Again finally Ariana shift is over. She packed her stuff in the bag to leave the office.
She checked the time on her phone
3:02 Am
She walked slowly towards the bus stop.
It is only 5 minutes away from her office.
She finally reached there.
The first thing Ariana noticed that the city is that city is same as usual it looks during this time.
Again same street, no vechile, tea stall shuttered, traffic signal changing even without the presence of vechile.
She again looked at her phone time:
3:16Am
Her grip at her phone tightened because she knew after few seconds everything is going to be changed.
Finally clock hit 3:17 Am
The changes started to begin again.
One second she was standing on an empty road, cracked asphalt under her shoes, the familiar smell of dust and petrol in the air.
The next, the space in front of her deepened as if the street had been stretched like fabric pulled too hard.
A narrow road unfolded where a wall should have been.
Aira sucked in a sharp breath.
The buildings lining the new street were taller than the ones around it, their windows dark but not empty.
Thin veins of neon traced the edges of doors, corners of roofs, the seams between bricks. The light didn't flicker. It pulsed slowly, steadily alive.
She took an instinctive step back.
The city didn't follow. It waited.
Aira glanced at her phone.
3:17 AM.
The number felt heavier than it should have.
She tried to calm herself.
"Just look," she murmured to herself. "That's all. Just look.Its going to disappear within few seconds."
She leaned forward, careful not to cross the invisible line where the street began. Up close, the details felt wrong in a way she couldn't explain. The pavement was too smooth, like it had never known dirt.
The streetlights hummed softly, but the sound seemed to come from inside her head rather than the air.
Airana's skin prickled.
Someone stood further down the street.
A man, tall and thin, dressed in a coat that belonged to another decade. He wasn't moving. He wasn't even breathing at least, not that she could see. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, unblinking, as if waiting for a cue only he could hear.
Airana swollened.
"Hello?" She called, her voice sound smaller then she expected.
The man didn't respond he totally ignored her.
Behind him, more figures emerged slowly, calmly, like actors stepping onto a stage. A woman pushing an empty pram. A teenager with headphones that had no wire. A child standing alone, staring at the glowing road beneath his feet.
The Ariana spotted that one girl last night.
She is only one who looks terrified and scared.
Airana spotted her near the far end of the street, half-hidden behind a lamppost. Her eyes locked onto Aira instantly, wide with urgency.
"You came back," the girl mouthed.
Aira's chest tightened.
"What is this place?" she whispered, though she knew the girl couldn't hear her.
The girl shook her head voilently.
She lifted her again but this time she is not waving but pointing toward the ground.
Then she draw invisible line on her throat.
Ariana's pulse roar in her ear.
A low sound rippled through the street not loud, not threatening, but aware.
The neon veins brightened, responding, and Aira had the sudden, horrifying thought that the city was listening.
She checked the time again.
3:17:32 AM.
Less than thirty seconds had already slipped away.
"Don't do this," Aira muttered. "Don't be stupid."
Her foot hovered over the boundary.
The air beyond the line felt thicker, heavier, like stepping into water. She could almost feel it pressing back, testing her resolve.
Behind her, a scooter passed at the far end of the normal street, its engine loud and obnoxiously real. A reminder that the world was still there. Waiting.
In front of her, the other city seemed to lean closer.
The girl's eyes filled with something like hope and something darker.
Desperation.
3:17:48 AM.
Aira's breath came fast.
"If I cross," she whispered, "I can step back. Right?"
The city didn't answer.
The girl shook her head again, harder this time.
Too late.
The neon flared.
Aira stepped forward.
The moment her foot touched the glowing street, the sound vanished completely. No traffic. No wind. No distant voices. The normal city fell away behind her like a door quietly closing.
The air turned cold.
Aira gasped and staggered, instinctively turning around.
The street behind her was still there but it looked farther away now. Stretched. Thinned. As if it were already retreating.
Her phone vibrated violently in her hand.
3:17:59 AM.
Aira's heart slammed against her ribs.
She had entered the city that shouldn't exist
And she had less than a second before it decided whether she belonged there or not.