Chapter 5 The Strings Tighten
The Aftermath of the Masquerade
Aria had spent the last forty-eight hours dissecting every moment of the masquerade. Every word, every movement, every calculated glance.
But she was no closer to figuring out who he was.
And that was driving her insane.
Her desk was covered in notes, photographs, and newspaper clippings. The Phantom had existed in the shadows for years, yet last night, he had danced with her in plain sight.
He had touched her. Whispered to her. Toyed with her.
And she had let him.
The memory burned. The way his fingers had brushed against her back, the way his voice had coiled around her like a silk noose.
She shook her head. Focus, Aria. He's not a man—he's a target.
A target who knew far too much about her.
The Message That Shouldn't Exist
She turned toward her evidence board, tracing the red strings connecting various mafia factions to The Phantom's orchestrations. But before she could follow the threads any further, something caught her eye.
A single black envelope sitting neatly on her desk.
Her blood ran cold.
She hadn't heard anyone come in. Hadn't sensed a thing.
Every window was locked. The door? Bolted. There was no way he had gotten in.
And yet… the envelope was right there.
He was taunting her.
Slowly, she reached for it, breaking the seal. Inside was a simple note, written in that same elegant script.
"Looking for me, Detective?"
Her jaw clenched.
Of course, she was.
And he knew it.
But there was something else inside—a small black flash drive.
She hesitated. Another game. Another trap.
But she couldn't ignore it.
With careful precision, she plugged the drive into her laptop. A single file appeared.
A video.
Aria clicked play.
A Ghost in Her Past
The screen flickered to life, revealing grainy footage. The timestamp in the corner marked it as nearly two decades old.
The camera focused on a young girl, no older than ten, standing in front of a burned-down house.
Aria's breath caught in her throat.
That was her.
Her tiny hands clutched a bloodstained teddy bear, her face streaked with soot and silent tears.
Aria's fingers trembled as she reached toward the screen. She knew this memory. Had buried it deep.
This had been the night her world shattered.
The night her parents were murdered.
She had never spoken about it to anyone—not even Ethan.
How the hell did The Phantom have this?
Then, the footage shifted.
The camera panned to the side, revealing a boy standing in the shadows nearby.
Aria's heart pounded.
Who was he?
She had never noticed anyone that night. But the way he stood there, silent, watching…
He had known her. Even back then.
A single line of text appeared at the bottom of the screen.
"You've been looking for me, Aria. But I've known you all along."
The video ended.
Aria sat frozen, her mind spinning.
This wasn't just a game.
This was personal.
The Hunt Begins
She played the video again. And again. Analyzing every frame, every shadow, every detail.
The boy had been tall for his age, dressed in a hooded jacket, his features partially obscured. But there was something familiar about the way he stood.
A presence. A certainty.
Her stomach twisted.
Was that Killian?
Was that why he had been watching her all these years?
Her breathing turned shallow.
If he had been there that night… then he knew what had happened to her parents.
And if he knew, that meant he had either been a witness—or something worse.
Her hands curled into fists. He had been pulling the strings since before she even knew the game existed.
And she wasn't going to let him keep winning.
She was going to tear his world apart—the same way he had done to hers.
Even if it meant letting him pull her deeper into his web.