The silence of the night was slowly beginning to deepen.
There was a soft hush in the colony, only occasionally disturbed by the distant barking of dogs.
Kaira walked straight up to her flat and, without any delay, began knocking on the gate.
The door remained still for a moment.
Then, from inside, the sound of light footsteps approached, and the door opened slowly.
Another girl stood in front of her, a book in her hand.
There was a strange smile on Kaira's face—an odd mixture of excitement, curiosity, and a hint of playful energy that she seemed to be hiding.
"Oh Naaaaz ! What a day!" she exclaimed, walking straight in without waiting.
She kicked off her sandals to one side, ran a hand through her hair, and headed directly to the sofa, collapsing onto it.
Naaz, who had gotten up from reading her book, came and sat down on the sofa again, reopened her book, and—without looking at Kaira—said,
"You took quite a while to come back."
Kaira let out a long exhale, as if releasing the exhaustion of the entire day.
Then, while adjusting her hair, she replied casually,
"Yeah, that guy... the one who was at the colony gate—the same one who saved our lives the other day... it was him."
Naaz kept her eyes buried in the book and then said,
"Hmmm. So?"
"So what? We talked, and I found out that he's new in the city, was looking for a place to stay. So I thought... I'll help him a little," Kaira said.
Naaz placed the book down, remained silent for a moment, and then looked at Kaira from head to toe.
Then, folding her arms and speaking in a cool tone, she said,
"Did he ask you for help?"
Kaira blinked in confusion.
"No... but—"
"Then what? Have you taken up the responsibility of helping everyone now?" Naaz's tone had turned slightly harsh.
"Didn't that guy seem strange to you?"
Kaira widened her eyes a bit as she responded,
"Strange? Yeah, I mean... he's a bit of a serious type, but—"
"Don't trust just anyone like that, Kaira," Naaz cut her off mid-sentence.
"It hasn't even been fifteen minutes since you met him properly, and you already helped him get a house on rent? Wow."
Naaz shook her head, as if something entirely different was brewing inside her.
"You don't know anything about him—who he is, where he came from, what he does, whether he's some kind of criminal... you don't know a single thing."
Kaira rolled her eyes, as if all of this was just routine talk to her. Then, slapping her hand on the armrest of the sofa, she said,
"Oh come on, I only helped him! It's not like I'm marrying him or something!"
But this time, there was a subtle excitement hidden within her, like she herself wasn't ready to admit how much she was enjoying this conversation.
Naaz looked at her, her expression just as serious as before.
"I don't know... I didn't get a good feeling about that guy."
Kaira let out a deep sigh, as if Naaz's negativity meter was going beyond her tolerance.
"You know what, Naaz, stop being so suspicious about everything. Sometimes, you should try looking at the world with a bit more positivity."
Naaz only exhaled deeply.
She didn't want to invite any unnecessary trouble for no reason, and her body language clearly showed that she simply wanted Kaira to mind her own business, and not do anything—intentionally or unintentionally—that might cause them problems later on.
She said in a calm tone,
"I just want that we don't run into any kind of trouble."
Kaira gave a small smile—not one that said she agreed, but also not one that said she was ignoring it.
A light silence spread through the room, but only for a moment.
Given Kaira's nature, that silence couldn't last very long.
Kaira looked at her, thought for a moment, then softened her tone into that of a friend, and waved her hand dismissively as she spoke,
"Okay okay, don't act like such a detective. The guy's definitely a little weird, but I don't think he's any kind of problem."
Naaz didn't end it there.
It seemed like she was about to say something more, but then stopped herself.
She took a deep breath and said only one thing,
"I just hope he doesn't cause us any trouble. That's all I want."
Kaira gave a small smile—not one that said she agreed, but also not one that said she was ignoring it.
A light silence spread through the room, but only for a moment.
Given Kaira's nature, that silence couldn't last very long.
Kaira paused for a second, and then as if she suddenly remembered something, she immediately turned toward Naaz.
"But Naaz, Don't you think that guy is full of mystery!"
Naaz lifted her eyes, as if she were thinking, "This isn't called mystery, it's called being a suspect."
Kaira, now fully excited, gestured with her hands in the air as she spoke,
"I mean just think about it—the day we had that accident, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. That day, without thinking even once, he stopped our scooty. And then how he took that iron pipe straight to his chest? I was terrified! That day, saving ourselves was impossible—we wouldn't be sitting here today if it weren't for him."
