Back in the city, things didn't feel right.
Not just to the ones who knew Ayaan and Rehan were gone—but even to those who didn't.
Naira hadn't slept properly in two nights. Not since Sameer vanished.
She'd told herself he might've gone off to a friend's place. That he was angry, or sulking. But somewhere inside, she knew better. The silence of his number wasn't normal. The way their group thread had gone dead wasn't normal. And the last message she'd gotten from Rehan—"Don't call. Will explain later"—felt like a door slamming shut.
She sat alone in her room, the lamp casting weak light across the bed. Sameer's voice note played again in her mind—the last one he ever sent. His voice shaky. Whispering. Saying things she couldn't quite make out.
She picked up her phone, opened the group chat.
Still no reply.
Her thumbs hovered over the screen. Then she typed:
"Where are you both? Seriously. This isn't funny anymore."
She hit send.
No response.
But five seconds later, "Seen."
By both.
Naira's heart skipped.
She waited.
Nothing.
No reply. Just that word sitting there. "Seen."
But what unsettled her most… was the timing.
Exactly five seconds.
As if something was watching the message come in.
As if it had been waiting.
She put her phone down, harder than she meant to. Then stood, rubbing her arms like it might chase off the weird chill that had settled on her skin.
The room wasn't cold—not really. But it felt cold. That kind of cold that crawls in even when all the windows are shut.
From somewhere outside, a dog started barking. Short, sharp bursts. Then suddenly—it stopped.
Cut off.
Too fast.
She walked toward the window, drawn by a feeling she couldn't name. Outside, the trees were barely moving. But the wind… it had picked up. Not wild, not stormy. Just… strange.
Like it was saying something. Like it almost had a voice.
It moved through the alley in slow pulses. Not blowing, but pushing. Like breath.
She leaned closer to the glass, frowning. Nothing out there. No people. No cars. No sound.
But the feeling hadn't left.
If anything—it was stronger now.
Like something outside knew she was watching.
And wanted to be watched back.
She could feel it.
A pressure. Not on her skin, but in her mind.
Like someone flipping through her memories.
And just for a moment, in the glass of the window—
Not a reflection.
But a shadow behind her.
Black. Thin. Watching.
She spun.
Nothing.
Only silence.
But something had changed.
Ayaan and Rehan might be far from home…
…but whatever they had crossed into, had started crossing back.