Chapter 47: Facing the Abyss

The flames roared, casting unnatural shadows across the temple walls.

The air pulsed with energy—thick, suffocating, ancient.

Aryan, Naina, Karan, and Riya stood motionless, dressed like the other cultists. Their robes concealed them, but their minds betrayed them.

Because the Cult Leader's chanting had begun.

"The Abyss is patient. The Abyss is kind. The Abyss takes what is owed."

His voice echoed, growing stronger with each repetition.

And then—

The world changed.

Aryan stood in a modern office space, surrounded by the hum of keyboards and monitors.

He was back at work.

Everything was normal.

His boss walked by, nodding at him. "Good work on the last project, Aryan."

Aryan blinked.

Confused.

Something about this felt wrong.

He turned to his left.

Karan was sitting beside him, typing away, grinning. "Dude, we're killing it. Friday night party at Meera's place?"

Meera.

His chest tightened.

He turned around, and there she was.

Meera stood by the window, smiling. Her eyes were warm, filled with life.

But…

She was dead.

He knew she was dead.

Yet she stood there, laughing, talking.

Aryan's breath quickened.

This wasn't real.

But when he tried to move—he couldn't.

The office darkened. The walls crumbled away into an endless abyss.

And Meera's laughter twisted into a scream.

Naina found herself in a hospital corridor.

The scent of antiseptic and blood filled the air.

She looked down—her hands were shaking.

She was wearing a doctor's coat.

A nurse ran past her. "Doctor! We're losing the patient!"

Naina turned toward the operating room.

Through the glass, she saw a patient on the table, chest rising and falling violently. The monitors beeped erratically.

She didn't recognize the person.

But when the doctor turned…

It was her.

A perfect copy of herself, holding a scalpel, staring back at her.

"You can't save them," the other Naina whispered.

The patient's hand twitched.

Naina stepped closer.

And her heart stopped.

Because the patient was Aryan.

The monitors flatlined.

The world collapsed into darkness.

And a voice whispered.

"The Abyss takes what is owed."

Karan stood in his childhood home, the scent of his mother's cooking filling the air.

For a moment, everything was peaceful.

Then—the front door slammed open.

Two hooded figures dragged his mother away, her screams piercing the silence.

He ran after them, but the harder he moved, the farther they got.

Until she vanished.

The house burned to ashes around him.

And a deep voice whispered.

"You are weak. You let them take her."

Karan fell to his knees, his own screams lost in the fire.

Riya stood in a field of flowers, holding Karan's hand.

For a moment, it felt like paradise.

Then, the flowers wilted.

Karan's hand turned to bone.

And she was alone.

A single grave stood before her.

And her own name was written on it.

She opened her mouth to scream—

But no sound came out.

The temple was dead silent.

The fire crackled unnaturally, moving as if pulled toward the sigil on the ground.

The cultists knelt in unison, completely entranced by the Leader's chant.

All except four.

Aryan, Naina, Karan, and Riya gasped for breath, their minds still caught between reality and nightmare.

They had known this would happen.

But they weren't prepared for how real it would feel.

Slowly, Aryan felt something strange.

His body—

It was floating.

He gasped as his feet lifted off the ground, his mind still spiraling between past and present.

The air around him thickened, pressing against his chest.

And then—

A hand snatched him from the air.

Aryan's eyes snapped open.

The Cult Leader's gloved hand gripped his throat, dragging him forward.

The other cultists remained still.

The Leader smiled beneath his mask.

"Well, well…" he whispered.

His voice wasn't loud.

But it echoed inside Aryan's mind.

"…looks like we have a special guest."

Aryan struggled, but he couldn't move.

The Leader's grip tightened.

"Let's make this interesting."

And then—he turned toward the crowd.

"Come forward."

Karan, Naina, and Riya rose to their feet, their disguises useless now.

The cultists didn't move.

Didn't react.

They were completely entranced.

Only the Cult Leader saw them.

And he laughed.

"Ah," he murmured. "So you finally reveal yourselves."

Aryan gritted his teeth.

The Leader's eyes gleamed through the mask.

"You are too late."

The sigil beneath them began to glow.

The Abyss was opening.

And they were standing right in the middle of it.