The Blood Mystery: Chapter 8
The air in the investigation room was cold, but Sumedha's fingers were warm with tension. Her eyes scanned the decrypted blog post now spread across the projector screen, the hidden HTML code finally revealed.
"Justice for the Five. They thought they could bury the truth, but they only planted roots. One by one, they'll pay—with pain, with truth, with blood."
Below the message were five distorted names. Sumedha and Indra had spent the last three hours reassembling the letters, mapping aliases to actual victims. Four names were already confirmed—each one matched a known murder from the serial killing case.
Sumedha exhaled sharply. "These weren't random killings. Each one of them had buried secrets."
Indra stood beside her, jaw tense. "And the killer's not just punishing them. He's forcing them to confess... to sins no one ever held them accountable for."
But there was still one name left.
A scrambled fragment of a name hovered on the screen like a shadow: S. Aryan.
Sumedha's brows furrowed. "Could be a first name, or a last name."
Indra was already typing. "Let's cross-reference it with internal records."
Moments later, the search result landed on the screen.
Sunjana Aryan.
Age: 27.
Ph.D. in forensic psychology.
Recently joined IPPF under Indra Vikram's taskforce.
They stared at the screen in stunned silence.
Indra turned to her slowly. "Sumedha... that's Veer's sister."
Veer's face had drained of color the moment he saw her name. He stood still, fists clenched, eyes wide with disbelief.
"She just started working with us." He said. "She's barely finished training. She's clean."
"I don't doubt that." Sumedha replied carefully. "But someone wants her on that list."
Sunjana had just stepped into the office, her hair still tied in a loose bun, a stack of lab reports in her hand. She froze as all eyes turned to her.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Veer walked over to her, quiet but intense. "Sunjana. Do you know why someone would want you dead?"
She blinked, confused. "What are you talking about?"
"We found your name... in a list. A list connected to the serial killings."
Sunjana's eyes widened. "What?! No—no, that can't be. I haven't—"
She stopped. Her breath hitched.
Veer stepped forward, voice low. "Sunjana... is there something you haven't told me?"
There was a long pause. Then, slowly, Sunjana nodded.
"Come with me," She whispered. "I'll tell you everything."
They sat alone in Veer's office. The blinds were drawn, the lights dimmed. Sumedha waited outside while Veer listened to his sister's confession, mind alert, telepathic sense focused.
"I knew Arjun." Sunjana said quietly. "A few years ago. Before he joined Dutt Corp. Before... everything."
She looked down. "At first, he was kind. Brilliant. So full of ideas. We met at a student conference. I was drawn to his ambition. He made me feel seen."
"But things changed." She continued, voice shaking slightly. "He started monitoring me. Got jealous if I spent time with anyone else. Said he loved me, but there was something dark in the way he looked at me—like I belonged to him."
Veer remained silent, absorbing every word.
"I left him. I ran, Veer. I changed my number. Moved back in with you for a while, remember? I never told you why. I was ashamed. I thought I was weak."
"You weren't." Veer said softly. "You were brave."
She met his eyes. "I don't know how my name got on that list. But if Arjun was part of this, and someone knew about us—maybe... maybe this is punishment. Or a warning."
Veer leaned forward, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I believe you. I read your mind just now. Everything you said—it's true."
Veer found Sumedha by the whiteboard, where the names of the previous victims had been marked in red.
"She's telling the truth." He said quietly. "I scanned her thoughts. She was scared of him. He wasn't always the Arjun we knew—but she saw him change, and she left."
Sumedha nodded, her eyes thoughtful. "She's innocent. That's why this is dangerous."
Indra joined them. "Someone deliberately added her name. It's not part of the killer's ritual anymore—it's a move to destabilize us. Maybe bait us."
Sumedha crossed her arms. "If that's true, we can't leave her in the open. And I don't trust any official safe house."
Veer's eyes narrowed. "Where then?"
Sumedha looked up, her expression darkening. "My place."
Veer blinked. "I thought you sold that flat."
"I said I did." She replied. "Doesn't mean I meant it."
Indra smiled faintly. "That place was always off the grid. No digital trail. No one but us ever knew about it."
"Exactly." Sumedha said. "We split the team. I'll stay with Veer and keep working the case. Indra—you stay with Sunjana. She shouldn't be alone, not even for a second."
Indra didn't hesitate. "She won't be."
That night, the group slipped out in silence—no official paperwork, no trails, no trackers. Just four people and the weight of growing danger.
Sumedha's apartment was tucked into an older building, long since erased from public listings. The paint was fading, but the locks were fresh, the curtains thick.
Veer and Indra double-checked the exits, reinforced the windows. Sumedha handed Sunjana a cup of tea and sat beside her.
"You're not weak." She said softly. "I've been where you were. You did the right thing. And now we're going to do the right thing for you."
Sunjana looked at her with cautious hope. "Do you think I'll be okay?"
Sumedha gave her a small, steady smile. "If he comes for you... he'll wish he hadn't."
Back in the shadows of the city, behind layers of encryption and proxies, a figure sat before a screen glowing in the dark.
A new entry was typed into an anonymous command thread:
"The girl is with them."
The cursor blinked once. Then came the next line:
"Sumedha and Indra. Together."
A pause. Then a final message, slow and deliberate:
"Double the security. Reinforce the plan. This isn't about catching the girl anymore... it's about surviving the war we just started."
The screen went black.
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