Chapter 10 - A Plea

Emma swallowed. "What does that even mean?"

Halloway rubbed his face, looking exhausted, haunted. "I spent years trying to figure that out. The deeper I dug, the more I realized—this isn't just about one missing boy. It's bigger. Older. Like a pattern repeating itself."

Alex leaned forward. "You think this has happened before?"

Halloway gave a hollow laugh. "I don't think. I know." He motioned toward the piles of old newspapers and documents scattered across the table. "Disappearances. Deaths. Every few years, someone vanishes, and someone else dies trying to find them. And every time… that message appears."

Emma's fingers tightened around the armrest. "Why? What does it mean?"

Halloway hesitated. His eyes flicked toward the doorway, as if expecting someone—or something—to be listening. Then, in a low voice, he murmured, "I think it's a warning. A reminder. The Eye isn't just looking for something. It's waiting for something."

Silence settled over the room like a weight. Then Alex shifted, reaching into his jacket pocket. "The missing boy's mother gave us something. A list of names." He unfolded the old paper, smoothing it out on the table. "People who died. People connected to this."

Halloway barely glanced at it—until his eyes landed on one name.

His breath hitched. His fingers trembled as he traced the faded ink.

And then, he froze.

Emma noticed the shift instantly. "What? What is it?"

Halloway didn't answer. He just kept staring, his knuckles white, his entire body suddenly rigid.

Alex leaned over, reading where his eyes were locked.

His heart nearly stopped.

There, among the dead, was a name that shouldn't have been there.

Halloway's daughter.

Still alive.

The room turned suffocatingly silent. Halloway's lips barely moved, but when he spoke, his voice was hollow, almost pleading.

"Where did you get this?"

Emma and Alex exchanged glances.

Alex swallowed hard. "As i said. His mother gave it to us."

Halloway shook his head slowly, disbelieving. His breathing grew unsteady. "No. No, that's not possible."

Emma's chest tightened. "Halloway, what does this mean?"

But he didn't answer. He just sat there, staring at his daughter's name on a list of the dead.

And for the first time since they met him Walter Halloway looked truly afraid.

The silence stretched unbearably. Halloway's hand remained frozen over his daughter's name, his breathing shallow.

Emma couldn't take it anymore. "Walter, talk to us. Why is she on this list?"

His voice, when it finally came, was barely above a whisper. "If it's true then.. She shouldn't be."

Alex's jaw tightened. "But she is."

Halloway pulled back from the paper as if it burned him. He rubbed his temples, muttering to himself. "No, no, no… this isn't right."

Emma pressed forward. "Halloway, listen. She's alive, isn't she? We need to know what this means."

He looked up at them, and for a moment, there was something unspoken in his eyes—something fragile. But then, just as quickly, his expression hardened. He shoved the paper away. "You don't get it. If she's on that list… she's already dead."

Emma's stomach twisted. "That doesn't make any damn sense."

Halloway stood abruptly, running a hand through his graying hair. "Nothing about this case has ever made sense. But this? This is different." He pointed at the paper. "I know some of the victims. I worked on their cases years ago, every name on that list… they weren't just victims. They were erased."

Alex frowned. "Erased?"

Halloway paced, his mind racing ahead of his words. "The ones who died, the ones whose names are here—they weren't just killed. Their deaths meant something. They were related of whatever the hell this Eye is."

Emma gritted her teeth. "And your daughter? She survived. She's still out there, living her life. How can you say she's dead?"

Halloway turned to her, eyes filled with something raw. "Because I walked away. Because I stopped looking. I thought if I let it go, she'd be safe. But if her name's on that list…" He swallowed hard. "It means she was never safe to begin with."

A cold realization settled in the pit of Emma's stomach.

Alex shifted, his fingers tightening into a fist. "You said these disappearances were a pattern. What happens next?"

Halloway exhaled, his shoulders slumping. "Someone else disappears."

Emma's breath caught. "Who?"

Halloway stared down at the paper, his fingers brushing over the faded ink. His voice, when it came, was barely audible.

"Whoever is next."

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Then—a knock at the door.

Sharp. Precise.

All three of them stiffened.

Halloway turned toward the sound, his face drained of color. His body moved on instinct—slow, cautious—as he reached for the small drawer near the table. The click of a gun being loaded broke the tension like a gunshot.

Alex and Emma exchanged uneasy glances.

The knock came again. This time, louder.

Emma's pulse pounded in her ears. Who the hell else knew they were here?

Halloway took a breath, then moved toward the door. He hesitated for half a second—then yanked it open.

But there was no one there.

Just the cold, empty night.

And at his feet, lying on the doorstep—

A single sheet of paper.

Emma stepped forward, dread curling in her gut as Halloway bent to pick it up.

The second he saw it, his breath hitched. His fingers clenched around the edges.

