The college bus stood motionless on the narrow road outside the festival grounds, its yellow paint reflecting flashes of red lightning that continued to tear across the sky above Sathankulam. What had once been a lively road full of vendors, motorcycles, and festival music had now turned into something unrecognizable — abandoned stalls lay overturned in the dirt, broken chairs were scattered across the road, and the distant echoes of screams drifted through the evening air like ghosts of the chaos that had just erupted.
Inside the bus, no one spoke.
The students sat tightly packed into the seats, their faces pale, their eyes glued to the windows as if looking away might somehow make the nightmare outside worse. The two professors, Franklin Iyer and Rajasekeran, stood near the front beside the driver, whispering hurried instructions while occasionally glancing back at the students who depended on them for safety.
Riya sat halfway down the aisle, gripping the metal handle of the seat in front of her so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Her eyes scanned the darkness outside again and again, searching desperately for a familiar figure.
"Where is he…?" she whispered under her breath.
Beside her, Benedict leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as he stared at the road through the dusty glass window.
Lakshman stood near the bus door, one hand gripping the rail and the other pressed against the glass as he tried to see through the darkness.
"Shiva should have been here by now," he muttered.
Aljasheem swallowed nervously and glanced toward the forest line where Shiva had disappeared while running from the monstrous bull.
"He'll come," he said, though the uncertainty in his voice betrayed him. "He always does."
Outside the bus, the wind carried the distant crackling of flames and the low rumbling sounds of creatures moving through the festival grounds.
Somewhere nearby, something heavy smashed through a wooden structure.
The bus driver flinched at the noise and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"We shouldn't stay here," he murmured. "Those things… they're coming closer."
Rajasekeran adjusted his glasses and looked out through the windshield with a troubled expression.
Deeply.
"We can't leave yet," he said quietly, though the weight in his voice carried across the bus. "Shiva students are still outside."
The words spread through the vehicle like a ripple through water.
A few students shifted nervously.
Someone whispered.
Someone else turned around to count the rows again.
Franklin Iyer, standing near the front rail beside the driver's seat, let out a slow breath. Sweat rolled down his temple, disappearing into the collar of his shirt. He pulled a folded handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead carefully, trying to appear calmer than he felt.
His eyes moved across the bus.
Row after row of frightened students.
"We wait five more minutes," he said finally, his voice steady but tired. "Then we go."
The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror.
"Sir… are you sure?"
Franklin didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he turned toward the students.
"Everyone stay seated," he said. "Let's just confirm something."
At the middle of the bus, Lakshman stood up from his seat abruptly, gripping the metal pole beside him.
"Sir… we already checked," he said quickly.
His voice sounded tight.
Too tight.
Franklin raised an eyebrow.
"Checked what?"
Lakshman turned halfway around, looking toward the back rows where Riya, Benedict, and several others sat together.
Riya nodded slightly.
"We counted," she said.
Franklin frowned.
"And?"
Lakshman swallowed before answering.
"All students are here…"
For a moment, relief flickered across Franklin's face.
But Lakshman hadn't finished.
"…except three."
The silence that followed felt heavy.
Franklin's expression hardened.
"Who?"
Lakshman rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
"Chandramani… Santhosh… and Santhosh Shivam."
A few students gasped quietly.
At the back, Benedict leaned forward.
"Wait — These Fellows too?" he asked.
Lakshman nodded grimly.
"Yes."
Rajasekeran turned away from the windshield.
"Where were they last seen?"
"Near the back road behind the festival grounds," Riya replied softly. "i don't know why'd they gone."
At the mention of that name, several students lowered their eyes.
Everyone on the bus already knew.
Shiva had gone missing.
And unlike the others, no one had seen where he disappeared.
Franklin crossed his arms slowly.
"And you're certain the rest are here?"
A girl from the third row lifted her hand nervously.
"We counted twice, sir."
Another student added from behind her,
"Everyone else got on the bus after the chaos started."
The driver turned in his seat slightly.
"So only shiva and other three fellows right?"
Lakshman shook his head slowly.
"Yes sir," he said quietly.
A sudden vibration broke the silence.
BZZZT.
The sound came from the back of the bus.
Aljasheem froze.
Slowly, his eyes dropped toward his pocket.
His phone screen glowed faintly.
A notification.
The sound seemed harmless.
Tiny.
Almost insignificant.
But outside the bus…
Everything changed.
From the darkness of the road ahead, several massive shapes stopped moving.
The Minotaurs.
The skeletal bull-headed demons slowly lifted their burning skulls.
Their hollow eye sockets turned toward the bus.
Inside the vehicle, Lakshman noticed the movement first.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Don't move…"
The monsters began walking toward the bus.
