A Death, A Cheat, A Save (15)

Tamim walked down the sidewalk, his hands tucked into the pockets of a sleek black turtleneck.

He was wearing long sleeves brushed against the fabric of his equally black pants,Cars sped by on the road beside him.

His eyes were distant, lost in thought. "I really have a bad feeling about this." he mused to himself, barely aware of his surroundings. "I don't even know what I'm doing. Attending university feels like such a pain right now. I won't go to University until all this shit is over"

As he continued down the road, a familiar sensation crept into his mind. It was the same unnerving feeling he'd experienced before—when he had saved an elderly couple from being struck by a truck.

His steps slowed as his senses heightened, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

His gaze flicked toward a large black car barreling down the street at an alarming speed.

Suddenly, his arms began to tremble. "What's happening?" Tamim thought, his pulse quickening. Without his command, his right hand jerked forward, fingers twisting involuntarily in the direction of the speeding car.

"Ouch… my hand... what the hell?" he muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth as the muscles in his arm strained against his control.

His mind was a swirl of confusion and panic. He wasn't doing this; but his body was. His body moved on its own, and the familiar pressure in his brain surged again.

The car swerved violently. His telekinetic power—which he wasn't consciously controlling—had affected the vehicle.

It veered off course, heading straight toward a nearby wall where a young schoolboy walked, oblivious to the danger.

The boy turned in terror just as the car careened toward him. His scream pierced the air.

But before the car could make impact, Tamim's legs moved at an impossible speed, rushing forward as if propelled by something greater than himself.

He reached the boy just in time, snatching him out of the car's deadly path.

They both tumbled to the ground as the car smashed into the wall with a deafening crash, the impact shattering the windshield and sending shards of glass flying in every direction.

Tamim instinctively shielded the boy with his body. He felt the sharp pieces of glass graze his skin, but his body remained unscathed, untouched by the damage.

The boy trembled in his arms, his wide eyes staring up at Tamim with a mixture of fear and awe.

"Th-thanks," the boy stammered, his voice barely a whisper.

Tamim's mind raced. "I didn't do that. I didn't run to save him. I didn't use my powers. It's like that day—when the truck almost hit those elderly people. My body moved on its own." He clenched his fists, his arms still trembling from the aftershocks of the suddenly uncontrolled body.

Before he could gather his thoughts, a group of hooded figures emerged from the wrecked car phasing out from the car metal .

They were dragging along the man who was drugged and killed his brother , barely able to stand on his own.

Tamim rose to his feet, and thought "What the hell is this?" he thought as the figures were looking.

The boy beside him screamed again, "Ahh... ghost!" His words sent murmurs through the small crowd that had gathered.

People whispered in shock, their eyes glued to the hooded figures, some of them fumbling for their phones to record the bizarre scene.

The figures, undeterred by the attention, stared at Tamim with unsettling intensity. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to tremble, and a massive dragon-like form erupted from the earth.

Its dark red , shadowy body twisted around the car, swallowing it whole along with the hooded figures and the drugged man.

The monstrous figure ascended into the sky, fading into the clouds becoming invisible until it disappeared entirely, as if it had never existed.

The crowd gasped, frozen in disbelief, their phones capturing what would no doubt become viral footage.

Tamim stood still, his thoughts racing. "What... just happened?"

Inside Nextera ESports, Fahim, Riya, and Rafi sat around a room, their faces reflecting boredom and mild irritation.

Riya glanced at the clock and sighed.

"What's going on? Why hasn't anyone shown up yet?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of impatience.

"Where's Samia-sis?" Fahim chimed in, looking around.

"I don't know," Riya responded with a shrug. "Honestly, I'm not even talking about her. She's kind of useless, I am talking about Faria and Tamim."

"Faria's is getting late on her third day" Rafi added, shaking his head.

"You'd think she'd get the concept of time by now. Tamim, well… we all know he's notorious for being late. But Faria? She should be understand the importance of reaching on time "

Fahim frowned, tapping his fingers on the table. "You shouldn't be so harsh. Faria's a university student. She might have something important going on."

Just then, the door creaked open, and Samia walked in, settling down on the sofa with a heavy sigh. "Tamim and Faria still haven't shown up? It's been half an hour," she said, glancing at the others.

"That's what we were just talking about," Rafi muttered.

Samia waved a hand dismissively. "Forget about them for now. You guys should start your practice. We've wasted enough time already."

As if on cue, the door opened again, this time revealing Faria, who stepped into the room looking slightly out of breath. "Sorry I'm late. " she said, her voice apologetic.

Samia waved her over. "No worries,

Faria settled into her seat, glancing around the room.

She noticed Tamim's desk was empty and she thought . "Where's Tamim?"

"Hi, Faria! How are you?" Riya said with a bright smile.

"I'm good, thanks. How about you?"

