Ahaan stood frozen on the empty street.
The journal in his hand was warm.
His breath fogged in front of him —
even though the night wasn't cold.
In the distance,
those glowing eyes had blinked once…
and then vanished.
He whispered to himself,
"Who is The Watcher?"
The journal opened by itself.
A new message had appeared:
"He watched your father too."
"And your father tried to stop him."
Ahaan's eyes widened.
His father?
The one who disappeared when Ahaan was just a baby?
Suddenly, a cold wind rushed past.
It carried a strange sound—like a broken music box playing in reverse.
It made Ahaan's skin crawl.
The journal glowed again.
Another line appeared:
"To find The Watcher, go where your father broke the seal."
Underneath, a hand-drawn map formed.
It showed a small forest near the city…
…with an old abandoned hospital deep inside it.
Thirty minutes later,
Ahaan stood at the edge of the forest.
Tall trees.
Dead silence.
And fog — thick like milk.
His phone had no signal.
No stars in the sky.
Just the sound of something breathing, deep within the trees.
He held the journal tightly and walked.
The deeper he went,
the more the fog pressed against his skin.
It felt… alive.
Branches cracked behind him,
but when he turned, nothing was there.
Then he saw it—
a large, rusted building covered in vines and shadows.
The hospital.
The gate creaked open by itself.
Inside, it smelled like mold and old blood.
Walls covered in peeling paint.
Wheelchairs tipped over.
Broken beds lined up like they were waiting for patients that would never come.
But on the wall near the entrance,
someone had written in black ink:
"HE SEES THROUGH MIRRORS."
Ahaan looked around.
There was a mirror nearby—
cracked in the middle, but still reflecting.
He looked at his reflection.
For a moment,
his reflection didn't move.
It just… stared at him.
Smiling.
He backed away fast.
His heart pounded.
He moved deeper into the hospital.
Room after room, empty.
But in one room, he found something strange.
A table.
A lantern.
A stack of old papers…
And a photo.
The photo was of his father, standing in this same hospital—
but behind him was something terrifying:
A tall shadow.
No face.
Just two glowing eyes.
And written on the back of the photo:
"I sealed him here. But not for long."
Then, Ahaan heard a noise behind him.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Getting closer.
He turned.
A man stood there.
Tall. Thin. Wearing an old doctor's coat.
But his face… it wasn't right.
It looked like it had been stitched back together—
lips torn and crooked,
eyes mismatched,
and skin hanging like wet paper.
The man whispered in a voice like glass breaking:
"You have his blood… the one who locked me in."
Ahaan stepped back.
"Who… who are you?"
The man tilted his head.
"I am what your father tried to forget."
"I am what the whispers warned you about."
"I am The Watcher."
Suddenly, the door behind Ahaan slammed shut.
The lights flickered.
The walls began to bleed black liquid.
The Watcher raised a hand.
Ahaan fell to the floor, his head spinning.
Flashes of visions hit him—
his father screaming,
a circle of fire,
and a mirror breaking.
Then—
Darkness.
He woke up inside a hospital bed.
Strapped down.
Machines buzzing around him.
The room was too clean.
Too white.
But something was wrong.
There were no windows.
And on the wall, a mirror.
Inside the mirror…
His reflection wasn't moving again.
It whispered:
"You're not dreaming, Ahaan."
"He's already inside you."
Ready for a twist you never expected..