The shadows at his feet shifted again-
Slower and deeper this time.
Whatever was written on that paper-
It wasn't a treat…
It was a command.
And she obeyed it.
Cut-
Inside the car, the silence felt heavier.
Her fingers moved slowly, unfolding the paper again-careful, precise, like the creases already mattered.
For a brief moment, her eyes stayed on it.
Still. Focused.
Then-
7:15
Stay calm. Don't resist.
We are watching.
Her grip tightened.
The paper folded back.
And her gaze shifted forward-steady, unreadable.
That Day- Before the Night Incident
The corridor was unusually quiet during lunch break.
Most students were in the canteen.
Ayaan walked past the staff room, about to leave-when he slowed down.
Voices.
Which were low and careful.
"…I'm telling you; the alarms never went off."
Ayaan stopped.
"…then how did the fire spread that far?
Another voice whispered.
"Keep your voice down. If students find out the system was manually shut-
A chair scraped lightly.
Ayaan moved ahead before they could notice him.
Later- Empty Classroom
Ayaan stood near the window, staring outside.
His expression unreadable.
For a moment, his fingers tapped lightly against the desk… as if thinking through something.
Then he picked up his phone and called Aarohi.
Phone Call
"Ayaan? Why are you calling me if you want to meet then come to the canteen, I am there. Aarohi's voice came, slightly surprised.
"Aarohi," he said calmly, "Are you alone?"
"… Yeah. Why?"
A brief pause.
"Remember the fire?"
Aarohi sighed. "Of course I do. Everyone's still talking about it."
Another pause.
Then-
"The alarms never rang."
Aarohi replied, "What? But the teacher said-''
"They lied."
Her voice dropped. "Ayaan… what are you saying?"
He learned slightly against the desk, eyes distant.
"I heard the teachers talking," he said quietly.
"The system wasn't triggered."
Aarohi's breathing slowed. "Then… how did no one know?"
Ayaan's gaze shifted toward the corridor outside.
"… because it was turned off."
Aarohi went completely silent.
"Turned off?" she whispered.
"Manually."
A faint sound of movement came from the other end-like she had stood up.
"But why would someone do that?"
Ayaan didn't answer immediately.
His fingers stopped tapping.
"…that's the part they don't want anyone to ask," he said.
"Ayaan…" Aarohi said slowly, "Should we tell Reyansh?"
Then Ayaan's voice, calm as ever-
"No."
"Why?"
"…not yet."
He cut the call.
Back to the Present
After the black car went away. Shadow Hunk went to his secret spot.
The sound of light rain echoed against the metal rooftop as Aarohi stepped into the dim underground room. Screens flickered softly across the walls while maps of the city glowed in blue light.
Shadow Hunk stood near the window silently, still wearing his black hoodie. His gaze remained fixed outside.
"You called me here at midnight just to stand dramatically near windows?" Aarohi sighed, placing her bag on the table,
He finally turned. "Did you complete it?"
Aarohi raised an eyebrow. "No hello? No thank you for coming?"
"Aarohi."
"Fine, fine." She opened her bag and pulled out a small circular device. "It's not fully complete but the base system works."
Shadow Hunk picked it up carefully.
"It can detect abnormal distress sounds," she explained. "Screams, panic frequencies, glass breaking, sudden cries for help… if we spread these around the city, the signals can connect directly here."
The screams behind them lit up as she connected the device to the system.
'But there's still one problem," she continued. "The city is noisy. The system might confuse danger with normal sounds."
Shadow Hunk remained quiet for a few seconds before speaking.
"Tonight… something strange happened."
Aarohi looked at him.
"A girl came running toward me," he said slowly. "She looked terrified. Like someone was trying to kill her."
"What happened then?"
"The people chasing her caught up."
Aarohi frowned. "And?"
"They weren't harming her."
Silence filled the room.
"They were trying to calm her down," he continued. "But she kept running like her life depended on it."
