The words hung in the darkness.
At the cost of my soul.
Aanya stared at Arjun.
Her breath uneven.
Her heart pounding so loudly it hurt.
"No…" she whispered.
Her voice cracked.
"You're lying."
Arjun didn't let go of her.
His hands remained around her shoulders.
Firm.
Protective.
Almost desperate.
"I wish I was," he said softly.
Aanya pushed herself slightly away from him.
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Then tell me everything."
Silence.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
The villain shadow stood at a distance.
Watching.
Almost pleased.
Arjun's gaze dropped for a moment.
Then slowly returned to her face.
"That night…" he began, voice low,
"the breakup call wasn't real."
Aanya froze.
"What?"
Arjun's jaw tightened.
"It wasn't me who called first."
A chill ran through her.
The villain smiled faintly.
"The shadow world needed an opening."
Aanya's mind raced.
"So… someone imitated your voice?"
Arjun nodded slowly.
"Yes."
The memory hit her.
That voice.
That cruel coldness.
That unnatural calm.
Her breath trembled.
"Then why did you really come there?"
Arjun looked at her.
Pain flickering in his eyes.
"Because I felt something was wrong."
He paused.
"I couldn't explain it."
A pause.
"But I felt your fear."
Aanya's heart ached.
"When I reached your room…"
His voice lowered.
"…you were already lying there."
Silence.
The image formed in her mind.
The broken room.
The blood.
The cold stillness.
Her fingers trembled.
"And then?" she whispered.
Arjun's expression darkened.
"You weren't breathing."
Her breath stopped.
The villain's voice echoed softly.
"She crossed death."
Aanya stepped back.
"No…"
Arjun stepped closer immediately.
"I refused to let you go."
The darkness around them pulsed.
"I called your name."
A pause.
"I held you."
Another pause.
"But nothing changed."
His voice broke slightly.
For the first time—
He sounded human again.
Broken.
"Then the shadow appeared."
Aanya looked up.
"The crimson one?"
He nodded.
"It offered me a choice."
The villain smiled wider.
Aanya's heartbeat raced.
"What choice?"
Arjun's eyes locked into hers.
Dark.
Painfully intense.
"Your life…"
A pause.
"…in exchange for mine."
The air turned cold.
Aanya stared at him.
Speechless.
"You gave it your soul?"
Arjun's lips curved into a faint bitter smile.
"I gave it everything."
Her eyes filled again.
"Why?"
He stepped closer.
So close she could feel his breath.
"Because a world without you…"
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"…was already hell."
Aanya's chest tightened.
For a moment—
Neither of them moved.
Then suddenly—
The villain shadow stepped closer.
"And yet she still doesn't know the whole truth."
Arjun's expression hardened instantly.
"That's enough."
But Aanya turned.
"What else?"
The villain's voice became smooth.
Cold.
"The soul he gave…"
A pause.
"…was never fully his."
Arjun's face changed.
Aanya noticed.
"Arjun?"
The villain moved closer.
"He belongs to the darkness now."
Silence.
Aanya slowly looked back at him.
"Is that why you changed?"
Arjun didn't answer.
Instead—
His shadow rose behind him.
Alive.
Towering.
Almost possessive.
"It's because I chose you," he said quietly.
Her voice trembled.
"And if I hadn't survived?"
He stepped closer.
His hand gently lifting her chin.
"Then I would have followed you."
Aanya's heartbeat raced.
Fear.
Love.
Pain.
All at once.
The villain's voice echoed.
"How romantic."
Arjun's eyes turned cold instantly.
"Say one more word."
The shadow laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
The darkness around them began shifting.
The room cracked.
The crimson moon outside grew brighter.
"The debt is still unpaid."
Aanya frowned.
"What debt?"
The villain looked directly at her.
"Your life."
Silence.
Arjun's grip on her hand tightened.
"If the darkness gave her back…"
A pause.
"…it will come to take something in return."
Aanya's breath stopped.
"What… will it take?"
The villain smiled.
"Love."
Aanya slowly turned toward Arjun.
Her eyes trembling.
Because for the first time—
She understood.
The darkness wasn't after her life.
It was after them.
"Because now their love itself had become the price of survival."