They Should Have Died

The Watchers

The apartment suddenly felt a lot quieter.

Logan was still standing near the window, staring at the black sedan below. The car sat under the dim glow of the streetlight, like a dark shadow that was deliberately waiting.

And for some reason… Logan could feel something was wrong.

“Are you sure you didn’t hear it wrong?” Alexa asked softly without taking her eyes off the outside.

Logan gave a small nod.

“I’m very sure. They really said the target has been found.”

Reyn immediately stood up from the sofa. His expression, which had been relaxed a moment ago, turned serious.

“Damn it.”

He quickly walked toward a small table near the kitchen and opened the bottom drawer. Logan briefly thought the man was reaching for a weapon.

But Reyn instead pulled out several old phones, a small hard drive, and a black laptop.

“What are you going to do?” Logan asked.

“Just in case.”

“From who?”

Reyn looked at him for a moment. “If I knew the answer, our lives would’ve been a lot easier a long time ago.”

Alexa was still standing near the window, watching the street below.

The black sedan finally moved, slowly leaving the apartment area. But none of them looked relieved.

“They’re gone,” Logan muttered.

“Not necessarily,” Alexa replied quickly.

Reyn turned on the laptop on the table. Within seconds, the black screen was filled with street camera feeds from different parts of the city.

Logan frowned in confusion.

“You hacked into the city CCTV cameras?”

“I just got access to them,” Reyn answered casually. “Alexa found the signal frequency.”

“I just listened to the transmission patterns,” Alexa said shortly.

Logan stayed silent for a moment as he watched them.

The longer he looked, the more he realized Reyn and Alexa weren’t just two strange people with mysterious abilities.

They lived like people who were being hunted, and the way they managed to survive until now was by using their abilities.

“How long have you been like this?” Logan asked quietly.

Reyn leaned back in his chair, rubbing his tired face. “Long enough for fear to become routine.”

Silence filled the room again. Only the faint sound of rain outside the window and the low hum of the laptop could be heard.

Logan slowly sat down on the sofa.

His head felt even heavier.

A few hours ago, he was just a failed man who decided to end his life on a bridge.

Now he was sitting with two strange people with unusual powers, talking about someone who might be hunting them.

Logan looked down at his own hands.

The more he thought about it, the more unreal everything felt.

“If there really is someone targeting us…” he muttered softly. “What’s the reason?”

Alexa lowered her head for a moment. “For a long time… we’ve been wondering the same thing.”

She walked toward a small table near the north-side window, then pulled open the curtain covering a sheet of old paper that had been taped to the glass.

Logan watched her.

“What is that?”

“Old news we collected.”

Alexa picked one up and handed the paper to Logan.

The newspaper article was faded, and parts of the ink had already disappeared.

‘Unidentified Male Body Found Near the River of the Dead.’

Logan quickly read the article.

‘The victim’s body was found with multiple gunshot wounds and no identity whatsoever. Fingerprints were destroyed. No family data. No medical records. As if someone had deliberately erased the victim’s existence from the world.’

“We found this news two years ago,” Alexa said quietly. “And the day after that… the article disappeared from the internet.”

“There were several similar cases too,” Reyn added. “And… yeah… they were all connected to that river.”

Logan looked up.

“Do you think they’re like us too?”

Alexa didn’t answer right away. “I don’t know.”

But from her expression, Logan could tell she actually believed it.

Suddenly, the vibration of a phone rang out from the living room table.

Everyone turned at once.

It was Alexa’s phone.

Alexa frowned slightly when she looked at the screen.

“Unknown number.”

“Don’t answer it,” Reyn said quickly.

“I know.”

Alexa let the call end on its own.

But a few seconds later, her phone lit up again. This time, a message appeared on the screen.

And the moment Alexa read it, her expression changed instantly.

Reyn noticed it immediately.

“Him again?”

Alexa didn’t answer.

She slowly lifted the phone screen toward Logan and Reyn.

One message was clearly displayed.

[No Name]
No Name: I know who’s with you.

Logan’s heart immediately tightened.

Not long after, a second message appeared a few seconds later.

No Name: And Damian Cross has already found your hiding place.

Reyn froze.

“Damian Cross? Who is that?” Logan repeated slowly.

Reyn stared at the phone screen, his jaw tightening. He exhaled slowly before answering.

“A hitman working for the elites.” The room suddenly felt colder. “They say he never fails to kill his target.”

Logan instinctively looked toward the window.

The street below was now empty. But for some reason… he felt like someone was still watching them from a distance.

A new message came in again. And Alexa showed it once more.

No Name: And based on what I’ve gathered… this time he already knows about the man you just saved from the River.

Logan’s eyes widened.

“How do they know about me?”

Unfortunately… no one answered. Because Reyn and Alexa both looked just as shocked.

And before the tension could ease, Reyn’s phone started vibrating.

The same message appeared on his screen. Then a few seconds later… an old phone near the laptop turned on by itself.

An identical message appeared there. As if someone was playing with them.

Alexa slowly straightened her posture.

“He won’t stop until he gets us.”

“Yeah. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants,” Reyn muttered.

The final message appeared on the screen.

No Name: My offer is still the same.
No Name: I can protect all three of you. Including Logan Hayes.
No Name: If you want to stay alive, sign the contract. I can send someone to pick you up anytime.

— V.M.

Silence.

Reyn suddenly stepped away from the table, running a hand roughly through his hair.

“I don’t like this.”

“He knows Logan’s full name,” Alexa said quietly.

Logan immediately turned, frowning deeply.

“I never even told you my last name.”

No one spoke after that.

Only the sound of rain outside the apartment and the faint electrical hum of Reyn’s laptop filled the room.

Logan stared at the phone screen again.

Damian Cross.

Vincent Moreau.

And someone who even knew his identity.

Slowly, his jaw tightened.

Logan finally had to admit it.

His life was no longer the same anymore.

***