" I'm sor-"
"DON'T, JUST DON'T SAY IT. YOU DO NOT EVEN DESERVE TO SAY IT AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME! I BEGGED YOU, SCREAMED AND PLEAD, BUT YOU DIDN'T HEED MY WORDS. THEN WHY SHOULD I!"
I yelled with tears streaming down my face when witnessing m...
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The sky churned with a restless fury, a storm brewing as if the heavens were gathering for war. Thunder rumbled in the distance, a low growl that vibrated through the earth. The wind whipped through the forest, sharp and biting, rustling the leaves with an eerie urgency. Clouds swirled above, heavy and dark, their edges lit by flashes of lightning that threatened to unleash chaos. The air was thick with the electric tang of an approaching tempest. This wasn't just weather. This was prophecy. Tonight was not for peace. Tonight was the beginning of the end.
Suhail moved like a phantom through the forest, his team, Deenaz, Adithya, and Rafeeq, trailing close behind. Their clothes were dry but dusted with pine needles and dirt, their steps careful on the uneven ground. They had tracked Alexander Cooper's black SUV to this desolate clearing, where the forest seemed to swallow all traces of civilization. The tire tracks ended abruptly in the dry earth, and Alexander had vanished into the wilderness with two of his men, leaving the rest stationed outside the vehicle, their silhouettes sharp against the flickering lightning.
Suhail crouched behind a gnarled tree, its bark rough under his hands, grounding him as he steadied his breathing. His dark hair fell across his forehead, untouched by rain but stirred by the gusting wind. His eyes burned with a fire that matched the storm's intensity. "He's here," he whispered, his voice low but certain, barely audible over the wind's howl. "Uncle Ashok's here. I know it."
Deenaz, her dark hair tied back tightly, scanned the clearing with sharp eyes, her breath steady despite the electric tension in the air. "No buildings, no structures. Just trees and dirt. Where could he be hiding him?" he asked, his voice tinged with frustration as he squinted into the shadowed distance.
Adithya, adjusting his glasses, nodded toward his backpack, his movements precise despite the wind tugging at his clothes. "Let's use the drone. The thermostat can pick up heat signatures. We'll see how many are with him and where they're going." His voice was calm, analytical, a counterpoint to the storm's growing menace.
Suhail's jaw tightened, his teeth grinding as he fought to keep his rage in check. "Do it. Now."
Adithya pulled out a sleek, palm-sized drone, its matte surface glinting faintly under the occasional flash of lightning. Its thermal sensors glowed with a soft red hue as it hummed to life, the sound swallowed by the wind. With a few deft taps on his handheld controller, the drone lifted into the air, weaving through the swaying trees with an almost eerie grace. The team huddled closer, their eyes fixed on the small screen in Adithya's hands as the feed flickered to life, revealing three orange blobs: Alexander and his two men, moving purposefully toward a cluster of rocks and gnarled roots. The heat signatures pulsed brightly at first, but as the trio approached the rocky outcrop, the signals grew faint, then vanished entirely, the drone's sensors struggling to penetrate the ground.
"It's no good," Adithya muttered, frustration etching his voice as he adjusted the controls, trying to coax more from the device. "They're underground. The thermal can't see through rock."
