The hostel corridor was crowded with students and there lively energy. Some were talking to each other while others were heading to their rooms. Aarav ignored them all and started toward his room. He reached his room take out keys of room then opened the door and went inside.
One bed, one cupboard and study table near a window that never opened properly.
The silence inside room felt comfortable for him.
Aarav dropped his bag from shoulders on floor, kicked off his shoes and collapsed on the bed.
His mind filled with memories of—Riya's loud laughter, her bright face, the way she had called his name.
For the first time in years, something had felt… good.
He closed his eyes.
Just a quick nap.
His phone vibrated violently on the bedside table he wake up from nap. He groaned, rubbed his eyes with hands, pick up phone and checked the caller ID.
"Mom"
Aarav's heartbeat tightened.
He swallowed and answered.
"Hello, Maa."
Her voice was warm but tired.
"Aarav beta! How was your first day?"
"It was… fine," he said.
A half-truth. He didn't know how to explain anything.
They talked about classes, food, and hostel rules.
Small talk. Safe talk.
Then his mother said softly, "Wait, your father wants to talk."
Aarav's smile faded instantly.
The phone rustled.
His father's voice came next—deep, stern, sharp around the edges.
"Hm. Studying well? Not wasting time?"
"Yes, Dad."
"Good. Don't fail like you did in eleventh. And eat properly. And don't talk to useless friends."
"Yes, Dad."
His father always talked in order.
Never in emotions.
After the call ended he put phone on the table and collapsed on the bed he stared at the ceiling for a long moment.
His parents didn't hate each other...but they didn't love either.
Cold arguments…
sharp silences…
doors closing…
voices rising…
and Aarav stuck between them for years.
Every call with them triggered something dark inside him.
He kept the phone aside and lay down again.
Sleep pulled him in abruptly.
Darkness.
Complete, suffocating darkness.
Aarav was standing in an empty void.
Cold wind brushed his neck.
Then—
a figure appeared
a tall shadow, the shape of a man but the outlines shifting like smoke.
It spoke.
Not in words—
in sounds.
Hissing.
Muttering.
Whispers layered over whispers.
Aarav clutched his ears.
"Stop… just stop…"
But the whispering grew louder and sharper it's feel like drilling into his skull.
The shadows multiplied.
Five.
Ten.
Twenty.
All whispering.
All staring at him without eyes.
He ran.
He didn't know where or why—
but he ran.
The ground behind him began collapsing, chunks of darkness falling into a bottomless pit.
The world itself was breaking.
Aarav sprinted faster.
His breath burned.
His chest screamed.
He reached a dead end—
a huge black wall in front of him.
"No… no… I can't—"
He turned.
The ground was whole again.
Silent.
Empty.
Too empty.
Then—
STAB!
A cold blade pierced his stomach.
Aarav gasped.
Blood poured warm down his shirt.
He saw no attacker…
just knives appearing out of the darkness, stabbing him from every direction.
Once.
Twice.
A dozen times.
His screams were swallowed by the void.
The last knife slid into his heart.
Everything went black.
Aarav shot up from the bed, gasping as if he had drowned. His shirt was wet from sweat and hands were trembled uncontrollably.
He touched his stomach—
no wounds, no blood.
Just pain.
Phantom pain.
He felt uneasy, every breath a struggle and his heart racing beyond control.
This dream wasn't new.
He had been getting these nightmares for years…
…and they always came after talking to his parents.
He leaned back against the wall.
His breath steadied, but his mind didn't.
Something in that dream…
something in that shadow…
felt real this time.
Like it was trying to tell him something.
Like it wasn't just a dream.
Aarav wiped his face with trembling fingers.
He whispered to no one—
"Why can't these dreams just leave me alone?"
His eyes filled with tears and say "I also want to live like others happy, talking others without any nervousness..." He stop saying anymore words because he knows this not going to happen in real life.
Outside, a cold wind blew against the window.
Inside his mind, something whispered back to him.