Few days after Lucian was caught...
The night had barely settled when the city's calm shattered again. Police lights painted the narrow street in flashing red and blue.
Another body had been found.
This time inside a quiet parking structure beneath an office building. Officers moved carefully around the scene, taking photographs and marking evidence. The victim lay near a concrete pillar, the air heavy with tension.
Captain Rethan stood nearby, studying the scene.
"This is the third one," an officer said. Rethan's expression hardened.
"And the pattern?"
The officer handed him a report.
"Same as the others. No witnesses. No clear entry point. Minimal evidence."
Rethan looked toward the body again.
Whoever the killer was… they were careful.
Too careful. Across the city, inside the high-security prison, the evening routine continued quietly.
Guards walked through corridors. Doors locked. Lights dimmed. Everything seemed normal.
Inside the dinning room, Lucien Vales sat alone. A thin smile rested on his face as he stared at the table.
Moments earlier, one of the guards had carelessly left a newspaper behind.
Lucien had already read the headline.
THIRD MURDER SHOCKS THE CITY
His fingers tapped slowly against the table.
"Three moves already," he murmured.
"Impatient."
A guard opened the door.
"Time's up."
Lucien stood calmly. As the guard escorted him down the corridor, Lucien's eyes quietly observed everything. Security cameras. Guard rotations. Keypads. He had memorized this routine months ago.
And tonight…
The prison was short staffed. Because half the city's police had been sent to deal with the new murders.
Lucien's faint smile returned. "Perfect timing," he whispered. Minutes later, the power flickered briefly across one wing of the prison. Lights dimmed.
Alarms gave a short, confused beep before resetting. One guard frowned.
"Did you see that?"
"Probably a minor outage," another replied.
But inside the corridor near Lucien's cell....Something had changed. A lock clicked. Very softly. Lucian stepped out. Not running. Not rushing. Just walking calmly into the hallway.
One guard turned the corner and froze.
"How did you—"
Lucien moved faster than expected.
In seconds, the guard collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
Lucian caught the falling keycard smoothly.
"No need for violence," he said quietly.
"I only need the door."
He swiped the card. Another lock opened. Then another.
Within minutes, after leaving other officers unconscious, Lucian had reached a service exit used by staff. Outside, the rain had started again.
Lucian stepped into the night air for the first time after a month.
He looked up at the city skyline.
"So," he murmured softly.
"Let's see who you are."
Elsewhere in the city, Aren in his apartment seeing the news headlines on the tv, Three murders. Three locations.
No suspects.
His instincts told him the same thing again.
This was not random. Someone was creating a pattern.
His phone suddenly buzzed with a news alert.
BREAKING NEWS: HIGH-SECURITY PRISON REPORTS SECURITY BREACH
Aren frowned.
Then the next line appeared.
INFAMOUS SERIAL KILLER LUCIAN VALES HAS ESCAPED CUSTODY
For a moment, Aren stared at the screen in disbelief. Then he slowly closed the laptop.
Rain tapped quietly against the window beside him.
Aren whispered to himself:
"…This just became a lot worse." And stood up to close the window fully.