The Mystery Files - Chapter 2: Hollow Eyes

The cafeteria at Haideron Tech occupied the sixth floor of the company's main administration tower.

Through its floor-to-ceiling glass walls, the rest of the Haideron Tech complex stretched into view—sleek office blocks housing software development, construction engineering, research laboratories, public relations, finance, and administration, all linked by enclosed glass corridors that allowed employees to move between buildings without ever stepping outside.

Beyond the complex, the Port City pulsed with its usual chaos, but none of its noise reached here.

Soundproofed glass reduced the outside world to little more than distant movement.

Inside, the air carried the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and polished wood. Chrome fixtures gleamed beneath soft opal lighting, while the efficiency of the place reflected the company itself—precise, disciplined, and meticulously organized.

At a corner table, Ali, Omer, and Sajjad sat in companionable silence.

Heavy turquoise mugs, each marked with the Haideron Tech insignia in gold, rested on the polished oak table beneath the gentle glow of the overhead lights.

Omer leaned forward, the light catching the expensive black watch around his wrist.

"Ali..."

"Do you believe in the paranormal?"

Ali lifted his sea-green eyes from the heavy mug.

"That's an unexpected question."

He studied Omer for a moment.

"Why?"

"Did something happen?"

"At the firm..."

"...or at home?"

Omer chuckled.

"Nothing I'd confidently call paranormal."

He shrugged.

"I do notice things from time to time..."

"...things I can't explain rationally."

"But this isn't about me."

"I'm just curious."

"You could call it general knowledge."

A faint smile crossed Ali's face.

"Then my answer isn't a simple yes or no."

Omer leaned back.

"So I expected."

Ali settled more comfortably in his chair.

"I'm a man of science..."

"...and so are you."

"Science explains the physical world remarkably well."

"But the unseen is also part of our faith."

Omer nodded.

"I agree."

"Jinn..."

"...angels..."

"...miracles."

"Our faith tells us they exist, even if science cannot measure them."

He smiled faintly.

"At least not yet."

"The way science is advancing..."

"...who knows what tomorrow may reveal?"

He paused, looking through the cafeteria's glass wall into the spacious atrium. Employees crossed from one wing of Haideron Tech to another while a giant LED screen broadcast Mr. Haider's address at the Haideron Tech University of Science and Technology convocation.

"But what fascinates me isn't whether the paranormal exists."

"It's whether other realities exist alongside ours..."

"...just beyond the limits of our perception."

Omer laughed.

"I invited a debate..."

"...instead of getting a simple yes or no."

Ali smiled.

"It can never be that simple."

"If you're interested..."

"...read a little quantum physics."

"And perhaps some of Stephen Hawking's work."

"It raises interesting possibilities."

Omer shook his head with an amused smile before glancing towards Sajjad.

"Forget quantum physics."

"Look at him."

A group of employees entered the cafeteria, exchanging greetings as they passed.

Normally, Sajjad would have waved enthusiastically to almost every one of them.

Today, he didn't even look up.

Ali followed Omer's gaze.

Sajjad hadn't touched his coffee.

He sat hunched over the table, both hands wrapped tightly around the heavy turquoise mug. Despite the cool air of the cafeteria, perspiration glistened across his forehead.

Ali's expression changed.

"Sajjad..."

"You don't look well."

Sajjad let out a tired sigh.

"How could I?"

"I barely managed to drag myself here."

"My wife had to drop me at the office this morning."

Omer leaned forward.

"What happened?"

Sajjad swallowed.

"Last night..."

"...I saw something that chilled me to the bone."

Omer's smile vanished.

"Then stop keeping us in suspense."

"What happened?"

Sajjad drew a slow, weary breath.

"Production finally handed over the latest batch of HT-900 surveillance units to our department."

"A few technicians and I stayed back to inspect every unit, complete the inventory, and transfer them to the hardware vault."

He rubbed his eyes.

"By the time we signed everything over..."

"...it was almost midnight."

"I took the Old Airport Road."

"The Old Airport Road?"

Ali repeated quietly.

Something changed in his face.

His sea-green eyes widened ever so slightly.

Omer noticed immediately.

"Is there something unusual about that road?"

Ali didn't answer.

He kept his eyes fixed on Sajjad.

"Go on."

Sajjad tightened his grip around the mug.

"The moment I entered that road..."

"...I knew something wasn't right."

Ali quietly watched him.

The mug was trembling ever so slightly in Sajjad's hands.

"What do you mean?" Omer asked.

Sajjad swallowed.

"Everything..."

"...felt wrong."

Omer frowned.

"You've driven through that road before, haven't you?"

"Many times."

"Mostly before sunset."

"It's not considered dangerous."

"Just neglected."

"A few lamp posts."

"Bushes on both sides."

"Nothing unusual."

Sajjad shook his head.

"But last night..."

"...I entered it close to midnight."

"I don't know why..."

"...but it felt as if the road itself didn't want me there."

Neither Ali nor Omer interrupted him.

"It wasn't just darkness."

"It felt..."

He searched for the words.

"...as if I was driving through black water."

Ali's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Black water?"

Sajjad nodded.

