6
The night air was thick with tension as Adrian and Elena returned to the villa, boots scuffing against the driveway. The city lights flickered like distant stars, indifferent to the turmoil that had overtaken their lives. Emma's disappearance had transformed their once orderly existence into a whirlwind of fear, uncertainty, and relentless vigilance.
Adrian set down his coat and ran a hand through his hair. "Every lead we follow… it's like he's always one step ahead. I feel like we're chasing shadows."
Elena's fingers trembled slightly as she clutched the fragments of paper they had collected that day—Emma's drawings, scribbled numbers, half-formed letters, a piece of torn fabric. "Some of these… they're misleads," she said softly, laying them out across the dining table. "But I think there's a pattern hiding underneath. We just have to find it."
