Chapter 4

She stepped in.

And immediately, every single person in the room turned to look at her.

Not just look.

Stare.

Like she was the missing piece of a puzzle they’d been desperately trying to solve.

Which was… weird.

Very weird.

This day had been going so well—amazing, even. And now? This?

Who were these people?

What were they doing here?

And more importantly… when did they even come in?

She had been right outside. She would’ve seen them enter.

But no.

She had seen no one.

Not a single person she could recognize. Not a single shadow or movement in the hall.

Nothing.

Then—

“Hey, is everything fine? Did you talk to them?”

Mason’s voice. From behind her.

She barely had time to turn before he poked his head in through the door—only to freeze the moment his eyes landed on the room.

“Oh—great heavens,” he muttered. “I was half expecting it to be the higher-ups, and I fully expected them to yell at us for being late, but this—” His eyes darted over the mess of files, the scattered papers, the people—whoever they were—standing eerily still. “This is not what I was expecting to see in the meeting room. Did a tornado hit? Are we—did we miss a memo about a scheduled natural disaster or—”

He kept rambling.

Zariyah wasn’t listening.

Not right now.

She had bigger things to focus on.

Like the mess in front of her.

Like the strangers standing in the wreckage.

Like the fact that none of this made sense.

She took a breath. Forced her voice to stay calm. Controlled. Unshaken.

“Who are you?”

Low. Even. Steady.

Because she refused to let them hear the one thing she was actually feeling inside.

Unease.

"We… are not that important," one of them finally spoke.

A voice muffled by the mask.

"But you."

They took a step forward.

"You… are coming with us."

Zariyah blinked.

"I'm sorry, what?"

What the actual hell was happening?

Who were these people?

Why did they want her?

More importantly—where were the higher-ups?

Her pulse picked up, but her voice stayed firm. Calm. Because if there was one thing she knew how to do, it was take control of a situation.

"Look," she said, her voice cutting through the tension like a knife. "I don't know who the hell you all are, but you need to leave. Right now. And—" she narrowed her eyes "—where did you take the higher-ups?"

Silence.

Then—

Laughter.

Not the kind you hear when someone cracks a joke.

The kind that sent a chill straight down her spine.

Low at first. Then louder. Hysterical.

It was only then that she noticed—

They all wore the same thing.

Dark suits. Black gloves. Masks covering their faces.

And then—

With an eerie, almost synchronized motion—

They took them off.

They took off their masks.

Zariyah's breath hitched.

Her eyes darted between the faces in front of her, disbelief washing over her like a tidal wave.

"Zariyah. I can see that you are already in motion. That is wonderful. I hope you have chosen the partners you will be taking with you to your mission. Right? Haven't you?"

Alex.

It was Alex.

And not just him. The masked figures standing behind him?

Darren. Stacy.

And—the other higher-ups?!

Her head spun for a second, trying to process what she was seeing.

"Alex? I MEAN! The higher ups?! Why are you all dressed like this and, Darren? Stacy?? What? What is happening here?"

She saw the barely contained smirks on their faces, like they were enjoying this.

Oh, no.

This was planned.

"May I ask what this is all about?" she asked, keeping her tone neutral—polite, even. She refused to let them see how thrown off she was.

Alex leaned back in his chair, arms resting on the table in front of him.

"Of course. I, for once, will explain. But I don't know about these idiotic fools. They literally started laughing and ruined the plans. We had planned to fake-kidnap you to see if the team you had chosen was worthy or not. But, it seems like you are all well enough. That's good. And, you may call in your teammates."

As he finished speaking, everyone in the room took a seat, still giggling from this incident that had just occurred.

For a second, all she could do was stare.

Then—

"You have got to be kidding me."

Her heartbeat was still racing, but now? Now, it wasn’t from fear.

It was rage.

"You were testing me? Like this?!?"

Her voice stayed even, but her jaw clenched.

Alex—still seated, still way too pleased with himself—tilted his head.

"Of course, Zariyah. Wouldn’t you test a candidate before handing them such a major responsibility?"

She opened her mouth. Shut it.

Because, yeah, okay. Fine. Maybe that made sense. But—

THE MASKS?? THE LAUGHTER?!?

And fake-kidnapping her?!?

Her gaze snapped to Darren and Stacy, who both still looked like they were holding back laughter.

"Oh, you two think this is funny?" she said, arms crossed.

Darren shrugged.

"A little bit."

Zariyah took a slow, deep breath.

She had worked her ass off to get here.

And this is how they chose to welcome her?

Well.

Fine.

Two could play at this game.

She stepped forward, hands behind her back, expression cool.

"Well," she said, tone light. "Now that we know I passed your little test…"

She leaned in slightly.

"Let’s hope you pass mine."

Silence.

Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

Zariyah smiled.

"Yes. Because if we’re really going to work together, I need to see just how well you handle the unexpected."

T. B. C.

Did you expect these twists of turns?

Happy Reading!