The creepy Night.

Chapter 8

Caroline stood by the bridge, the wind tousling her hair, her thoughts as fragmented as the distant city lights. She could hear the steady thrum of traffic below, but it felt distant, as if nothing in the world could drown out the gnawing uncertainty in her chest.

Subey joined her, his presence a quiet anchor in the night. He didn't speak at first, just stood beside her, hands in his pockets, his gaze lost somewhere in the vastness ahead.

She turned to him, her voice barely a whisper. "Do you ever wish we could go back, before all this… before Arjun, before Mia?"

Subey's eyes softened, and for a brief moment, the hardened detective was just a man, carrying the weight of too many years. "There's no going back, Caroline. You know that." His words were steady, but the hint of sorrow in them lingered.

They stood in silence, the only sound the low hum of the city. Then, Subey spoke again, the words heavy with a truth neither of them was ready to face. "Mia wasn't always this way. She… she was my sister, Caroline."

Caroline froze, the words shocking her. She turned to face him, searching his eyes for any sign of a joke, but all she found was raw pain. "Your sister?"

Subey nodded, his face hardening. "Her name was Amira. Mia was just a nickname she picked after the accident. But she's not the woman I used to know. That woman… she's gone."

The weight of his confession hung between them, but Caroline couldn't speak for a moment. She didn't know what to say. "What happened? What changed her?"

Subey exhaled slowly, his gaze falling to the ground. "A crash. It was just a few years ago. I was supposed to pick her up. I promised. But I failed. She was… she was hurt, badly. We thought she wouldn't make it." He swallowed, voice thickening. "When she woke up, she was different. She didn't remember the person she was. And she didn't want to."

Caroline's heart ached. "Subey, I'm so sorry."

He shook his head, the emotion in his eyes raw. "You don't understand. I couldn't save her. And now... now I'm hunting the ghost of the person I used to love. Mia isn't just a suspect, Caroline. She's my blood. And if I fail her again..."

He trailed off, the weight of his words suffocating him.

Before Caroline could respond, a shadow moved across the street, too quick to be a passerby. They both turned in unison, but whoever it was had already vanished. The watcher was back, closer than ever.

As Subey's truth about Mia begins to unfold....