THE SHADOWS WITHIN: BROTHERS OF FATE

The crisp night air enveloped the city as its inhabitants rested, unaware of the impending chaos that would soon shatter the tranquility.

A phone call blared through police and military headquarters, piercing the silence like a siren wail.

“Code 111, heavy alert. All units informed.”

Within seconds, the once quiet command centers transformed into hives of activity.

“Attention, Private First Class Leo, fall in line with your platoon,” a voice echoed from the speaker, and Leo, who had just finished having his coffee, rushed out of the office.

"Align,” he said, holding his military telephone, and he passed the order.

In one minute, they all stood in the hall with other team members. When the lieutenant walked in, he was in his fifties and looked tense.

 "Where is Sergeant Enzo?” he asked after scanning through the hall. He wanted Enzo to handle the situation because he was reliable.

Enzo’s best friend, Leo, raised a hand before saying, “Sergeant Enzo was giving the night off, sir.” He yelled at the top of his voice.

The lieutenant clenched his fist; there was no time to wait for Enzo because the biggest and most wanted criminal was on the run.

“THE SHADOW WAS SPOTTED,” he blurted out, and they all became alert; they knew that every time he showed up, someone of higher rank or position must die.

“Private Leo, lead your team to Judge Walle’s mansion now.” His voice echoed around the room. Leo nodded before glaring at his platoons.

“Ahead, ahead," he said, and they all hurried out of the building holding their weapons.

They got into the van and drove away. Leo had a nervous look, as this kind of affair was always handled by Enzo.

“Sir, if we catch him, just imagine the reward we will receive,” one of the platoons said, and Leo nodded. That's right. He has always wanted a promotion like Enzo.

“So let’s all do our best,” he scolded, and they all nodded.

Leo wished to see the SHADOW face; the man always comes masked and dressed in all black. And before he goes, he leaves a note on a bunch of balloons. The note had just one sentence: “The Shadow was here.”

Finally, they arrived at Judge Walle’s mansion and drove in. They immediately went down the van and surrounded the area. Leo was nervous, but he knew his team was in charge now; he had always wanted to be in charge.

He signaled his men to block all possible exit entrances, and then they spotted the security men of the judge, who lay down covered in a pool of blood.

“Check their pulse,” he whispered to one of the platoons, who placed two fingers on their necks, then shook his head, signaling that they were dead.

“We are going in, in three, two, one." They kicked the door hard before holding their guns in and hurried inside. The huge sitting room was quiet as they found the maids on the floor, but they were not dead; they were tied.

“Where is the Judge?” Leo asked one of them after untying them, and the maid trembled before pointing upstairs.

“You both get the footage, and we will check on the judge. Get the footage before it gets deleted,” he gave an order to two of his men before slowly walking upstairs with the others.

They stood in front of Judge Walle’s bedroom for thirty seconds before kicking the door open. They all gasped in shock, seeing that he was hanging from the ceiling with a rope around his neck.

“Holy crab,” one of the men said in disbelief.

Then they saw a bunch of balloons in the bathroom; they had a note: “The shadow was here.”

Leo kicked the bed angrily. “We can’t miss him; he must be around,” he scolded, and they all hurried outside while some men brought the judge down. He was already dead, and there were bruises on his face; it showed he was beaten.

They searched the whole facility, but there was no one. Leo couldn't do anything because he was in charge of the judge’s mansion, so another team must be in charge of tracking down the shadow.

“Private Leo, the footage... You might want to see this.” One of his team members, Chris, hurried towards him.

Leo walked to the sitting room with a frustrated look as a laptop was placed in front of him.

“Private Leo, the reporters have blocked the entrance,” another member reported.

“Don’t let them in, and let no one find out about what's going on," he ordered, and the team member nodded before leaving.

Leo watched the footage, but he was a little surprised because this was the first time they found footage of the shadow’s attack. He must have been careless this time around.

It showed how the masked man walked downstairs with his hands stained in blood, then he took a tissue from the table and wiped his hand. They checked the table, but the tissue was gone.

All of a sudden, he took another tissue and took off his mask to wipe his face. "Pause,” Leo blurted.

"Zoom,” he ordered, and the man’s face was zoomed. Leo was taken aback; even his teammates couldn't believe it.

"Enzo,” he blurted, all this while the serial killer was Enzo. This was huge news; finally, he was able to find out who the shadow was.

“It's Sergeant Enzo, how come?” even Chris and the other team members couldn't believe it.

If Leo hadn't seen it for himself, then he wouldn't have believed that his childhood friend, with whom they both grew up at the orphanage, was the man behind the mask.

**

In the west of the bustling city, a man sat on his couch, holding a bouquet. He glared at his dinner. He had arranged a candlelight dinner to propose to his girlfriend; she was supposed to be here two hours ago, but she didn't show up.

He kept calling her, but she didn't pick up. Enzo Marino walked towards the table with a frustrated look. Then he heard the doorbell, and a smile crept on his lip as he hurried to the door.

He pulled it open, and his smile widened. It was his girlfriend, Amelia Watson, the daughter of Mayor Watson.

“I am so sorry,” she apologized with a pleading look. He shrugged his shoulders before letting her in, and she wore a short red dress down before stepping in with her heels.

She glared around and noticed the lit candles, champagne, and bouquet. She knew immediately what this was about.

“Uhm, what's this?” She feigned to be unaware, but the truth is, she was thinking of ways to reject his proposal. She didn't want to marry Enzo; they were just hanging out and having fun.

Enzo smiled and held her hand. “Amelia, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. You are the best woman in my life, and I can'T even think of living this life without you,” he said, going on a knee before taking out a ring with a small glittering diamond.

“Will you marry me?” He asked, and Amelia breathed heavily. She couldn't marry Enzo.

“This is quick,” she fanned herself using her hand before sighing heavily.

"Enz, I hope you didn't misunderstand my intention. I thought we were both having fun.” She tried explaining in reasonable language, and his eyes widened in disbelief. Fun? Did she call their relationship fun?

All of a sudden, the doors pushed open as armed men secured the place.

Enzo got alert and glared around; to his surprise, it was his subordinates. “What’s happening here?” he asked when his friend Leo walked in while pointing a gun at him.

Amelia got scared and took several steps backward. “Leo, what are you doing?” Enzo was shocked. Why was his best friend pointing a gun at him?

“Don’t move; as you can see, you are surrounded. This time will be your last, the shadow," he said, and Enzo frowned. Why was he calling him the shadow?

Everyone knew how hungry he was to catch that man; he had always been on his trail.

“Leo…”

He was saying that when Leo took out the handcuffs and placed them on his hands, “Take him,” he ordered his men, who hurried to Enzo’s side.

“This is a misunderstanding." Enzo scolded, but no one listened to him. He glared at Amelia, who had a disappointed look; she didn't even dare look into his eyes. In her mind, she can’t believe she was hanging out with a serial killer.