Veer…
Slowly, Veer opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Sonia standing beside the bed, leaning slightly forward, her hands on her hips. Morning light filtered through the curtains, soft and warm, nothing like the darkness he had just left.
"Veer," Sonia said again, shaking him gently. "What happened to you? You never sleep this late. Even on Saturdays, you wake up early."
Veer blinked once… then again.
For a moment, he just stared at her.
The transition felt strange — like waking up from a life instead of a dream.
Finally, he spoke, his voice calm but distant.
"I just had a really good dream," he said.
"One I didn't want to come back from."
Sonia raised an eyebrow.
She leaned against the side of the bed, resting her elbow on the mattress and her head on her palm, curiosity lighting up her face.
"Oh?" she said teasingly. "And what kind of beautiful dream was that?"
Veer stared up at the ceiling.
"I was in a place where…" he began slowly, dragging the sentence out just enough to build anticipation.
Sonia leaned closer, genuinely interested.
She knew Veer well enough to recognize this tone. He was calm, collected, almost too controlled — but she also knew that behind that calm was someone who didn't trust easily. Someone who rarely opened up about what he felt.
Even Sheena, their mother, had noticed it.
So when Veer spoke like this, Sonia expected something emotional. Something meaningful.
But then—
"…a place where I didn't have to hear a monkey screaming at me early in the morning."
Before Sonia could react, Veer lunged forward and attacked her sides with his fingers.
"HEY—!"
Sonia shrieked as she burst into laughter, completely caught off guard.
"STOP—Veer—STOP IT!"
She tried to fight back, but Veer was faster, tickling her mercilessly.
"VEER!" she yelled, scrambling off the bed. "MOM! VEER IS HURTING ME! I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT TO WAKE HIM UP!"
She ran out of the room, still laughing and shouting.
The room fell quiet again.
Veer lay back down, staring at the ceiling, the smile on his face slowly fading.
The laughter had been real.
But so had everything from the night before.
Shadow…
He closed his eyes.
Shadow, you there?
There was a pause.
Then—
"I'm here, Veer."
The voice echoed in his mind.
It was his voice…
but not the one he had now.
This voice belonged to his earlier body — before transmigration. Deeper. Rougher. Familiar in a way that twisted something in his chest.
"I can see through your eyes," Shadow continued.
"I can see you were born into a beautiful family."
There was no jealousy in his tone.
Only quiet acceptance.
"I'm… happy for you."
Veer swallowed.
"Well," he thought back, "…about that—"
He wanted to explain everything.
The danger.The gangs.The blood.The choices.
But before he could—
"VEER!" Sheena called from outside. "Get up! Freshen up! Breakfast is getting cold!"
Veer exhaled softly.
I'll tell you later, he told Shadow.
There's a lot.
"I'll be here," Shadow replied calmly.
Veer got out of bed, washed up, and changed. As he moved through the familiar routine, part of him felt grounded again. Human. Real.
While eating breakfast, he thought to himself—
No school today.
Saturday.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
"This is nice," he muttered under his breath. "In my last life, Saturdays were school days. Only Sunday was off."
He stood up, grabbed his bag, and headed out.
On the Road
Veer didn't take a direct route.
He took a bus.Then got down early.Walked two streets.
Changed direction.Took a train.Then another bus.Left. Right. Pause. Turn.
Not paranoia.
Habit.
By the time he headed toward the place where he was supposed to meet Radhe, anyone following him would've either lost interest… or lost him completely.
As the city moved around him — vendors shouting, traffic honking, people rushing through their own lives — Veer looked like just another teenager going about his weekend.
But inside, his mind was sharp.
Focused.
Because the dream hadn't been just a dream.
And Shadow was watching.