Chapter 179: Beside
Denzel stared at the parchment.
Four words.
That was all Sophia had left them.
If you’re reading this, she’s with you.
The Knight remained silent.
Denzel could tell she was thinking.
So was he.
’She knew.’
Not suspected.
Not guessed.
Knew.
Sophia had somehow expected the Knight to be standing beside him when they found this message.
Denzel folded the parchment.
"She knew you’d come with me."
The Knight looked at him.
"That’s what bothers me."
"Why?"
"Because I didn’t decide to come with you until after we left the inn."
Denzel paused.
She was right.
At the inn, he’d asked her to leave.
She could have stayed.
Instead, she’d followed him.
Sophia shouldn’t have been able to predict that.
Unless—
Denzel’s eyes narrowed.
"Unless she knew you already."
The Knight’s expression changed slightly.
"You think she expected me to follow?"
"I think she expected someone."
"That’s not the same thing."
"No."
Denzel looked down at the parchment again.
"But it’s close enough to bother me."
The Knight folded her arms.
"Then what?"
Denzel slipped the note into his coat.
"We look around."
"Here?"
"Here."
She glanced down the dark corridor.
"You think Sophia left something else?"
"I think she left a trail."
The Knight looked at him.
"Why?"
Denzel glanced toward the staircase.
"Because she could’ve just told us where to go."
He started walking.
"But she didn’t."
The Knight followed.
"You’re saying she wanted us to figure it out."
"Or she couldn’t tell us directly."
"Why not?"
Denzel didn’t answer.
He stopped at the top of the stairs.
The building was silent.
He looked down.
Nothing.
Then his eyes settled on the floor.
Dust covered almost every step.
Almost.
There was a footprint near the bottom.
Fresh.
Denzel crouched.
The mark was clear enough to see the edge of the sole.
He touched the dust beside it.
Dry.
Then the print.
Still slightly damp.
The Knight crouched beside him.
"That’s not ours."
"No."
"Someone came through here."
Denzel looked toward the dark corridor behind them.
His expression tightened.
"Recently."
The Knight stood.
"Could it be the person following us?"
Denzel studied the footprint.
"Maybe."
"You don’t sound convinced."
"Because there’s another possibility."
She waited.
Denzel stood.
"They were already here."
The Knight looked toward the hallway.
"Waiting for us?"
"Possibly."
"For how long?"
Denzel glanced at the note in his pocket.
"Long enough."
They stood quietly for a moment.
Then—
A faint sound came from somewhere above them.
A soft scrape.
Both looked up.
The third floor was empty.
At least, it had looked empty.
The Knight’s hand moved toward her weapon.
Denzel raised his hand slightly.
"Don’t."
She stopped.
They listened.
Nothing.
Denzel looked at the footprint again.
Then toward the stairs.
Someone had been here.
Someone who knew they were coming.
And if they were still inside—
Denzel’s eyes narrowed.
’We’re not alone.’
Denzel slowly looked up the staircase.
The sound didn’t come again.
The Knight kept her hand near her weapon.
"Could’ve been the building."
"Could’ve."
Denzel started up.
She followed.
They moved quietly.
Each step creaked beneath their weight, but nothing else answered.
When they reached the third floor, Denzel stopped.
The corridor looked exactly as it had before.
Three doors on either side.
One at the far end.
All closed.
He looked at the floor.
Dust.
Nothing.
The Knight stepped beside him.
"So?"
Denzel glanced toward the ceiling.
"Someone was here."
"That’s your conclusion?"
"No."
He pointed toward the nearest door.
"That’s my guess."
She looked at it.
"What’s the conclusion?"
Denzel walked over.
The door was slightly open.
He pushed it wider.
Empty.
A broken chair.
An old table.
Nothing else.
He checked the next room.
Empty.
The third.
Empty.
The Knight watched him.
"You really check every room?"
"Yes."
"Even when there’s clearly nothing inside?"
"Especially then."
She smiled faintly.
"You’d make a terrible burglar."
"I’m not trying to be a burglar."
"You’re checking empty rooms in a suspicious building."
"That’s called investigating."
"Sure."
Denzel ignored her.
He reached the final door.
Unlike the others, it was completely closed.
He stopped in front of it.
The Knight’s expression changed.
"That one?"
Denzel nodded.
He placed his hand on the handle.
Cold.
No movement from the other side.
He pushed down.
The door opened without resistance.
Darkness filled the room.
Denzel waited.
Nothing.
He stepped inside.
The Knight followed.
A single table stood near the window.
A candle burned on top of it.
Denzel stopped.
The flame was steady.
Not even a little smoke.
He looked around.
The room was otherwise empty.
"Someone was here."
The Knight looked at the candle.
"How long?"
Denzel approached it.
He held his hand above the flame.
Still warm.
"Not long."
Her expression tightened.
"Then where did they go?"
Denzel looked toward the window.
It was open.
The curtains moved gently in the wind.
He crossed the room.
The Knight followed.
Denzel looked down at the floor near the window.
Another footprint.
Fresh.
He crouched.
This one was deeper.
The person had been standing here.
Denzel looked over the ledge.