"I'm great, actually," Riya responded cheerfully.

The room had a cozy but utilitarian layout, with the desks arranged neatly—Faria in the far right corner, Riya next to her, then Rafi , Fahim, and finally, Tamim's empty desk beside Fahim.

Fahim turned to Faria. "By the way, where do you study again? I don't think I ever asked."

"DBU," Faria replied, leaning back in her chair.

Fahim's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? That's where Tamim studies too."

"What subject are you studying?" Fahim pressed on, now more curious.

"Finance," Faria replied, a small smile forming on her lips.

"Wait, what? You're kidding!" Fahim exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "Tamim's also a finance major at DBU. That's... quite a coincidence."

Faria chuckled softly. "Yeah, he's actually my classmate."

Samia, now intrigued, leaned forward. "Did you guys know each other before joining here?"

"No," Faria said, shaking her head. "I only met him after I started coming here."

Fahim suddenly grew quiet, his expression shifting into something more serious as he stared at the monitor in front of him, his mind elsewhere.

Half an hour later,

Tamim arrived in front of a towering seven-story building.

The facade gleamed under the sun, with a large sign board displaying Nextera.co in bold, modern lettering.

The guard at the entrance noticed Tamim approaching and greeted him, "Good afternoon, sir."

Tamim gave him a brief nod. "Afternoon. Is everyone here already?"

"Yes, they've arrived," the guard confirmed.

Without wasting time, Tamim swiped his card at the entrance and stepped inside, heading straight for the elevator.

The familiar quiet hum of the building surrounded him as the elevator doors closed behind him. He pressed the button for the fourth floor, and the lift ascended smoothly.

When the doors opened, Tamim stepped out into a large room, the only one on the floor. A bright banner overhead read, Nextera E-Sports, under 19.

Meanwhile, high above the clouds, a plane cruised smoothly through the sky over Bangladesh.

Inside, passengers sat comfortably, chatting softly or gazing out the windows at the peaceful view below.

By the window, a middle-aged man looked out, a soft smile on his face. The endless expanse of clouds and the distant landscape felt like a promise of the life he was about to reclaim.

"Back home, finally. After all these years..." The man thought, his heart swelling with anticipation. "I can't wait to see my wife, my newborn son... and my eldest, who's now in university."

His thoughts drifted to his family, and memories of the rare but precious visits over the last 21 years filled his mind. "I've worked in Dubai for so long, always away from them. I barely got to see them—just a few days each year. But those days... They were the best moments of my life."

He looked around the cabin, noticing the smiles of other passengers. "Everyone here has their own happiness. I bet they're all excited to reunite with their loved ones too."

A sense of contentment settled over him as he thought of his wife waiting at the airport. "This time, I'm not going back. I've saved enough to start my own business. I've come home for good."

But as the man looked out of the window, lost in his thoughts, fate intervened in the cruelest of ways.

Without warning, the plane jolted violently. An invisible force struck it with terrifying power.

The passengers barely had a moment to react before the aircraft was ripped apart by a catastrophic explosion. Flames engulfed the cabin in an instant, vaporizing everything in their path. The man, along with every other soul aboard, was consumed by the inferno before they could even comprehend what had happened.

From the ground, the sudden explosion in the sky was a horrifying sight. People walking below froze in shock as they witnessed the plane burst into flames mid-air. To those on the ground, it appeared as if the aircraft had simply shattered out of nowhere.

Unseen to all, the true cause of the tragedy was something far more sinister.

The colossal, dragon-like creature that had previously appeared in front of Tamim earlier consuming the car, the drugged guy and hooded guys was invisible to the naked eye, had collided with the plane.

Its translucent, shimmering form twisted through the clouds, oblivious to the destruction it had caused.

With a powerful flap of its ethereal wings, the creature blended seamlessly into the sky, disappearing as though it had never existed.

At the same moment, in a nearby hotel just across from the airport, a middle-aged woman was entangled in a passionate embrace with another man. The curtains were drawn, and the air was thick with the scent of sweat and desire.

The man leaned in close, his voice low and teasing. "Aren't you supposed to pick up your husband from the airport?"

The woman smirked, unbothered. "Yeah, I was supposed to," she said, her breath heavy. "But who cares about him? He'll land and call me. I'm right next to the airport anyway; I'll head over when he does."

The man chuckled, running a hand through her hair. "Just make sure to give him the divorce this time, okay? Then you'll be all mine."

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she replied, not meeting his eyes. "He'll take care of the kids after that, anyway. Not like he'll ever find out the second one's yours."

As they continued their illicit affair, the woman's phone sat untouched on the nightstand, oblivious to the fact that her husband, who had worked tirelessly to provide for his family for over two decades, had just perished in the sky above and at that moment she was in sexual relationship with another man.

To be continued..