Chapter 7: Where the Shadows Breathe
991 Words
The hotel doors slid open, and the night of Delhi swallowed them whole.
Meher didn’t look back.
She told herself it was strength.
Not fear.
Not the ache pressing quietly behind her ribs after Aarav’s last words.
Don’t come back.
Kabir’s bike engine started with a low growl. She climbed on without thinking, her hands hovering awkwardly before finally holding the side bar instead of him.
Distance.
She needed distance.
From Aarav.
From confusion.
From the way her heart had reacted to things it shouldn’t.
“Hold tight,” Kabir said over his shoulder.
“I’m fine.”
He didn’t argue.
But when the bike surged forward into traffic, her fingers tightened anyway.
The city lights blurred past them. Wind slapped against her face, cold and sharp, forcing her to stay present.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Kabir hesitated.
Then—
“An old rehabilitation facility. It was shut down months ago.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Why would she be there?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But Aarav bought that property quietly before it closed.”
Her mind raced.
Aarav.
Property.
Secret.
Sister.
Everything was starting to connect in ways she didn’t like.
They rode for nearly twenty minutes, leaving behind the polished city roads and entering a quieter, dimly lit industrial stretch.
Fewer cars.
Fewer people.
More shadows.
Kabir slowed the bike near a rusted gate half-hidden behind overgrown trees.
A faded board hung crookedly:
Shantivan Care Center
The name barely visible under dust and time.
Meher’s throat went dry.
“This place?” she whispered.
Kabir nodded.
“I saw her near that entrance.”
The building stood two floors high, windows dark, paint peeling, silence hanging unnaturally heavy around it.
It didn’t look abandoned.
It looked… paused.
Like something inside had been waiting.
Meher stepped forward.
Her heart pounded so loudly she was sure Kabir could hear it.
“Stay close,” he said quietly.
They slipped through the gate.
The front door wasn’t locked.
That alone made her skin crawl.
Kabir pushed it open slowly.
The hinges creaked loudly in the silence.
Inside, the air smelled stale. Dust floated in thin beams of moonlight slipping through broken windows.
Old chairs.
A reception desk.
Papers scattered across the floor.
It felt like people had left in a hurry.
“Hello?” Meher called out softly.
Her voice echoed.
No reply.
They moved deeper inside.
A corridor stretched ahead.
Rooms on both sides.
Doors half open.
Curtains swaying slightly from the night breeze.
And then—
She heard it.
A faint sound.
Not loud.
Not clear.
But there.
A soft metallic clink.
Meher froze.
Kabir heard it too.
They looked at each other.
“It came from upstairs,” he whispered.
Her pulse spiked.
They climbed the stairs slowly, each step creaking under their weight.
The sound came again.
Closer now.
Meher’s breath turned shallow.
At the end of the hallway upstairs—
One door was closed.
Unlike the others.
Kabir gestured for her to stay back.
But she didn’t.
She walked past him.
And pushed the door open.
The room was dim.
Only a single small lamp glowing in the corner.
And there—
On a bed near the window—
Someone sat.
Thin.
Fragile.
Hair falling over her face.
Wearing a hospital gown.
Meher’s breath stopped.
Her world tilted.
“Aanya…?”
The figure moved slightly.
Slowly lifting her head.
And when their eyes met—
Meher felt the ground disappear beneath her.
It was her.
Not similar.
Not close.
Her.
Same eyes.
Same face.
But hollow.
Empty.
Broken.
“Aanya,” Meher whispered, tears spilling instantly.
She stepped forward.
But Kabir grabbed her arm suddenly.
“Wait.”
She shook him off.
“No!”
She rushed to the bed and dropped to her knees.
“It’s me. Meher. I’m here. I found you.”
Aanya stared at her.
Not recognizing.
Not reacting.
Just… staring.
Then—
She whispered something.
So soft Meher had to lean in.
“They said you wouldn’t come.”
Meher’s heart shattered.
“Who said that?”
Aanya’s eyes shifted toward the door.
Fear flashing across her face.
“They watch,” she whispered.
Kabir turned instantly.
“Who watches?”
And then—
A sound behind them.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Coming down the hallway.
Meher’s blood ran cold.
Kabir stepped in front of her instinctively.
The footsteps stopped at the door.
A shadow stretched across the floor.
And then—
A familiar voice filled the room.
Calm.
Controlled.
Dangerously quiet.
“I told you not to come.”
Meher turned slowly.
And there he was.
Aarav.
Standing in the doorway.
Watching.
Not surprised.
Not angry.
But something far worse.
Disappointed.
Her voice trembled.
“You knew.”
Aarav’s gaze moved from her—
To Aanya—
Then back.
“Yes.”
The word felt like a slap.
“Why?” she demanded, tears falling freely now. “Why would you keep her here?!”
Aarav stepped inside.
Measured steps.
“She’s not here because I wanted her here.”
“Then why is she here?!”
His jaw tightened.
“Because this is the only place she’s safe.”
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Confusing.
Painful.
Meher shook her head.
“This is safe? This place is a nightmare!”
Aarav’s voice dropped lower.
“You don’t know what she was running from.”
Kabir stepped forward.
“Then tell us.”
Aarav’s eyes flickered to him.
Cold.
Sharp.
“You really shouldn’t be here.”
Aanya suddenly grabbed Meher’s wrist tightly.
Her nails digging into her skin.
“They’ll come back,” she whispered urgently. “Before he can stop them.”
Meher’s heart pounded.
“Who will come back?”
Aanya’s lips trembled.
And then she said a name.
A name Meher had never heard before.
A name that made Aarav’s expression change instantly.
For the first time—
He looked alarmed.
- Writer
