The morning sun shone into the room through the window.
Everything seemed normal... but only on the surface.
Something had broken inside.
Suraj stood in front of the mirror.
He raised his hand...
His hand rose immediately in the mirror.
But...
When he looked down—
his shadow raised the same hand a second late.
His throat went dry.
"It's... it's him..." he said softly.
What happened last night... it wasn't a dream.
"Suraj, have your breakfast!"
Mother's voice came.
He slowly went downstairs.
Mother was watching him carefully.
"Are you alright? Your eyes seem… different today."
Suraj smiled slightly.
"I'm fine, Mom."
But deep inside—
He wasn't "Suraj"
At school…
Everything was strange.
Friends were laughing and talking…
But Suraj felt as if he was not a part of this world.
He was sitting in class when he noticed the ground—
his shadow had moved slightly from its place.
Even though he himself hadn't moved.
His heart started pounding.
"Now… it's moving on its own…"
Suddenly—
The words on the blackboard began to disappear on their own.
The entire class was shocked.
"Who did this?" the teacher shouted.
But no one spoke.
Suraj looked down—his shadow had raised its hand.
He immediately pulled back.
But it was too late.
The shadow slowly turned towards him...
And for the first time—
He looked straight at Suraj.
She had no eyes...
But she was still watching.
"You can't stop me…"
A voice echoed in his mind.
Suraj looked around—no one was there.
"Who…?" he asked to himself.
"I… am what you have become."
Suraj's mind went blank.
"I... what have I become?"
The shadow, spreading across the wall, replied, "A prisoner...
looking for its place."
Just then—
a girl in the class suddenly shouted—
"Look! His shadow…!"
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Suraj.
Now everyone could see.
His shadow stood separate from him.
The entire room went silent.
The teacher stepped back.
"What is this...?"
Suraj panicked.
"I… I didn't do anything…"
But then—
Shadow laughed.
Yes… she laughed.
And slowly, she came out of the wall and onto the floor...
and started moving in a new direction—
Towards the quietest boy in the class, "alock"
Suraj understood—
"No… she is going to do the same thing…"
He ran—
"Stop!!!"
But the shadow had already reached alock's feet.
Alock stood rooted to the spot.
His eyes went blank.
And then—
his own shadow… disappeared from the ground.
The whole class screamed.
Alock was standing there... but now—
he too had no shadow.
Chhaya came back to Suraj...
And whispered softly, "You're not alone anymore..."
Beneath Suraj's feet—
There were now two shadows.
That night—
Suraj dreamed…
He was standing in a dark place.
All around… there were only shadows.
And a voice came from them—
"Welcome…
to the world of shadow thieves."
Suraj saw—
hundreds of people were standing there…
who had no shadows of their own.