Anshika slept peacefully in her room, unaware of the danger slowly closing in.
The window was half open… curtains swaying gently with the night breeze.
And then—
A shadow slipped inside.
Quiet.
Careful.
A man dressed in a black hoodie and dark pants moved silently across the room. His face was hidden beneath the hood, his presence almost blending into the darkness itself.
Step by step—
He moved closer to her bed.
Anshika didn't stir.
Not even once.
She was in deep sleep… completely defenseless.
The man paused for a moment, scanning the room.
His eyes stopped at a table nearby.
A bottle.
He picked it up.
Sleeping pills.
He stared at it for a few seconds… thinking.
Then slowly—
He placed it back.
And turned toward her again.
Now he was right beside her bed.
He bent down… staring at her sleeping face.
Watching.
Studying.
Seconds passed.
And then—
Suddenly—
Anshika's eyes opened.
She froze.
Her heart skipped.
Seeing a dark figure so close to her—
Fear shot through her body.
She quickly sat up, about to scream—
But before a sound could escape—
The man covered her mouth.
Firm.
Quick.
Then slowly…
He pulled down his hood.
Revealing his face.
It was Om.
The moment Anshika saw him—
Her fear vanished.
Completely.
A soft smile appeared on her lips.
Still half asleep… still lost between dream and reality—
She whispered,
"Oh… Om… it's you?"
Her voice was lazy, dreamy.
"Good… today at least you didn't come into my dream just to die."
Om froze for a second.
Then realized—
She wasn't fully awake.
A small smile formed on his lips.
Gently, he laid her back down on the bed.
But Anshika…
She kept murmuring in her sleep.
Like a child lost in her own world.
"You know… in my dreams, you should sing to me… talk to me sweetly… love me…"
A faint pout formed on her lips.
"But you… you only come to die…"
Om couldn't help it.
He smiled.
Softly.
Watching her like this—
So innocent.
So vulnerable.
He slowly ran his fingers through her hair, trying to calm her.
Anshika smiled in her sleep.
Then suddenly—
She grabbed his hand.
Held it tightly against her cheek.
"Yeah… like this… keep doing this…"
Her voice softened.
"This is what you should do… not die in my dreams… while in real life girls are dying for you…"
Om's smile faded slightly.
"Do you even know… how much I love you?"
Silence.
"But you… you keep talking about friendship…"
Her grip tightened.
"Please… just give me one chance, Om… I promise… I'd give my life for you…"
Her voice trembled.
"Just once… let me love you…"
Om stood there—
Smiling…
But also serious.
Because the girl who acted strong all day…
Who talked about work, career, and control—
Was carrying a storm inside her heart.
And then—
Suddenly—
Anshika started crying.
Om's expression changed instantly.
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke in her sleep—
"You know… every time you die in my dreams…"
Her voice broke.
"My soul trembles… it feels like I'm dying with you…"
Om's heart tightened.
"And when I wake up… I feel like I'm the reason you died…"
Her breathing became uneven.
"I'm tired… tired of living like this every day… it feels like hell…"
A pause.
Soft.
Broken.
"Om… give me some medicine too… something that can fix me…"
Her voice faded into a whisper—
"My Om… my dear Om…"
"…Om…"
And just like that—
She drifted back into deep sleep.
Silence filled the room.
Om looked at her.
His eyes soft.
His hand still gently resting on her head.
"I'm here, Anshika…"
He whispered quietly.
"No dream will trouble you anymore."
And then—
Something impossible happened.
Om closed his eyes…
Placed his hand firmly on her head—
And vanished.
The next moment—
He was inside her mind.
Not physically—
But as a presence.
A part of her thoughts.
A part of her world.
Everything around him shifted.
He could see it all—
Her thoughts.
Her memories.
Her dreams.
They floated around him like leaves in the air… fragments of her life drifting endlessly.
From childhood…
To now.
Every memory.
Every emotion.
Everything she had lived through.
Om didn't waste a second.
He moved deeper—
Searching.
Looking for the nightmares.
The ones that haunted her.
And then—
He found it.
A dream.
Floating like a screen in the air.
Without hesitation, Om reached out…
And touched it.
In an instant—
He was inside the dream.
His old college.
The same corridors.
The same walls.
The same past.
He saw Anshika and Seema walking through the hallway.
And then—
A tall, bulky boy stepped in front of them.
Blocking their way.
The moment Anshika saw him, irritation flashed across her face.
"Mike… what is this nonsense? Wasn't spreading rumors all over college enough? Now you've come here to harass us too?"
The boy—Mike—smirked.
Slow.
Cruel.
"Oh, come on… this is how the world works. You get what you give."
He leaned closer.
"I'm just troubling you… but you? You didn't just trouble Champu…"
His voice turned darker.
"You took his life."
The words hit like poison.
Anshika's face dropped instantly.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Honestly…" Mike chuckled, "you're two steps ahead of me when it comes to bullying."
Seema stepped in, trying to stop him—
"Enough, Mike! Just leave—"
But he didn't stop.
Not even for a second.
Om stood there…
Watching.
Helpless.
He could see Anshika breaking from inside.
Crying silently.
And then—
Mike said something.
Something that made—
Anshika…
Seema…
And even Om—
Freeze.
Because those words—
Changed everything.