Chapter 1 The Hook

The storm had been building all evening, thick clouds rolling in over Halcyon City like a warning. By midnight, the sky finally split open, releasing a cold, relentless rain that hammered the rooftops, flooded the gutters, and turned every streetlight into a shimmering blur.

Detective Amara Cole tugged her coat tighter as she stepped under the yellow tape marking off the alleyway. Red and blue strobes from the squad cars pulsed against the walls, painting the slick bricks in an eerie rhythm. The uniforms stationed at the perimeter didn’t need to be told to make way for her; their faces said it all. They were shaken.

Halcyon was no stranger to violence. Murder wasn’t new here. But there was something different in the air tonight, something that made the rookies stiffen their spines and the veterans grind their teeth.

Amara felt it too.

The first thing that hit her was the smell metallic, raw, cutting through the damp air. Blood. It never softened with time. Twelve years on the job and it still carried the same punch.

She walked slowly, her boots splashing through shallow puddles as she advanced down the narrow alley. Each step echoed, magnified by the silence of the night. The crime scene wasn’t noisy no murmurs, no chatter just the quiet hum of rain against tarps and the occasional crackle of a radio. That silence was louder than any siren.

The body sat at the far end, propped against the brick wall as if carefully placed there. Male, maybe mid-thirties, tall, wiry. His gray suit clung to him, ruined by blood that had seeped into the fabric. But Amara’s eyes didn’t linger on the wounds. They went straight to the covering.

A sheet of crimson silk.

It draped over his face with impossible precision, folded into neat symmetry, the fabric rippling faintly under the rain. The color was wrong for death. Not black, not white, not the pale beige of a shroud. Crimson. A red that seemed alive under the glow of the floodlights.

Her stomach tightened, her chest closing in. A memory unwelcome, sharp forced itself forward.

Her sister Naomi. Sixteen years old. Found in an abandoned lot. Same crimson silk. Same deliberate folds. Same word carved above her head.

The memory hit Amara with such force she nearly staggered. She swallowed hard, forcing her breath into a rhythm, anchoring herself in the present. She wasn’t sixteen anymore. She wasn’t powerless. She was the detective now.

“Detective Cole?”

The voice drew her back. She turned to see Officer Ramirez, his raincoat plastered to his shoulders, his notepad already wet around the edges. His face was pale, eyes avoiding the body as he spoke. “We’ve secured the scene. Two teenagers claim they saw something from the street just shadows moving in the rain. No clear suspect. They’re being held for statements.”

“Good,” Amara said, her tone clipped. “Keep them warm, keep them separate. No leading questions. I’ll handle them after.”

Ramirez nodded quickly, grateful for the orders.

Amara moved closer to the body, crouching low. She didn’t touch, just observed. The folds of the veil were too exact, the placement too deliberate. This wasn’t rage. This wasn’t impulse. It was ritual.

Her gaze shifted upward. On the wall, just above the victim’s head, something had been carved. The letters were deep, jagged, cut into the brick with brutal effort. Rain ran down the grooves, turning them dark.

One word.

REMEMBER.

The world seemed to tilt. Amara’s throat went dry, her breath hitching in spite of herself.

The same word that had been carved near Naomi’s body.

Her pulse thundered in her ears.

Behind her, another set of footsteps splashed through the puddles. Jordan Miles, her tech analyst, appeared with a camera slung around his neck, his glasses fogged by rain. He was young but sharp, always two steps ahead when it came to data. His voice carried both awe and dread.

“Jesus. The veil.” He lifted the camera and snapped quick shots, the flash bouncing off the silk. “He’s escalating. This is the fourth body in three months, but this… this is deliberate.”

Amara didn’t look at him. “Get samples. Fibers, fluids, anything he left behind. And I want a 3D scan of the word on that wall.”

Jordan hesitated, his lens hovering. “He wants you to see it.”

Amara turned sharply, eyes flashing. “Not us. Me.”

The words hung between them, heavier than the rain. Jordan knew her history at least, the official parts. He knew about Naomi’s case, about the similarities that had been swept into cold files. But he also knew better than to press.

He swallowed hard and nodded. “On it.”

Amara forced herself to stand. She scanned the alley again trash bins, dripping fire escapes, shadows cast in every direction by the floodlights. Whoever had done this was organized, efficient, and bold enough to leave a signature.

She clenched her fists. This wasn’t random. This wasn’t coincidence. The past was clawing its way back to her doorstep.

By the time Amara slipped into her car, the storm had grown heavier. The windshield wipers struggled against the sheets of water, barely clearing her view. She sat in silence, rain drumming on the roof, her hands pressed tight against the wheel.

Her phone buzzed on the passenger seat. Unknown number.

Her stomach sank. She picked it up.

At first, only static filled the line, broken by faint, deliberate breathing. Then a voice. Distorted, mechanical, almost metallic.

“Detective Cole.”

Her pulse spiked. “Who is this?”

The voice ignored her question. It rasped, dragging the words like glass across stone.

“Do you remember?”

Her blood went cold.

She sat frozen, every nerve in her body coiled. Her throat tightened, but she forced the words out. “Where are you? What do you want?”

Silence. Then a faint chuckle, hollow through the distortion.

“Good. You do.”

The line went dead.

Amara stared at the phone, the reflection of the storm flickering across the screen. Her chest heaved, her grip unrelenting around the device.

Yes. She remembered.

She remembered Naomi’s face under that veil. She remembered the word carved in stone. She remembered the years of chasing ghosts, the unanswered questions, the sleepless nights.

And now, someone out there knew.

Someone out there wanted her to remember.

The rain continued to fall, drowning the city in silence, while Amara sat alone in her car. She knew one thing with absolute certainty.

This wasn’t just another case.

This was a message.

And it was meant for her.