"What else can I call it?"

"The whole city had been calm."

"There wasn't much wind anywhere."

"But that road..."

"...the bushes suddenly began swaying."

"...and then a layer of fog appeared."

He rubbed his forehead.

"Or perhaps it wasn't fog."

"I honestly don't know."

Ali leaned forward.

"Smoke?"

"I couldn't tell."

"For a moment..."

"...I wasn't even sure what I was looking at."

He fell silent.

Ali reached across the table and gently touched his wrist.

"Sajjad."

The frightened engineer blinked, as though returning from somewhere far away.

"There wasn't a single vehicle."

"No headlights."

"No taillights."

"It felt..."

"...as though I was the only person left alive."

He rubbed both palms together.

"I could hear nothing."

"My own heartbeat..."

"...and the engine."

Ali asked quietly,

"No stray dogs?"

"No crickets?"

"No birds?"

Sajjad slowly shook his head.

"Nothing."

"It was as silent as a graveyard."

"No wind."

"No passing traffic."

"Nothing."

His breathing became uneven.

"That silence..."

"...was suffocating."

Omer exchanged a brief glance with Ali.

"That sounds disturbing."

"But you drove through it, didn't you?"

Sajjad opened his mouth.

"And then..."

His words stopped.

A spoon slipped from someone's hand several tables away.

It struck the floor.

The metallic sound echoed through the cafeteria.

Sajjad jerked violently.

Ali immediately placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It was only a spoon."

"Take it easy."

"You made it out of that road."

"Whatever happened..."

"...it's over now."

Sajjad slowly looked at him.

Then shook his head.

"No."

Omer frowned.

"No?"

"It wasn't over."

"It had only begun."

His voice had almost disappeared.

Ali spoke softly.

"What did you see?"

Sajjad lowered his head into both hands.

"I saw..."

He stopped.

Omer leaned forward.

"What?"

"I thought..."

"...it was a woman."

He slowly lifted his face again.

"But it wasn't."

Ali waited.

"It was..."

"...only a head."

Silence settled over the table.

Omer stared at him.

"A head?"

Sajjad nodded.

"It was floating."

"Just beneath one of the lamp posts."

"In the middle of the road."

For the first time, Omer noticed Ali whisper something beneath his breath.

He couldn't make out the words.

Sajjad continued before either of them could interrupt.

"A woman's face..."

"...covered with a black scarf."

"It almost seemed to absorb the light around it."

His breathing quickened.

"Her face..."

"...was grey."

"Not pale."

"Grey."

The espresso machine hissed somewhere behind them.

No one at their table moved.

Ali spoke again.

"Her eyes?"

Omer looked at him.

There was no disbelief in Ali's voice.

Sajjad looked straight at him.

"They weren't eyes."

"They were empty."

"Black hollows."

"As though..."

"...someone had carved them out."

Ali didn't react.

He simply became very still.

Omer looked from Sajjad to Ali.

Something wasn't right.

Ali wasn't listening like a curious colleague.

He was listening like someone confirming an old memory.

"I nearly drove into a ditch."

"I started reciting Ayat-ul-Kursi."

"Again..."

"...and again..."

"I don't even remember pressing the accelerator."

"My heart..."

"...felt as though it would burst."

He suddenly looked at Omer.

"Imagine this."

"You're driving."

"You glance at your side mirror."

"And something is floating beside your car."

"You look into the other mirror..."

"...and it's still there."

Omer almost dropped his mug.

"It was beside your car?"

Sajjad nodded.

"At first I thought it was a shadow."

"Then I looked again."

"It was following me."

"Keeping pace with the car."

"No matter how fast I drove."

His lips trembled.

"And then..."

"...it spoke."

Ali finally broke his silence.

"Three times."

His voice was calm.

Too calm.

Sajjad stared at him.

Ali held his gaze.

"It called your name..."

"...exactly three times."

The colour drained from Sajjad's face.

"How..."

"...do you know that?"

Ali did not answer.

The silence at the table suddenly felt heavier than anything Sajjad had described.

Finally, he spoke again.

"I don't remember reaching home."

"I only remember my car outside the house..."

"...and my hand pressed against the horn."

"My wife made me drink Zamzam water."

"She recited Manzil over me until Fajr."

He lowered his eyes.

"But..."

"...I still feel as if something followed me home."

Omer slowly stood.

He rested a hand on Ali's shoulder.

"Ali..."

"Say something."

"You're frightening me more than he is."

Ali finally looked at Omer.

His expression was calm.

But his sea-green eyes had lost their warmth.

"This isn't a joke."

He looked back at Sajjad.

"What you saw..."

"...I've heard about it before."

Then Ali spoke the words that neither of them expected.

"What you witnessed tonight..."

"...isn't happening for the first time."

"Someone else saw the same thing nearly forty years ago."

Omer blinked.

"Forty years ago?"

Ali gave a faint nod.

Sajjad did not react. He sat frozen, his face pale, still too absorbed in the memory of the apparition to pay attention to the conversation around him.

Thank you for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Author's Note: The story is entirely mine; AI simply assisted during the writing process.

ns216.73.216.48da2

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