Chapter 6 : The Clarity

A shadow stretched briefly across the wet ground near the entrance.

Five seconds passed, ten or maybe fifty before the the footsteps resumed, but this time? They were moving away slowly.

Neither of them moved or dared to breath, not until the sound disappeared completely.

Only then did Arnav slowly remove his hand from her mouth and Khushi inhaled shakily, her knees wobbling slightly. "Oh my God."

Arnav immediately looked toward the alley entrance again, now tension lingering on his shoulders.

"That was them, wasn’t it?" she whispered.

And that somber silence from him was an enough answer. "We need to leave."

"They're gone." She craned her neck to look around.

"No." The answer comes instantly causing a chill to run down her spine. "What do you mean no?"

Arnav's jaw tightens. "They don't lose people." And that certainty in his voice terrifies her.

Before she can question further, something catches her eye across the road. It was a digital clock outside a pharmacy which read the current time 10:17 PM.

She looks away for barely a second, then back.

10:11 PM.

Khushi freezes. No..something wasn't right. She though maybe she was just tired and read it wrong.

Maybe....but the clock flickered again.

10:17 PM.

Like nothing happened. A cold sensation crawls across her skin.

"Did you see that?"

Arnav doesn't answer and it only scared her more because he wasn't confused or surprised.

And suddenly she had nothing to say because she realised that this wasn't paranoia, this was experience.

~

A few minutes later they stop at a crossing. Khushi takes a step forward dazed as the signal turned green.

But Arnav grabs her wrist instantly yanking her back. A yelp escaped her. "What-"

A sports bike tears through the intersection just a few milliseconds later, ignoring the red and missing her by barely a few inch. The rider never slowed down and didn't even glance back as he disappeared into the night.

Khushi's heart thundered against her ribs and her head whipped back at Arnav. "What wasn't normal! How did you even react so fast-" Her voice quietened upon seeing his pale face.

He squeezed her wrist gently, his hand trembling slightly as he looked fixated on the road. It was close....the bike was now so close and could have hit Khushi if he hadn't acted faster. He didn't dare to imagine what could have happened further.

And for the first time since meeting him again, Khushi notices how exhausted Arnav truly was. Not just physically but mentally also. Like he's carrying the weight of anticipating danger every second and couldn't even relax for a second. That realization hit her harder than any event that took place today until now.

She understood the storm Arnav has been carrying for years. The fear wasn't knowing. The fear was not knowing whether whatever you're seeing is real.

Eventually she speaks. "Does it even ever stop?"

Arnav looked at her questioningly. "What?"

Khushi gestured to the surroundings. "This...the darkness, the uncertainty, the fear... everything.."

His gaze shifts away briefly. "It does...when I forget to pay attention." It shouldn't comfort her. Yet somehow it does and it terrifies her at the same time.

Because she knew what he meant exactly and realised that, for twenty six years she lived peacefully because she wasn't really looking. But tonight, every shadow felt deeper and every stranger felt suspicious.

Somehow the world hadn't changed much...but she had and she understood why ignorance was sometimes a blessing, because awareness came with a heavy cost.

~

Eventually the familiar roads of her neighborhood appeared, which eased her heart slightly.

But she found herself glancing behind her one last time, checking the empty road, listening for any suspicious movements. Some habits were formed in a single night.

Five hours ago, she had gone to the station carrying nothing but heartbreak and now she returned back carrying too much of everything. Fear, confusion, doubts and questions. Too many questions and their unresolved answers which she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know now.

When she turned back, Arnav stood near the gate, still alert and watching carefully.

For a brief moment their eyes met. Khushi searched into his eyes as she believed him truly now. Every impossible word and every bits of truth he had tried to tell her.

The world she had known all her life was beginning to crack.

And standing beside the ruins of her world was...Arnav. The one she still loves, the one she felt familiar but at the same time felt unfamiliar.

Yet somehow, that scared her less than the darkness the world was now slowly revealing.

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Back with an update, it's a bit short I know we are now progressing with the main story. All the doubts and questions will soon be cleared up btw I will tryyyy my best to upload one more chapter before becoming inactive due to my exams coming up this month then I will be back in July directly