Faint voices echoed like whispers through a thick fog.
Deepak groaned softly, trying to open his eyes. Everything was blurry. He blinked two, three times, struggling to focus. His head throbbed, and his body felt heavy, like he had been crushed under a mountain. Slowly, shapes started forming. Light above him. A fan spinning slowly. And two figures standing nearby voices low, fast, and filled with panic.
"Shit," Kapil whispered, his voice shaking. "He'll kill all of us. That thing... it's not done."
Lalit sounded just as afraid. "What do we do now? How do we stop something like that?"
Deepak forced himself to speak. His throat was dry, but the words came out. "Where... where am I?"
Lalit rushed to his side. "Bro! You're awake! Thank God. You're at home. This is your room, Deepak. We got you out."
Deepak looked around slowly. Yes his room. Posters on the walls. The old desk. The half-open cupboard. It was familiar. Safe. But something didn't feel right.
Kapil stepped closer, trying to calm him. "You're fine now. Everything is okay. You're safe, bro. It's over."
But then Deepak looked at his hand.
The spiral mark.
It was still there.
And it was glowing faintly again soft golden-red light pulsing from the center of his palm. The moment he saw it, everything rushed back to him.
His eyes widened. He gasped.
In a flash, the memories slammed into his brain like a flood: the overturned car... the deafening crash... Lalit bleeding... Kapil kicking the windshield... the shadow with no eyes... its fingers crushing the metal...
And then.
Deepak's mark glowing...
A powerful light bursting out...
He sat up quickly, sweat covering his forehead.
"I saw it," he whispered. "It grabbed Lalit. It tried to pull us into the dark."
He clutched his head.
Images poured in. The car crash wasn't just an accident. It was an attack. The shadow—it had followed them.
Inside the wreck, Kapil had ripped off his seatbelt and kicked at the front windshield with all his strength.
CRACK!
The sound echoed. The glass broke.
Kapil crawled out and immediately turned back, grabbing Lalit and pulling him through the broken window. Blood was everywhere—flowing from Lalit's head and arms. His shirt was torn, soaked in red.
But Deepak was still trapped.
His leg was caught under the broken front seat. He shouted in pain. "I can't move!"
Kapil turned, eyes wide. "Hold on! I'm coming!"
And then...
The shadow returned.
It crawled over the wreckage like a nightmare given form. Its eyeless face turned to Deepak, and it grinned wide, cracking its own jaw unnaturally.
The shadow slammed its fists on the car roof.
The metal groaned under the pressure. The car shook. Flames danced near the leaking oil.
Kapil screamed, trying to pull Deepak free.
Deepak looked at his palm. The spiral mark blazed. The glow intensified.
And suddenly BOOM.
A burst of golden energy exploded from his hand.
The shadow flew backward, screeching, its body thrown like a rag doll.
Kapil yanked Deepak out just in time.
They stumbled, fell to the ground, coughing and crying out in pain.
But the shadow wasn't gone. It was only pushed back.
And now… Deepak was awake.
"Run! Run, RUN!"
Kapil shouted as he and Lalit grabbed Deepak by both arms, helping him stagger forward through the dark, broken landscape. All three of them were injured, bleeding, clothes torn and soaked in mud and rain. Their breaths came in ragged gasps as they sprinted through the jungle ruins, desperate to put distance between themselves and the nightmare chasing them.
Blood streamed down Lalit's forehead, mixing with rain and dirt. Kapil's arm hung limp from a bruised shoulder, and Deepak's shirt was soaked with blood—not all of it his own. The night pulsed around them, filled with whispers and wind that felt alive.
As they ran, Kapil glanced at Deepak and froze for a moment.
"Wait… what the hell?"
Kapil's eyes widened. The gashes on Deepak's chest ones that had been deep just seconds ago were starting to close. Right before his eyes, torn skin knitted together, the blood drying instantly. It was like his body was repairing itself. Healing… magically.
"Your wounds," Kapil gasped, almost stumbling. "They're healing like… by themselves!"
Deepak didn't answer. His head throbbed, and his legs burned with each step, but the pain was numbing now. Something inside him was changing.
"We need a car," Lalit yelled, scanning the dark road ahead. "Or a building anything to hide! That thing won't stop!"
"We're not safe!" Kapil shouted. "It's coming after us!"
Suddenly, Lalit turned to look behind them and stopped dead in his tracks. His legs gave out beneath him and he fell to the wet ground, landing hard.
Kapil and Deepak skidded to a halt. "Lalit!"
They turned and saw his face.
He wasn't just hurt.
He was frozen. His eyes wide. His mouth open but speechless. The fear on his face was not normal it was paralyzing.
Kapil turned to look back.
And then they saw it.
The shadow was no longer a formless blur. It had taken shape. A terrifying, mythic form emerged from the fog a monstrous figure from ancient tales. The illusion melted away like mist, revealing something that had not walked the Earth in thousands of years.
