The Phantom Killer: Shadows Over Gomti

The Spark

Lucknow, 2:17 a.m.

The winter fog hung low over the Gomti River, blanketing the city in a deathly white hush.

At the Ramada Hotel in Hazratganj, a wedding party thinned out. Laughter and the clinking of glasses echoed from inside the banquet hall. Amid the noise, a young girl — fifteen-year-old Aanchal Singh — stepped out for fresh air. Her pink lehenga brushed the marble floor as she wandered, smiling at a memory that only belonged to her.

She didn’t notice the shadow that detached itself from the pillar.

She didn’t hear the footsteps merging with the music.

She didn’t feel the danger until a rough hand clamped over her mouth, dragging her into the service corridor.

Inside Room 517, the walls bore silent witness to horrors too cruel to imagine.By dawn, Aanchal's broken body was found — a bruised angel abandoned by a system built on rot.

The police came. Promises were made. Witnesses forgot. Files were lost. And within months, the case was declared "unsolved."Another forgotten girl.Another coffin buried under bureaucracy.

But her brother, Vikram Singh, never forgot.That night, something inside him shattered beyond repair.And in the ruins of his soul, The Avenger was born.

Chapter 1: Blood on the River

Detective Raghav Kapoor stirred his chai absentmindedly, his dark eyes locked on the grim stack of files before him at the Lucknow Police Headquarters.

Another girl.Another 25-year-old.Another wasted promise.

He flipped open the file.

Victim: Riya Sharma

Occupation: Marketing Executive, Ambrosia Group

Status: Deceased. Strangulation. Signs of struggle.

Clue Left:A torn piece of blood-stained paper. Four chilling words:"For my sister."

The detective leaned back in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose.Five murders in five months. Always on the 25th. Always the same pattern. And the bastard was getting bolder.

Each kill was a precise symphony: minimal struggle, no forensic trail, digital footprints erased with a ghost’s precision.

Raghav wasn’t easily rattled. Ten years in the force, countless bloodbaths witnessed, countless monsters unmasked. But this case — it gnawed at his gut like acid.

The city outside carried on — rickshaws buzzing, vendors shouting, schoolgirls giggling.But a silent war was being fought in its shadows.

And tonight, Raghav had decided:Either he would find this ghost... or become another name in the forgotten ledger of those who tried.

Chapter 2: The Avenger’s Play

Vikram Singh, now The Avenger, studied his next prey from across the crowded Hazratganj café.

Ananya Mehra. 25. An NGO worker. Soft-spoken. Kind-hearted.Just like Aanchal.

A surge of twisted warmth filled Vikram’s chest.She deserves better, he thought. A pure end. A tribute.

He slipped into her world with careful rehearsed ease — first a casual meeting near the coffee counter, then a dropped book, a laugh, a shared table.

Ananya smiled, charmed by his "clumsy sweetness." She didn't know the predator masked behind the dimpled grin.

As they talked, Vikram’s mind raced ahead — mapping exits, weighing noise levels, calculating alibis. His heart was not in the seduction; it was in the precision.

"25 angels for Aanchal. Only then... peace."

At midnight, he would leave another note.

And another soul would be offered to the altar of his rage.

Character Deep Dives:

Detective Raghav Kapoor

• Age: 34

• Appearance: Lean, brooding, faint scar above his left eyebrow (from a childhood accident)

• Traits: Sharp instincts, relentless work ethic, struggles with personal demons (estranged wife, estranged parents)

• Secret: Raghav lost a sister to a similar unsolved murder ten years ago — a wound he never allowed anyone to see.

Vikram Singh (The Avenger)

• Age: 27

• Appearance: Clean-cut, intense eyes, almost unsettlingly polite

• Traits: Genius IQ, obsessive planner, emotionally numb except for flashes of uncontrollable rage

• Secret: He maintains a "Memorial Room" where photos of all his victims hang beside Aanchal’s smiling portrait — an altar of his broken justice.

Chapter 3: Cat and Mouse

Raghav leaned over the city map pinned to his office wall, connecting red pins with blue yarn — the "25th" Murders map.

He had a hunch.

The killer wasn’t choosing locations at random. There was a pattern — a spiral spreading outward from Aanchal’s murder site, the old Ramada Hotel.

