SHAHEEN: THE SHADOW WALKER
Episode 10 – The Night of the Fire
The room remained silent.
Ali couldn't move.
The man's words kept echoing inside his head.
"You did."
Ali looked at the broken mirror.
THE SHADOW WAS BORN THAT NIGHT.
Zayan stepped closer.
"Ali..."
Ali raised his hand.
"Don't."
His voice was low.
"I need to remember."
Noor looked at him with fear.
"Ali, maybe you shouldn't—"
"I need the truth."
Suddenly, the black circle on the mirror began glowing.
Ali stared at it.
His vision blurred.
Then—
The room disappeared.
Five years ago.
Rain was pouring outside the mansion.
Fire covered the lower floor.
Young Ali was running through the hallway.
"Noor!"
He heard her screaming somewhere behind him.
"ALI!"
He turned.
Noor was trapped behind a fallen wooden door.
Young Ali rushed toward her.
"Hold on!"
He tried to move the door.
It wouldn't move.
Then someone grabbed him from behind.
The previous Shadow Walker.
"Get away from here!"
Young Ali struggled.
"No! Noor is inside!"
The man looked toward the fire.
"We don't have time."
Young Ali pushed him away.
"I'm not leaving her!"
Suddenly, another man appeared at the end of the hallway.
The same man from the memory.
He was holding something in his hand.
A small black device.
The previous Shadow Walker immediately stepped in front of Ali.
"You."
The man smiled.
"You were warned."
The previous Shadow Walker raised his weapon.
"You won't take him."
The man pressed the black device.
A strange sound filled the mansion.
BEEP.
Young Ali suddenly grabbed his head.
He fell to his knees.
"Ali!"
Noor screamed from behind the door.
Young Ali looked up.
Everything around him seemed to slow down.
The fire.
The rain.
The voices.
Then a black shadow appeared beneath his feet.
The previous Shadow Walker stared at it.
"No..."
The shadow began spreading across the floor.
The mysterious man smiled.
"Finally."
Young Ali looked at his own hands.
"What is happening to me?"
The previous Shadow Walker shouted,
"ALI! CONTROL IT!"
But Ali couldn't.
The shadow moved toward the flames.
The fire suddenly disappeared.
For a moment, everything became completely dark.
Then—
BOOM!
The memory shattered.
Ali opened his eyes.
He was back in the room.
Everyone was standing around him.
Ayesha looked worried.
"Ali?"
Ali slowly stood.
"I didn't start the fire."
Noor stared at him.
"Then what happened?"
Ali looked at the mirror.
"I stopped it."
Zayan frowned.
"But the mansion burned."
Ali shook his head.
"The fire wasn't normal."
He looked at his hands.
"It started because of the Shadow."
Noor whispered,
"The Shadow was inside you."
Ali looked at her.
"Since when?"
Noor hesitated.
"Since before you came here."
Ali's eyes narrowed.
"How?"
Noor took a breath.
"The Shadow Council experimented on people."
"Some survived."
"Some didn't."
Ali's voice became cold.
"And I?"
Noor looked at him.
"You were different."
"Why?"
"Because the Shadow responded to you."
Suddenly, the lights flickered.
The same man's voice came through the speaker.
"Not responded."
Everyone froze.
The voice continued.
"It obeyed."
Ali looked around.
"Show yourself."
A screen on the wall turned on.
The mysterious man appeared.
"The Shadow Council didn't create the Shadow Walker, Ali."
"We found him."
Ali stared at the screen.
"Who?"
The man smiled.
"You."
Zayan stepped forward.
"Why did you erase his memory?"
The man laughed.
"Because memories are dangerous."
Ali's expression hardened.
"You were afraid of what I would remember."
"Exactly."
The screen went black.
Then another video appeared.
This one showed the previous Shadow Walker.
He was standing in front of the Shadow Council.
"You can't keep doing this."
A group of people sat in darkness.
One of them spoke.
"The subject belongs to us."
The previous Shadow Walker replied,
"He is not a subject."
"He is a person."
The council member laughed.
"That's exactly why he's dangerous."
The video ended.
Noor looked at Ali.
"The previous Shadow Walker tried to protect you."
Ali nodded slowly.
"Then where is he now?"
Nobody answered.
Suddenly—
A sound came from the hallway.
Tap.
Everyone turned.
Another tap.
Tap.
Ali walked toward the door.
The voice came again.
"Ali."
This time it wasn't from the speaker.
It was coming from the hallway.
Ali stepped outside.
The corridor was empty.
Then a shadow appeared on the wall.
A familiar silhouette.
The previous Shadow Walker.
Ali stared at it.
"Are you alive?"
The shadow moved.
Then pointed toward the floor.
A black circle appeared.
Ali looked down.
Under the circle was a hidden compartment.
He opened it.
Inside was an old SDU identification card.
Ali picked it up.
His eyes widened.
The name on it was:
ALI SHAHEEN
Under his name was another line.
STATUS: SHADOW WALKER
But the date made him freeze.
REGISTERED: 8 YEARS AGO
Ali stared at the card.
"Eight years..."
Zayan looked confused.
"But everyone said the Shadow Walker appeared five years ago."
Ali slowly looked toward Noor.
Noor couldn't meet his eyes.
"That's because..."
She stopped.
Ali's voice became quiet.
"Because my memory was erased three years before the fire."
Noor nodded.
Ali closed his fist around the card.
"So I've been a Shadow Walker for eight years."
A sudden sound came from the far end of the corridor.
A man's voice whispered:
"Now you're finally ready."
Ali looked up.
The shadow disappeared.
But another message appeared on the wall.
THREE YEARS WERE STOLEN FROM YOU.
Then beneath it:
FIND THE ROOM BELOW THE MANSION.
Ali looked toward the others.
"We're going down."
Bilal stared at the message.
"Down?"
He sighed.
"Why is it always down?"
Hamza gave him a look.
"Because apparently this mansion has an endless basement."
Ali started walking.
Nobody stopped him.
But Noor remained behind for a moment.
She looked at the wall.
A final sentence appeared.
Only Noor could see it.
YOU KNOW WHO HIS MOTHER IS.
Noor's eyes widened.
She quickly wiped the message away.
Then followed the others into the darkness.
To Be Continued...
