The evening would not abate.
Rohit hadn't uttered a word since the dark figure had vanished into the corridor, leaving behind only frosty silence and the chilling resonance of that last sentence.
𝘼 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚. 𝘼 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩. 𝘼 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.
Ava perched on the edge of the sofa, fingers fisted so tightly her knuckles had turned white. The quiet between them increased by the second.
"Speak," she at last whispered, her voice splintering beneath the strain.
Rohit looked up, eyes distant. "I've seen that kind of silence before."
Ava turned to him. "Where?"
He exhaled slowly, his jaw tightening. "In the fire. The night your uncle died. Right before everything went to hell."
Ava's breath caught. "You were there?"
He nodded, and something flickered in his eyes—a buried pain, unspoken until now.
"I never told you because I wasn't supposed to be. That night… I saw something I shouldn't have. Something I've been trying to piece together ever since."
Ava looked at him, her heart racing. "You saw what?"
Rohit rested his elbows on his knees. "There was a man. In black. Unruffled. Too unruffled for someone to be in front of a burning house. He didn't panic. Didn't run. He just… watched."
Ava's voice was little more than a whisper. "Watched it burn?"
"He wanted it to burn," Rohit replied. "I swear, Ava. He was waiting for it."
A shiver worked its way up her spine. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the moment I mentioned it to the cops, things began to. go strange. Phone calls. Tailing. People following me. And then—nothing. Silence, like someone flipped the switch overnight."
He massaged his face, as if attempting to wash away the memory.
"I didn't want to involve you," he grumbled.
"You should have," she retorted, then softened. "I deserved to know."
Rohit did not argue. He simply nodded.
Outside, the wind whistled against the windows like a warning.
...
𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 - 𝐀𝐕𝐀, 𝐀𝐆𝐑 𝟏𝟔
The rain was pouring hard that day. Ava was waiting outside the school gates, her books hugged tightly to her chest, soaked and annoyed. Her ride had flaked again.
She didn't notice him until he extended his umbrella.
Rohit.
They weren't friends yet. Just classmates. But there was something in the way he stayed by her side, holding up the storm as if he was supposed to be there.
"You'll get wet," she said, glancing at his already-soaked shoulder.
"I'm already wet," he replied with a shrug. "Might as well save someone else."
It was the first time he ever smiled at her. The real kind, not the one he wore in public. And she never forgot it.
...
𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘:
Ava blinked away the memory, her voice softer now. "Why were you there that night, Rohit?"
He faltered. "Because I knew your uncle was in trouble. And I thought… maybe I could help."
Ava's eyes narrowed. "How did you even know he was in trouble?"
But Rohit would not meet her gaze.
She pressed him further, but he looked away.
Then, just as she was about to question him more, her phone suddenly thrummed on the table. A message. One word.
𝑹𝑼𝑵.
No name. No number.
Her blood chilled to ice.
Rohit snatched the phone and read the text. Then his eyes shot to the window. His hand moved quickly to the drawer beside the couch—where she didn't even know a gun had been hidden.
"Pack a bag," he said flatly. "We leave in ten."
...
𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊- 𝐑𝐎𝐇𝐈𝐓, 𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝟏𝟖
He saw his parents die.
No one ever informed Ava. No one knew the truth. The fire that evening wasn't random. It wasn't an accident.
It was a message.
They had discovered something they shouldn't have, and the cost was blood. Rohit had been in the upstairs. He'd lived. But what they left behind wasn't just fire—it was silence.
And questions. So many questions.
He'd spent years faking to be normal. Living, smiling, studying, laughing.
But he never forgot.
...
𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘 - 𝟏𝟏:𝟒𝟒 𝐏𝐌
They exited the building by the back door, disappearing into the shadows like phantoms. Ava had with her a tiny backpack, and Rohit followed two paces behind her, ever vigilant.
Each corner. Each step. Each waver of shadow.
Ava glanced back. "Where are we heading?"
"Where they won't be looking."
"Do you even know who they are?"
He faltered. "No. But they know who we are."
.....
𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍 :
In a room without windows, the dancing beam of a projector threw a gentle light across a wall covered in photographs.
Ava. Rohit. Her uncle. A little girl. Her mother.
Strings tied pictures together like a spider's web, words written in a jagged, angry hand. A man sat in a leather armchair, fingers clasped together under his chin, his eyes never wavering from the screen.
The camera caught Ava as she walked through an alleyway, glancing back over her shoulder.
He leaned his head to one side.
"She's beginning to recall."
Another man leaned against the wall, his face tense. "Do you want me to cut her off?"
The man in the chair shook his head.
"No. Let them move closer. Let both of them get to the edge."
He leaned back, his eyes icy.
"And then I'll shatter them."
...
𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘:
The safe house was nothing more than a dingy motel at the city's edge. Cracked walls. Peeling paint. But Rohit chose it for one reason—no security cameras. No digital footprint.
He paced the room, checking the locks three times while Ava sat silently on the bed, her mind still spinning.
"I don't understand," she murmured. "Why us? Why now?"
Rohit stopped. "Because something we've forgotten is finally coming back."
Ava raised her head. "What if we don't want to remember it?"
He turned to her, speaking low and seriously. "It doesn't matter anymore. It's coming for us, either way."
Ava's thoughts ran wild. She couldn't catch up with the unspooling thoughts. Her heart pounded in her chest as she absorbed all of what Rohit had just shared with her. The fire. The man in black. The secret she'd never known.
