The nights in the Dock Sector were always cold.
But tonight, the cold felt deeper, more silent than ever before.
If one looked toward the sea, they could see small waves breaking over the black, obsidian water. In the distance, the metallic clinking of iron chains swaying in the wind echoed through the air.
The nights in this city were usually peaceful.
Yet today, beneath that peace, there was a strange, suffocating unease.
As if something wasn't right.
As if the darkness today was just a little too thick.
---
Iren stood upon the roof of an old, decaying building.
His eyes were fixed on a house in the distance.
Asha's house.
No lights burned in the windows today.
Only occasionally, a faint, flickering glow would seep through the thin curtains.
Iren stood there in silence for a long time.
A weary breath escaped the corner of his lips.
"I did the right thing..." he whispered, his voice barely audible.
But even he didn't seem to believe his own words.
The scenes from the previous night flashed before his eyes.
The distorted doll in front of the door.
The blood-soaked knife.
And—
The yellow flowers.
---
Iren closed his eyes.
Dok.
The name slowly drifted through his mind.
He didn't know exactly what 'Dok' was.
But he had realized one thing.
Dok was playing a game.
And in that game, Asha could be used as a pawn.
The moment this thought crossed his mind, a sharp, dull ache rose in Iren's chest.
He opened his eyes again and looked back at Asha's house.
"The danger increases if I am near you..." Iren whispered.
There was a profound exhaustion in his voice.
Yet, his feet did not leave the roof.
He remained standing there.
From a distance.
Watching.
---
Inside Asha's house, the lights were on.
But the room was unnervingly quiet.
Asha sat by the window.
A cup of hot tea sat on the table before her.
But she hadn't touched it for a long time.
Her eyes were fixed on the window.
At the darkness outside.
She didn't know what she was looking for.
Still, her gaze remained there.
After a while, she let out a soft sigh.
"Stupid..."
She said it to herself.
She remembered Iren's words.
The words he said before he left.
The talk of staying away.
Asha had thought it was a joke.
Or perhaps, anger.
But an entire day had passed now.
Iren hadn't returned.
---
Asha lowered her head.
Her fingers tapped slowly against the table.
*Tap. Tap. Tap.* "Did you really leave...?"
Her voice was very soft.
As if she didn't even want to hear the answer.
---
Outside, standing on the roof, Iren was still watching.
He could see Asha through the window.
She was sitting with her head bowed.
Seeing this scene made Iren's heart tremble slightly.
He took one step forward.
Then he stopped.
Dok's words rang in his head once more.
"You are weak, Iren."
His fingers curled into a tight fist.
"Maybe..." he said slowly.
"But I won't make a mistake this time."
He stepped back into the shadows.
From a distance.
He would only watch.
If needed—
He would come.
---
Suddenly, the wind blew a bit harder.
Asha's window curtain fluttered slightly.
Asha looked up.
For a single moment, she felt—
That someone was standing outside.
She got up and went to the window.
She pulled the curtain aside.
Outside, there was only darkness.
No one was there.
Asha paused for a moment.
Then she slowly closed the window.
"I must have seen wrong..."
She tried to convince herself.
But she didn't know—
That on the roof of the building directly opposite hers, Iren was standing in the shadows.
His eyes were still on the window.
He had seen it—
Asha had come to the window and stood there.
A strange sensation stirred within his chest.
He turned his eyes toward the sky.
There were no clouds today.
The moon was clear.
Yet—
He felt that something was not right.
---
Right then—
A sound came from somewhere inside Asha's house.
Khat.
It was very small.
But unusual.
Iren's eyes instantly snapped back to the house.
He stood frozen, staring.
Another sound.
Khat.
As if something made of wood had moved.
Iren's brow furrowed.
"Asha is all alone..."
He said softly.
His gaze moved to the window.
The light inside was steady.
Everything was peaceful.
But—
His experience told him something was wrong.
---
Inside the house, Asha was heading toward the kitchen.
She had come to get a glass of water.
Suddenly, she too felt—
That the house seemed a bit strange today.
As if a very light, cold breeze was blowing from somewhere.
She looked behind her.
No one was there.
Only the darkness of the corridor.
"Maybe I'm thinking too much..." Asha said.
She took a glass of water and walked back toward her room.
The sound of her footsteps echoed softly in the corridor.
*Tap. Tap. Tap.*
---
Outside, Iren stood perfectly still.
His eyes suddenly drifted to a small side window of the house.
In that window, for a split second—
Something moved.
Very fast.
Like a shadow.
Iren's body stiffened.
"Who is it?"
His voice was very low.
He looked again.
The window was still.
Nothing could be seen inside.
A কয়েক সেকেন্ড কেটে গেল।
Nothing happened.
Iren slowly released his breath.
"Maybe just a play of light and shadow..."
He tried to reassure himself.
Yet his eyes did not leave that window.
---
Asha had returned to her room by then.
She sat on the bed.
Her head felt a bit heavy.
The fever probably hadn't completely gone away yet.
She pulled the blanket over her.
Her eyes went back to the window.
For a while, she just stared.
Then she said softly—
"If you're really going to leave..."
"You could have at least told me once..."
Her voice was very faint.
The room became silent again.
---
Outside, Iren was standing.
He couldn't hear anything.
Yet, in a strange way, he felt—
That Asha was crying.
This feeling made him uneasy.
His fingers clenched into a fist again.
"Just a little more time..."
He told himself.
"Once everything is okay..."
"I will return."
---
Right then—
The light inside Asha's house flickered for a second.
Flick.
Then it turned back on.
Iren's eyes narrowed.
"A power issue?"
He thought.
But that rarely happened in the Dock Sector.
He kept staring at the house.
---
Asha had fallen asleep by then.
Her eyes were slowly closing.
Exhaustion was pulling her into sleep.
The room was silent.
Only the ticking of the clock.
*Tick. Tick. Tick.*
---
And at that very moment—
In the darkness of the house's corridor,
Slowly,
Slowly,
A shadow began to move.
No one.
No sound.
Only the darkness seemed to grow a little thicker.
And from within that darkness,
Someone was staring—
Toward Asha's room.
---
Outside, standing on the roof, Iren was still looking at the window.
Suddenly he felt—
That someone was watching.
But not at Asha.
At him.
Iren slowly turned his head.
He looked toward the dark windows of the house.
Everything was still.
Everything was calm.
There was nothing.
Yet—
A cold sensation spread through his chest.
He looked back at Asha's window.
The light was out.
Asha was asleep.
Iren slowly turned around.
"Nothing will happen tonight..." he thought.
Then he walked toward the edge of the roof.
---
But he didn't know—
Behind him,
Inside the dark window of Asha's house,
A shadow was standing.
And on the face of that shadow,
Slowly,
A distorted smile was beginning to spread.
---
**Chapter End.**