Chapter-001-THE LIE
Where am I?No… I know this place. These four walls.They used to be home. Now? A cage. A silent prison lined with the shadows of yesterday.
This room—this cage—watched me do it.They say walls can't speak.But mine?They remember.
I killed them here.Mom. Dad.They weren't bad people. Just... noisy. Always talking about "truth," about "reality," about waking up to see the world for what it is.
But I'd already seen it.
One blade. One moment. One bloom of red.That was all it took.Not rage. Not hate.Just... silence. And silence, I learned, is beautiful.
They said the world is built on love.I say it's built on denial.People cling to lies because they're warm. Comfortable. Lies hold your hand and tuck you in.The truth?It rips off the blanket and forces you to stare into the cold.
I didn't kill them out of anger.I killed them because they kept whispering the lie.
And when they stopped breathing…So did the illusion.
I was once called Caelum.Sixteen. Quiet. Obedient.A name on school reports. A signature on punishments.But names are chains, aren't they?They tie you to a version of yourself you didn't even choose.
The night I let go of mine…I became free.
I am not Caelum.I am Nameless.Not lost.Just finally unchained.
They call me a monster now.
Thirty-six dead.No suspects. No leads. Just a trail of blood and a signature:
"The truth will find you."
It's not a threat.It's a promise.
Funny thing?Not a single child was harmed.I don't kill the innocent.I kill the ones wearing their innocence like a costume.
This world doesn't need another savior.It needs someone honest enough to burn it.
[TV Broadcast – Channel 17 News | 8:03 AM | LIVE]
"Breaking news from District 4. A man named Hikaru Yamada was found dead in his apartment. Cause of death: multiple stab wounds delivered with surgical precision. There was no forced entry, and no signs of struggle."
"The most disturbing part?"A note written in blood beside the body reads:
'THE TRUTH WILL FIND YOU.'
"This marks the thirty-seventh victim in the string of killings now known as 'The Nameless Murders.' With fear rising and no suspect in sight, the city asks—who is next?"
[Interior – Abandoned Apartment | 3:14 PM]
Water runs. Cold. Sharp. Honest.Blood-stained clothes float in the sink.Hands scrub. Slowly. Calmly. Like it's just another chore.
Caelum's eyes stare into the cracked mirror.Not a boy. Not a monster.Just... something in between.
He speaks softly:
"Blood doesn't lie. It doesn't pretend. It just flows."
A photograph sits on the floor. Torn.A man and woman smile in it.His parents.Or rather... what they pretended to be.
He burns the photo. Watches the lie curl into ash.
[Location – SILENCE Headquarters | 3:22 PM]
Fluorescent lights buzz. Machines hum.A girl, early 20s. Brilliant. Fast-talking. Tired eyes. Her name's Arin.
She storms into the briefing room:
"Solon. Another victim. Same M.O. Forty-two stab wounds. Message left in blood."
Solon doesn't flinch. Just keeps sharpening a blade. Slowly. Not to kill. To think.
"Still no kids," he mutters. "Still sending a message."
[Citywide Broadcast Glitch – 3:33 PM]
Every screen flickers. Static. Then darkness.A masked figure appears.Distorted voice.Blood-red text across every screen:
YOU ARE NEXT, SINNERS.THE TRUTH DOESN'T HIDE FOREVER.
People panic. Cry. Freeze.But Solon? Calm. Still. Watching.
Arin whispers:
"That wasn't a threat. That was a manifesto."
[SILENCE HQ – Minutes Later]
Arin decodes the hacked transmission. Lines of code unravel.She finds a corrupted image file…Restores it.
A child's photo. A name tag: "Caelum."
She gasps.
"He was... one of us. A subject in the old files."
Solon stares. Eyes cold.
"We didn't lose him.""We made him."
"TO BE CONTINUED"
-THE MASK