Chapter 2 : Apocalypse desends

After two hours of drive, they arrived at the hill station. The driver took his money and left. He had to go home now since it was late.

"... Wy?.. "

".... Hoooww cowld yu?... "

Currently, on this high vantage point on the hill, Bittu was on top of the grass, drinking his second bottle of alcohol as he spoke incomprehensible words, gazing at the moon and the stars in the sky.

The moon like a celestial lantern, casts a silvery glow that gently bathes the surroundings. Countless stars emerge, piercing through the darkness with their radiant brilliance, creating an enchanting celestial tapestry.

From the high vantage point on the hill, the city below glitters like a sea of diamonds, each building adorned with twinkling lights that paint a luminous mosaic. The urban landscape, a sprawling canvas of warm hues, contrasting with the deep, velvety sky above.

Together, the city lights and the celestial luminosity weave a captivating tableau, merging the earthly glow with the cosmic dance overhead.

But, his condition made it so that he couldn't enjoy this beautiful sight. He was being drowned by agony.

Just like that, Bittu drank until midnight before he fell asleep, intoxicated.

************

".... No..... "

".... Please don't do this to me..... "

"..... Aisha, I really love you. I can do anything for you. "

"... No, don't say that. Don't leave me. "

".... AISHA!!!"

With a face full of despair and devastation, Bittu, with his hand in the air, woke up as he shouted.

He opened his eyes to see no one beside him, only the bright sun and the blue sky.

".... A... Nightmare.... "

He panted with sweat all over his body.

".... Huff.... Huff.... Argh... "

Bittu took deep breaths to calm himself down from the nightmare he just had, when suddenly he had a severe headache. He used his hand to massage his head, but that didn't help.

As his head ached, Bittu gradually remembered what happened last night at the wedding.

His eyes, that had a little shine in them just now because of waking up, dimmed completely as he remembered the events that happened yesterday.

"..... It was the truth... "

He stood up as he walked towards the edge of the cliff.

".... The nightmare was true.... "

He arrived at the cliff and gazed down the vantage point, looking at the massive stones below from the height he was at.

".... She doesn't love me.... "

Bittu kept muttering this as he gazed at the deadly sight below. He was about to jump down to erase his pain, but stopped as fear gripped his heart.

But remembering all he had suffered, he mocked himself as he jumped down the cliff, this time without hesitation. He was ready to die because there was no point in continuing living.

You may think this was an excessive reaction even though his love rejected him, but if you knew what he had gone through, you would probably do the same too.

Let me help you understand.

Imagine a family of five: your father, mother, you, a big sister and a big brother. They all show love to you and care for you.

You have aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends that have a good impression of you.

Imagine having massive talent in all the things you do. Even though you couldn't be the best, you could certainly be better than most at that thing.

Imagine, you being given gifts that all other wants by your relatives.

A dream family, isn't it? Anyone would envy someone who has all these things, and as a matter of fact, they do. Why? Because Bittu has all of this.

Then, you may ask? Where's the suffering? Wait a minute, have patience. I am getting at it.

Now imagine,

Your parents love you but never show it with a hug or a kiss. They don't even give you encouragement or a single compliment; they don't have time to spend on you. In short, no parental warmth.

Your brothers and sister, like all the other fights with you all the time, but being the smallest, you should win at last, right? Why? because parents dote on the youngest but what if there're no parents around? Why? Because they are at work all the time, thus they don't have time for you. Not even a quarter of an hour.

But, they had time for your brother and sister because in those times woman didn't use to work so, mother was the best but having no one to talk to, you take a beating and silently cried, with no one to console you. Seeing you cry, you are further bullied by your elders.

Now, uncles and aunties, even though they have a good impression of you, they would obviously criticize you in front of your parents whenever you make a mistake. As a result, your parents have no trust in your performance and have less liking towards you. More so when they praise the older one because he can now help earn money but the youngest, nothing but a liability. So, how could you like someone who is nothing but a liability and even bring complaints from their relatives?

Imagine doing your best to be good at all the things your parents, your teachers, your relatives throw at you and you, against all odds, come out on top of them all. But you still get a beating. Why? Because even if you did your best, you couldn't even exceed in one particular thing and be at the top. How can you take care of them when they grow up? Where could you earn money and live a life?

