaming center was still filled with the sounds of machines and conversations, but to Maria, the place now felt like an important point on a much larger map. The fight that had just taken place wasn't merely an ordinary brawl. Behind it were habits, choices, and perhaps reasons they still didn't understand.
Arlan had disappeared again.
But for the first time, they were no longer chasing someone without a direction.
They had found a habit.
And habits could leave trails.
The night's pursuit was finally called off.
The first day of their hunt ended in failure, but the failure no longer felt completely pointless. They might not have managed to capture the teenager, but they had uncovered a small opening into the teenager's life—a place she frequently visited, a pattern they could follow, and the possibility that other traces were still waiting to be found.
Maria knew one thing.
Tomorrow, they would start with a new trail.
To be continued....