The spiral tightened around one thing:

A message.A map of blame.

And the next "25th" was three days away.

Raghav barely slept, his mind running simulations, calculating moves. He tasked his best men to monitor Lucknow’s cafés, parks, bars — anywhere the killer could fish for victims.

But it was a game of shadows.And The Avenger was always two steps ahead.

Chapter 4: The Message

Three days later.

At precisely 12:01 a.m., Raghav’s phone buzzed.

Another body.

Ananya Mehra.

Found near the Ambedkar Park — barely 300 meters from the Gomti river.

Same note.Same chill.

But this time, something different.A message scrawled in shaky letters on her palm:

"You’re close, Detective.But not close enough."

Raghav’s blood froze.

This wasn’t just a man on a killing spree anymore.It was a battle — personal, intimate, inevitable.

Chapter 5: Secrets Bleed Out

Meanwhile, The Shadow of Blackmail case was spiraling out of control.

Rohan Khanna — Lucknow’s golden boy businessman — was drowning in blackmail threats.₹5 crores demanded. Dark secrets threatened.

Detective Raghav dug into Rohan’s past.

It stank.

Illegal land deals. Bribes to politicians. "Disappearances" of inconvenient employees.And worst of all — possible links to Aanchal's forgotten murder.

What if the Avenger wasn’t killing random girls?

What if he was using the 25th murders... to hide something bigger?

A pattern hidden in the bloodshed?

Chapter 6 Preview - "The Trap is Set"

Raghav orchestrates a high-risk trap at one of Lucknow’s busiest malls.The bait: a decoy girl made to look like a potential victim.The stage is set.But The Avenger doesn’t play by the rules...

And in the shadows, someone else watches.Someone even Vikram never anticipated.

Phoenix Mall, Lucknow — 24th February, 7:00 PM

It was a bustling Friday evening.Children screamed over ice cream, teenagers posed for selfies, women in shimmering kurtas jostled for space near Zara and Lifestyle.

But amid the chaos, Detective Raghav Kapoor's eyes darted from shadow to shadow.

He had set a trap:

• Decoy Victim: An undercover officer, Kritika Deshmukh, dolled up like every other young professional — denim jacket, crop top, vulnerable smile.

• Backup Team: Six officers in plain clothes, stationed near exits, cafés, washrooms.

Kritika would "accidentally" drop her bag, "stumble," offer the perfect opening for the predator.

Raghav's heart hammered against his ribs.He sipped bad mall coffee, pretending to text on his phone, his thumb hovering over the emergency alert button.

At exactly 8:16 PM, he spotted him.

Tall. Clean-shaven. Black leather jacket. A dark baseball cap pulled low.

Not looking at Kritika directly. No — he was smarter. His reflection watched her in the glass panels.

"It’s him," Raghav muttered into his earpiece.

The man adjusted his cap and started moving — slicing through the crowd like a shark through water.

Kritika stumbled near the food court, pretending to struggle with her bag.The man approached —Closer —Closer —Now!

Raghav sprang from his seat.

The man grabbed Kritika’s arm.

In a flash, Kritika twisted free, unholstered her taser.

The man bolted.

"Go, go, go!" Raghav shouted.

Chaos erupted. Food trays crashed. Kids screamed. Security whistles blew.

The suspect darted into a staff-only corridor — just like the service passage where Aanchal Singh had once been dragged.

Raghav pursued — gun out, lungs burning.

They reached the rooftop parking lot.Raghav cornered him near a railing."Freeze!" he barked.

The man turned.

It wasn’t Vikram Singh.

It was a decoy — a petty thief paid off with a wad of cash and strict instructions to "misbehave with a girl at the mall."

Pinned to his chest was a note:

"Wrong move, Detective.Your clock is ticking."

Chapter 7: A Brother's Oath

Somewhere in Old Lucknow — Midnight

Vikram Singh lit a cigarette with trembling hands, leaning against a crumbling wall as fireworks from a wedding nearby painted the night sky.

He felt no joy.

Only the relentless itch inside him — an unquenched thirst for revenge.

He thought of Aanchal — her laughter when they played carrom late into the night, her secret dreams of becoming a journalist, her pink diary hidden under the mattress.

