Juson drove faster than usual.
The streets had become nearly empty now.
Only scattered streetlights illuminated the road ahead while the city slowly disappeared into silence.
The papers inside his trunk kept returning to his thoughts.
Attempt 4.
The fragmented sentences.
The feeling that he had written them himself.
And Hakiten.
Something about him no longer felt normal.
Juson tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
The engine echoed sharply through the empty roads.
Then suddenly.
He heard another vehicle.
At first the sound remained distant.
But as Juson entered a narrower street, the noise grew louder.
Headlights flashed across the road ahead.
Juson slowed slightly.
Then took a right turn.
A beam of harsh white light struck directly into his eyes.
Juson immediately pressed the brakes.
A police car sped past him.
The blue lights reflected briefly across Juson's windshield before disappearing ahead.
But the police car wasn't alone.
An ambulance followed behind it.
Slowly.
Quietly.
No siren.
No urgency.
That disturbed him more.
Juson frowned.
Something cold settled inside his chest.
His thoughts immediately formed a single word.
Hakiten.
He didn't stop the vehicles.
Didn't chase after them.
He only continued driving.
The roads curved toward the roundabout near Hakiten's neighborhood.
Juson's heartbeat slowly became heavier the closer he got.
Then finally, he entered the circle.
The area remained strangely bright beneath the streetlights.
But three houses near the center stood in darkness.
The middle house belonged to Hakiten.
Juson immediately stepped out of the car.
He didn't even close the door behind him.
The night air felt colder now.
He walked toward the house quickly.
Then stopped.
The front door stood wide open.
Cracked diagonally near the center.
As if something had struck it violently.
Juson stared at it without moving.
The lights inside the house were dim.
Too dim to properly see anything beyond the entrance.
His instincts told him to leave.
But he moved forward anyway.
Before entering, he glanced around the neighborhood.
Several nearby balconies remained occupied.
Neighbors stood quietly in the shadows.
Watching.
Pretending not to watch.
Some slowly stepped back into their homes the moment Juson looked toward them.
The silence surrounding the house felt unnatural.
Heavy.
Juson stepped across the doorway.
The moment his foot touched the floor inside, he felt it.
The air itself felt heavier.
As if the house had been holding its breath.
And somewhere deeper inside the darkness…
Something felt wrong.
---