"I don't know that I can do this, Rohit," she breathed, looking at the dark ceiling.
Rohit was quiet for a great while, the burden of their circumstances bearing down on him like an anchor. When he spoke at last, his tone softer than normal, as if even he were seeking answers.
"I've always been trying to keep you safe, Ava. Even when you didn't know it."
She shook her head, tears ready to spill. "But we're so far in this now. Whatever is going on, whatever has been going on. we can't get out of it. We're too far gone."
Rohit's jaw clenched, his eyes flicking towards the window once more. His eyes were filled with a hurt he hadn't shared before, and for the first time, Ava realized how much of a cost this had been to him.
The point is, Ava, I didn't want you to know. I figured that if I could just keep you safe by keeping you ignorant, then everything would be okay. But now—now that you know the whole thing, there's no turning back."
Ava swiped at her tears, her thoughts racing. "Then what do we do? Where do we go from here?
Rohit rose and went to the little window, looking out between the blinds. The city outside them was still, but it seemed like the eye of the hurricane. His eyes were narrowing, and Ava could practically hear the cogs whirring in his mind.
"There's a place. A safe house. I've been there before. But it's not safe for long. The people who did this. they've been watching us for longer than we know. Every step we've taken. Every decision."
Ava rose from her seat, her mind reeling. "So, we leave again? We run?"
Rohit spun around to her, his face set. "It's the only option we have left. We need to know who is doing all of this. And why they're targeting us."
Ava swallowed hard, the chill reality sinking in. She was no longer fleeing danger. She was walking into a trap—one that was laid long before they ever had a clue. The darkness was closing in, and there was no escape.
....
𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 - 𝐀𝐕𝐀, 𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝟏𝟐:
Ava's life had always been secure, predictable, warm and routine. Until the day her father returned late, his face drawn with concern. He didn't explain, just that they had to go.
Her mother rushed around packing their belongings, quickly, hastily, without questioning. Ava didn't realize why her parents were in such a state of panic. She was only a child.
But then, as they arrived at the airport, she overheard the low-voiced conversation of her dad and a different man. That man. that very man, now a figure standing in front of her in the darkness, was responsible for having driven her family out all those years before.
She had never seen the man again, until today.
....
𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘:
Rohit pulled out a duffel bag from the closet and started packing. His actions were swift, utilitarian—rehearsed. Ava stood there, her head too full of questions to move.
"Where do we go, Rohit? I have to know."
He closed the bag and regarded her, his eyes full of something she couldn't identify. "We go to where it all began. We face what we've both been trying to escape."
Ava nodded slowly, determination creeping into her eyes. She didn't know how long they had before the people behind them made their move, but she knew this much: they couldn't run forever.
The phone buzzed again, slicing through the silence. Ava's heart skipped a beat as she picked it up, half-expecting another cryptic message. But it was a call. An unknown number.
Rohit's hand shot out, staying her. "Don't answer it."
Ava's eyes locked with his. "Why? What if it's something important?"
He inhaled sharply. "It's not. It's them. Trust me."
She hung back, but then, with a swift sweep of her finger, the phone rang out into the space.
...
𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐍:
Rohit pulled out a duffel bag from the closet and started packing. His actions were swift, utilitarian—rehearsed. Ava stood there, her head too full of questions to move.
"Where do we go, Rohit? I have to know."
He closed the bag and regarded her, his eyes full of something she couldn't identify. "We go to where it all began. We face what we've both been trying to escape."
Ava nodded slowly, determination creeping into her eyes. She didn't know how long they had before the people behind them made their move, but she knew this much: they couldn't run forever.
The phone buzzed again, slicing through the silence. Ava's heart skipped a beat as she picked it up, half-expecting another cryptic message. But it was a call. An unknown number.
Rohit's hand shot out, staying her. "Don't answer it."
Ava's eyes locked with his. "Why? What if it's something important?"
He inhaled sharply. "It's not. It's them. Trust me."
She hung back, but then, with a swift sweep of her finger, the phone rang out into the space.
.....
𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐒𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄:
Ava was beside the door, her fingers poised over the handle. She felt as though someone was watching them. She had heard nothing—no footsteps, no whispers—but the hairs on the back of her neck rose. Something was off.
Rohit approached beside her, his steady presence. "We can't linger here for long," he said, in a low, insistent tone.
"I know," Ava said, turning to face him. "We need answers, though. And if they want us to come to them…"
"They'll get what they asked for," Rohit concluded.
Ava's eyes locked onto his, a mutual understanding flashing between the two of them. The past was no longer something to be avoided—it was something that needed to be faced head-on.
Suddenly, the safe house door burst open, and a dark, towering figure entered. The figure of a man.
Ava froze, her heart racing.
Rohit's expression turned grim, but there was no fear in his eyes—only icy, calculated resolve.
"Did you really think you could get away?" the man's voice rang out in the room, dripping with venom.
.....
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭?
𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐯𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐭?
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐨𝐡𝐢𝐭?
........
𝑬𝑵𝑱𝑶𝒀𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀? 𝑲𝑰𝑵𝑫𝑳𝒀 𝑫𝑶 𝑺𝑶𝑴𝑬 𝑹𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮. 𝑰𝑻 𝑯𝑬𝑳𝑷𝑺 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀 𝑻𝑶 𝑮𝑹𝑶𝑾...!