Chapter 2 - Morning Shadows and Fractured Paths

He took a bath, his mind still preoccupied with the incident. After freshening up, he came out to find that Reji had already prepared breakfast for him on the table. They both sat down. Theodore looked at the plate of food and groaned. "Damn! Eggplant?! Not again!" he exclaimed in disappointment.Reji smiled mockingly at Theodore while munching his eggplant curry and roti. "Of course! My salary hasn't been credited yet. It's already the 9th of April, and still nothing. I hope it comes soon, but my gut knows it won't. You know it too. I'm very concerned about how we're going to get groceries when we already owe a huge debt to the convenience store. The saddest part? We literally can't! Also, you're—" Theodore interrupted. "Yeah, yeah, got it. This is tasty, bruh!" he said quickly and began eating. "I hate this eggplant," Theodore thought to himself. "Shut up and eat, buddy!" Theodore heard the words in his mind, unsurprised Reji could read thoughts, and he often used that ability to interrupt anyone's inner voice.After finishing his meal, Theodore put on his black auspicious jacket and tucked his daggers at his waist using a leather strap. As he was about to leave, Reji, lounging on the sofa scrolling through his phone, since he had no work that day, called out, "Don't let Asif uncle catch your shadow! And Prashant is also awaiting your arrival. Watch out!" Theodore smirked at him. "That old man's no big deal. And that amateur Prashant? I'll handle him." He waved goodbye confidently without looking back. "What an ass day to start with… the street's disgusting as ever," Theodore muttered to himself. He observed his surroundings carefully, scanning for any sign of Prashant or Asif. Shopkeepers were opening their stores in the early morning, vehicles were parked haphazardly, each one coated in layers of dust. Goats ran down the road, munching on discarded chip packets, while cows stole apples from fruit vendors. Restaurants were bustling with their usual morning rush. Bakeries had already opened, with workers arranging sweets and dishes inside glass cases. Laborers and office workers waited for buses, some hailing taxis, others chatting idly. Theodore walked on and waited for his bus, only to find that it had already left, its ultraviolet track still faintly visible to his trained eyes. Just then, a beautiful woman approached him in urgency. "Excuse me, brother?!" she said, her voice carrying both grace and tension. She clutched a black leather bag, standing face-to-face with him. She looked slightly disheveled, which only added to her allure. A thin film of sweat made her lips shine faintly. Her fitted black-and-white uniform accentuated her slim figure. Her eyes were bright, her expression composed, and her hands appeared delicate, though her posture exuded confidence. "Have you seen the bus headed to Edapally Church via the Hill Palace route?" she asked with a pleasant smile. Theodore analyzed her quietly before responding, his lips parting lazily. "No… I've been here for a while, and such a bus hasn't passed by, as far as I know." She smiled again. "Thank you. By the way, are you going there too?" "No," Theodore said curtly, then walked away, leaving the woman to confirm the bus timings on her own. She watched him go, a faint grin forming on her lips, she clenched her fist, her veins bulging in the rear area of wrist as well as her lower arm, then slowly relaxed for some reason and stared coldly at Theodore who's moving ahead of her in normal pace, she turned to the opposite direction and started to walk away from the initial point where she stood. The reality axes where her fist clenched at that moment suddenly hollowed out, as layers of existence were ripped apart, shredded through one plane into another, unveiling the raw, chaotic fractures of higher-dimensional realms. The spatial fabric twisted and tore, creating a gaping dimensional rift where the known world dissolved into infinite unknowns beyond ordinary comprehension. "What does a 98th dimensional IIB officer like her have to do with the Hill Palace Museum route?" Theodore thought. "I've already reported that area as secure. So why…?" The IIB, or Interdimensional Intelligence Bureau, was one of the nation's highest authorities, an organization that ensured interdimensional and metaphysical security within India. Theodore recognized her instantly: her faintly leaking subatomic energy signatures made it easy for him to decode her identity within moments. As he walked further, he noticed the usual snake charmer controlling his cobra on the street, a common sight. The scene made him reflect on his own life. "That snake's being controlled, just like me," Theodore murmured. "But unlike me, you've accepted your fate." He glanced away and sighed. A moment later, he spotted Asif uncle opening his store. Acting quickly, Theodore darted to the side alley to avoid being seen. "Not this time," he smirked.When he looked back at the snake charmer in the distance, something unsettling occurred. The snake stopped dancing, staring motionlessly at its master. Suddenly, with terrifying speed, it lunged and sank its fangs into the man's neck. The charmer didn't even have time to scream before collapsing lifelessly. Theodore froze as he watched a strange phenomenon unfold, the snake charmer's soul was being dragged into an empty void by something with reptilian scales. "I-Is that… tentacles? No," he whispered, his eyes widening as realization struck. "It's that thing," he said under his breath. The snake slowly turned its gaze toward him, its tongue flickering as if aware of being seen. Then, in an instant, it vanished into a nearby hole. "That's not a normal snake! Too fast… too uncanny! I'm not being paid enough for this shit!" he muttered, breaking into a run toward the bus stop.For once, luck favored him, the bus arrived just as he reached the spot. "A ticket to Palarivattom!" he said hurriedly to the conductor and collapsed into an empty seat. His mind buzzed from the encounter. The rate at which it all happened left him uneasy, it was no ordinary haunting. "There's something more to this," he thought grimly. "My gut says this won't end with an exorcism." "Here's your ticket, son!" the conductor, an old man, said with a kind smile.Theodore returned a weak smile before staring out the window, lost in thought. Eventually, his thoughts lulled him into a brief nap; only to be jolted awake by the conductor's shout. "Palarivattom! Here, Palarivattom!" Theodore shot up as if he'd been burned. He stepped off the bus, pulled his phone from his pocket, and checked the address of the manor.As he walked toward it, an eerie sensation prickled across his skin, the faint but unmistakable pulse of spiritual energy."No doubt about it," he murmured. "This is the house Reji mentioned." He reached for the gate but paused. Taking a deep breath, he touched the cold metal, just as thunder cracked across the sky, and a bolt of lightning struck the gate violently.