We ran like two idiots escaping from an unpaid Zomato bill.
Except this time, the waiter was a faceless demon who collected dead versions of me like Pokémon cards.
Not ideal.
My lungs burned.
My legs screamed.
My brain took a sick leave.
Behind us, the creature shrieked again—
a glitchy, distorted sound like a corrupted WhatsApp voice note.
"Is it still chasing us?" I shouted.
The stranger didn't look back.
"Yes!"
"WHY?! I DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER MYSELF PROPERLY!"
"It's not about YOU remembering you!"
"BRO THEN WHO?!"
He hesitated.
Bad sign.
"That's the problem!"
We sprinted down the stairs.
The creature's claws scraped the walls, following us like a nightmare that had caffeine.
When we reached the building exit, reality stuttered.
Not the creature.
Reality.
The street outside flickered between:
night
day
rain
snow
burning red haze
empty desert
flooded ocean
then back to night
I stopped dead.
The stranger yanked my wrist.
"Don't look at it!"
"IT'S THE WEATHER CHANNEL ON DRUGS—HOW DO I NOT LOOK??"
"It's your mind trying to sync with the timeline!"
"OKAY AND THAT IS SUPPOSED TO MAKE SENSE?!"
He dragged me through the glitching doorway—
And suddenly we were outside, stumbling onto the street.
The creature hit the doorway behind us.
The building shook.
Lights shattered.
The stranger grabbed my waist and turned me, pinning me against the cold wall.
"Don't move," he whispered.
"I need to check something."
WOW OKAY.
SIR???
This is not the time for romantic angles but ALSO…
I was not complaining.
He leaned close, eyes scanning my face, my hair, my neck—
like he was checking for cracks in reality.
His breath warmed my cheek.
"You're still stable," he murmured.
"I mean emotionally? No. Physically? Also no. Financially? Definitely not."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then his face darkened.
"I need you to do exactly what I say next."
"Okay," I whispered. "Tell me."
He didn't blink.
"Erase me."
My soul: ???
"Excuse me WHAT?"
"You have to forget me," he said quickly. "Even for a minute."
"BRO I JUST MET YOU TEN SECONDS AGO— I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER MY AADHAAR NUMBER."
His jaw clenched.
"I'm serious, Anshu. If you don't forget me—
it will hunt us BOTH."
"HOW DO I JUST 'FORGET' SOMEONE WHO LOOKS LIKE A WALKING FAN-FICTION??"
"That's the problem!" he said, frustrated.
"Your mind doesn't forget me in ANY timeline!"
Before I could respond, a chilling wind swept the street.
The creature crawled out of the doorway.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Wrong.
Its limbs stretched impossibly.
Its head twisted.
And when it saw me—
its chest lit up with thousands of glowing shards.
Every shard showed a version of me.
Dead.
Dying.
Running.
Crying.
Falling.
I couldn't breathe.
"Don't let it match your identity," the stranger whispered.
"What does that even mean?!"
"If it recognizes you fully, it will steal your life.
If it half-remembers you, it will steal your mind."
"And if it doesn't remember me at all??"
He looked straight into my eyes.
"Then you survive."
He grabbed my hands, pressed them to his chest, and whispered:
"Anshu… you need to pretend I don't exist."
"BRO WE ARE LITERALLY TOUCHING RIGHT NOW— HOW'S THAT SUPPOSED TO WORK?"
The creature shrieked—
a sound that felt like knives dragging through my skull.
I clutched my head, screaming.
"IT'S MATCHING YOU!" he shouted. "STOP THINKING—STOP THINKING YOUR OWN NAME!"
"HOW—DO—I—STOP—THINKING—MY—OWN—NAME?!"
He grabbed my face, forcing me to look at him.
"Focus on me!"
"YOU JUST TOLD ME TO FORGET YOU!"
"YES BUT FORGET MY NAME!"
"WHAT EVEN IS YOUR NAME?"
He froze.
The creature lunged.
He whispered:
"…Exactly."
He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me with him as reality ripped open beside us—
A glowing crack in the air
like a doorway made of liquid light.
He tightened his hold.
"Don't scream."
And then he pulled me into the crack.
We fell—
Through light.
Through darkness.
Through memories that weren't mine.
Through timelines that never existed.
And right before everything went black—
He whispered one last thing:
"Anshu… I remember how you die."
---