Chapter 5(2): Almost Seen
613 Words
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🌙 Episode 5: Almost Seen
Part 4: The Edge of Knowing
(~2500 words)
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The next morning, Aditi woke up with clarity.
She was tired of waiting. Tired of guessing. Tired of typing out pieces of her heart into an inbox without knowing whose hands would catch it.
So she did something bold.
She opened her story app, scrolled to her notes, and hit record.
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> Aditi (voice note):
“Hi. This isn’t a poem. Or a line dressed like one.
This is just… me.
I don’t know your name. But I know how your words feel. I know how your voice calms me.
I know you’ve seen me when I didn’t see myself.
But now, I want to see you.
No pressure. No drama. Just… honesty.
Tell me who you are. Even if you whisper it. Even if it’s just once.
I think I’m ready now. Are you?”
She hesitated before sending it.
Then she pressed Send.
And waited.
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Hours passed.
Then an audio message arrived.
No name. No text. Just a voice.
She put on her headphones and played it.
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> Male Voice (modulated):
“You’re braver than I am. That hasn’t changed.”
“But I’m not ready yet.
Not because I don’t trust you — but because I’m still becoming the person I want you to meet.”
“The version you know… the one behind the words… he’s not fake. But he’s still in progress.”
“Would you wait a little longer, if I promised the truth would be worth it?”
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Aditi sat quietly, the voice lingering like a warm echo in her room.
She wanted to scream. Cry. Laugh. All at once.
Then she noticed something strange.
The audio file name.
When she saved it by mistake, her phone displayed it as:
“VoiceMemo_7July_RYV”
Her brows furrowed.
RYV? Was it just a random code?
Or...
Rivan Yashvardhan Verma?
She Googled. Checked college alumni lists.
Yes. That was his full name.
Her fingers trembled.
Was this the clue he didn’t mean to leave?
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She messaged @CaffeineAndSilence:
> “Did you accidentally leave your initials in the voice file?”
“Because if you’re Rivan… just tell me.”
Minutes passed.
Then a reply came:
> “No. I didn’t leave my name.”
“That voice note… wasn’t from me.”
Aditi’s chest tightened.
What?
Then who...?
Her phone buzzed again.
> “Be careful. Someone else is watching now.”
“And they want to be you.”
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In a panic, she opened i********:.
Checked @RivanWrites.
The latest post had a caption:
> “Sometimes it’s easier to steal someone’s silence than earn their voice.”
And a quote that wasn’t his.
It was from her diary.
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She called him.
No answer.
She messaged.
No reply.
Suddenly, the line between truth and fiction — between poetry and stalking — blurred.
Had she been played?
Had someone else taken her vulnerability… and twisted it?
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A new message came.
From a second anonymous account.
> “You’re the story now.”
“And I’m the writer.”
She threw her phone down, panic rising in her throat.
This wasn’t a story anymore.
It was a warning.
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She messaged @CaffeineAndSilence again.
> “Please. I need to meet you. In person. Even for one minute. I need to know someone is real in all this.”
This time, the reply came faster.
> “Tomorrow. Library steps. 6 PM.
I’ll be there.
With the diary.”
Her heart stopped.
The diary.
The one that started it all.
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To Be Continued… in Episode 6 🌙
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- Writer
