Location: Kolkata, IndiaDate: September 19, 2029Time: 11:57 PM
The rope didn't creak.It just swayed — gently, almost respectfully.
Yash stood beneath it, barefoot, arms loose at his side. The ceiling fan above groaned slightly as wind pushed in through the broken windows. It smelled like smoke.
In the distance, the power grid had collapsed again.Somewhere, dogs barked like they'd seen ghosts.
Yash had no final words.No prayers.No audience.
Just the silent thought:
"I will die like they did — with nothing, and no sound."
He stepped up onto the chair.
A flicker of hesitation.
Then he heard the thunder.
Not the kind that rolls through the clouds — this was… wrong.
It sounded like metal tearing, like screaming air.The sky outside pulsed red.
He paused.
The rope itched against his neck.
The fan above him began spinning — not fast, but… wild.Unnatural.
He looked out the window.
Above Kolkata's ruined skyline, a crack had formed.Not in a cloud — but in space itself.
A red rift. A jagged wound across the heavens.
From it, something massive and shapeless began to descend. Not a spaceship. Not a creature. A presence. Like the sky was giving birth to darkness.
Streetlights flickered.Flames erupted in distant towers.And then came the sound:
A scream that wasn't made for human ears.
Yash stumbled back from the rope.The chair tipped.He hit the floor hard.
His breath came ragged, cold sweat trailing down his spine.
Outside, the city began to burn.
People screamed.
Not in panic — in horror.
Creatures crawled from the breach — eyeless, limbed wrong, dripping black fluid. They weren't demons. They weren't animals. They were… errors.
Things that shouldn't exist.
Yash crawled to the window, saw a building collapse under one of them. A slum went up in flames. A police car was sliced in half like paper.
This wasn't war.This was erasure.
But then, something strange happened.
Yash felt… warm.
Not outside — inside his chest. A flicker of heat. A small pulse on his back. He pulled his shirt away and saw a strange mark — something ancient, burned into his skin, glowing faint red.
"You will not die today."
"You will rise."
The voice again.
Same as yesterday.Same as the rooftop.
It echoed inside his bones.
His heartbeat slowed.Breath deepened.Eyes widened.
The room felt alive. The walls hummed. The air became heavier.
He walked toward the window again. This time, without fear.
Outside, one of the creatures spotted him.It leapt — all teeth and shadow.
Yash didn't move.
Just before it reached him…A ring of ash exploded from his body.
The monster shattered mid-air — turned to black smoke.
The mark on Yash's back burned brighter. His hair began to lighten — white strands appearing like snowfall. His eyes, once dull and broken, turned pale… glowing faint silver.
Something inside him had awakened.
Not power.Not revenge.
A purpose.