Chapter 28: The Killer’s Last Words

The air was thick with smoke and the stench of blood. The warehouse walls were cracked, riddled with bullet holes and burn marks from the earlier explosion. Amidst the destruction, the killer lay motionless, his chest rising and falling weakly, blood pooling beneath him.

Aryan stood over him, his own body aching from injuries, but his focus was only on the dying man before him. His breath was ragged, his mind racing. After everything—the murders, the chases, the mind games—it had come to this.

The man who had haunted their lives for months was finally at the edge of death.

Karan and Riya stood behind Aryan, still catching their breath. Naina lowered her gun, stepping cautiously toward the body, her sharp eyes scanning for any last tricks. They had been fooled too many times before.

But the killer—who had tormented them, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered—was barely clinging to life. His hoodie was soaked in blood, his mask long discarded, revealing a face twisted in pain but smiling.

A cold, eerie smirk.

Aryan's fists clenched. "It's over."

The killer chuckled, coughing blood. His voice was weak, but his words dripped with venom.

"You think you've won?" he rasped, his breath uneven.

Aryan's jaw tightened. "You're dying. We stopped you."

The smirk deepened. "Stopped me?" He laughed—a wet, broken sound. "You're a fool."

Karan took a step forward, his patience running thin. "Just shut up and die, you sick bastard."

But the killer barely acknowledged him. His gaze was fixed on Aryan, something unsettling in his eyes.

"The Abyss…" he whispered. His lips curled into something almost triumphant. "It has already chosen its next face."

Aryan felt a cold chill run down his spine.

The words didn't sound like a dying man's delusion. They felt calculated. Certain.

Naina narrowed her eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

The killer chuckled again. His fingers twitched.

And then Aryan saw it.

A small, blinking light near the killer's waist.

His heart stopped. A trigger.

"GET BACK!" Aryan yelled.

But the killer moved first.

With one last effort, his hand jerked toward his belt, fingers grazing a hidden detonator.

Then—

BOOM.

A deafening explosion erupted, sending shockwaves through the warehouse. The force of it threw them all off their feet, fire and debris crashing down from the ceiling. Flames spread instantly, consuming everything in their path.

Karan grabbed Riya, shielding her with his body as they tumbled to the ground. Aryan hit the floor hard, the air knocked from his lungs. Naina barely had time to react before a wave of heat surged over them.

The explosion engulfed the killer's body, turning him into nothing but ash and fire.

The last thing Aryan saw before darkness took over was the killer's smirking face dissolving in the flames.

Aryan's head pounded. His ears were ringing.

For a moment, he couldn't breathe. The air was thick with smoke and dust, the scent of burning metal and charred flesh filling his nose.

Then—a cough.

His eyes fluttered open. Karan.

He was struggling to his feet, his body covered in dust and ash. Riya clung to him, coughing violently.

"Aryan!" Naina's voice broke through the chaos.

Aryan groaned, pushing himself up. His body ached all over, but he was alive.

They had survived.

But barely.

They stumbled away from the burning wreckage, flames consuming what was left of the killer's hideout. Sirens wailed in the distance—police and firetrucks arriving too late.

Karan turned, his breathing uneven. "Is he…?"

Aryan looked back. There was nothing left of the killer.

Just scorched debris and smoldering ashes.

"He's dead," Aryan muttered.

A heavy silence fell over them.

Riya exhaled shakily. Her hands were trembling.

Aryan stepped toward her. "Riya?"

She didn't answer.

Her eyes were wide, distant.

She was staring at the fire, at the ruins of the place where she had almost died.

Where they had almost died.

Karan gently wrapped his arms around her. "It's over," he whispered.

But Aryan wasn't sure if he was saying it for her… or himself.

Naina, still watching the flames, crossed her arms. Something felt wrong.

Aryan's mind replayed the killer's last words.

"The Abyss has already chosen its next face."

It felt like a warning.

Or worse—a prophecy.

Naina turned to him. "Something's not right."

Aryan exhaled. "I know."

Because deep down, he felt it too.

This wasn't the end.

Something else was coming.

And they weren't ready for it.

Elsewhere…

A phone buzzed in a dark room.

The screen flickered to life with an unknown message.

"V is dead. Proceed accordingly."

A shadowy figure picked up the phone. A gloved finger hovered over the keyboard before typing a single reply:

"Understood. The cycle continues."

The figure turned toward the wall.

A pendulum hung there, swinging ever so slightly.

The fire had only burned one piece of the puzzle.

The real game was just beginning.