Suddenly, her phone buzzed again in her pocket. She pulled it out to see a new ssage, a file, and a video were waiting for her. A mix of curiosity and anxiety washed over her as she tapped to open it, not knowing what to expect.
She quickly opened the video ssage, her hand shaking with nerves. On the screen, Ayla was tied to a steel chair, her wrists and ankles bound tightly. Her eyes were puffy and red, and her lips trembled as she spoke. Her shirt had been ripped off, leaving her bare chest visible except for her bra. The room behind her was dark and industrial, with concrete walls and a single low light swinging above, casting eerie shadows.
Her voice cracked as she pleaded, "Aylin... I’m so sorry. I didn’t an to be seen. I thought we were safe. Please don’t co. They’ll hurt you. They’ll kill you."
Out of the corner of the screen, a shadow shifted—soone’s shoulder moved into view, dark and nacing. He reached out, not to comfort her, but to take ownership.
The screen shook, and Ayla flinched, trying to shrink away from the figure behind her. "Please... don’t co..." she begged, her voice trembling with fear.
Then Alpha voice ca, "We found you, Lunel. We’re inside your heart now, and we’ll keep carving until you co ho."
He laughed wickedly and then, with that, the video cut off.
Aylin dropped the phone in shock, and it hit the pavent beside her, bouncing once. Her heart sank, and she fell to her knees—not out of weakness, but from the crushing weight of guilt and rage that washed over her like a tidal wave.
People stread past her; so stopped to look, a few stared in concern, but no one ca closer. The vibe around her scread danger, even through her tears. Her breath hitched, and her vision blurred with emotion.
"Ayla... no... no, no, no, no..." she kept whispering, her sister’s na slipping from her lips like a prayer.
Picking up the phone again with shaky hands, she held it against her forehead, as if it might sohow bring her sister’s voice back to her.
She had hidden Lunel away, burying that part of her life so deep that she’d almost forgotten it. She had started fresh as Aylin, a woman with nothing to hide.
But now? Her enemy had found her weakness, and he wanted her to suffer.
******
One week ago, at Black Sun Base in Western Australia, storm winds were raging outside, howling beyond the reinforced glass. Inside, the glow from a bunch of screens lit up the room, casting cold reflections off the tal and stone surfaces. The whole place was buzzing with tension.
Selina stood in the middle of the room, her jaw tight and one manicured hand clenched in a fist. With a frustrated grunt, she slamd her palm against the side of a monitor again.
"She’s a ghost," Selina said angrily. "It’s just dead ends everywhere because of her. We had to leave the U.S. six months ago because she exposed us and our partners, and now they want nothing to do with us. She wrecked everything we built, and there’s not even a trace of her left!"
Alpha was lounging in his chair, legs crossed, completely unfazed. He tapped an encrypted drive on the desk casually, watching the data scroll by without a care.
"That’s what she wants us to think," he replied coldly.
Selina shook her head. "We’ve checked every surveillance net out there. Nothing. No purchases, no public transport, and she hasn’t logged into any system outside of her little shell."
She turned to him, hair falling over one side of her face, frustration clear in her eyes.
"Maybe she’s really dead. She was injured," she suggested sharply.
Alpha smirked, leaning back with a dark chuckle. "She didn’t die. She’s just smarter than the idiots we usually take care of."
Selina started pacing, her mind racing. "Then we need to get creative. Let’s look into her family and friends, people who make noise online. They might have posted sothing. Even if she’s hiding, soone could have slipped up."
Alpha paused for a second before saying, "She’s no fool. She’s a hacker, a real ghost. Her family’s off the grid so deep that even their digital graves are encrypted."
Selina smiled a bit. "Not all families stay quiet forever. People ss up. Friends tag each other, siblings post fun stuff."
Alpha turned to his tech team, a serious look on his face. "Start searching—social dia, archives, university servers, private blogs. Find one little detail, one hint of her old life."
With raised brows, Selina asked, "What are we even looking for?"
He winked and replied, "We’re not hunting for Lunel. We want to find the person behind Lunel."
Hours went by, and the atmosphere in the office felt heavy as analysts struggled to stay awake at their screens. So had dozed off, while others were just staring blankly at the data flowing in. anwhile, search bots were hard at work sifting through the deep web, looking for any scrap of information, and AI tools were busy cross-referencing blurry faces from travel blogs with old student records.
Then, out of nowhere, a junior tech rushed in, clutching a faded printout, clearly shaking with excitent. "We found sothing!" he shouted, breathless.
On the screen popped up an old family photo taken at Istanbul Airport in 2016. A proud-looking father with glasses stood next to his two daughters. One was a teenager with bright, sparkling eyes, while the younger one was clinging to her arm, their rolling suitcases in tow.
Alpha got to his feet, his expression shifting from fatigue to intense focus.
"Zoom in," he said, his voice cutting through the room’s chatter.
The team moved quickly to magnify the image, and Alpha began studying the dad’s features. For a mont, he felt a flicker of recognition, but then he shook his head to dispel the thought. Shifting his focus to the older girl, he noticed the sa jawline and deep-set eyes. The eye color and hair were different, but the resemblance was definitely there.
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