Episode 11:
That night, Alok couldn't sleep.
He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, the metallic shard resting on his desk under the dim glow of his study lamp.
Every so often, it hummed. Not loudly more like the faint vibration of a phone in silent mode but it was enough to make his chest tighten.
He sat up, rubbing his face. "It's just a piece of metal. It's not alive."
But the moment he said that, he heard it.
"Awaken."
His head snapped toward the shard. It wasn't moving, but the hum grew stronger, pulsing in rhythm with the pendant he still wore.
Alok reached out, hesitating before touching it.
The instant his fingers brushed the surface, his room… vanished.
He stood in a dark corridor, stone walls on both sides, the air thick with the smell of damp earth.
From far ahead came the sound of heavy chains dragging along the floor.
Then a voice, deep and harsh:
"I found you."
The corridor shook. A hulking shadow emerged, its eyes glowing a sickly yellow. Claws scraped against the stone as it moved closer.
Alok stumbled back, heart pounding. "This isn't real this isn't"
"It's real enough to kill you." the voice replied, not from the monster, but from inside his head.
The shadow lunged.
In pure panic, Alok clutched the pendant. Light burst from it, blinding the creature for a moment. A door appeared at the end of the corridor ancient wood, glowing faintly.
"Run, fool!"
He ran, slamming the door shut behind him.
The world twisted again his room snapping back into existence. He collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air, sweat dripping down his face.
The shard lay on the desk, perfectly still. The pendant was cold.
From outside his window, he thought he saw something just for a moment a pair of yellow eyes watching him from the darkness before fading away.