Zaid, Dev, Nidhi, and Abrar were having a conversation when they noticed someone standing nearby, listening intently. It was none other than Aman. When everyone saw Aman, they were puzzled as to why he was there and why he was listening so attentively to their conversation. As soon as they noticed him and stopped talking, Aman said, "Can I sit with you guys?" This made things even more strange, as Aman usually kept to himself and had never joined them for lunch before. It wasn't that people disliked him—he spoke to everyone in class—but he had never really opened up like this before.
They couldn't refuse him either, as he was their classmate. Abrar said, "Why not, have a seat." Aman sat down with them, and Nidhi quietly whispered to Abrar, "Why has he come here today?" She probably didn't expect Aman to hear her, but he did, and responded, "I'll answer that—I'm here because I want to know what exactly happened during that football match, what those two did."
Hearing this, both Dev and Zaid realized that what had happened earlier was indeed something worth worrying about. After watching the video, they were already aware that what they did wasn't normal—anyone who saw it would be shocked. Now they both seemed a little more serious about the matter. Suddenly, Dev remembered something and said to Nidhi, "Nidhi, show me that video again." When everyone heard this, they felt that Dev must've recalled something important.
Nidhi played the video again and handed her phone to Dev. He watched it carefully, and after a while, a slight smile appeared on his face as he said, "I knew it." Everyone gathered around to see what he had noticed. Dev had paused the video at the moment when both he and Zaid suddenly stopped moving. No one else could figure out what he had found there.
Dev then said, "Look closely at Zaid in this video. Doesn't something seem familiar?" No one quite understood what he meant. Abrar looked at Dev and said, "Bro, just say it clearly. Why are you going around in circles like a jalebi?" Dev tried to explain again, "Look carefully at Zaid—how he's standing. This has happened to him before, many times."
Now Abrar and Nidhi also began to understand what Dev was trying to say, but Aman was still confused. He tapped Dev on the shoulder with a smile and said, "Nice one. Now explain it to me too—what exactly has happened before?" Dev realized Aman had just arrived and wouldn't understand without context. So he explained, "This kind of thing often happens to Zaid. But until now, it would only last for a short while—he'd just freeze in place, behave strangely, and then return to normal."
Nidhi added, "But today was different. He didn't just freeze—he almost started flying!" Aman looked at Dev and asked, "But you… you were acting just like him too. Does this happen to you often as well?"
No one really had an answer to that. Dev thought to himself, "He's right… what exactly happened to me at that moment?" Aman looked again at Nidhi's phone and said, "Maybe there's something else no one noticed. Look here—before all this happened, Zaid kept looking toward the edge of the ground. And shortly after that, his behavior suddenly changed."
When Zaid heard that, it triggered a memory. His expression began to change, and a shiver ran through his body as though he had witnessed something terrifying. He remembered that during that time, he saw a man standing just outside the ground with his face covered. Zaid didn't know why, but he felt something strange upon seeing him. He sensed a mysterious energy coming from that man, as if he was being pulled toward him—as if something familiar was calling out to him.
Though the man wasn't even looking directly at him, it felt as if he was searching for Zaid. Slowly, Zaid began feeling changes in his body—his muscles tightened, his breathing grew heavy, and he began losing awareness of his surroundings. He no longer knew what was happening around him. But when Abrar called out to him, everything changed. That drowsiness and weakness turned into strength. It was like electricity surged through his body; he began to feel heat as though a furnace was lit inside him. In an instant, he felt powerful—like he could do anything.
And what happened next was right in front of everyone's eyes.
TO BE CONTINUED...