CURRENT LOCATION: SHEHU COMPOUND — PRIVATE RESIDENCE CHAMBER — MINUTES EARLIER

A wealthy chamber rests in dim light.

Thick rugs soften every step. Carved wall niches hold silent shadows. Oil lamps burn low, controlled. Heavy curtains seal off the outside world.

Zainab lies on a low bed.

Her eyes slowly open.

Confusion.

She suddenly sits upright, disoriented.

“Where… am I?” she thinks, voice barely formed in her mind.

Her gaze drifts across unfamiliar surroundings.

A decorative sword mounted high on the wall.

Prayer beads hanging beside it.

Everything feels controlled.

Not welcoming.

A memory breaks through her mind.

Sadiq collapsing.

SFX: THUD

Her breathing sharpens.

“Sadiq…” she thinks.

Her hands begin to tremble.

Realization sets in slowly.

Tears form.

She tries to hold them back.

Her hand covers her mouth.

Panic rises.

It breaks.

She cries quietly, shoulders shaking.

She rushes toward the door.

Her fists slam against it.

“Hello?! Someone help me!” Zainab cries out.

She keeps hitting harder.

“Please! Let me out!”

Her voice cracks.

The lock suddenly turns.

SFX: CLICK

She freezes.

“…Huh?”

The door swings open violently.

A large guard fills the doorway.

His shadow falls over her.

“Quiet. Stay where you are,” the guard orders sharply.

He steps forward aggressively.

Zainab backs away.

He shoves her.

She falls.

SFX: THUMP

A calm voice cuts in from behind him.

“Don’t touch her,” Bature says evenly.

The guard stiffens immediately.

He steps aside.

Bature enters.

Slow.

Controlled.

Authority fills the room without effort.

Zainab looks up from the floor.

Fear returns instantly.

Bature kneels slightly, meeting her eye level.

“You should remain calm. No one will harm you if you behave.”

She crawls backward instinctively.

He rises again.

Expression unreadable.

“The young master will see you after the celebration. Do not try anything foolish.”

He turns.

The guard follows him out.

The door closes.

SFX: CLACK

Silence.

Zainab sits alone.

Tears return.

Heavier now.

Quieter.

CURRENT LOCATION: SHEHU COMPOUND — OUTER HALLWAY

Guards stand alert outside the chamber.

“Check on her every ten minutes,” Bature instructs.

“Yes, sir,” they respond.

He gestures to a lantern-bearing guard.

“You. Come with me.”

They walk down the corridor.

Distant celebration sounds echo.

Laughter.

Drums.

“Sounds like the young master is enjoying himself,” Bature says calmly, hands behind his back.

CURRENT LOCATION: SHEHU COMPOUND — HIDDEN STONE PASSAGE

A narrow underground corridor stretches ahead.

Lantern light flickers against stone walls.

The guard walks slightly ahead, uneasy.

“There are many guests tonight,” he says.

“That is the point of a celebration,” Bature replies.

They continue deeper.

The corridor splits ahead.

Bature slows.

Something shifts in his attention.

He stops.

“…Did you hear that?” he asks quietly.

“Hear what?” the guard replies, confused.

Bature stares into the darkness ahead.

Suspicious.

Not far inside that darkness—

Duniya and Sadiq stand frozen.

Only meters away.

After a long pause—

Bature turns away.

“Nothing. Keep moving.”

They walk off.

Silence returns.

Duniya and Sadiq remain still.

Bodies locked.

Like they forgot how to breathe.

Then Sadiq collapses to his knees.

Gasping.

“I thought… I thought he saw us…”

Duniya remains standing.

Controlled.

But fear lingers beneath it.

Sadiq bends forward, breathing hard.

“No time to waste. We move,” Duniya says firmly.

Sadiq looks up sharply.

“Are you mad? We’re going into where that demon is?!”

Duniya tilts his head slightly, listening.

“No.”

He points into the darkness.

“From their steps… they went right.”

He turns.

“We go left.”

CURRENT LOCATION: SPLIT UNDERGROUND PASSAGE

Two paths open ahead.

One fades with lantern light.

The other is pure darkness.

“We needed a way into the house,” Duniya says.

“If they use these paths… then there must be an entrance.”

Sadiq stares into the dark path.

A faint draft moves through the tunnel.

Carrying distant sounds from above.

He wraps his arms around himself.

