The first sign that something was wrong came on a Tuesday.
Aarav was walking to the music room after school when he felt it.
A presence.
Not a thought—he had learned to filter those—but something else. Something watching.
He stopped in the middle of the hallway.
Listened.
"—he's going to the third floor again—"
"—she's waiting for him—"
"—we need to move soon—"
Aarav's blood ran cold.
The thoughts weren't coming from a student. They were coming from outside the building. From the street. From someone sitting in a car, watching the school.
He ran to the window.
A black sedan was parked across the street. No logos. No markings. Dark tinted windows.
He couldn't see inside.
But he could feel the mind behind the glass.
Cold. Focused. Hungry.
"Aarav?"
He turned.
Kavya was standing at the end of the hallway, her bag in her hand, her face worried.
"There's someone outside," he said.
Her face went pale.
"Describe them."
"I can't see them. But I can feel them. They're watching the school."
"How long?"
"I don't know. I just noticed."
She walked to the window. Looked down at the black sedan. Her hands were shaking.
"They found me," she whispered.
"We don't know that—"
"They found me, Aarav. They always find me."
"We need to leave. Now."
"There's no point. They'll just follow."
"Then we lose them."
"How?"
He grabbed her hand.
"I can read minds, remember? I'll know where they're going before they do."
She looked at him. For a moment, he saw the fear behind her eyes—real, deep, bone-tired fear.
Then she nodded.
"Okay."
They left through the back gate.
Aarav led the way, his ability stretched to its limit, reading every mind within a hundred meters. The sedan didn't move. The watcher's thoughts were focused on the front entrance, waiting for Kavya to appear.
He didn't know they had already left.
"Left," Aarav said. "Now."
They ran.
They ended up at a small chai stall three blocks away, hidden behind a cluster of market stalls and parked auto-rickshaws.
Kavya was breathing hard. Her face was flushed.
"How did you know they were there?" she asked.
"I felt them. Like... a cold spot in my mind."
"That's what it feels like when someone's hunting you. They project intention. Purpose. You can learn to recognize it."
"How do you survive this?"
She looked at him.
"Barely."
They sat in silence for a while, drinking chai from small clay cups.
"The sedan's gone," Aarav said finally. "Whoever it was... they left."
"They'll be back."
"Then we'll be ready."
Kavya shook her head. "You don't understand. They're patient. They'll watch. Wait. Learn our patterns. And then one day, when we least expect it..."
"They'll take you."
"Yes."
Aarav set down his cup.
"Then we don't give them patterns."
"What do you mean?"
"From now on, we change everything. When we meet. Where we go. How we communicate. We make ourselves unpredictable."
Kavya stared at him.
"That's... actually smart."
"I have my moments."
She almost smiled.
Almost.