On occasions, everyone brings a gift for you but, those gifts are actually not for you but for your parents and the house. You get absolutely nothing and even if there is something for you; they are snatched by your elder brother and sister.

Because of all this, you become shy, submissive and introverted, having fewer friends even outside. So, you can't even share your problems.

Now, even after all this, imagine smiling even though you couldn't find genuine love and warmth from the ones that were supposed to be your closest. You smile, why?

Because you believe that one day you will have someone who will provide you with what you are longing for all this while; Love, care, acknowledgement, and warmth. Who else could provide all this to you other than your wife?

But, the last of your hope, the only one who you thought could provide you with warmth in this storm of darkness, your supposed to be wife confesses that she doesn't love you but another man who happens to be your so-called friend right before you and the whole world.

Now, I ask you? What would you do?

Bittu's decision was to end his suffering. He no longer had anything in this world left to be alive for.

As the gravity pulls Bittu just as anything else, Bittu falls down with silent tears coming out of his eyes.

In the last moment of his life, all the things that Bittu has done till now, all the choices that he had chosen in his life till now, flashed before his eyes. Some made his facial muscles relax a little while other brought nothing but pain and suffering.

A while later, Bittu's body was just a cm away from hitting the deadly rock and a second later it did. His head was the first to hit the rock and blood was flowing out of it.

The next to hit was his leg, but before it could, the world froze!

As Bittu plummets towards the unforgiving rocks below, a surreal transformation unfolded in the broad daylight. The sun, once casting its warm rays upon the hill, now stood suspended in the azure sky, its brilliance arrested in a perpetual midday glow. The usual sounds of nature–the rustling leaves, chirping birds, and distant whispers of the wind–were abruptly silenced, creating an uncanny stillness that permeated the surroundings. Bittu's descent was abruptly halted, and his body froze in a perpetual state of free fall, with the sun's rays creating an ethereal spotlight on his suspended form.

The vibrant colors of the hill station were crystallized in a tableau of frozen motion during this surreal daytime stasis. Blades of grass stood still, mid-bend in the wind that no longer whispered. The city below, usually bustling with life, became a frozen mosaic of stillness. Bittu's outstretched leg, reaching towards the impending collision, halted in a haunting pause. The stones, frozen in their trajectory, hang poised as spectral witnesses to an interrupted tragedy. As time itself appears to grind to a halt, the weight of Bittu's impending fate lingers in the daylight, encapsulating the raw emotion etched on his face within the surreal suspension of this moment.

The freezing has affected not only him but also the whole world.

Even though everything has frozen, Bittu's mind has not, nor only Bittu's, but every living being's mind was still conscious at this moment, be they animals or humans.

All of them were panicking at the moment,

'... What.... happened..?'

'... What's going on...?

'... I can't move my body...? '

'... Ahh... Help.. Help.... '

'.... Ghost.... Ghost... Please help.... '

'... Rawr.... Crisp.... Meow..... Bark.... '

...

'... What is this?'

'Is this what it feels like before death? ', Bittu asked to no one in particular, not regretting the fate he himself has chosen.

'... Will the grim reaper now come to take me? ', thought Bittu as he tried to look around but to no avail. He couldn't even move a little, not even his eyes. He was just waiting so that he could leave this world.

He had this thought because being an introvert having nothing else to do in his resting period. Bittu used to read novels to pass his time.

This was also the thing that made him smile in those moments and the reason for having expectations from his wife. He hoped to have a wife like the ones in the novel. But, alas, that didn't happen.

As Bittu's thoughts continued, suddenly a green screen appeared in front of him. Bittu was startled and frightened seeing this randomly appear in front of him.

But a second later, slight excitement found its way in Bittu's eyes, despite his agony and sadness.

'.... A system?... ', Bittu thought with surprise.

'... Could it be that, finally time has come for me to be happy...? ', Bittu thought with some hope.

Maybe, just maybe, god has not abandoned him and he could feel love in a different world. He thought like this because of the things he read in novels.

Why?

[Planet Earth has been exposed to the realm of the Eternal Nexus.]

Because this was what Bittu saw before his eyes.