Chapter 3: Web of Dreams
The first day after Aayush's departure. A strange silence had fallen over the house, but it was the kind of silence that comes before a storm heavy, suffocating, and false.
The rift between Kiyan and Aarav had grown even deeper. Living in the same house, they were like two separate islands. Aarav was trapped between protecting his sister and her happiness, while Kiyan knew a truth for which he had no words, only a deep, soul-level warning.
The first dream came to Kiyan.
He was drowning in black, cold water. Above him, on the surface, moonlight flickered but he couldn't reach it. His feet were tangled in some invisible seaweed, pulling him down. Then he saw it - Aayush standing on the shore. But it wasn't Aayush. His eyes were completely black, and on his face was a smile that was terrifying because it didn't seem real. He was laughing a silent, bonechilling laughter. And in his hand was that same black stone yantra (mystical diagram), glowing with an evil green light in the darkness.
Kiyan struggled, but water began filling his lungs. He wanted to scream, but no sound came out. The last time he looked up, Aayush's figure blurred, and in its place appeared another shadow - an old, twisted figure with only two burning coals for eyes. Virbhadra.
Kiyan jerked awake, sitting up in bed, breathing fast, drenched in sweat. His eyes were glowing in the darkness, a defensive reaction. He looked at his hands - they were trembling.
The second night, the dream changed.
He was standing in a long, endless corridor. At one end was Aarav, his back to Kiyan. He was walking away. Kiyan called out to him, but Aarav didn't turn. Then suddenly, from the other end of the corridor, Aayush appeared. He reached out his hand toward Aarav, and Aarav stopped. Slowly, Aarav turned… but his face wasn't there. It was blank, smooth, like an incomplete statue. Then on that blank face, Aayush's smile emerged, and in Aarav's voice, Aayush spoke, "You are alone, Kiyan. Forever."
Kiyan's scream echoed through the corridor, but no one came.
The third night, the dream became even clearer.
He was in the same cave where everything had begun. The cave walls were now covered with blood-red yantras (mystical diagrams), pulsating like living organs. In the center was a platform, and on it lay Arushi, unconscious. The same locket around her neck was glowing, emitting an evil green light.
Aayush stood near the platform, an ancient dagger in his hand. But when he turned, his face wasn't Aayush's - it was old, wrinkled, with centuries of madness in his eyes. Virbhadra.
"Your power," the old man rasped, "will be mine. And after that… hers too." He pointed toward Arushi. "Blood bonds are the strongest. Through her, I will reach him… and then you."
He raised the dagger. Kiyan tried to move forward, but his feet sank into the ground. Helpless, he watched as the dagger descended…
Kiyan woke up screaming, his entire body convulsed. From his eyes, not tears, but faint golden droplets fell, dissolving into the air. He understood - these were not just dreams. They were warnings. Prophetic visions. And they were being sent through Aayush… or the thing inside him.
Aarav was restless too. He couldn't sleep. Kiyan's words echoed in his ears "For you, I'm still the same, aren't I? A mystery. A stranger. A… Chhayodhbhav (nightborn entity who drains age)."
He looked at his wrist. The mark of the Aadisrashta Chakra (divine discus of the creator) was slightly warm, a constant, disturbing sensation. He realized he had wronged Kiyan. Kiyan had always, at every turn, protected him. Yet, when it came to his sister, he chose doubt.
But was that doubt unreasonable? Aayush had done nothing wrong. He was just… strange. Deep. And Kiyan's fear, although it felt real, was just an intuition without proof.
In the morning, at the breakfast table, tension floated in the air like oil on water. Arushi complained of fatigue again.
"I think I'm catching a cold," she said, rubbing her forehead with one hand. With the other, she unconsciously touched the locket, and every time she did, her fingers would jerk away.
Kiyan tried to make eye contact with Aarav, but Aarav looked away. He noticed that dark circles had formed under Arushi's eyes, and her glow was fading, as if someone was slowly draining her life energy.
That day, Aarav decided he would investigate Aayush. Silently. Without telling anyone. He started deep research on his laptop about Aayush's name and background.
The results were shocking. Aayush's resume was absolutely perfect - education in America, job at a prestigious company, no criminal record. But when Aarav dug deeper, he found inconsistencies.
The university Aayush had mentioned had no record of any student by that name in the last ten years. His company's phone number was disconnected. And most terrifying of all - Aayush's grandfather, whom he claimed was a sanyasi (ascetic), had no name in any known ashram or religious record. The photograph Aayush had shown as his grandfather was actually an 18th-century painting of a famous Tamomayi (dark practitioner) named Virbhadra.
Aarav's blood ran cold. He turned to call Kiyan, but just then, a scream came from his sister's room.
He ran. Arushi was sitting on the bed, her eyes wide, hands on her neck. "It's… it's burning!" she gasped.
The locket. It was glowing faint red, like a small piece of coal. Aarav immediately tried to remove it, but as soon as his fingers touched the metal, a sharp, electric-like jolt shocked him. He pulled his hand back.
Then Kiyan entered the room. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and grabbed the locket. Golden light emanated from his hands, clashing with the locket's red glow. A faint crackling sound filled the air, and the locket stopped glowing. Kiyan broke it and threw it out the window.
Arushi began breathing deeply, her eyes closed. "What… what was that?"
"Nothing," Aarav said, his voice trembling. "Just… a short circuit maybe." But his eyes met Kiyan's, and in those eyes were now regret, fear, and a question - You were right. I'm sorry.
Kiyan gave no answer. He just turned and left the room.
That night, Aarav knocked on Kiyan's door. No answer. He slowly opened the door. The room was empty. The bed was rumpled, and the window was open.
Kiyan was gone.
Aarav realized what Kiyan had said was true. And now he was going alone to face the danger that Aarav had ignored.
He grabbed his jacket and ran outside. He knew where Kiyan would go. The same cave. Where it all began.
Outside, the sky was overcast, and there was a faint smell of sulfur in the air. Amavasya (darkest night of the moon cycle) was now only two nights away.
And somewhere, Aayush sat in his room, eyes closed, focusing his consciousness on a distant prey. His eyes opened. They were completely black.
"Come, my son," Virbhadra's rasping voice emerged from Aayush's mouth. "To the cave. Where your mother was captured. Where you were born. There your end will also come… or a new beginning."
And he smiled. Because everything was going according to his plan.