Act 1.2 Black Lotus

The sound of the alarm clock broke the quiet in Ashay's room. But instead of turning it off, Ashay kept staring at the clock on his table, without a trace of emotion on his face.

Every time he would wake up from the nightmare, unable to sleep back, Ashay would pick up a book, half-minded or trying to complete a freelance job he had commissioned.

Turning the alarm off, he stood up from the chair with a small sigh and began to prepare for college. Even after that message on the mirror, Ashay wasn't dumb enough to be absent on his exam day.

With only three members in his family—his father, his elder brother, and him—things weren't very organized or going well. Due to economic problems, Ashay now has to do part-time jobs to meet his needs.

Only a few months ago, he used to be a very bright student. Straight A in all subjects, participating in all sorts of events and festivals, he was probably the most popular guy in the university. But things soon changed after his brother's illness.

Ashay had no memory of his mother; for him, it was his father who had been playing the role of both his parents as long as he knew. But with increasing financial problems, it was becoming a burden on the old man's body.

Getting ready, he walked out, locking the room behind him. He walked down the stairs, his eyes locked up on the picture frame of a woman hanging on the wall.

He went straight to the kitchen and picked up his share of bread. He locked the main door, looking at the old house with a sense of nostalgia.

"I am leaving!" He said this to the empty house and hurried towards the bus stop. In the ever moving time, it didn't matter how stressed or depressed he was or how many problems he was facing.

If he stopped moving, the world would move without him. This was the fact Ashay had accepted long ago. He took the bus, not getting a seat again. He looked outside the window while radio played behind.

[[Even when there is no warm sun in the sky, the cool breeze is always there to make us feel fresh.]

[[Life, too, is like a cold breeze, flowing, shapeless, and directionless, pushing everything along with it until the breeze stops, leaving only a sensation. A feeling about it, until it is replaced by another.]]

The bus stopped, and Ashay stepped off to the crowded street. As soon as he stepped off the vehicle, he heard a sound calling him from afar.

"Ashli!!" A cheerful voice greeted him, followed by a strong pat on the back, which almost made him cough up a few organs. "It's good to see you back in the land of living. You were absent for so long that I almost sent a search party for you!"

Ashay side glanced, making a face. "Just 10 more newtons of force, and that slap could've put me out of my misery for good."

"Not to mention, this is not the land of living. It's the land of maniacs."

"Say as much as you want, but this land of maniacs is at least a hundred times better than your solace of coffin," Jay claimed, walking carelessly alongside Ashay. "Ash, my brother, life is like a centipede reptile, unorganized, flabbergasted goldfish."

"That doesn't make sense," Ashay was dumbfounded.

"EXACTLY!" Jay said with a cheerful smile before he waved his hands, parting ways, "Whoever gets the least marks owes a treat to the other; it's a challenge."

Every introverted guy has that one outrageously extroverted friend, and for Ashay, that friend was Jay. He somehow tracked him down in middle school and has been haunting his lonely life since then. It turns out they ended up in the same high school as well as the same university; his only relief was that at least they weren't in the same branch.

Ashay entered the department building. He looked around at his classmates; some he remembered from the past, while others were unfamiliar. Nonetheless, he was the most composed person in the stressful pre-exam situation.

He just stood there in the hall, alone, as if he didn't exist. People either didn't notice him or simply weren't bothered by his existence— except for one.

"Ashay Kataria!" A loud voice echoed through the corridor, silencing all the voices in the hall. Ashay's expressions deepened as he looked at the figure walking towards him.

"How dare you finally show up at the university after utterly messing up your mid-semester exams?" An old man spoke in a frustrated tone, "How many assignments are you doing this semester? Three out of 12?"

Ashay looked around; suddenly he had become the center of attention. He looked down in an apologetic gesture, "It's not that, sir." He barely mumbled a few words, knowing it would be of no use.

As of this moment, Ashay was facing one of the most furious, nasty, and intimidating lecturers in the history of his college and a close friend of his father, none other than Professor Shah.

"I referred you for a scholarship, thinking you would do something good in your academic career coming from your background, and now look at you!" He remarked in a low tone, almost hushed, but the pin-drop silence in the hall made it audible to everyone: "Just look at your grades now, for someone who entered college with the highest marks, and now you are barely passing."

[Ding-dong! Please pay attention. The exam is slated to start in twenty minutes. It is expected of the students to use their roll numbers to locate their assigned seats. Wishing you luck in this endeavor.]

'Tsk..' Professor Shah chuckled slightly as he listened to the announcement, his frown softening slightly. "Meet me in the faculty room after your examinations. Have good luck."

Apathetic, Ashay headed for the exam hall for the first paper. Opposite to what he expected , the paper was relatively good, or, to put it simply, he won't fail the exams. While the second paper was after the lunch break.

The weather was constantly getting gloomy; with falling evenings, it was getting dark as night. The academic building was filled with chaos of exams. He was also caught up in it.

The second paper started with Ashay occupying his seat. He prayed to all gods before turning the question paper. And only one sentence escaped his lips: "I fucked up. Big time."

The rushing through pages filled the room. Ashay too began to write, at least what he could come up with in that situation. The weight of exams slowly began taking a toll on his body, like a domino effect triggered one event after another.

Beads of sweat formed on his head; he could feel the somewhat growling in his stomach. It was late evening, the last thirty minutes left in the exams, when Ashay's breathing began to grow heavier.

It was that when he realized the thing happening with him wasn't just exam stress. His ears slowly began ringing, dominating all sounds except for the ring. His vision began to get blurry, as if someone was constantly increasing the brightness around him.

A stinging sensation was felt through his head, like someone was pinning a nail in his head, one strike at a second. Before Ashay could realize it, he was completely out of consciousness; similar to those dreams, blurry and distorted images began to flash in his eyes.

A woman carrying a child. A village set on fire. And people were burning, pleading for help.

"Run, run, run away... Run away.. Run away!" A slow hushing female, demonic, sound whispered in his ears. Not once or twice but countless times. It all happened within a second, and the next second, everything was replaced with the sound of a buzzing siren.

Ashay was drenched in sweat, huffing restlessly; he looked around, the students running in all directions. It was the fire-alarm constantly ringing. Ashay was too disoriented to figure things out.

He too stood up, leaving his paper, and ran out of the classroom, heading with the crowd. The loud talking sounds made it evident that something had happened.

The sound became louder with the closer he got to the ground floor. He could see students gathered in the courtyard, looking up at something, but he didn't know what. The uneasiness in him grew more; he rushed through the crowd in the courtyard.

Following everyone's gaze to look at the top of the third floor of the building. A girl, hanging with many iron rods that had been impaled through her body and the wall.

"What in the world..." Ashay's voice trembled once again; this was something straight out of his nightmare, but the crowd made it too evident that it was real.

The hanging girl, the impaling rods and the words formed on the wall from the blood that leaked from her body. It spelled.

"FOUND YOU"

Like a demon, standing atop everything, pointing its finger towards Ashay. His heart skipped a beat, and the whispering voice began sounding in his head again.

"Run, run away, run away!" Ashay didn't hesitate to turn around, but before he could take a single step, the lights abruptly cut off. The sound of a siren stopped, and the courtyard was filled with darkness, deeper than a moonless night.

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"It began with your first breath..."