Mumbai, Sector 41-B — 1996
The night hung heavy over the city. Hot. Wet. Quiet. Even the usual horns and distant music had faded. It felt like the whole street was holding its breath.
Inside the old city hospital, fifteen-year-old Arjun Joshi sat on a bed in a corner room, his school shirt stained with blood. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was only an intern, still in training. Still a boy.
But no one else had come. The nurse had walked out, shaking her head.
"She's gone," she had said. "Dead on arrival."
The girl on the metal table didn't move. Her lips were blue. Her skin looked like cold ash.
Still, Arjun couldn't stop looking.
Something in him wouldn't let him walk away.
The fan above creaked. A curtain shifted near the closed window, even though the glass was sealed tight.
Then he saw it. A twitch. One of the girl's fingers. Tiny. Quick. Like a spark.
His heart pounded. He knew better. He wasn't allowed to interfere. But his body moved on its own.
He stepped forward and placed his hand on her chest.
And that's when it happened.
Pain.
A wild jolt shot through his arm. Not heat, not light—but something alive. Green energy poured from his palm like fire made of leaves. His whole arm went numb, then started to buzz.
The girl's chest jumped. Once. Then again.
Her eyes snapped open.
And she screamed.
Glass shattered. Monitors sparked. The sound wasn't human—it was deep and twisted, like something had woken up inside her.
Get away!" a nurse screamed from the doorway.
Patients in nearby beds cried out. An old man began convulsing. A boy fell off his bed and started clawing at his ears.
Arjun stumbled back, hand burning. His breath caught in his throat.
Then—the thing came out.
It slid from the girl's mouth like black oil. Long, thin, and wrong. Its skin rippled like shadow. It had no face, only two eyes—burning like fire in the dark.
It turned to Arjun. And smiled without lips.
His legs froze. His thoughts shattered.
Then the wall exploded.
A blast of light and dust knocked Arjun to the floor.
Figures in black armor stormed the room. They moved like lightning, their weapons glowing with blue energy.
The creature hissed, twisting back toward the girl.
One of the armored men moved faster. His sword hummed and sliced through the creature in a single, clean arc.
The thing vanished in a burst of smoke.
Arjun looked up, blinking through the dust.
The tallest soldier stepped forward, visor glowing.
Then—darkness.
No sound. No light. No feeling.
Just black