Emma and Alex peered over his shoulder.

It was another list of names.

And at the very bottom—

Alex Carter.

Emma Lane.

Jia sun.

The ink was still wet.

They froze in place.

Whoever—or whatever—was behind this was coming for them.

Emma's throat went dry. "What is happening.."

Before anyone could answer, Alex flipped the paper over. There, scrawled in the same wet ink, was a chilling message:

"Those who chase after an angel shall die in agony."

Halloway snatched the paper from Alex's hands, his face pale. Without a word, he rushed to the cluttered desk in the corner, throwing aside empty bottles and old case files. His hands trembled as he pulled out a worn piece of paper—his daughter's phone number, smudged and faded from years of neglect.

He dialed.

The line rang once.

Twice.

Then, a sharp, bitter voice cut through.

"What do you want?"

Halloway's breath hitched. "It's me. I—"

"Oh, now you care?" His daughter's voice dripped with venom. "Years, Walter. Years. You ignored my calls, ignored my letters. And now you suddenly decide to remember I exist?"

"Please," he rasped. "Just listen—"

"No. You had your chance. You didn't even show up when my son was born. So screw you."

The line went dead.

Halloway stared at the phone in his hand. His shoulders started shaking, and then, without warning, he let out a strangled cry. He threw the phone across the room, his entire body collapsing into grief.

"Why is this happening to me?" His voice cracked. "I stopped. I fucking stopped. Why didn't you take me instead? I'm the one who was digging—why come after my family? JUST WHY, YOU PIECE OF SHIT?!"

His fists pounded the table, sending files scattering to the floor. For the first time, Walter Halloway looked truly broken.

Emma and Alex exchanged a tense glance. Then Emma stepped forward, her voice firm.

"Walter, now is not the time to grieve."

Alex nodded. "We've been targeted. If we don't find whoever—or whatever—left that paper, they'll find us first."

Halloway took a shuddering breath, then wiped at his face, forcing himself to steady.

"We need to move."

Halloway made his choice. He had to go to his daughter.

Even if she hated him, even if she never wanted to see him again—he had to make sure she was safe.

The drive felt like an eternity. When he finally arrived, he stayed in his car, watching through the window of her small house. Inside, she was laughing, playing with her son.

Halloway gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white.

They looked happy. Safe.

He shouldn't ruin that.

But if the list was right… they were already in danger.

Swallowing his fear, he stepped out of the car.

His daughter saw him the moment he set foot on her driveway. Her face immediately twisted in anger. She turned to her son, whispered something, then sent the boy upstairs.

And then she stormed toward him.

"What the hell do you want?"

Halloway opened his mouth, but she didn't let him speak.

"You don't get to show up after all these years and act like you give a damn!" Her voice was sharp, laced with years of resentment. "You abandoned us! You let Mom die thinking you didn't care, and now you think you can just waltz in here?"

Halloway clenched his jaw. "I just need to—"

"No." She took a step back. "Whatever this is, whatever guilt suddenly made you show up? I don't want it."

She turned on her heel and walked back toward the house.

Halloway took a deep breath. "Please. Just be careful."

She paused for half a second. But she didn't turn around.

Then, she disappeared inside.

And Walter Halloway was left standing alone.

Meanwhile, Emma and Alex were already on their next lead.

Kath had called them—frantic. She had found something in the old man's house.

By the time they arrived, Kath was pacing the small, cluttered living room, clutching an old leather-bound book.

"This was hidden behind a loose panel in the wall," she said, shoving it into Emma's hands. "It's old, Emma. I mean, centuries old."

Emma ran her fingers over the worn cover. The title was nearly faded, but she could just make out the words:

"The Fallen Angel."

Her pulse quickened. She flipped the first few pages, her eyes scanning the aged text.

And then—there it was.

The Eye.

Not just the same symbol they had seen before, but a different version of it.

This time, it was crying.

Emma's breath hitched. She turned another page, her heart nearly stopped.

Written in the old ink, in the same eerie phrasing as the blood-scrawled messages, was another passage:

"Those who seek Heaven must open their hearts and shut their eyes."

A chill ran down Emma's spine.

Cain's mother.

The words hit her like a brick.

She had written something before she died, a note that said, "Today, I will descend to Heaven." And her gouged out eyes..

It made sense now.

This book. This ancient book.

But one question loomed in her mind.

"Why was this in the old man's house?"

Alex shook his head. "If he knew about it, why didn't he mention it before?"

Emma turned to the final page.

Her fingers trembled as she read the last passage:

"Did you find the Eye?

"Or did the Eye find you?"

She exhaled sharply, her mind racing.

"This book. This Eye. It's all connected." She looked up at Alex, determination burning in her eyes. "We need to figure out how."

And fast.

Because if they didn't—

They might be the next names on the list.