"That's weird…"
"That's what's bothering me." His voice lowered. "Fear liked that doesn't come from nowhere."
Aarohi crossed her arms, thinking deeply. "Maybe she misunderstands something?"
"Maybe." He looked toward the rain outside again. "Or maybe everyone else did."
For a moment, only the sound of rain and machine humming remained.
Then Aarohi leaned back against the table and looked at him carefully.
"Can I ask you something?"
He didn't reply.
"Don't you get tired?"
Shadow Hunk glanced at her.
"You work all day, then spend entire nights doing patrols around the city." Her voice softened slightly. "You barely sleep."
"The city doesn't sleep."
"That's not an answer."
He stayed silent.
Aarohi smiled faintly. "One day even shadows need rest."
For the first time, Shadow Hunk gave small tired smile.
"Maybe," he said quietly. "But not yet. And don't worry about me, I will not do night patrols in my whole life… once your device gets done, I don't need to always do patrols."
The underground room fell silent after their conversation.
Rain tapped softly against the glass while the city camera flickered across the screens.
Shadow Hunk walked towards the main monitor.
"I placed cameras near that street months ago," he said. "You wanted to see her face, right?"
Aarohi immediately rolled her chair closer. "Obviously."
The footage started playing.
An empty road.
Flickering streetlights.
And then-
The girl appeared on screen, running breathlessly through the darkness.
Aarohi's eyes widened slightly.
Shadow Hunk slowed the footage.
For a brief second, the camera captured the girl's face clearly beneath the streetlight.
Aarohi completely froze.
"…What?"
She leaned closer to the screen.
"How can someone be THAT beautiful!?"
Shadow Hunk glanced at her silently.
"No seriously!" Aarohi continues, still staring at the screen. "This should actually be illegal."
The footage replayed again.
Her long hair moved wildly in the wind as fear filled her eyes.
Even in panic, her face looked unreal.
Aarohi shook her face slowly in disbelief.
"She doesn't even look real…" she muttered. "Like she walked out of any Fairytale."
Then after a pause:
"Forget actresses and models. The internet would literally crash if people saw her."
Shadow Hunk commented, "I guess the whole night will go in her praising, should we get serious now?"
Aarohi said, "Yeah of course, I guess a whole day can pause if I talk about her moon face. Just think if without makeup she looks like this then if she wears makeup then… I can't explain what will happen."
Shadow Hunk looked back at the screen quietly.
"Yeah," he said softly. "But look at her."
Aarohi's expression slowly changed.
The girl wasn't just running.
She was trembling.
She was not looking back also.
She was breathing unevenly like something had shattered her from inside.
"She looks terrified…" Aarohi whispered.
Shadow Hunk paused the footage exactly when the black car stopped beside the girl.
"Here," he said quietly.
One of the men inside unfolded a small paper and showed it to her through the window.
The girl froze instantly.
Then slowly…
She entered the car.
Aarohi frowned. "Wait… zoom in."
Shadow Hunk enlarged the footage.
The folded paper became barely visible through the blurry camera quality.
A few faint words could be read.
"7:15"
Silence filled the room.
Shadow Hunk's eyes narrowed beneath the hood.
"That makes no sense," he muttered. "She was terrified seconds ago."
"Exactly."
The footage continued playing silently.
The moment she sat inside the car, her expression changed.
It was a mixed feeling like acceptance and fear.
Shadow Hunk folded his arms slowly.
"If they were forcing her, why show her a paper first?"
Aarohi kept staring at the frozen screen thoughtfully.
"No…" she whispered. "This feels planned."
Shadow Hunk looked toward her.
"It's likely a code," Aarohi said slowly. "Something only, she would understand."
The room became quiet again.
Rain echoed faintly outside.
The screen still showed the girl sitting silently inside the car.
Then Aarohi spoke once more, her voice lowers this time.
"My instincts are saying something is off…"
Her eyes remained fixed on the screen.
"Something we still can't see yet."