"Not even for a second did he hesitate. He just acted! I mean, I really think the guy has some kind of supernatural power. Otherwise, how could anyone do that?"
Naaz let out a cold sigh.
"Now you're being way too filmy. You're exaggerating what actually happened that day. I was with you that day too, and all of that was normal. Maybe he saw the truck coming before we did. If it were any other decent huguy being in his place, they would've done the same."
Kaira twirled her hair around her finger, as if deep in thought, and then, snapping her fingers, said,
"No Naaz, seriously, he doesn't seem normal. So serious, so strict, like he's completely cut off from the world. And totally rude too!"
Naaz, now a little bored, said,
"So? What do you have to do with that?"
Kaira ignored her question, as if she didn't even want to hear it.
"And listen, even his name... I mean, it's just different."
Naaz raised one eyebrow, as if asking, "What's the name?"
Kaira gave a small smile, like she was about to reveal a secret.
"Amie."
Naaz heard the name and paused for a second, a slight confusion appearing on her face.
"Weird name."
Kaira laughed,
"Right?! I heard it for the first time too. But someone or the other has to be given that name, right?"
Naaz was now a little uninterested, but Kaira was still buzzing with excitement.
"And guess what, where is he going to live?" Kaira took a slightly dramatic pause.
Naaz gave a blank expression, as if even giving this moment importance was a waste of time.
"Right there, in the house opposite ours."
Naaz's serious face became even more serious. Her eyes widened, and her expression turned to shock.
"Whatt ??? You mean to say, this guy who already seems strange to you, is going to live right here, in the house opposite ours?"
Kaira gave a casual shrug.
"So what? It'll be fun, right? Mystery and thrill!"
Naaz slapped her forehead with her palm.
"One day, you're going to get yourself stuck in something."
Kaira gave a big smile.
"We'll deal with that later. For now, it's just pure excitement!"
Naaz let out a cold sigh, as if she had nothing more left to say.
She took a deep breath and pushed her hair to one side with her hand. Then, without saying a word, she walked straight towards the window. Kaira, still carried away in her excitement, followed her toward the window. She gently pulled the curtain aside and looked toward the house across from them.
It was dark.
Not a single light was visible in any of the rooms. Everything looked completely deserted and lifeless.
But at one corner of that house, there was an old street light—an aging pole with a yellow, flickering bulb hanging dimly.
The faint light from that bulb was falling onto the roof of the house and from there, streaming through the window of one of the rooms.
For a moment, Naaz felt like everything there was completely empty. But then her eyes caught sight of a silhouette—Amie.
That same room near the window.
And he—leaning forward on an old chair, sitting as if he had completely disconnected from the world.
Naaz gestured, "Look."
Kaira leaned forward and peeked out from the window. The moment her eyes followed the soft light filtering through the window of the house across, she saw Amie.
Kaira's first reaction was pure excitement.
"Oh wow, this guy really is strange! I mean, he just got the house and he's spending his first night like this?"
Naaz narrowed her eyes slightly, observing Amie closely. Then she said,
"He's been sitting there for so long... what is he even doing?"
Kaira shrugged her shoulders.
"No idea. He's just sitting there, like a statue. He's not even moving at all!"
Naaz looked a little more carefully, then a faint note of tension escaped from within her.
"Looks like he has fallen asleep."
Kaira stared at Amie for a moment, then turned toward Naaz and said,
"But how can someone sleep on a chair? It must be so uncomfortable, right?"
Naaz was still watching Amie, as if trying to understand something.
"I don't know, but one thing is clear... this guy is definitely not normal."
Kaira cast another glance at Amie, then gave a slight smirk.
"If he were normal, I wouldn't have found him interesting at all!"
Naaz let out a cold sigh.
"This whole thing just feels strange to me."
Kaira pushed her hair to one side and stretched as she leaned back.
"We'll have to talk to him about this tomorrow, need to know more about him."
"I'm really tired, Naaz. Let's just sleep now. We'll talk to him tomorrow."
Naaz looked at Amie for a moment longer, as if still trying to figure out what kind of person he was. But then she too let the curtain fall back into place and walked silently toward the bed.
Outside, the wind was blowing. Under the streetlight, a faint shadow flickered. And Amie... still seated on that chair without a single movement, as if he had slipped away into another world.