Several hours later — FBI International Headquarters
The interrogation room.
White light.
Cold walls.
A metal table.
Gary sat on a chair.
He was lost in his thoughts.
“Mr. John saved me…”
He clenched his fist.
“…and told me to rejoin the FBI. So I could help them.”
His gaze fell to his hand.
He opened his fist, closed it, opened it again.
Everything worked properly.
“But this is really hard… I don’t know if Lloyd is alright or not. I don’t know if he’s alive or not. I don’t know about Mr. John — that bookseller. And where is Mr. Thomas anyway?”
The door opened.
A man entered.
Tall, a neat black suit, wheat-colored skin, a bald head — so polished that the room’s white light gleamed off it and reflected back.
His face wasn’t serious — almost happy.
As if, after years, he had finally landed a good job.
In his hands were two cups of coffee.
Steam rose from them and dispersed in the cold air of the room.
He set one in front of Gary, and took one for himself.
“Here’s your coffee. Let’s see, brother…”
He sat down on the chair across from Gary.
Set his cup on the table.
Looked at Gary — not formally, not interrogatively.
Warmly.
“What was it like working at the Smith mansion?”
Gary took the cup.
It was warm.
The warmth passed through the glass and reached the palm of his hand.
He didn’t take a sip, just looked.
His voice was hoarse.
Not from crying, from not speaking.
“Wherever I am, it doesn’t matter… just…”
He lifted his gaze to the bald man — to Early.
His brother.
“…just don’t let me be under Miss Lisa. Is that woman still the boss?”
Early laughed.
A short laugh, like a cough.
He shook his coffee cup, the steam coiled into his face.
“She got promoted.”
Gary set the cup on the table.
He looked at his brother.
Early was smiling — a smile that said, “A lot has changed, but some things never do.”
Before Gary could answer, the door was kicked open.
Not hard, not soft — it opened.
As if someone was in a hurry but didn’t want to show it.
Lisa Cross walked in.
Thirty-nine years old.
Straight black hair, sharp brown eyes, wheat-colored skin.
She was dressed in black — a women’s suit that, if a man wore it, they’d call formal.
On her, it said: “I’m the boss, don’t forget it.” Her high heels clicked on the floor — click, click, click —.
Early jumped up.
Stood straight.
Set his coffee cup on the table and clasped his hands behind his back.
Like a soldier who had just spotted his general.
“Welcome, ma’am.”
Lisa fixed her gaze on Early.
For a moment.
Then moved past him.
Went toward Gary.
She stopped behind the table.
Placed her hands on her hips.
And smiled.
His chair slid back.
Not from fear — from habit.
He’d been away from her for years, but his body still remembered.
“Hello, Gary. I haven’t seen you in years.”
Her voice was calm.
Calmer than it should have been for someone who had kicked the door open.
“I’m happy too.”
His answer was short.
Not warm, not cold.
Just — short.
And suddenly — Lisa slammed her hand on the table.
Gary’s coffee cup trembled.
A few drops spilled onto the metal table with a short hiss.
Early took a step back.
Gary didn’t flinch.
He just watched.
Lisa leaned forward.
She placed her hands on the table.
Her face was just a few centimeters from Gary’s.
Her voice was no longer calm — it was sharp.
Like a box cutter.
“Enough with the welcome, Gary. You’re saying…”
She raised a finger.
One.
“…several people with supernatural powers attacked the Smith mansion…”
A second finger.
“…and took Thomas Smith’s son?”
Gary looked into Lisa’s eyes.
He didn’t answer.
Early said from the corner of the room — his voice hurried: “Ma’am, we have the camera footage. We can —”
Lisa, without taking her eyes off Gary, said: “Shut up, Early.”
Early closed his mouth.
He picked up his coffee cup and took a sip, not even tasting the bitterness of the coffee.
Lisa looked at Gary again.
Calmer.
Calculating.
“And you, Gary… you don’t know anything strange about Lloyd?”
A few seconds of silence.
Gary breathed.
He answered.
Calm.
Firm.
“No. Just… because of loneliness, sometimes he hallucinated.”
Lisa stared at him for a few seconds.
Then — she pulled back.
Stood straight.
Tilted her head slightly.
“Thomas Smith had three children.”
Gary said nothing.
Early set down his cup.
“The first, the eldest. When he was 14, he died. At that time, Lloyd was 5.”
Lisa was walking.
Back and forth across the room.
Her heels on the floor — click, click, click.
“The second, Emily Smith. She was 18 when she died. At that time, Lloyd was 12… He was hospitalized in a psychiatric ward.”
She stopped.
Her gaze on Gary.
“Every night he had nightmares. He hallucinated. He always… fantasized.”
Gary placed his hand on the table.
Firmly.
“That’s right. Now I don’t know what condition Mr. Thomas is in.”
Early fixed his gaze on Gary.
His voice was low.
Heavy. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“Thomas Smith… has disappeared.”
Gary’s eyes went wide.
“Whaaaat?!”
Lisa gestured for Early to stay silent.
She continued herself:
“That’s right. He’s disappeared. Since he’s an important person, national authorities have been pressured to find him.”
A brief pause.
“They even want to find the heir to the Smith company. Because if the Smith company goes down… the global economy will suffer.”
She looked at Gary.
She gave a small smile — this time more genuine.
Perhaps.
“And now the government, until Thomas Smith is found… is holding the Smith company.”
The door opened.
A young woman entered.
Twenty-eight years old.
Straight black hair, fair skin, glasses with thin frames resting on her nose.
A white shirt, black pants, flat shoes — but her walk was heavy, like someone accustomed to moving fast but now forced to go slowly.
Lisa turned toward her.
Her face became serious — not angry — calculating.
“What is it, Veronica?”
Veronica.
She stood and was breathing as if she had been running.
Her voice was rapid.
She was throwing the words out fast.
“Ma’am… I’ve figured it out. Apart from that battle — that demon, those lights — there was another battle somewhere else.”
Gary rose from his seat.
The chair slid back.
“A battle of a demon against light?”
Veronica didn’t even look at Gary.
She only looked at Lisa.
She continued speaking as if Gary didn’t exist.
“In the western sea. There was a battle.”
Lisa raised her eyebrows.
She folded her arms across her chest.
“Who against whom?”
Veronica paused.
She was arranging the words.
“Five beings… like monsters. Fleshy. With shapes I’ve never seen in any books. And a man.”
Gary stepped forward.
Veronica looked at him this time — but not to answer, to assess.
Then she turned back to Lisa.
“Around that man, there were several beings. Like spirits. Like darkness. That man… was so powerful that…”
She raised her hand.
Didn’t point.
Just held it in the air.
“…he lifted the sea. With his mind.”
Silence.
Lisa fixed her gaze on Veronica.
Her face held no emotion — the face of a gambler hiding a trump card behind her smile.
And then — she smiled.
From the corner of her lip.
Short.
Quick.
“I’m going to get a promotion.”
Early said from the corner of the room.
His voice was hurried — perhaps because of Lisa, perhaps because of everything:
“Ma’am… this matter has nothing to do with your promotion.”
Lisa fixed her gaze on Early.
Early closed his mouth.
Gary looked at Veronica.
Veronica looked at Lisa.
Lisa looked at Gary.
And the interrogation room — with its white light and metal table and cold walls — remained silent.
A heavy silence.
To be continued…