: Tangled Threads, Broken Ties
A strange warmth spread from Kiyan's finger pressed against Aarav's lips. Aarav's eyes widened as the golden glow in Kiyan's pupils intensified, like an invisible lamp being turned to its fullest, brightest setting. The light was terrifying, but Aarav felt he could read a deep, resonant pain within it.
Kiyan suddenly pulled his finger back, as if Aarav's lips had burned him.
"Why?" Kiyan's voice held a smoldering confusion.
Aarav stood frozen for a breath, then gathered himself, pushing Kiyan back lightly to create space.
"Yeah, so!" Aarav said, trying to lace his voice with annoyance. "What was the need for all the dramatics, Mr. 'Why'? Is… is your name actually 'Why'?"
Kiyan didn't answer. He turned and began walking away swiftly, his shoulders held with a strange, tense rigidity.
"Hey, hey, wait!" Aarav ran after him. "I'm talking to you and you're just ignoring me. If I talk, you'll say I talk too much. You say something! Okay, fine, fine! I was just asking when you're returning my clothes?"
Kiyan stopped and slowly turned to look at Aarav. His gaze was so sharp, so penetrating, that Aarav's own eyes dropped to the ground involuntarily.
"Okay, alright," Aarav said, studying the pavement. "Whenever you want, just return my clothes."
Just then, a low, rapidly growing sound hummed in Kiyan's ears. A car engine. He spun around. A black SUV was hurtling toward them at a reckless speed, mounting the sidewalk itself.
Before Aarav could even process it, Kiyan yanked him backward with a brutal force. Aarav yelled out as his back slammed onto the hard ground. Pain flashed white behind his eyes.
"Ow! Do you have no sense?" Aarav growled, pushing himself up. "Is this how you save someone? This is more like trying to kill me while saving me!"
Kiyan paid no attention to his words. His eyes were locked on the black vehicle, which had taken a turn and vanished without stopping. A deep wariness etched his features.
Aarav scrambled to his feet and chased after Kiyan again. "Okay, fine, thank you for saving me. By the way, where do you live? You didn't tell me before either. I asked before too, but you didn't answer, you just left"
Aarav's words cut off abruptly. He heard a sound.
Caw-caw.
A black crow.
Aarav looked up. A large, black crow was circling directly above them, its beady black eyes fixed downward.
"Look, Kiyan! How long has this crow been flying over our heads? Look" Aarav's eyes dropped back to the ground.
Kiyan wasn't there.
Aarav looked around. Empty road, trees, distant cars. "Where did he go? He was just here!"
He looked up again. The crow had vanished too.
Aarav stood there, a peculiar chill creeping up his spine. This guy… disappears in a blink. I need to find out more about him.
---
Deep in the woods, where the city's light and sound faded to a murmur, Kiyan ran with lightning speed. Leaves crunched and snapped under his feet. His golden eyes glowed in the dark like two flickering fireflies.
He stopped in a small, clear clearing. There, under a tree, stood a man. Dressed entirely in white a white lab coat, white pants. A white surgical mask covered his face. He was scanning the ground, waving a small device that emitted a thin beam of green light.
Kiyan let out a deep, animalistic growl and charged. He seized the man in the white coat by the throat and slammed him against a tree trunk. The man's choked cry died in his throat.
Kiyan opened his mouth… and something inhuman happened. A golden mist, a shimmering, ethereal haze, began to seep from the man's body. It swirled in the air, drawn like a spectral river into Kiyan's open mouth.
Within moments, all that golden light—the essence of the man's life, his age—was absorbed into Kiyan. Kiyan threw the limp form to the ground. The mask fell away. The man's skin sagged, his hair jet black a moment ago was now snow-white. He had aged decades in seconds.
Kiyan rifled through the helpless man's pocket and pulled out a plastic card. It read:
National Cellular Longevity Research Lab (NCLRL)
Kiyan held the card in his palm. A faint golden light emanated from his fingers, and the card crumbled into pieces, burning to ash that scattered on the wind. Without a backward glance, he sprinted back into the depths of the jungle.
---
Meanwhile, Aarav lay on his hostel bed. He dialed the contact saved as 'Papa' on his phone.
"Hello, Papa, how are you? I'm missing you a lot," Aarav said.
"Son, I'm fine. Tell me, how are you? How's college going?" came a grave yet affectionate voice from the other end.
"It's going well, Papa. When are you coming home?"
"Soon, beta. I'll call you later, take care of yourself."
"You too, Papa."
The call ended. Aarav smiled and opened his phone's gallery, scrolling to a picture. It showed him and his father standing together. Aarav wore a blue shirt, and his father wore a white shirt, and over it… a lab coat.
Aarav's smile began to melt like ice. His gaze locked onto the name printed on the lab coat. There, in clear letters, it read:
National Cellular Longevity Research Lab (NCLRL)
The same name. The same lab.
Aarav turned his phone off and closed his eyes.
---
In the jungle, Kiyan stood beneath a tree. His golden eyes now burned brighter, sharper, as if the life he'd consumed had honed his power to a finer edge. He clenched his fists, threw his head back, and let out a long, pain-wrenched scream into the night.
The scream echoed through the woods. Above, on a tree branch, the same black crow sat watching, its gleaming black eyes fixed on the scene below.
And far away, in the city, inside a dark room, a screen displayed an image of two glowing golden eyes. Beneath them, text flashed: SUBJECT OMEGA. ACTIVE. TRACKING CONTINUES.
The man sitting before the screen spoke softly, "Your time is running out, Omega. And your new friend… he's on our radar now, too."
---
(Chapter End)
Next Chapter: Does Kiyan realize that Aarav is not just an ordinary boy he is the closest link to the very danger Kiyan is running from?
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