The room was quiet, save for the faint hum of the heater kicking on. Ravi had left an hour ago, but his words lingered in the air, weaving through the fragments of my unraveling memories.
Ash.
I couldn’t escape his shadow. Even now, his name carried a weight, a mixture of fear and something else I couldn’t quite name. I stared at the notebook on the table, its leather cover gleaming under the soft light. I hadn’t dared open it again, afraid of what more it might reveal.
But the memories didn’t need the notebook to surface.
They were coming faster now, flooding my mind in vivid flashes. And this time, I didn’t push them away. I let them in.
The forest was dark that night, the moonlight barely piercing the thick canopy above. The air was heavy with the scent of damp earth and pine. I re
