The first rays of dawn crept across the forest floor, illuminating a figure moving swiftly through the underbrush. Rudra pressed on, his lungs burning as he navigated the unfamiliar terrain. Three hours of running had left him exhausted, but the fear of being dragged back to that cell drove him forward.
He paused at a small clearing, leaning against a tree to catch his breath. The Chakravyuh Institute was nowhere in sight now. Good. He'd put enough distance between himself and that place of secrets and lies. His thoughts drifted to Bunty—happy, accepted, finally among people who understood him. The image stung, but leaving had been the right choice. Bunty had found his place. Rudra needed to find his own.
A twig snapped behind him. Rudra spun around, heart hammering.
"Impressive stamina," Roohi said, stepping out from behind a massive oak. "Most humans would've collapsed by now."
"Most humans aren't being hunted by freaks who can move things with their minds," Rudra shot back, backing away slowly.
Roohi winced. "We're not hunting you. I'm alone."
"Sure. And I'm supposed to trust that after you locked me in a dungeon?"
"It wasn't a dungeon. It was a containment space designed to—" She stopped herself, sighing. "Look, I don't blame you for running. But the forest isn't safe, especially for someone like you."
"Someone like me?" Rudra's eyes narrowed. "What exactly does that mean?"
Before Roohi could answer, a low growl emanated from the trees to their left. She froze, her eyes widening.
"Don't move," she whispered.
"Another one of your friends?" Rudra asked, his voice tight with tension.
"No. Much worse."
The bushes parted as a massive creature emerged—wolf-like but wrong somehow. Its fur was patchy, with exposed skin that seemed to ripple and shift. Its eyes glowed with an unnatural green light.
"Listen to me very carefully," Roohi said, her voice barely audible. "When I say run, you run back the way I came. Don't stop, don't look back."
"I'm not leaving you—"
"Run!" Roohi thrust out her hands, and the creature was suddenly flung backward into a tree with stunning force.
Rudra hesitated for only a second before his survival instinct kicked in. He bolted in the direction Roohi had indicated, branches whipping at his face as he sprinted through the forest. Behind him, he heard snarling and the crack of splintering wood.
He ran until his legs felt like lead, until each breath was a knife in his chest. Finally, he stumbled into another clearing and collapsed to his knees. The forest had gone quiet.
"Roohi?" he called out, his voice ragged.
No answer.
Panic rose in his throat. Had he just left her to die? He forced himself to his feet, preparing to go back, when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"I told you to keep running," Roohi said, her breathing heavy but controlled.
Rudra nearly collapsed with relief. "What was that thing?"
"A corrupted. They used to be wishwolves, but something went wrong with their transformation." She looked over her shoulder. "We need to keep moving. That one wasn't alone."
"You killed it?"
"No. Just stunned it. Come on."
They moved quickly through the forest, Roohi leading the way with confidence that suggested she knew these woods well. After what felt like hours but was probably only twenty minutes, they reached a small cabin nestled among the trees.
"What is this place?" Rudra asked as Roohi unlocked the door.
"Safe house. The Institute maintains several of them around the perimeter."
Inside, the cabin was spartan but comfortable—a small kitchen, a table with two chairs, a sofa, and a door that presumably led to a bedroom.
Roohi locked the door behind them and moved to the windows, drawing heavy curtains across each one. She then took a small pouch from her pocket and sprinkled some kind of powder along the windowsills and threshold.
"Protective ward," she explained, noticing Rudra's curious gaze. "It'll mask our presence."
"From the corrupted?"
"From everything." She gestured to the sofa. "Sit. You look like you're about to pass out."
Rudra didn't argue. His legs gave way beneath him as he sank onto the cushions.
"Why did you come after me?" he asked as Roohi moved to the kitchen and filled a glass with water.
She handed him the glass, avoiding his eyes. "Because I know what it's like to be scared and alone. And because you're important."
"Important to whom?"
Roohi sat beside him, close enough that he could see flecks of gold in her brown eyes. "Rudra, have you ever wondered why you couldn't be compelled? Why MG's abilities didn't work on you?"
"I figured I was just lucky."
"It's not luck. It's because you're not entirely human."
The water glass slipped from Rudra's fingers, spilling across the floor. Neither of them moved to clean it up.
"What are you talking about?" he whispered.
"The Institute doesn't just train supernatural beings. It also protects special humans—people with latent abilities that haven't fully manifested yet." She leaned forward, intensity in her gaze. "People like you."
Rudra laughed, a hollow sound. "Right. Next you'll tell me I can fly."
"No, but you might be able to resist magical influence. That's extremely rare, even among the most powerful pishachi."
"This is insane."
"Is it? Think about it, Rudra. Haven't you always felt different? Haven't there been moments in your life where things happened that you couldn't explain?"
