THE NIGHT SHADOW

Two dead bodies were recovered from the road. People were in a frenzy upon seeing the two corpses lying in the middle of the street.

The two bodies, which were found early this morning, have not yet been identified. According to the report, no wounds or gunshot wounds were found on the victims.

The investigation is still ongoing at the site where they were found. There were also no witnesses to the killing of the two. Authorities suspect they might have been killed elsewhere.

Hardly any evidence was found to show that the crime took place in the area where the two bodies were discovered. Their deaths are highly mysterious.

Tris clenched his jaw at the news he was watching. This was not the first time something like this had happened; just last month, several corpses were also found in the middle of the street.

And all of them were killed in mysterious ways. No suspects, no evidence—the only similarity was that all the victims were found on the road. They were cleanly killed, and even the autopsy results yielded nothing; no anomalies were found regarding how the victims died.

All the results showed that they died naturally. So, how could the authorities catch them or even get a lead if the results of the autopsies claimed they died in natural ways? That they just stopped breathing. And even the positioning of the corpses was exactly the same, which is why Tris suspected that what they were hunting for was a serial killer.

Tris had just returned to the Philippines last month. And this immediately welcomed him: the killings of high-profile people. He initially didn't want to accept this job.

But when he read the initial reports, he grew interested in the case and accepted it anyway. Something was telling him that he should accept this case.

Tris massaged the back of his neck. He had been studying this case for almost two weeks. And that pissed him off! This was the first time he had found it difficult to solve a case.

There were no leads; the criminal was far too clever. But he wasn't going to give up; this was just the beginning of everything. He closed his eyes in sheer frustration; it looked like he needed to take this seriously now.

In the middle of his thoughts, his cell phone suddenly rang. Annoyed, Tris answered the call. "Make sure this is good news or else..."

He was cut off when the person on the other end spoke.

"Sir, we received a lead about the killings..." the voice interrupted what Tris was about to say.

He sat up straight upon hearing what was said. Looking at his cell phone screen, Tris saw that one of his men was calling.

"Okay! I'll head over there right now," Tris answered briefly and ended the call. All he needed was just one clue, and everything else would follow.

"F*ck!" Tris cursed angrily when he read the lead his employee mentioned. It stated that the killer was a woman. No face, no other physical information; it just stated that it was a woman.

"How could it be possible that their suspect is just a woman, and how did she kill those high-profile people by herself?" Tris asked himself in confusion. He had been thinking for almost an hour, but no matter what he did, it didn't make any sense.

He read the report over and over again. According to the lead gathered by the authorities and his men, a shoe print was found at one crime scene... and the type of shoe was a woman's—pointed heel shoe prints.

He took out all the papers from his drawer. He laid them out one by one on top of his desk, trying to figure out something that could lead to a new clue. The criminal he was looking for was extremely slippery.

But surely, he would find her soon. The killings happened at night, and some information that the investigators had gathered showed that it was not only in the Philippines, but there were also similar incidents in some foreign countries.

Six high-profile people were also killed in Taiwan. Same M.O. (modus operandi), same autopsy results, same T.O.D. (time of death). And the medical team couldn't find anything that would lead them to how all the victims died or how they were killed.

"Who are you?" he asked himself absentmindedly.

This needed to stop as soon as possible. And the killer was striking again outside the Philippines.

Tris packed up his things and decided to just go home. He needed to relax his mind so he could think clearly.

"Looks like I need to unwind for a bit," Tris murmured softly before finally leaving his office.

He had a private office here in the Philippines. The Organization provided his temporary office; they coordinated with him and asked for his help with this case.

While driving, he passed by a bar. He stopped his vehicle for a moment; fortunately, he found a parking space. "It's been a long day, I think... I need a drink," Tris muttered softly.

The ambiance of the bar was very relaxing; that's what Tris noticed earlier while entering the said bar. It wasn't too noisy, and it looked safe here. There were security personnel on guard and even CCTV cameras.

"SN THIRST"—the bar's name. And that caught his attention. He was curious about the name of the bar; whoever thought of this business name was very clever.

He was sitting at a VIP table here on the first floor. He was facing the bar counter. It was still a bit early, so there were only a few customers. The bar also had a second floor, which offered an open view from below.

The interior was amazing; it seemed the owner really thought through the design of the bar. Even the stairs were very unique, with what looked like floating bottles of different wines along the side of the staircase.

There was a live band playing, too, and they were singing pure love songs. His attention was captured when he looked toward the bar counter—a woman who was busy mixing cocktail drinks.

He felt a strange sensation here; her red hair caught his attention, as well as her agile movements. Suddenly, she looked up, making him flinch unexpectedly.

He almost dropped his glass, thinking she had caught him staring at her. He was relatively close to the bar counter, so he casually sipped his drink.

Now she was talking to a new customer, smiling and pleasantly entertaining the guest. Tris tightened his grip on his glass.

This feeling was familiar to him, but he couldn't remember with whom or when it had happened to him.

She was just talking to a guy, but why was his chest tightening in a way that felt like he was hurting for reasons he couldn't explain? He was sure that this was the first time he had seen this woman in his entire life...

Why did his blood seem to boil at the person she was talking to? He quickly downed the rest of his alcohol and swiftly walked over to the bar counter.