The driver ran like a man whose soul had already left his body.
His slippers slapped against the asphalt as he sprinted down the empty lane, breathing like a broken engine.
"Help! Help!"
His voice echoed through the quiet morning.
But cities are strange.
At dawn, nobody hears screams.
I didn't run.
I simply walked after him.
Hands in my pockets.
Calm.
Fear makes people waste their energy. Training teaches you not to.
The driver looked back once.
That was enough to break him.
He expected a chase.
Instead he saw me walking behind him slowly… like I had all the time in the world.
Which, in a way, I did.
He pushed himself harder.
Thirty meters to the main road.
Twenty.
Ten.
His foot twisted suddenly.
Cheap rubber slippers aren't designed for sprinting.
He stumbled and crashed onto the road with a loud thud.
Before he could recover, I reached him.
My hand grabbed the back of his collar and lifted him halfway up.
He panicked instantly.
"I swear I won't tell anyone!"
His words poured out like water from a broken pipe.
"I didn't see anything! I'll forget everything!"
Tears had already started forming in his eyes.
I looked at him carefully.
Late twenties.
Thin build.
Calloused hands.
A man who spent his life driving, not fighting.
Inside the car behind us, something slammed against the trunk.
THUD.
The driver froze.
His eyes slowly turned toward the vehicle.
Understanding dawned on his face.
"You… kidnapped them…" he whispered.
I said nothing.
Silence can be more frightening than threats.
"Please…" he begged, voice shaking. "I have two children… let me go… please…"
I studied him for another moment.
Killing him would be easy.
One movement.
One clean strike.
No noise.
No witness.
But unnecessary killing creates unnecessary problems.
And problems attract attention.
Attention attracts the wrong people.
So instead, I did something else.
I leaned closer.
"Look at me," I said quietly.
He obeyed instantly.
Fear does that.
"You didn't see anything today," I continued calmly.
His head bobbed up and down like a puppet.
"Yes… yes… I saw nothing…"
"You drove a passenger," I said.
"Yes."
"You dropped him here."
"Yes."
"You went home."
"Yes."
My grip tightened slightly.
"And if you ever tell anyone otherwise…"
I let the sentence hang unfinished.
Men imagine far worse things than you can say aloud.
The driver swallowed hard.
"I won't… I swear on my children…"
Good.
Fear mixed with family is the strongest guarantee.
I released his collar.
He collapsed back onto the road, gasping.
For a moment he just lay there, stunned.
Then he slowly pushed himself up.
His legs were still shaking.
"Go," I said.
He didn't need the instruction twice.
Within seconds he was running again, disappearing down the street.
I watched until he turned the corner.
Then I walked back to the car.
Inside the trunk, the sacks were moving violently now.
The boys inside had clearly heard the conversation.
Good.
Fear softens stubborn people.
I unlocked the trunk and lifted it open.
Morning sunlight fell across two terrified faces wrapped in torn cloth sacks.
Their eyes were wide.
Wet.
Desperate.
"Please…" one of them whispered through the fabric.
"Don't kill us…"
I leaned down slightly.
And smiled.
"Relax," I said calmly.
"I'm not here to kill you."
For a moment hope flickered across their faces.
Then I added the rest.
"I just need a few parts."
Their screams filled the quiet street.
Hook
Some people believe monsters hide in darkness.
They're wrong.
Sometimes monsters walk calmly in daylight…
And choose their victims very carefully.
Author's Note — Kripa Shankar Sharma
War teaches many skills. Some are meant for battlefields. Some… find their way into darker corners of the world.