A Hunter Made from Shadows

6

“Prepare a new role.”

Michael’s voice came clearly through the phone, calm and steady.

“Have my assistant send the script immediately.”

“The script is called The Hypnotist’s Trial.”

Inside the command vehicle, Ashley’s mind stalled for a second.

At a moment when every second meant the difference between life and death for a hostage, he was talking about preparing for a role?

A chill ran down her spine.

She opened her mouth, but her throat was so dry she couldn’t form a single word.

Lorenzo, who heard the message through the loudspeaker, froze for an instant, then his shock exploded into fury.

“He’s completely lost his mind!”

He grabbed the main communicator, his bloodshot eyes locked onto the signal marker that represented Michael.

“Michael! Do you even know what’s happening right now?! Cynthia’s life is hanging on that knife, and you’re talking about acting?!”

His roar shook the entire vehicle, filled with the rage and despair of an old detective on the edge of collapse.

Michael ignored Lorenzo completely. He continued speaking only to Ashley, his tone firm and unshakable.

“The opponent changed the script. I have to change my role.”

“I need fifteen minutes.”

“To prepare something that truly fits this play.”

His words were perfectly logical, yet everyone who heard them felt a strange, unreal chill.

This was no longer an investigation.

It was a dialogue between two madmen, and the rest of them weren’t even qualified to interrupt.

Ashley felt her temples throbbing. The pressure made her vision darken. She held onto the console to keep herself steady.

Lorenzo was still shouting hoarsely over the line.

Ashley looked at the surveillance feed.

Valentine Lane lay silent under the rain, like a monster with its mouth open, ready to swallow the hostage at any moment.

And their only lifeline was asking for fifteen minutes… to “get into character.”

The one thing they had the least of. But she had no choice.

That same reckless thought took over her again.

She had already handed over command.

She had already staked her career on this gamble.

So…One more step.

She would bet that Michael, the madman, could create a miracle.

“Lorenzo. Enough.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but his shouting stopped instantly.

She walked up to him, took the communicator from his hand, and ended the call with Michael.

Then she pressed another button and connected to Michael’s assistant.

Her hands trembled slightly, but her voice was firm.

“This is Ashley.”

“Send what Michael asked for to the command vehicle immediately.”

The air inside the vehicle froze.

Lorenzo stared at her like she was a stranger. He felt that she had gone crazy too.

“Captain, you can’t, ”

“Follow the order!” Ashley snapped, turning sharply. Her eyes were red, filled with the ruthlessness of someone pushed into a corner. “Or do you have a better way to save the hostage right now?!”

Lorenzo fell silent.

Did he? No.

The negotiators weren’t here yet. The tech team was stuck on the ‘forest of steel.’ The sniper had no clear shot.

They were completely helpless.

Less than five minutes later, an unremarkable nanny van sped through the rain and braked sharply at the entrance of the alley.

Michael’s assistant, a young woman with black-rimmed glasses, jumped out, her face pale. She clutched a folder tightly to her chest.

Clearly shaken by the scene, she trembled as she handed the folder to the officer who met her.

The folder was rushed to Ashley.

On the cover, several elegant words were printed clearly:

The Hypnotist’s Trial.

Ashley held the thin folder in her hands, yet it felt heavier than a thousand pounds.

‘This… was their hope? A script?’ she thought.

Lorenzo glanced at it. His lips trembled, and he finally collapsed back into his chair, covering his face with his hands. He didn’t look again. He didn’t speak.

He had given up.

To him, everything now felt like a ridiculous farce.

Soon after, Michael got out of his car on the rooftop and entered the command vehicle.

He didn’t look at anyone.

He walked straight to Ashley and took the folder from her hands.

“Give me fifteen minutes,” he said calmly. “I need absolute silence.”

Ashley stared at him, searching for even a trace of madness or mockery.

But there was none. Only a bottomless, terrifying calm.

“Everyone, out of the vehicle!”

Ashley turned and issued the order to the stunned officers inside the command car.

“Lorenzo, you too.”

Lorenzo lifted his head abruptly, about to argue, but when his eyes met Ashley’s unwavering gaze, he swallowed every word.

He stood up, glanced at Michael one last time. His expression was complicated, anger, frustration, unwillingness… and a trace of fear he didn’t even realize he was carrying.

He shook his head and stepped out of the vehicle.

Soon, Michael was the only one left inside.

Ashley remained outside, letting the rain soak her uniform. She spoke into the walkie-talkie clipped to the door.

“Fifteen minutes. I want an answer.”

Then she turned it off. She stood alone in the rain, guarding the final doorway between reality and the madman inside the car.

Michael sat in the cold seat, surrounded by softly glowing instruments.

Through the windows, the sound of rain was muted and distant. The world felt completely silent. He didn’t open the script immediately.

Instead, he closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and cleared away every lingering emotion tied to A Thousand Faces and the Clown.

His mind needed to be empty, clean, before it could hold a more twisted soul.

Only then did he open the script titled The Hypnotist’s Trial.

It told the story of a psychology professor named Laurence, gentle and refined on the surface, a respected academic… yet secretly a monster who toyed with human hearts.

He never committed crimes with his own hands.

Instead, he used subtle hypnosis and psychological suggestion to guide people with emotional wounds, turning them willingly into tools for his revenge and entertainment.

What he truly enjoyed was the godlike sense of control, shaping other people’s fates as if they were pieces on a board.

Michael’s eyes moved steadily across the pages, absorbing lines of dialogue and character notes.

Then, a familiar system prompt echoed inside his mind.

[New antagonist detected: “The Hypnotist’s Trial” ,  Laurence.][Character compatibility: 92%.]

[Warning: This role carries a high risk of psychological contamination. Confirm role immersion?]