Morning sunlight filtered through the tent fabric and fell on Arav's face.
He opened his eyes. Inside his own sleeping bag. In his own tent.
"What...?"
He held his head. Was it all a dream? But no... there was mud on his feet. Thorn scratches on his shirt.
As soon as he stepped out of the tent, Som came running. "Arav! Where were you? We couldn't find you all night—"
"I... I..." What could he say?
Karan was standing in the distance. As their eyes met, he turned his face away.
Arav understood—he remembered.
"Nothing, I just went out for a walk at night," he lied.
But those red eyes... that voice... was it all real?
At noon, they packed up and prepared to leave. Arav tried to find the spot where he had lost consciousness, but couldn't locate it anywhere.
They returned to Bangkok in the evening.
As soon as he entered his dorm, he felt something.
Someone was watching.
He looked outside through the window. No one there.
That night, while taking a shower, he sensed a presence behind him. He turned around. No one there.
Lying down in bed, he felt as if someone was standing beside him, staring.
"Is anyone there?" he whispered into the darkness.
Silence.
But he could feel it—someone was there.
Those red eyes. That voice.
It had returned.
*To be continued...*