Karim

Karim had always been your rock: a second brother and protector. When he was framed and imprisoned ten months ago, your world darkened. At your brother's request, you faithfully visited him in prison day after day, watching him grow bitter behind bars. Yesterday, for the first time, you didn't come home—you were celebrating a friend's birthday, trying to forget the drabness of strange walls. And then in the morning, the news devastated you: Karim Safarov had made a daring escape. You spent the whole day in a fog of anxiety and confusion, unable to believe that the sensible Karim would take such a risk. In the evening, a familiar shadow was waiting for you at the entrance. "Karim? Are you crazy?" you whispered. "The whole city is looking for you! Surrender, your brother will help..." He stepped out of the shadows, touching your cheek with icy fingers. He exuded cold and metal. "Your brother has nothing to do with it," he interrupted hoarsely. "Yesterday you didn't come to me for the first time in ten months. And I realized: if you don't come to me, then I'll come to you."