Chapter 4 - Clues in Silence

I reached home with a storm swirling in my chest.

Not fear. Not panic.

Instinct.

Someone was watching me too closely. Getting too close.

I stood in front of the mirror in my room, the shy, quiet girl staring back at me. Her posture was small, her eyes tired. No one feared her. No one suspected her.

But I did.

And at night, I became who I truly was.

I pulled open the hidden drawer beneath my bookshelf. Inside: a phone with no contacts, no history. A dagger—silver, sleek, sharp. My real ID. My life. My truth.

I texted cypriene.

[ TRACE ZEKE NAVARRO. I want everything. Name, family, purpose. And a reason why he keeps watching me. ]

Sent.

I didn’t care who he claimed to be anymore. No one follows the Queen of the Underground and walks away clean.

Not unless they’re trying to find something.

Or someone.

And if Zeke was hunting…

He’d better pray he never realizes who I am.

Because I don’t let my enemies breathe twice.

The next morning, something had shifted.

The students were quieter than usual. There were no whispers this time, just an eerie silence that wrapped around the halls like fog.

Another death.

This time, it wasn’t a student.

It was a teacher—Mr. loïc, the one who always handed out free advice and stale mints.

Found inside the faculty bathroom. No wounds. No struggle. No witnesses.

Another clean kill.

My phone vibrated inside my pocket as I approached my classroom. I slid it out, pretending to fumble through my bag like any normal student.

It was a message from cypriene.

[ Got something. Zeke Navarro is not on any academic record before this year. Birth certificate is registered under a name that doesn’t exist in national files. He’s a ghost. Or worse—an operative. ]

I swallowed that info like poison.

Someone planted him here. And whoever did, knew exactly how to cover their tracks.

“Hey.”

I looked up.

Zeke stood by the door, backpack slung over one shoulder, hands in his pockets like he had all the time in the world. His eyes held that same unreadable calm.

“You look tired,” he said, like it was small talk.

“Must be the dead bodies,” I replied coldly, brushing past him.

He chuckled under his breath, as if amused. “Weird how death seems to follow you, huh?”

I stopped. Just for a second.

Then I turned my head slightly. “Weird how you’re always there when it happens.”

I didn’t wait for a reaction. I walked into class and sat in my usual spot—by the window, where I could see the fountain, the halls, the exits.

If Zeke wanted a game, I’d play it.

But I never play to lose.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that tonight was different.

The moon hung high in the sky, a cold, watchful eye over the city. Everyone was asleep, tucked in their beds, none the wiser. But not me.

I had a job to do.

I followed the same familiar streets, my footsteps barely audible on the cracked pavement. My body moved in perfect sync with the night—silent, invisible, a shadow among shadows.

Zeke Navarro. The transfer student who’d been acting more like a ghost than a new kid. He’d slipped past every attempt to track him, every move he made left no trace. But tonight, I was ready.

I saw him—a dark figure against the streetlights, walking down the same path I’d seen him take a dozen times. His back was to me, oblivious to my presence.

Perfect.

I kept my distance, following him down the alley where I knew he would disappear.

But then… he stopped.

I froze, hidden in the darkness, barely breathing.

Zeke stood still for a moment, his shoulders tense, as if he were listening for something. Then, without warning, he turned sharply, heading into a narrow, unmarked door tucked away between two buildings.

I knew that door. It was rarely used. Only certain people were allowed inside.

But I couldn’t let him know I was here. Not yet.

I waited for a moment, the adrenaline pulsing in my veins, before slipping forward.

The door creaked as it closed behind him, and I moved faster now, knowing I didn’t have much time. I couldn’t get too close. I couldn’t let him see me.

As I neared the door, I took a deep breath and pushed it open just a crack, peering inside.

The dim light revealed something I hadn’t expected.

Zeke stood in the middle of a room, his back to me, talking to someone. A low, murmured conversation.

I couldn’t make out the words, but I didn’t need to.

He was part of something… bigger.

This wasn’t just a guy with a strange obsession.

Zeke Navarro was connected. Connected to something far darker than I had imagined.

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me—footsteps. Too close. Too loud. I whipped around, my heart racing, but no one was there.

I spun back toward the door, but it was too late. The light flickered off inside.

I took one last glance before slipping back into the shadows, my mind racing.

Zeke Navarro wasn’t just a threat. He was part of the underworld I ruled.

And he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life.