Unbidden, memories surfaced—the time in third grade when a bully's hand had mysteriously frozen mid-punch, the strange dreams that seemed to predict minor events, the inexplicable way electronics sometimes malfunctioned around him when he was upset.
"Even if that were true," Rudra said slowly, "why would the Institute care? Why lock me up?"
"Because you're valuable. And because you're in danger." Roohi's expression darkened.
Lightning split the sky just beyond the safehouse, thunder rolling over the forest like a promise. Rudra stood by the boarded window, fingers twitching as he tried to absorb everything Roohi had revealed. Outside, the world was ink-black, alive with wind and distant, inhuman howls.
He turned to Roohi, her face illuminated by flickering candlelight. Shadows stretched long, accentuating the sadness he'd spotted before.
"Others," he echoed. "You mean more corrupted?"
Roohi shook her head, lips pressed in a thin, wary line. "No. Not just them. The Institute isn't the only group that tracks people like you. There are networks, ancient and hidden. Some want to help. Others haven't forgotten the old grudges between mystics and humans."
Rudra let out a bitter laugh. "Great. So I'm a magical abomination. Why didn't my parents ever tell me?"
Roohi hesitated. "Have you ever wondered about your mother?"
The air in the room seemed to constrict. Rudra's heart lurched. "Don't talk about her."
"She wasn't just *anyone*," Roohi continued, gentle but relentless. "She was one of the best wishwolves the Institute ever trained. She vanished after you were born. They tried to erase every trace of her."
Rudra's knees buckled slightly. "That's not possible. My mother was—" He broke off. The stories of his mother's absences, the way his father dodged questions about her, the faded photograph in his wallet.
Roohi leaned forward, lowering her voice to a near-whisper. "You don't know everything about the world you came from. Some answers aren't written in files. If you let me, I'll help you find them."
A sudden, frantic pounding on the cabin door shattered the moment. Roohi was on her feet in a blink, hand raised defensively, blue energy crackling on her palm. Rudra ducked behind the sofa instinctively.
"Roohi! Let me in, it's Bunty! Please, they're coming!"
She hesitated, eyes flicking to Rudra. He nodded, heart racing. Roohi unlocked the door with a flick of her wrist.
Bunty tumbled inside, panting, mud streaking his face. Behind him, a kid Rudra barely recognized—one of the partygoers from the garage, a short girl, blood leaking from a gash above her eye.
Bunty's eyes darted. "The corrupted, they—they got Priya. And MG. It happened so fast. I barely got Gauri out."
Gauri was shaking, clutching her arm. Her skin sizzled where the corrupted must have touched her. "They…they said something weird. About a 'Red Council.' They're looking for Rudra. They said—'bring us the boy, or we burn the school'...I'm sorry…"
Roohi's eyes widened in shock. "The Red Council is real? I thought that was just a legend. Why would they want Rudra?"
Bunty pulled a crumpled note from his jacket, passing it to Roohi. She read aloud, voice trembling:
"**The son of the fallen moon must choose: submit by dawn or watch your secrets burn. —RC**"
Rudra's hands shook. Moon. Submit. Secrets. Everything in him recoiled from the truth blooming in his mind.
Bunty grabbed Rudra's arm. "I think you have to go back. If they're threatening the whole Institute—Roohi, what do we do?"
Roohi, pale and uncertain, glanced at Rudra, then at the battered group. "We can't go alone. The corrupted are tracking Rudra's scent. If we move, they'll be on us before we reach the boundary. But if we stay…they'll find this place eventually."
Thunder shook the windows. The shadows inside seemed to flicker and twist.
Gauri moaned, sinking to the floor. Where the corrupted had touched her, the mark was spreading, veins darkening.
"Her Infection's fast," Roohi muttered. "She needs a mystic healer or that poison will kill her."
Rudra pressed his back to the wall, head spinning. "Then we fight. We get to the Institute. We warn everyone."
Roohi nodded, squeezing Gauri's hand. "We'll need to split up. If I draw off the corrupted, you and Bunty get Gauri to the front gate. Someone inside will help. Rudra—whatever happens, don't use your powers unless you have to. If the Council senses you, they'll come straight for you."
Bunty's jaw set. "I'm not leaving you, Rudra."
Outside, a bone-chilling howl shattered the night.
Then, something cold — colder than winter — brushed Rudra's mind. He saw a flash of a face, half-shadow and half-moonlight: a man with eyes like liquid mercury, lips twisted in a knowing smile.
*We're coming,* the thought echoed, not his own, bone-deep and ancient.
The last candle in the cabin sputtered, then winked out, plunging them into blackness — just as the door shattered inward and a shadow-creature, its eyes blazing green, lunged for Rudra with impossible speed.