SHAHEEN: THE SHADOW WALKER
Episode 5 – The Wrong Door
The black circle on the fifth file continued to glow.
Everyone stood completely still.
No one spoke.
No one even dared to move closer to the table.
Ali's eyes remained fixed on the strange symbol.
Noor slowly stepped backward.
"Ali..."
Ali looked at her.
"What happened five years ago?"
Noor didn't answer.
Zayan immediately turned toward her.
"Noor, you said you've seen this symbol before."
Noor lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
Hamza looked between them.
"Okay... I think we're all waiting for the part where you explain that."
Noor took a slow breath.
"It was five years ago."
"The Carter family disappeared."
Ayesha interrupted.
"We already know that."
Noor shook her head.
"No."
"You know what happened to them."
"You don't know what happened before they disappeared."
The room became silent again.
Ali stepped toward her.
"Tell us."
Noor looked at the glowing file.
"Five years ago, the SDU received another case."
Zayan's expression changed.
"Another case?"
Noor nodded.
"It wasn't officially connected to the Carter family."
"But the location was the same."
Hamza stared at her.
"The mansion?"
Noor nodded.
"Yes."
Bilal slowly raised his hand.
"Can I ask one small question?"
Ayesha sighed.
"What?"
"Why didn't anyone tell us this before we came here?"
Noor looked at him.
"Because the investigation team never returned."
Bilal's expression immediately changed.
Nobody laughed this time.
Ali looked at the three named files on the table.
"Investigation Team 01."
"Team 02."
"Team 03."
His eyes moved toward the fifth file.
"And this one?"
Noor whispered,
"That wasn't an investigation team."
Ali looked at her.
"Then what was it?"
Noor didn't answer.
Suddenly—
CLICK.
Everyone turned toward the table.
The fifth file had opened by itself.
Ayesha stepped back.
"Nobody touched it."
Ali slowly approached.
"Stay behind me."
Hamza frowned.
"Ali, you said not to touch anything."
Ali stopped.
"Exactly."
Hamza pointed toward the file.
"Then why are we standing this close to it?"
Bilal immediately moved backward.
"Finally, someone is asking the important questions."
Zayan ignored them.
His attention was fixed on the pages inside the file.
There were photographs.
Old photographs.
Some showed the mansion.
Some showed the underground passage.
And some showed people.
Ayesha picked up one photograph from the table.
Her eyes widened.
"Ali..."
Ali looked at her.
She turned the photograph around.
It showed four people standing outside the mansion.
Behind them was the same black circle symbol.
Ayesha whispered,
"These people..."
Noor finished her sentence.
"They were Team One."
Hamza looked at the photograph.
"Then why are their faces crossed out?"
Noor became pale.
"Because someone didn't want them to be remembered."
Ali took the photograph.
His expression hardened.
"Who?"
Noor shook her head.
"We never found out."
Suddenly, something moved in the darkness behind them.
Ayesha turned.
"Did you hear that?"
Everyone became silent.
Tap.
A sound came from the passage.
Then another.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Hamza whispered,
"It's coming closer."
Bilal looked at Ali.
"Please tell me that's just the building."
Ali didn't answer.
The sound stopped.
Silence.
Then—
Tap.
Right beside them.
Everyone turned toward the wall.
Nothing.
Hamza whispered,
"Okay."
"That's definitely not the building."
Ayesha noticed something on the floor.
A small piece of paper.
She picked it up carefully.
There was only one sentence written on it:
DON'T TRUST THE SHADOW.
Ayesha looked toward Ali.
"What does that mean?"
Ali remained silent.
Noor suddenly stepped forward.
"Give it to me."
Ayesha handed her the paper.
Noor read the sentence again.
Her face changed.
Ali noticed.
"You know something."
Noor looked at him.
"Five years ago..."
She stopped.
Ali's voice became firm.
"Noor."
Noor finally looked directly at him.
"The person who led Team One..."
She paused.
"...was a Shadow Walker."
Everyone froze.
Hamza stared at Ali.
"Wait."
"You mean there was another Shadow Walker?"
Noor nodded.
Ali's expression became unreadable.
Zayan stepped closer.
"What happened to him?"
Noor looked toward the darkness.
"He disappeared."
Bilal swallowed.
"Disappeared where?"
Noor whispered,
"Inside this mansion."
A sudden cold wind moved through the underground room.
The pages of the fifth file began turning by themselves.
One page.
Then another.
Then another.
Until they stopped.
Ali looked down.
There was a photograph.
His eyes narrowed.
It was a picture of the mansion.
But this time there was something different.
A person stood in front of it.
A tall figure dressed completely in black.
His face couldn't be seen.
Across the bottom of the photograph was a handwritten date.
Five years ago.
Ali stared at the figure.
Noor's voice trembled.
"That's him."
Ali looked at her.
"Who?"
Noor pointed toward the photograph.
"The previous Shadow Walker."
Suddenly—
The photograph changed.
Everyone saw it.
The figure in the picture slowly turned its head.
Hamza stepped backward.
"Did that picture just move?"
Ayesha whispered,
"Yes."
Bilal shook his head.
"No."
"Absolutely not."
Zayan looked at Ali.
"What's happening?"
Ali didn't answer.
The figure in the photograph was now facing directly toward them.
Then another sentence appeared beneath it.
HE NEVER LEFT.
Noor's eyes widened.
"No..."
Ali immediately looked toward the passage.
"What?"
Noor whispered,
"That's why the teams disappeared."
Ayesha asked,
"Why?"
Noor looked at Ali.
"Because they weren't investigating the mansion."
"They were being watched by him."
The lights suddenly returned.
Everyone blinked.
The room was normal again.
The photographs were still.
The fifth file was closed.
Ali looked around.
"Everyone together."
Hamza moved closer.
"Where are we going?"
Ali looked toward the hidden door.
"Out."
Bilal nodded quickly.
"Best idea you've had all night."
They began moving toward the passage.
One by one.
Ali first.
Zayan behind him.
Ayesha and Hamza followed.
Bilal stayed close to Noor.
But just before Noor stepped through the door—
She stopped.
Ali noticed.
"Noor?"
Noor was staring at the table.
Ali followed her gaze.
The fifth file was still there.
But now something had changed.
The black circle was gone.
Ali's eyes narrowed.
"Where is the symbol?"
Noor slowly pointed toward the floor.
Everyone looked down.
The black circle was now drawn on the floor.
Directly beneath them.
Hamza whispered,
"That's not possible."
The circle began glowing again.
The hidden door slammed shut.
BANG!
Bilal shouted,
"Not again!"
Ayesha tried the handle.
"It's locked!"
Zayan stepped toward the door.
Ali stopped him.
"Don't."
Zayan looked at him.
"Why?"
Ali pointed toward the floor.
The black circle was expanding.
Slowly.
Silently.
And from somewhere beneath them...
A child's voice whispered:
"You're not supposed to be here."
Everyone froze.
Then another voice spoke.
This one was deeper.
And strangely familiar.
"Especially you..."
Ali's face changed.
Noor looked at him.
"Ali?"
The voice whispered again.
"Shadow Walker."
Ali stared into the darkness.
For the first time, he recognized the voice.
It belonged to someone he had believed was gone forever.
Ali whispered one word:
"...Impossible."
The lights went out.
And somewhere in the darkness—
Someone laughed.
To Be Continued...
