It was late in the evening.
The moon has taken over the sky as it sheds it gentle and ethereal moonlight onto the streets of the city.
The bustling streetlights all around brightened the night further, just like the handsome gentlemen and pretty ladies that were about to brighten each other's night with their beauty.
However, Bittu had no intention of engaging himself in any of this. He ignored all these people and continued on his way towards his home.
After a while he was before a two story house in the jackal street.
Unlike the bustling, red street just a while ago, this place seemed like a ghost town. People had already closed all their shops and either gone to live the nightlife of the city or were accompanying their families.
Bittu took out his key and opened the front gate. Unlike how one would expect, there was no one behind the door to welcome him.
All that appeared before him was silence.
"..."
This didn't affect Bittu in the slightest. This could be seen from his gaze that was as indifferent as the time he helped that stranger.
His emotions didn't fluctuate in the slightest, just tired after the day's study.
His heavy footsteps echoed in the silence of the house. He dropped his school bag beside the sofa just like always, and moved into his room. But, he frowned when he saw all the mess around the living room.
'Why do people keep visiting when they do nothing but talk nonsense for hours?' His first thought after seeing the mess.
He tried to ignore it for the time being. He would clean it after his rest, but his frown deepened.
He then entered his room.
His room wasn't unique in any way, just like a "normal" student should have.
He had a normal bed, a normal book self and a normal cupboard which had his clothes. A window beside his bed which almost always remained closed.
He opened his cupboard when suddenly something fell from the top of it. This surprised him since he didn't remember putting anything or anyone else putting anything above the cupboard.
His curious eyes landed on the item and when it did, he paused.
"This..."
It was a locket.
The locket appeared to be crafted from some kind of obsidian, its surface swirling with shifting patterns. At its center, rested a strangely shadowy glowing pulse, faintly lighting the intricate patters.
His indifferent eyes that seemed to never break and let out any kind of emotion, appeared surprised and confused.
"Whose locket is this?", He slowly picked up the locked into his hands."... And why does it seem so familiar?"
His fingers traced the locket's swirling patterns, and for a moment, it pulsed with a faint, unearthly glow.
He was sure he has never seen this kind of locket before, not even in books. It might even be an antique from its delicate yet complex design. So, what was it doing in his house?
'No one seems to be interested in such antiques in my family, so, how come?', he couldn't come up with any satisfactory guess.
'I should ask father when he returns.', He didn't have time to think about such matters. Since, it was in his house. It was theirs. He just needed to ask father who's it was.
He then looked hesitatingly at the locket and said, 'I should probably wear it so that I won't forget.'
Unknown to him, something stirred within him—an unease, as if the locket was whispering to him from across time. This itch was so low that it wasn't even noticeable. But... It still had an effect.
Unconsciously, his hands subtly kept on fidgeting the locket, under short intervals.
'06: 43', His eyes unintentionally glanced at his watch as he wore the locket on his hand like a bracelet. This may appear weird but he didn't like wearing anything on his neck.
Nothing at all.
"I still have some time left. I should take a quick nap before I cook dinner."
He laid on the bed. His eyelids gradually fell and closed. However, the sleep he expected didn't come.
As time passed he twisted and turned around, fidgeting all over the bed. His thoughts were messy thinking about the locket. Why did it seem familiar? Where had he seen it?
It was unknown how but as his thoughts flowed like a spring, his thoughts drifted away from the locket to the nightmare that he had just a while back.
'Argh... No, No. Why? Why do I keep thinking about this even when I don't want to.' He held his head as he whispered to himself, his thoughts running amok.
'I need to stay away from this thought. I don't want –'
'Calm, I need to calm down. I can't let go of myself.'
After a while he calmed down, his face emotionless. He thought,'...I need to follow the procedure.'
Bittu then took out a syringe and a liquid medication with no prescription on it. He then without hesitation, injected the medication into his arms.
No cry of pain escaped his mouth even when the sharp needle entered his bloodstream so recklessly.
Just a few minutes later, his eyelids closed and darkness filled his vision.
...
In the silence of the night, the dim light of lamp filtered weakly through the cracked blinds, casting thin beams across his face, bringing him back to reality.
He gradually woke up. However, with slight headache, he glanced around,
"... Why is it so dark?"
He rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch, '07: 53'
"What? It's already so late. I need to hurry. They might be back soon."
Still groggy, Bittu stumbled towards the sink, the cold tiles underfoot shocking him to life.
As time passed, even in his hurry, he could feel that. He felt that... something was wrong, terribly wrong. He frowned.
The bathroom felt unusually cold for an October morning. He shivered, the chill sinking into his skin. The air seemed too thick, pressing against him, making the small space feel even smaller.
He cautiously looked around. His gut was telling him that something was really wrong here but he couldn't quite put his fingers around it.
There was an odd stillness, a kind of silence that wasn't quite normal, as though the house was holding its breath. His hand hovered over the sink as a strange sense of unease crept up his spine.
It was the same feeling that had kept him tossing and turning all night; his nightmare, but now it felt sharper, more immediate.
However, he brushed it off, thinking he was imagining things, since he has been on edge the entire day. Moreover, he had just had a dream that he didn't appreciate much.
He splashed water on his face to wake himself up completely and clear his mind. But, when he looked up once again...
His pulse quickened, a low thud in his chest.
Slowly, he glanced over his shoulder, the mirror reflecting the shadowy interior of the bathroom.
That's when he saw it—faint, but unmistakable—a figure standing just behind him in the fogged-up mirror.
He spun around instinctively. However, to his surprise...
It was empty.
(Quick breathing)
'Am I seeing things? How can anyone be in my room?'
'...Is this another effect of that nightmare?'
He sighed. His hands slowly reached out to his head to massage them. He turned around to once again splash water on his face to cool down his thoughts.
It was an extremely bizarre situation, but he only saw the faint outline of a human that could be made out in the cloudy mirror. He couldn't even distinguish if it was a male or female. He must have been too stressed.
'... I think, I need to consult with the old man ...once again.'
(GULP)
Suddenly, while he was raising his head, his thoughts slowed down into a whisper.
His heartbeat reached new heights. Goosebumps raised all over his body. He gulped his saliva because what he saw took his breath away. He froze.
There was a figure standing just behind him in the fogged-up mirror.
It definitely was but,.... But, he didn't see anyone or anything in the mirror. It was just a faint outline.
He would have brushed it of thinking it may be some kind of reflection or he was overthinking thinks again but he felt it. He definitely did.
The unmistakable feeling of someone about to hold his neck.
He didn't have to think further because in the next second he really did feel it.
But it wasn't a faint touch he sub-consciously expected, what accompanied the touch was a burning pain.
The place right beneath the back of his neck seemed to have come in contact with burning steel.
A grown escaped his lips.
The searing burning pain that assaulted his being jolted him awake from the shock of this unusual situation.
"KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"
That was when he heard a scream. An ethereal but horrifying yet hypnotic scream. It was the scream of a woman.
Bittu was shocked to hear such a strange scream.
Hearing it, his ears began ringing, blood vessels bulging and body trembling. Soon, droplets of blood escaped his eyes and ears.
Simultaneously, his locket that he had just found began to glow in a blackish hue of read and purple and the searing burning pain at the back of his throat, strangely and magically so began to take the form of a butterfly. A red and purple butterfly. But just for a second before it lost all it's colour together with the locket that seemed to have dulled somehow. It turned wholly black.
All this happened in an instance, and before Bittu could even comprehend what was happening to him?
He felt a hollowness in his chest. His eyes instinctively glanced below to see why? And what he saw was...
His heart had vanished.
It was the last thing he saw before he fell unconscious.