Scarlet Silence

Chapter 1: The Message That Changed Everything It was 2:13 AM. The world outside slept in peace, but inside her mind, storms raged. Anaya stared at her cracked phone screen, the glowing message tearing through her heart like lightning. "I know your truth." That was all it said. No name. No sender. Just silence. Scarlet silence. She sat on the edge of her bed, her breath shallow, fingers trembling. The city lights flickered through the dusty windows, casting ghostly shadows on the walls. Her past—once buried six feet under her smile—was now knocking again. But this time, it wasn’t guilt that haunted her. It was him. . Chapter 2: The Boy With No Past The next morning, a new transfer student walked into her college—tall, unreadable eyes, and a tattoo that looked like a heartbeat turning into a dagger. His name? Rivan Khanna. No one knew where he came from. No one dared ask. But as soon as Anaya saw him, her heart forgot how to beat… and her secrets began to whisper again Chapter 3: Between Shadows and Stares "He's in your class now," Priya whispered, nudging Anaya during English Literature. "Creepy but... hot, right?" Anaya gave no reply. Her mind was stuck back in the message. The voice in her head screamed: Don’t get close. But her eyes betrayed her. Every time Rivan looked up, she looked away. Every time she looked up, he was already watching. After class, she found a note in her locker — scrawled in a messy, familiar hand: "You can’t outrun blood, Anaya." Her fingers went cold. She hadn’t told anyone that name. Not since that night. Chapter 4: The Silence Speaks Rain pelted the windows as Anaya walked past the empty library. That’s when she heard it. A piano. Soft, slow, haunting. She peeked through the cracked wooden door and saw him — Rivan — playing like he was pulling music from memory, not sheet. She stepped inside without thinking. "You play?" He didn’t stop. Didn’t look. "Music remembers what people forget," he said. "Even lies. Even names." She froze. "Who told you my name?" she asked. He finally looked up. His eyes weren’t cold. They were burning. "You told me. The night of the fire." And just like that… everything fell apart.