“I don’t know about this…”

He shakes his head.

“That place smells like danger.”

“Like something waiting for us inside.”

Duniya steps forward anyway.

Calm.

Certain.

“Regardless… we must go.”

A pause.

“Or do you not want to save your sister?”

That hits.

Hard.

Sadiq lowers his head.

Fear remains.

But something stronger forms beneath it.

“…Okay,” he says quietly.

He steadies himself.

“We go.”

They move together.

SFX: TAP… TAP…

CURRENT LOCATION: INTERIOR HALLWAY — HIDDEN ENTRY

They emerge into a dim corridor.

Faint lantern glow ahead.

Sadiq bends over, catching his breath.

“Phew… thank God… we made it…”

He straightens quickly.

“We’re inside! We actually made it inside!”

Duniya does not relax.

“We are only beginning. Do not relax until we find your sister… and leave this place alive.”

They begin walking.

Decorated walls.

Carved pillars.

Expensive fabrics hanging.

Sadiq looks around in awe.

“So this is how rich men live…”

“If only you could see this—” he begins.

The rope between them jerks violently.

Duniya stops instantly.

“Quiet,” he says low.

Footsteps.

Approaching.

CURRENT LOCATION: CORRIDOR PATROL ROUTE

They press against the wall.

Still.

A guard passes with a lantern.

Unaware.

The moment he passes—

Duniya moves.

THUK!

A strike to the back of the guard’s head.

The guard collapses.

Sadiq panics.

“Why?! Where are we supposed to hide him?!”

Duniya freezes.

He didn’t think that far.

Footsteps.

Behind them.

Closer.

“Run,” Duniya orders.

They sprint.

SFX: TAP TAP TAP

They slide into a cross hallway.

Stop.

Breathing hard.

Ahead—

Two guards stand watch.

Behind—

More footsteps approaching.

Sadiq’s face drains.

“We’re trapped…”

Duniya draws his sword.

SHIIIING

He cuts the rope between them.

SNAP

“What are you doing?!” Sadiq shouts.

“When he comes out… warn me.”

“Are you crazy?! There are guards ahead!”

“Would you rather face them?”

Silence.

Footsteps grow louder.

CURRENT LOCATION: DARK INTERSECTION

A shadow approaches.

Beads clink.

JINGLE… JANGLE…

“Now!” Sadiq whispers urgently.

Duniya strikes.

WHOOSH

The rogue swordsman dodges easily.

“Ai ai—!” he reacts sharply.

“Blind boy?!” he recognizes instantly.

“THIEF!!” Duniya snaps recognising the voice, he continued the swing he stopped midway

Steel clashes.

CLANG! CLINK!

The swordsman retreats.

“Wait! Wait! Not here!”

“Where is my sword?!” Duniya presses.

“It’s him! The thief from outside!” Sadiq blurts.

A guard turns.

“Who’s there?!”

They freeze.

Panic.

Guard rushes toward them towards the noise at corner

WHAM!

The rogue swordsman drops him instantly.

Another guard arrives.

“Hey— what—?!”

Before he finishes—

THUD! Sheathed takoba slams into his head.
Spit flies as he collapses

Duniya’s weapon knocks him down.

Silence

Both guards down.

The trio stare at each other.. Realization , they just messed up.

They bolt forward together.

Running.

“You, blind boy— what are you doing here?!” the rogue swordsman asks mid-run.

“Give me my sword back!” Duniya replies flatly.

“Do you two know each other?!” Sadiq shouts.

“We’re here to rescue my sister!” he blurts.

The swordsman stops.

They all stop.

“…The girl?” his tone changes.

“You’re her brother?”

“She was taken,” Duniya says firmly.

CURRENT LOCATION: INNER COURTYARD APPROACH

The rogue swordsman points upward.

“Then she’ll be in the residence. We’re in the inner courtyard now.”

“Please— help us—” Sadiq starts.

Sadiq desperate

A hand stops him flat

“No,” the swordsman says flatly. “I am not risking my life again.”

Duniya turns away.

“We don’t need him. Just give me my sword.”

The swordsman shrugs.

“Ah… about that.”

“…I sold it.”

Silence drops.

Then—

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

ALARM BELLS RING THROUGH THE COMPOUND.

“INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS!”

Everything stops.

Realization hits all three.

Dread settles in.

Chaos Begins