SHAHEEN: THE SHADOW WALKER
Part Three – The Second Floor Mystery
Complete silence filled the staircase.
Only the sound of rain drifted through the broken windows.
Ali placed his first foot on the stairs.
Tap...
Then another.
Behind him came Zayan, Ayesha, Hamza, and finally Bilal.
Every couple of steps, Bilal nervously looked over his shoulder.
Ayesha smiled and whispered,
"If you keep looking behind you..."
"...something might catch you from the front."
Bilal immediately faced forward.
"Please..."
"Don't say things like that."
Hamza smirked.
"Did you join SDU to become an agent..."
"...or a kindergarten student?"
Bilal pouted.
"Staying alive is a talent."
Ali listened to their conversation without saying a word.
But his sharp eyes carefully examined every wall...
Every corner...
Every door.
Suddenly...
He stopped.
"Everyone..."
"Stay exactly where you are."
The team froze instantly.
Hamza frowned.
"What is it, sir?"
Ali slowly knelt down.
A thick layer of dust covered the wooden floor.
Small footprints...
Clearly belonging to a child...
Were visible in the dust.
But something was terribly wrong.
The footprints only went forward.
There wasn't a single footprint leading back.
Ayesha quietly asked,
"How is that possible?"
Hamza immediately answered,
"Maybe someone cleaned the floor."
Ali shook his head.
"No."
"If someone had cleaned it..."
"The entire floor would be clean."
He looked at the footprints once more.
"These prints didn't disappear naturally."
"They simply... ended."
"As if whoever made them vanished into thin air."
Without wasting another second...
Bilal began reciting Surah Al-Ikhlas under his breath.
Ayesha smiled.
"If there really is a Jinn here..."
"...your nervous voice might scare it away."
At that exact moment...
CREEEEAAAK...
A wooden door at the end of the hallway slowly opened by itself.
Beyond it...
Only darkness.
Tiny silver lights appeared beside Ali.
Within seconds...
Noor materialized beside him.
Only Ali could see her.
She softly whispered,
"She's waiting for us."
Ali quietly replied,
"I know."
Hamza looked confused.
"Sir..."
"Did you say something?"
Ali answered without turning around.
"No."
The team cautiously entered the room.
It looked like a child's bedroom.
Old drawings still hung on the walls.
A small wooden rocking horse stood quietly in one corner.
A torn teddy bear lay abandoned on the floor.
Ayesha looked around.
"It seems a little girl used to live here."
Ali picked up the teddy bear.
Something fell out of it.
A small silver chain.
Attached to it was an old pendant.
Only one word was engraved on it.
Sarah.
Hamza smiled.
"Sir..."
"Maybe that's the little girl's name."
Ali slowly shook his head.
"Never jump to conclusions."
"At a crime scene..."
"Not everything tells the truth."
"Sometimes evidence is left behind..."
"...only to mislead the investigators."
Just then...
Knock... Knock... Knock...
Heavy footsteps echoed from directly above them.
Everyone looked at the ceiling.
Bilal's voice trembled.
"U-Up there..."
"There isn't even a third floor..."
Silence filled the room.
Suddenly...
A red drop fell from the ceiling.
Then another.
Then another.
Bilal's face turned pale.
"B-Blood!"
Hamza quickly aimed his flashlight upward.
Everyone held their breath.
But...
It wasn't blood.
Old red paint was dripping through a crack in the ceiling.
Hamza let out a relieved sigh.
"I told you..."
"Not everything is a ghost."
At that exact moment...
Someone gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
Hamza smiled confidently.
"See? I was ri—"
Then he remembered.
No one...
Was standing behind him.
His smile slowly disappeared.
With trembling hands...
He turned around.
His eyes widened in absolute horror.
To Be Continued...