Not charging.
Not running.
Walking.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Each step of their heavy hooves echoed through the empty road like distant thunder. Their bone horns burned with crimson fire that reflected across the bus windows, painting the students' terrified faces in flickering red light.
Riya felt her heart hammering in her chest.
"They heard it…" she whispered.
Aljasheem's hands trembled.
"I didn't mean—"
Lakshman immediately pressed a finger to his lips.
"Shhh."
Outside, the Minotaurs spread out around the vehicle, their massive bodies forming a slow tightening circle around the bus like predators surrounding trapped prey. One of them lowered its skull close to the side window, the heat from its burning horns causing the glass to fog slightly.
Inside the bus, no one breathed.
Even the driver had gone completely still.
Then—
A voice echoed through the darkness.
"Enough."
The voice carried across the road with a strange resonance, half human and half something far older. It sounded deep, rough, and cold — like a man speaking through a throat that no longer fully belonged to him.
The Minotaurs immediately stopped.
Their heads lowered.
From the shadows between the broken festival stalls, a figure slowly stepped into view.
At first, he looked like a man.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Walking calmly across the destroyed road.
But as he approached the circle of monsters, the students inside the bus realized something was wrong.
Terribly wrong.
His skin had turned pale grey, almost like stone that had been exposed to centuries of darkness. Black veins crawled across his neck and arms like living cracks, pulsing faintly with the same crimson glow that illuminated the sky.
His eyes burned with a dull red light.
And his smile… was no longer human.
Lakshman whispered slowly.
"…Who the hell is that?"
The man walked past the Minotaurs as if they were obedient soldiers.
And they treated him exactly like that.
Each massive creature bowed its skull slightly as he passed.
Respect.
Submission.
Inside the bus, Riya's breath caught in her throat.
"That's impossible…He...He's the criminal in the sathankulam..."
A long pause
Then She whisphers slowly
"Ravi Mohan..."
Ravi mohan stopped in the center of the road.
Then he spoke again.
"Spread across Sathankulam."
His voice echoed with unnatural authority.
"Hunt every human."
The Minotaurs lifted their skulls.
Flames flared brighter along their horns.
"Burn their homes."
"Break their bones."
"Let the screams reach the heavens."
The students inside the bus felt the words like ice crawling down their spines.
But Ravi mohan wasn't finished.
He turned toward one particular Minotaur and stepped closer to it.
His hand lifted slowly.
"First…"
he murmured.
"Destroy the sathankulam police station."
Franklin Iyer stiffened.
Rajasekeran looked toward him nervously.
Ravi mohan placed his palm gently against the monster's burning skull.
The creature didn't move.
It simply waited.
Ravi Mohan eyes closed briefly.
A strange glow pulsed between his hand and the monster's forehead.
"Find this man."
Images passed from his mind into the demon.
A face.
A prisoner.
A man locked behind iron bars.
Thangadurai. (Shiva Father)
Inside the bus, none of the students understood what they were witnessing.
But somewhere far away…
Fate had just shifted.
Mohan stepped back.
"Go."
The Minotaur roared once before turning and charging into the darkness, its massive hooves cracking the road as it disappeared toward the village.
Then the man lifted his head slightly.
Inside the bus, no one moved.
No one spoke.
Lakshman whispered quietly.
"…we're dead."
Then the man's head turned.
Slowly.
His glowing eyes locking onto the bus window.
Directly at Aljasheem.
A thin smile spread across his face.
His hand lifted slightly.
Dark energy gathered around his fingers.
From the sky above, a winged creature suddenly descended with a shrieking cry.
A monstrous bat-like demon.
VYOMASURA!!!!.
Behind it, more shadows appeared in the sky.
Creatures from ancient myth.
Tons of Pisachas
The Pisachas emerged from the darkness like twisted shadows, their pale skin stretched over thin bones and their glowing eyes burning like embers in the night.Their long claws scraped against the ground as they crawled forward, mouths filled with crooked teeth and low animal growls escaping their throats.
Inside the bus, the driver finally snapped out of his paralysis.
"We're leaving!" he shouted.
Lakshman grabbed his shoulder.
"WAIT!"
"Shiva and others is still outside!"
Riya stood up instantly.
"We can't leave him!"
But Franklin Iyer's voice cut through the bus.
"No."
Rajasekeran nodded firmly.
"If we stay, we are all die in here."
Benedict slammed his hand against the seat.
"But he saved people!"
Riya stepped forward, her voice shaking with anger.
"But...He saved us!"
The engine roared.
The bus began moving.
Riya angel and other shiva friends are stared helplessly through the back window as the road behind them disappeared into darkness.