Three floors below, the street was empty.
No one.
No movement.
The Knight leaned beside him.
"They climbed out?"
"Maybe."
"From here?"
Denzel looked at the neighboring building.
The gap wasn’t wide.
Someone could make it.
But not safely.
He looked back into the room.
Something caught his eye.
A silver glint beneath the table.
Denzel crouched and reached underneath.
His fingers closed around a small object.
He pulled it out.
A pendant.
The Knight’s eyes widened.
"That’s Sophia’s."
Denzel stared at it.
He recognized it immediately.
He’d seen Sophia wearing it before.
The chain was broken.
Denzel turned it over.
There was a small smear of blood on the back.
His expression hardened.
The Knight stepped closer.
"Is that—"
"Blood."
She went quiet.
Denzel looked toward the open window again.
The room suddenly felt different.
This wasn’t an abandoned building.
It wasn’t simply a meeting point.
Someone had been here.
Sophia had been here.
And something had happened.
Denzel closed his fingers around the pendant.
"She was here."
The Knight nodded slowly.
"Recently."
Denzel looked at the candle.
Then the open window.
Then the blood on the pendant.
His thoughts began connecting.
Sophia’s note.
The watcher.
The fresh footprints.
The candle.
The pendant.
None of it felt random anymore.
Someone wanted them to find this place.
Someone wanted them to know Sophia had been here.
The question was why.
A faint sound came from outside.
Denzel’s head snapped toward the window.
The Knight turned too.
Nothing.
Then—
A single footstep echoed from the street below.
Denzel moved to the window.
He looked down.
Empty.
Another footstep.
This time, farther away.
Moving east.
Denzel’s eyes narrowed.
The Knight looked at him.
"Was that him?"
Denzel slipped Sophia’s pendant into his pocket.
"Maybe."
She frowned.
"You’re not going after him?"
Denzel looked toward the dark road.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
He glanced back at the room.
"Because whoever left that pendant wanted us to find it first."
The Knight’s expression tightened.
"And?"
Denzel looked toward the open window.
"They want us to follow."
Denzel looked toward the open window.
"They want us to follow."
The Knight stared at him for a moment.
"You’re going to."
"Eventually."
She frowned.
"Eventually?"
Denzel pulled Sophia’s pendant from his pocket again.
The broken chain rested across his palm.
There was still a faint smear of blood along the back.
He turned it over.
Nothing else.
No hidden message.
No symbol.
Just the pendant.
"First, we find out who was here."
The Knight looked around the room.
"There’s nobody here."
"Exactly."
Denzel walked back toward the table.
The candle was still burning.
He picked it up and examined the wax.
The bottom had been pressed into a shallow metal holder.
No dust.
No grime.
Someone had placed it here recently.
Denzel looked at the table.
Then the chair.
Then the floor.
His eyes stopped.
A faint line ran across the dust beneath the table.
Something had been dragged.
He crouched and brushed the dust aside.
A small wooden panel was hidden beneath the table.
The Knight knelt beside him.
"Was that there before?"
"No."
Denzel slipped his fingers beneath the edge.
The panel lifted.
Inside was a small compartment.
Empty.
Except for one piece of paper.
Denzel pulled it out.
The Knight leaned closer.
"Another note?"
Denzel unfolded it.
Three words.
She trusted you.
His expression tightened.
The Knight read it over his shoulder.
Her face changed.
"Who is that supposed to be talking about?"
Denzel stared at the handwriting.
It wasn’t Sophia’s.
The letters were sharper.
More deliberate.
"The person following us."
"How do you know?"
"I don’t."
She looked at him.
Denzel folded the paper.
"But whoever wrote it knows Sophia."
The Knight’s eyes narrowed.
"And knows you."
Denzel slipped the second note into his coat.
"Apparently."
A sudden gust pushed through the open window.
The candle flame bent sideways.
Then went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The Knight’s hand immediately went to her weapon.
"Denzel."
"I know."
A sound came from the corridor.
One step.
Then another.
Someone was walking toward them.
Denzel slowly turned.
The doorway remained dark.
The footsteps stopped.
Silence.
Denzel waited.
Nothing.
He took one step forward.
"Whoever you are..."
His voice remained calm.
"...you’ve made your point."
No answer.
Then a man’s voice came from the darkness.
"You still don’t understand."
Denzel’s eyes narrowed.
The Knight raised her weapon.
"Where is Sophia?"
Silence.
Then—
"Closer than you think."
The voice disappeared.
Denzel rushed into the corridor.
Empty.
He reached the stairs.
Nothing.
The front door below swung gently in the wind.
Someone had already left.
Denzel stopped at the entrance.
Outside, far down the eastern road, a single figure disappeared around a corner.
The Knight caught up beside him.
"Are we following?"
Denzel looked at Sophia’s pendant in his hand.
Then toward the road.
"Yes."
He closed his fingers around it.
"But we’re not following him."
The Knight frowned.
"Then who?"
Denzel looked back at the dark building.
"Sophia."
He stepped into the street.
The Knight followed.
Behind them, on the third floor, the candle suddenly lit itself again.
Neither of them saw it.