The first thing that went wrong… was the sky.
It didn't rain.
It cracked.
Ayan noticed it while half-asleep in class, his pen lazily scratching nothing on his notebook. A faint crrrk sound echoed outside—like glass being dragged across stone.
He frowned and looked up.
The clouds weren't moving.
They were… splitting.
A thin, glowing line tore across the sky, spreading like a wound. Purple light leaked through it, flickering like something on the other side was trying to force its way in.
"Uh… sir?" someone muttered.
Too late.
The windows exploded inward.
---
Everything happened too fast.
Screams. Wind. Desks flipping.
Ayan hit the floor hard, ears ringing. When he looked up—
Something was inside the classroom.
Not human.
Not even close.
It stood crooked, like its body didn't understand gravity. Long arms dragged across the floor, fingers too many, too sharp. Its head tilted… then snapped toward him.
Glowing red eyes.
Ayan's body locked.
"RUN!" someone shouted.
That broke the spell.
Students rushed for the door, shoving, tripping, crying. Ayan grabbed his bag without thinking and followed—but as he reached the hallway, he realized something worse.
There were more of them.
Everywhere.
---
Grimvale Academy wasn't just under attack.
It was being hunted.
Creatures dropped from ceilings, crawled across walls, burst through doors. Teachers tried to fight back—spells lit up the corridors—but the demons didn't die.
They took.
That's what Ayan noticed.
Every time one grabbed a student… they vanished.
No blood. No bodies.
Just gone.
"What the hell is happening…?" he whispered, backing away.
"Ayan!"
He turned.
And there she was.
Aditi.
Standing at the end of the corridor, breathing hard, clutching her arm where blood stained her sleeve—but still standing strong. Still looking like she refused to break.
Even now… she looked incredible.
Idiot, he thought. This is not the time.
"Ayan, we need to—"
The floor beneath them shook violently.
A deep roar echoed through the entire academy—not from any one direction, but from everywhere at once.
And then…
Silence.
---
All the demons stopped.
Every single one.
They froze like statues.
Ayan felt it before he saw it.
Something bigger had arrived.
Something that made everything else look small.
The air grew heavy. Hard to breathe. Like the world itself was pressing down on him.
A shadow formed above the courtyard, spreading unnaturally wide.
Then it moved.
A massive hand—black as night, veins glowing faint purple—reached down from the torn sky.
Students screamed.
Some tried to run.
Didn't matter.
The hand chose.
One by one—no, faster than that—all at once—shadows shot out, wrapping around every student in sight.
Including Aditi.
"No—!" Ayan sprinted toward her.
She struggled, trying to break free. "Ayan—don't come closer!"
Like he was going to listen to that.
He grabbed her wrist.
For one second—
He actually thought he could pull her back.
Their eyes met.
Fear. Anger. And something softer.
Something unspoken.
"Ayan…" she whispered.
Then the shadow tightened.
And she was ripped away from him.
Gone.
---
The sky sealed itself.
Just like that.
No storm.
No demons.
No noise.
Grimvale stood untouched.
Except it wasn't.
Because everyone was gone.
Everyone.
Except him.
---
Ayan stood alone in the courtyard, chest heaving, fingers still clenched like he could hold onto something that wasn't there anymore.
"This… this isn't real…"
But it was.
He ran.
Through classrooms. Dorms. Hallways.
"HELLO?!"
No answer.
"ANYONE?!"
Nothing.
His footsteps echoed back at him like a joke.
Until—
He reached the Headmaster's office.
The door was open.
That alone was wrong.
Inside, everything was wrecked. Books torn apart, furniture shattered—but in the middle of the room…
Something pulsed.
A book.
Not glowing brightly.
Breathing.
Like it was alive.
Ayan stared at it.
"…seriously?"
Out of everything happening, this is what he gets?
But still… he stepped forward.
Because what else was he supposed to do?
He touched it.
---
Pain.
Not physical.
Worse.
His mind exploded with images—
A burning world beneath the ground.
Chains stretching endlessly.
Students trapped… screaming… fighting…
Aditi.
Alive.
Calling out—
Not for help.
For him.
Ayan gasped, stumbling back.
"They're not dead…"
His fear twisted into something sharp. Focused.
Dangerous.
"They took them."
Silence.
Then he laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because something inside him snapped into place.
"Okay."
He wiped his face, breathing steady now.
"Okay… fine."
He picked up the book.
"I don't know what this is."
His grip tightened.
"I don't know how strong they are."
A pause.
Then, with a quiet, burning certainty—
"But they made one mistake."
His eyes lifted.
"They left me behind."
---
And for the first time since the sky broke—
Ayan wasn't scared anymore.
End of Chapter 1