Secret

"*Elaya what now?"

Ava crossed one leg over the other. With a confused expression, she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and raised an eyebrow while looking at Elaya.

“Allah knows best. We’ve gotta work hard for this case. Let’s move to Seoul tomorrow.” Elaya sighed, letting her head fall back a little. Her hands were in her pockets, her eyes fixed on the cappuccino on the table. She pushed both hands against the table to stand up, and Ava did the same. Elaya picked up her brown coat from the chair and her phone from the table as they walked out of the café after paying the shopkeeper.

“Let’s drive to my house till then,” Ava said, sliding her hands into her black leather jacket while following the unusually quiet Elaya, who hadn't spoken much for the past half hour. Elaya simply nodded. Ava sighed and gently held her hand. “Why are you running from this, Elaya? Should we hand this case to someone else? I know Kavia was murdered during this case too… I miss her.”

Ava let go of Elaya’s hand. They both stopped walking. Elaya turned, pulled Ava into a sudden hug—her heartbeat thundering in her chest. “I miss her too… But we need to solve this before he murders more people.” Elaya pulled away from the hug and forced a smile. Ava nodded.

They slowly made their way to the parking area, where Ava’s Mercedes was parked in the far left corner.

Bowing slightly to the gatekeeper, they walked toward the car. Elaya sneezed twice, and Avaa chuckled lightly while unlocking the door. “Looks like the gatekeeper was wearing perfume.”

Elaya laughed a little. “Oh yeah, my allergies.”

Ava opened the door for Elaya and bowed dramatically. “My Majesty, please get inside.”

Elaya smiled, placing one leg inside, and mumbled, “You never miss a chance to make me smile.”

Avaa flipped her dark brown hair. “Yes, I know.”

She turned on the music—“Closer to You”—and started the car. “Your favorite song, Elaya.”

Elaya nodded, staring outside the window as Ava  reversed and headed toward the highway.

Ava  kept glancing at her, noticing how distant she looked, lost in her thoughts.

Eventually, Ava sighed and turned toward lane number 7, where her house was located. She parked the car, but Elaya was still staring blankly outside. Ava  placed a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s go inside. We need to discuss our roles for tomorrow.”

Elaya nodded, and they both went inside.

“I’ll bring some snacks. Sit on the sofa,” ava suggested, removing her jacket and heading to the kitchen. Elaya quietly sat on the sofa, letting her head fall back. Her eyes roamed the ceiling before she whispered, “Either I catch that psychopath, or I will never touch this work again.” She crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

Ava returned, placing snacks on the table before sitting beside her.

“We will find him, don’t worry,” Ava assured with a small smile, sipping orange juice. “Now let’s decide our roles for tomorrow.”

Elaya adjusted herself, picked up a chocolate from the table, and started opening the wrapper. “I’ll act as a mute girl selling flowers.”

“Good idea,” Ava said, poking her tongue inside her cheek. “As we heard, he was mostly spotted in lane number 7 on Highway 18 of Seoul. Acting mute will make you look pitiful, so maybe he’ll notice you. But the chances are still low. We don’t even know if it’s a ‘he’ or ‘she.’ We’re just assuming.”

Elaya sighed. “We can at least try. Maybe we’ll get a trace of him.”

She popped the chocolate into her mouth and drifted back into her thoughts.

After hours of discussion, both of them finally finished packing their bags and suitcase.

“Elaya, keep a tracker with you so if at any time you're unable to speak on a call or if anything bad happens, I can trace you,” Ava said while forcing the last piece of clothing into her suitcase. She looked toward Elaya, who was brushing her hair in front of the dressing table.

“Sure,” Elaya replied quietly.

Ava stood up and forced a faint smile. She squeezed Elaya’s shoulders gently and rested her head on them. Looking at their reflection in the mirror, Ava kissed Elaya’s cheek. “My life is sacrificed on you, my love. Don’t worry this much. My heart burns seeing you like this.”

“My heart is burning too, ava . Kavia was so close to us… especially to me. For ten years,” Elaya whispered, suppressing her tears. A droplet slipped from her grey eyes, and Ava quickly wiped it away. She held Elaya’s shoulders and made her stand up.

“I will cancel the mission then. Just say it,” Ava said nervously as she hugged Elaya tightly. They cried silently in each other's arms.

“I… can’t let… anyone suffer more…” Elaya whispered, barely audible, but her mind and heart were crashing like a roller coaster.

The clock struck 10 p.m. Ava’s head rested on Elaya’s lap as they both tried to sleep. Elaya hummed softly while running her fingers through Ava’s hair. Ava lay there with closed eyes, exhausted.

The night was still. Elaya was lost somewhere deep in her thoughts. Solving this case was suffocating her—she had already lost her best friend of ten years to this mission. And now her mind was clouded with fear—fear of losing Ayesha too. She didn’t want that. But Ava would never let her face this alone.

Elaya and Ava both worked for an agency obligated to solve murder mysteries that threatened multiple countries. When a case crossed national borders, Agency AHAD took charge. Not many people knew about the agency; it had remained secret for over thirty years.

Meanwhile…

“Oh my gosh, your eyes are green— one of my favorite colors. But now they will look better on my sketchbook instead of your face,” Emris chuckled. His hammer smashed against the girl’s head—not once, not twice—but seven times. She was tied to a chair, helpless. Her vision shook, and she watched her life being torn apart.

Emris laughed hysterically. With his hands, he plucked out her eyes and threw them to one side of the room. He took chunks of flesh from her head and smeared them across his face, then laughed again like a maniac.

He pulled a knife from his pocket and gently sliced her fingers one by one while humming.

“Black nail polish? I don’t like it,” he muttered.

He ripped her nails out using his teeth, then drove the knife deep into her stomach—deep enough that blood poured like a river beneath the chair. He pulled her hair as hard as he could until tufts came away in his hands. Laughing, he threw the hair onto the floor and slipped his grey mask over his face again. His gloves were soaked in blood.

As soon as he heard police sirens, he ran.

It was 1 a.m., and no one was on the street when Emris carried out his gruesome work. A police car happened to drive nearby.

“Sir, according to the information, this area has several lanes. One of them might be where today’s missing girl incident occurred,” the vice inspector said.

The inspector nodded. They stepped out of the car and walked cautiously deeper into the lane. Inspector Shang’s foot hit something metal—it was a hammer. The vice inspector spotted a nail cutter. Shining their flashlights around, they finally found the girl.

“Elizabeth… this is her… look at her arm, sir,” the vice inspector muttered.

Inspector Shang’s heart raced. He scanned his torch over the ruined face, then to her arm.

“You’re right,” he whispered.

The word ELIZABETH was carved broadly into her right arm.

Inspector Shang’s heart beat rapidly as he moved his torch over the girl’s destroyed face, then down to her arm.

“You’re right,” he muttered softly.

‘Elizabeth’ was carved in large letters across her right arm.

The inspector sighed and pulled out his phone, calling for backup. “One stretcher needed.”