When Ayaan opened his eyes, he was back in the jungle.
Or… something that remembered the jungle.
It looked the same at first — trees, shadows, wind. But nothing moved naturally anymore. The trees didn't sway; they twitched. The wind didn't blow; it whispered words too fast to catch.
Sameer wasn't with him.
Neither was Rehan.
Just him.
Alone.
Again.
He took a step.
The ground pulsed under his foot, like stepping on something that had veins.
And then—
"Ayaan."
A whisper.
Not from behind.
From within.
---
Rehan was sitting on the edge of a bed, a place, a room that didn't belong to anyone.
He felt different.
Not tired. Not dizzy.
Just… quieter.
The version of himself that had stepped into him—merged with him—was silent now. But its presence lingered.
Like a second heartbeat.
Like a shadow you can't lose.
"You're not done," came a voice from above.
He looked up.
No one was there.
Only the ceiling fan spinning faster than before. The bulb above it flickered violently, then popped.
Darkness.
A small flame appeared near the door — a candle.
Held by the girl again.
"You were all chosen because the forest remembers you."
Rehan stared. "Why me?"
"You forgot what you did," she said.
And then, gently:
"Now it's time to remember."
---
Sameer stood on the edge of something that wasn't land.
A drop.
A pit.
But instead of falling down, it fell inward — like a spiral of memories collapsing onto themselves.
The burned kitchen was gone.
So was the house. The smell of cooking.
Now, there was only one thing left.
The thing that had waited.
"Do you accept your debt?" the voice asked again.
Sameer didn't answer.
He nodded.
The spiral responded.
A light blinked at the center — dim, pulsing.
And something began to climb out.
---
Back in the twisted forest…
Ayaan heard it before he saw it:
Footsteps.
Not one pair.
Two.
He turned quickly — too quickly — and stumbled back.
Rehan stood in front of him. Breathing. Pale. Shaken.
"Ayaan," he said, relieved. "You're okay."
"Where's Sameer?"
Rehan shook his head. "I don't think we're meant to find him yet."
Ayaan looked around. "Then why are we back here?"
The trees answered for them.
"To finish what you started."
The ground behind them cracked open — revealing something long buried. Wood. Metal. Bone.
Ayaan whispered, "What is that?"
Rehan stepped closer.
"It's a coffin," he said. "But it's not for a body."
A beat.
"It's for a memory."
---
Elsewhere…
Sameer finally spoke, his voice steady.
"I remember now."
And the spiral opened fully.
The creature within it didn't have a shape.
It had faces.
Dozens. Hundreds. Some familiar. Some not.
But all of them were his.
The parts of him he hid.
The parts he denied.
The parts that brought them all back to the forest.
It said nothing.
Just opened its arms.
And Sameer stepped into it.
---
In the clearing…
The coffin began to shake.
From inside it came a sound that didn't belong to the living.
Or the dead.
And slowly, one word carved itself into the lid:
"CONFESS."
---
To be continued…