Chapter 34: Beneath Her Silence

The tension inside the safe house had grown thicker by the hour. No new messages, no new sightings — just a haunting silence that felt more dangerous than the last attack. It was too quiet.

Mira paced the hallway alone, listening to the creaking floorboards beneath her feet, thinking. Every time she closed her eyes, that final message replayed in her mind.

"I'll take her light… slowly."

She had always believed Aarav was the one protecting her. But now, the target on her back wasn't just hers — it was his weakness, and that terrified her more than blindness ever had.

She couldn't sit back anymore. Not while someone out there was watching, waiting, plotting.

That night, while Aarav and Rehan were distracted checking the perimeter one more time, Mira slipped out the back door. Her cane tapped softly against the earth as she made her way down the woodland path. Every step was unfamiliar, but driven by instinct — not sight.

She knew the risk. But if the enemy wanted her, maybe it was time to stop hiding. Maybe she could lure them out before they struck again.

What she didn't know was that someone had been watching her leave.

Inside the safe house, Rehan returned first, sweat on his brow. "The cameras at the north trail are glitching. Might've been the storm… or interference."

Aarav was instantly alert. "Where's Mira?"

They both looked around — the couch, the hallway, the kitchen.

Gone.

Aarav's blood ran cold. "No. No, no—she wouldn't—"

"She did," Rehan said grimly. "She left to draw them out."

"She has no idea how dangerous they are," Aarav said, already grabbing his jacket. "We have to find her before they do."

But as Aarav and Rehan rushed into the woods to search, someone inside the safe house picked up a burner phone from beneath a floorboard, their hands steady, their face unreadable.

They dialed a number that didn't ring — it connected directly.

A distorted voice answered. "Yes?"

"She's gone," the informant said. "On foot. Heading west. Alone."

A pause.

Then: "Good. Keep them distracted. Phase Two begins now."

The call ended.

The phone was carefully hidden again. The betrayal left no sound, no trail.

The traitor, someone they trusted, someone inside their circle — had just led Mira into a trap.

Meanwhile, Mira walked deeper into the forest clearing near an old structure — a stone ruin Aarav once described to her when they visited the countryside months ago. She remembered every word he said, every detail in his voice.

That's how she found it.

She stood in the center of the ruins and whispered into the air, "You want me? I'm here."

Silence.

Then, the crunch of leaves behind her.

She turned slowly. "I'm not afraid of you."

A low voice, unfamiliar and taunting, echoed from behind the trees. "You should be."

A heavy hand reached toward her shoulder, but Mira stepped back just in time.

Then — a sudden rush of movement. A cloth over her mouth. A voice near her ear.

"Let's see how brave you really are… in the dark."