She had trusted the world.The world had killed her.

"25 angels, and then peace," he whispered.

But tonight’s stunt at the mall had changed everything.

Detective Raghav was getting too close.Vikram could feel it in his bones.

"Soon," he promised the night. "Soon, big brother. We’ll be together again."

And then he vanished into the fog, a wraith fueled by grief.

Chapter 8: Ties that Choke

Lucknow Police Headquarters — Next Morning

Raghav slammed the investigation board with his fist.

"He's mocking us!" he shouted.

His second-in-command, Inspector Anil Mishra, flinched."We'll find him, sir. We always do."

But Raghav shook his head.

No.This wasn’t a street thug, a gangster, a one-time psycho.

This was a systematic killer.A mind that adapted, studied patterns, turned traps into distractions.

He knew the media would catch wind of it soon.

The Mall Incident.The Phantom Killer.The Incompetent Police.

Public pressure would crush them.

And worse — Raghav had a personal stake.

Every time he saw these dead girls, he saw Rhea — his little sister, murdered a decade ago in an "accidental" college campus assault covered up by political families.

His guilt bled into this case like poison.

Not again. Not this time. I'll save at least one girl.

He looked at the map again.The spiral.The center.The connection.

Aanchal’s murder was the eye of the storm.

The people who had killed her — or covered it up — were not just bystanders.They were next on Vikram Singh’s list.

Chapter 9: The Ghosts We Bury

Private Guest House — Gomti Nagar — 1st March

Rohan Khanna stared at the email blinking on his laptop screen.

SUBJECT: You can't erase the past.ATTACHMENT: A grainy CCTV footage — a drunken Rohan dragging Aanchal into the Ramada Hotel’s service corridor.

His mouth went dry.He tasted bile.

He had paid. He had paid to make it disappear.Bribes. Threats. Lawyers. Fixers.

Why now?Why was the past clawing its way back?

His phone rang. Unknown number.

"₹5 crores," the distorted voice rasped. "Or your secrets die with you."

The line went dead.

Rohan cursed and threw the phone against the wall.

He didn’t know it yet, but he had just signed his death warrant.

Chapter 10: Death at the Doorstep

Khanna Mansion — 25th March — 11:59 PM

Rohan Khanna’s mansion in Vibhuti Khand was a fortress — ten-foot walls, armed guards, motion detectors.

Yet death walked in like an invited guest.

Vikram Singh moved like smoke, cutting through the house’s vulnerabilities — the broken kitchen window sensor, the drunk security guard asleep near the generator.

He found Rohan in his study, cowering behind a desk.

"No, no — listen — please — I’ll pay, I’ll confess—"

Vikram’s eyes were hollow.

"This is for Aanchal," he whispered.

One precise cut across the throat.Quick. Clean. Merciful compared to what Rohan had done.

He arranged Rohan’s body at his desk — a pink diary beside his cold hand.

Police would find the diary the next morning.

It was Aanchal’s.Pages filled with dreams, doodles — and on the last page:

"If anything happens to me, it’s because I trusted someone I shouldn’t have."

Chapter 11: Blood in the Water

Lucknow Police Headquarters — Next Day

Raghav Kapoor stared at Rohan’s corpse.

The scene was pristine. Too pristine.

The pink diary was planted.The spiral map had moved one more circle outward.

The killer was not just avenging a death anymore.

He was cleansing a city.

"A serial killer... or a vigilante?" Raghav wondered aloud.

He felt something he hadn’t felt in years:

Admiration.

And dread.

Because Raghav knew —To catch Vikram Singh...He might have to become just like him.

Chapter 12: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Raghav Kapoor didn’t sleep.Didn’t eat.

He lived inside the investigation.

He uncovered suppressed records:

• Aanchal’s post-mortem report edited to remove "evidence of assault."

• CCTV footage "corrupted" after a political family intervened.

• Whistleblowers threatened into silence.

Vikram was not picking random girls.He was hunting everyone involved in Aanchal's betrayal.

Victims. Perpetrators. Enablers.

One by one by one.

And now, only two names were left on Vikram’s list.

One was a corrupt ex-commissioner.The other...

Was Raghav’s own father.