A Rakshasa.
Ten feet tall, black-skinned and bone-armored. Its face was twisted into a grotesque smile, tusks jutting from its mouth, and burning red eyes locked onto them with ancient hatred. Its claws were like swords, its steps heavy enough to crack the ground beneath.
It was a demon straight out of the Ramayana, reborn in nightmare.
"No no no this can't be real," Lalit whispered, crawling backward in horror.
The Rakshasa roared, the sound like thunder laced with a thousand screams. Then it lunged.
They didn't stand a chance.
The Rakshasa slammed its arm into Kapil, sending him flying into a tree with a loud THUD. Lalit tried to scramble away, but the demon grabbed him by the leg and hurled him like a rag doll. Both boys screamed in pain, hitting the ground hard.
Deepak stood his ground, legs shaking, the spiral mark on his palm faintly pulsing.
The Rakshasa turned to him, snarling. It charged.
Deepak barely had time to raise his hand. The creature's claw came down
BOOM!
A sudden pulse of light burst from Deepak's palm, throwing the Rakshasa back several feet. It landed hard, snarling in confusion.
Deepak fell to his knees, breathing hard. The spiral mark on his palm was glowing bright gold now, swirling with strands of fire and light. His whole arm trembled with energy he didn't understand.
Kapil groaned and pushed himself up. "What… was that?"
Deepak looked at his hand. "I… I didn't do it. It just… happened."
The Rakshasa stood again wounded but furious. It let out another roar, shaking the trees.
Lalit coughed, blood on his lips. "If you've got more of that magic now's the time."
But Deepak was already swaying.
The energy had drained him. He was fading.
The Rakshasa stepped forward.
And the spiral pulsed again brighter this time.
Light exploded.
And the world around them tore open.
A glowing ring of spinning light appeared in front of them. A portal. Swirling like a golden storm, pulling at the wind and leaves. It opened in the space between them and the Rakshasa, humming like divine thunder.
"What the ?!" Kapil gasped.
"I don't know what's happening!" Deepak shouted, falling back, eyes wide.
The Rakshasa lunged one final time and grabbed Lalit's arm.
Kapil and Deepak grabbed him back tugging him as the portal began to pull them all in.
And then, everything twisted.
With a sound like reality cracking apart, they were yanked into the light.
The shadow screamed behind them.
And then silence.
They hit the floor with a thud.
Wood. Familiar.
Deepak looked around.
They were back.
In his room.
His bed.
His posters.
But Deepak was unconscious now, collapsed near the foot of his bed, the spiral mark on his palm glowing faintly one last time before flickering out.
Kapil and Lalit stared around them in disbelief.
They had escaped the Rakshasa.
But they had brought something else with them.
Something that wasn't supposed to cross into this world.
Something ancient.
And it wasn't over.
"Deepak! Deepak!"
Kapil's voice echoed in Deepak's ears as his eyes fluttered open. Everything felt blurry, like he had just woken from a strange dream. He blinked two, three times, trying to focus. Shapes sharpened. He saw two familiar faces Kapil and Lalit hovering over him with worry written all over their faces.
"What... happened?" Deepak asked, his voice rough.
"You're awake!" Kapil sighed in relief. "You just zoned out for a while."
Deepak looked around. The soft bed beneath him, the walls, the bookshelf it was his room. He was home.
Lalit nodded. "Yeah, we're back at your house. You passed out after that... after everything."
As Deepak sat up, flashes of memory came back. The accident. The shadow's monstrous form. The fight. The spiral mark on his palm lighting up. A strange power flowing through him.
He looked down at his hands.
No wounds.
No pain.
His body looked... perfectly fine.
Kapil noticed his expression. "See? That's what we were trying to tell you. Your body it healed. I saw it happening when we were running from that thing."
Lalit added, "You were the most injured. Your shirt was torn, there was blood all over... and now it's like nothing ever happened."
Deepak stared at the spiral mark on his palm. It wasn't glowing anymore, but it felt warm like it held something ancient and alive inside.
"I don't understand it," Deepak said slowly. "But... I think this mark did something. It protected me. Protected us."
Kapil looked uneasy. "But at what cost?"
They all fell silent.
Then, the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong.
The sound was sudden and sharp in the quiet room. All three of them froze.
Kapil looked toward the door, tension rising again. "Did you tell anyone we were here?"
Lalit shook his head. "No. No one knows."
Ding-dong.
This time longer. Louder.
Deepak stood up slowly, glancing at both of them. His heart started to race again not from fear, but from instinct. Something didn't feel right.
Kapil whispered, "Don't open it. Not yet."
The silence grew heavy. The air felt thick again, as if the storm outside had followed them home.
Deepak stepped forward, just a little. His hand brushed the doorframe.
And then...
Ding... dong...
One final chime.
They stared at the door, holding their breath.
The screen fades to black.