"I am going to search for him," Nex's father moved toward the main gate.
"No, you can't." Rudra stood in front of the closed gate.
"Move, I gotta go find him, he might—" The father's voice broke as he stepped forward and put his hand on Rudra's shoulder, trying to move him aside.
"You can't. Bhaiya said to not let anyone go out, no matter what happens…" Rudra said, shaking the hand off his shoulder.
"You have to believe in him, and you can't go out at such a time." Nex's uncle came from behind, placing his hand on the father's shoulder.
"Why did he say something like that?" the father questioned himself, his voice trembling.
bang, bang
A faint sound echoed in the distance—gunshots.
Nex's father lost his strength and fell to his knees.
He covered his face with his hands. "What am I supposed to do then… what if something happens to him…"
---
The forest grew darker with every passing minute as Nex navigated his way through it slowly.
"Aghh… I can't seem to get anywhere. It all seems the same." Nex dragged his feet as he moved forward.
His body was in bad condition, but time showed him no mercy. As darkness approached, the forest fell silent, with only faint sounds of insects barely audible.
"I have to find some place to stay for the night." He looked around, but only large trees met his gaze.
In the silence, a roar echoed through the forest—a sound as loud as thunder in a storm—sending shivers down his spine.
"I don't wanna know what that is." His legs trembled, but he forced them to move in the opposite direction of the sound.
Soon, a crescent moon rose over the horizon, its soft moonlight filtering through the trees.
It would be a lie to say that the moonlight let him see everything in the dark, but it was still better than complete darkness.
After walking for another hour, Nex stopped. He stared into the distance—a wall, faintly visible as moonlight reflected off it.
He was too focused on the wall to think about anything else. He walked closer and found his way to a locked door.
Nex looked around the building, found a stone slightly bigger than his palm, and struck the lock repeatedly until it broke and the door opened.
After entering, he closed the door from inside.
"Huff… Now I can rest." He took a deep breath and sat on the cold tiled ground, legs spread, his back leaning against the door.
'What do I do now… I have to contact them, or they might venture out to find me.' Nex stared into the dark room.
The room was empty and dark, the only source of light being two broken windows through which moonlight seeped in.
"I think I am scared," he mumbled, his voice rough and dry.
Cold wind slipped through the broken parts of the windows.
'What was Anvit talking about?' Nex rubbed his hands together.
'Zero… did something happen to him? Wait… I didn't see him when I teleported everyone… did he—' Nex placed his hands on his head, just above his eyes.
Memories of Anvit blaming him raged through his mind like a storm, 'Was that because of me… if only I hadn't gone out… because of my selfish curiosity…'
He lay on the floor, shoving his head between his palms.
'Maybe it was all my fault… if I hadn't agreed to teleport everyone, this all wouldn't have happened…'
The night passed as he kept thinking about the day.
Sunlight entered the room through the windows, telling Nex that morning had arrived.
Nex stood up from the ground. There was faint darkness under his eyes, yet he gazed around the room.
The dark room was now filled with light but was still empty. The white walls were a little brownish due to dust. There were two broken tubelights on the ceiling with wires hung at the center of the ceiling.
Nex opened the door, the morning wind brushed his face lightly as he moved out to explore the empty building.
There were several rooms but they were all in a similar condition as the first one.
Outside the building, he saw a small, old road connected to the building with numerous cracks and potholes here and there.
"How did I not see this last night?" He walked towards the road, scanning the surrounding area.
He looked back at the building once, then looked at the road ahead. "This road might lead me somewhere..."
He hesitated for a moment but then decided to walk it. He walked carefully, avoiding the cracks and holes.
'That pill... What was that?' The memory of the men in black suits he saw at the school flashed into his mind.
Actually, he had gone to the school that evening after that incident with Mayank and found the pill lying where the man with the invisible ability was standing.
"How did those guys make such—"
'Baam.'
He didn't notice a crack and fell to the ground on his face.
He brought his hands in front, protecting his face. 'Aghh, focus.'
He stood up slowly and continued walking, dismissing any and all thoughts that came to his mind.
He kept walking, looking around him. "Maybe it's okay to be alone like this."
Time passed like a storm, and soon the sun was at his head, yet he kept walking, ignoring the small growls from his stomach.
But his wait wasn't long. Soon he saw some fields. He walked forward to see three houses around 20 meters away from each other.
A small light of hope glistened in his eyes as he moved towards them.
The fields were a bit lower than the road, looking like they were just sown, connected to the road by a worn-down path.
Nex got off the road and walked to the path, constantly gazing around for someone.
His eyes stopped at the edge of a field to the left of the path—an old man stood there watching over the fields, not noticing Nex.
Nex let out a slow sigh, relaxing his muscles. 'Finally.'
He moved towards the old man. The old man seemed to notice him as he approached, frowning as he looked at Nex in confusion.
"Can I get some water?" Nex looked at the old man.
The old man hesitantly took a step back but then walked to a nearby tree, picked up a bottle, and returned, handing it to Nex.
Nex chugged down the water without realizing it only stopping when the bottle was empty.
The old man stared at Nex. Hesitant to speak, he tried saying something but stopped himself after seeing his condition.
Nex noticed the man's hesitation. "Sorry for my behavior. I somehow got lost in the forest and ended up here after following the road. Can I please use your phone?"
The man released his tensed shoulders and sighed. "No need to be sorry. It's just that people rarely come here."
"Here." He took a keypad phone out of his pocket and handed it to Nex. "But you won't get network here."
He pointed at the road Nex had just come down from. "There, you might be able to use it."
Nex nodded and walked to the road. He looked at the phone after reaching it, then clicked the buttons in a rush.
Nex tried two to three times before the call was picked up.
"He… hello," he said in a soft tone, almost inaudible.
On the other side, tears flowed from his mother's eyes. "Ne… Nex… are you okay?" Words hardly left her dry throat.
His father, who had been sitting on a chair with empty eyes, suddenly stood up upon hearing his name and rushed toward his mother, speaking without pause.
"Nex? Is it Nex? Is he safe? Where is he?"
Nex wanted to cry, but he held back his emotions like he always did.
"I… I am safe. I got lost, but I'm staying at someone's house."
Nex's mother stammered, her heartbeat spiking for a moment.
"Wh… what do you mean lost? Where are you…?"
Nex hesitated a bit but continued.
"Don't worry, I'm safe. I will return soon."
His mother's heartbeat relaxed slightly after hearing that, but a sense of unease remained.
"What—"
The call was cut in between.
"Is the network gone?" Nex checked the phone. There was no network now.
He let out a weak breath, then looked up at the sky and stared at the moving clouds for some time.
He returned to the old man and handed him the phone.
"Would it be okay if I sit there for some time?" he asked, pointing at some stones at the other end of the field.
"Umm… you can… but are you okay? Do you want anything else?" the old man asked, looking at Narayan's shaking fingers.
"No, it's fine." He then walked toward the place and sat on a big flat stone.
'I think I should have said thanks. Uhh… why can't I talk properly to others?'
He slapped his cheeks lightly.
'No. Don't think about what you've already done.'
He closed his eyes for some time, listening to the sound of the trees as the wind passed through them, a cold breeze brushing his face.
'I don't think they'll worry much now, but I have to get back as fast as I can.'
Then something clicked in his mind—something he had forgotten.
"Yeah… how could I forget this? It was in front of me as soon as I woke up, but I didn't have time to look at it."
"Status window," he said in a calm tone.
The blue, shimmering window appeared in front of him. It wasn't much different—yet it was.
"Now let's see… yeah, this."
[ Status Window ]
[ Title: The Little Observer ]
To be continued…