Vikram and his mother were headed home. Power sat quietly in the backseat.
Anu, stealing glances at her through the rearview mirror, finally broke the silence.
"Ahem… so, are you Vikram's classmate?"
Power blinked, surprised. "Huh? Me? Oh no, no—I'm just a friend."
Vikram turned to his mother.
"Mom, she's not important right now. We need to focus on Dad."
But Anu immediately shot back, her tone sharp.
"No! Absolutely not. First, tell me—where did you get those deep cuts from? And what were you doing in that house? I want the truth, Vikram. What's really going on?"
She pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned to face him fully.
"Tell me. What are you involved in? What were you doing there?"
Vikram met her eyes, guilt written across his face. He slowly lowered his head.
"I… I can't tell you."
Anu glanced briefly at Vikram before starting the car again.
"Fine… but remember this—if anything happens to you, I won't be able to go on living."
Vikram heard her words and responded quietly,
"Ever since that cursed Monday… I haven't slept properly. Every night, the same dream… watching everyone die, one by one. Slowly, the homes around us began to empty.
Even my own will to live started to fade.
But seeing you force a smile in front of me—
I tried to hold myself together.
I tried everything I could…
And I promise, I'll keep doing everything I can."Power gently placed her hand on Anu's shoulder and said softly,
"Don't worry. Everything will be alright."
Hearing her, a strange sense of fearlessness settled over Anu. She took a deep breath and refocused ahead.
"By the way… what's your name?"
Power smiled brightly, her eyes twinkling.
"I'm Power, the youngest daughter of Heaven. I have thirty-one sisters."
Anu blinked in surprise.
"THIRTY-TWO?! For real? I mean… are they all blood-related, or are you counting cousins too?"
Power crossed her arms and gave Anu a confused look.
"What kind of weird thoughts do you mortals have? Of course we're blood-related!"
Meanwhile, Vikram turned his face fully toward the mirror, pretending not to hear a thing.
Anu forced a polite smile.
"Oh… o-okay. I hope your mother was alright after that…"
Vikram couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Power puffed up, clearly offended.
"Ha!? What's that supposed to mean?! You mortals can barely manage loving one sibling—and here we are, thirty-two sisters, and we love each other deeply! Don't you dare mock that!"
Anu waved her hands quickly, trying to calm her.
"No, no! Don't get mad! It's just… the first time I've ever heard of anyone having that many siblings."
Then she turned to Vikram and scolded him,
"And you! Stop laughing!"
Power huffed and muttered something under her breath, still fuming.
Vikram chuckled as he looked ahead—but his smile faded and his eyes narrowed suddenly.
"Why are we going to college? It's Sunday today," he said, puzzled.
Anu didn't respond. Her eyes lowered at his words, a silent sadness passing over her face. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to speak, but no words came out.
She simply kept driving and soon pulled the car into the college parking lot.
Power, seated beside them, looked out the window, then turned to glance at Vikram. He met her eyes for a second before both of them silently stepped out of the car.
Vikram swallowed hard, something uneasy stirring in his chest—and without a word, he followed Anu.Vikram entered the classroom—only to find just three students present.
The rest, as expected, hadn't shown up.
He glanced around. Anita was absent.
Only Megha, the brightest girl in the class, was there.
Vinash, his friend—whose leg had been injured by the Feathered Nightmare last time—sat quietly in a corner.
But what caught Vikram's eye was someone unexpected:
A student who usually only showed up for exams.
The rest of the time, he worked full-time in a factory to support his family.
"You came too?" Vikram asked, surprised.
The student replied in a low, tired voice,
"Times like these… don't leave much choice."
Sensing something was wrong, Vikram turned to Vinash.
"What happened? Tell me."
Vinash didn't speak. Instead, he looked toward Anu.
Her head was bowed, her shoulders trembling.
Without a word, she stood and walked out to the balcony.
There, she turned her face away from them.
A single tear slid down her cheek.
She quickly wiped it away.
One of the students snapped,
"Why don't you sit down already? Sir will be here any moment—you'll find out soon enough."
Vikram glanced at him and nodded.
"By the way… your name?"
The student replied with a smirk,
"No need to know. You can just call me Lunar."
Megha raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
"Seriously? What's next? 'Eclipse'? Should I guess—your destiny's about to black out too?"
Lunar looked at her without responding.
Vikram sat down. Power quietly took the seat beside him.
"Why do you think we were called here, Vikram?"
Vikram listened for a moment, then answered after some thought,
"Most of the students went on that trip. Only a few were left behind—like us. Even Lunar showed up today…"
He looked at Power, concern shadowing his expression.
"That means… something must've happened to our sir… or ma'am."
Power's eyes widened.
"That… actually makes sense."
Before they could say more, the classroom door creaked open.
Their teacher entered, quietly placing his glasses on the desk. He took a deep breath and looked around at the few students gathered.
"So… I'm sure you all already have an idea why you've been called here."
Vikram lowered his head, thoughts racing.
How many more deaths am I supposed to witness before this ends?
The teacher pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly holding back emotion. Then he looked up again and spoke in a heavy voice.
"It's incredibly painful for me to say this… but all the students who went on the trip died in a bus accident."
Shock rippled through the room.
Vikram and Power stared at him, stunned. Vikram's eyes widened.
"Wait… Vinayak?"
The teacher looked at him with soft regret.
"I know… I know this must be a lot to take in. But I felt you deserved to know what happened to your friends."
Lunar blinked in disbelief.
"How… how did it happen?"
Megha began to cry.
"M-My friends… all of them were in that bus…"
Vinash wiped his tears, trying to stay composed.
Power looked at each of the students, her expression clouded with sorrow. She could feel their grief—and it hit her deeply.
The teacher finally explained, voice trembling,
"The bus collided with a construction vehicle… something near the site. No one… no one made it out alive."
He turned away, wiping his own tears, and quietly stepped out of the classroom.
Vikram was too stunned to speak. Everything he had witnessed over the past few days—
was now hitting him on a deeply personal level.
From the side, Vinash called out, concern in his voice.
"Vikram? Vikram, are you okay?"
Almost emotionally numb, Vikram replied in a flat tone,
"Don't worry about me... By the way, how's your leg? And where's Anita? I don't see her."
Vinash glanced at him and said,
"My leg's fine. I tried calling her, but she didn't pick up."
Still lost in the words his teacher had spoken, Vikram's thoughts drifted.
Then he remembered—Vinayak, his friend who had gone missing after the fifth house incident.
Trying to push through the heaviness, Vikram stood up.
"We should go to her house. She deserves to know too."
As he said that, a memory surfaced—
The last time he saw her was four days ago… near that abandoned building.
"Do you know where she lives?" Vikram asked.
Vinash shook his head.
"No… I don't."
Before either of them could speak further, a voice came from behind.
"I know. I'll come with you."
They turned to see Lunar standing there.
He offered his handkerchief to Megha, gently placing a hand on her head in silent sympathy.
Megha wiped her tears, though her breathing still trembled.