world of shadows

While intense planning was underway elsewhere, in a secluded corner of Mumbai, nestled deep within a forest, stood a grand villa. The area was eerily quiet — apart from the villa, not a single other house was in sight.

The villa was quite expansive. In the main hall, a large chandelier hung from the ceiling, glowing with a soft red light. Beneath it stood a glass dining table, elegant but minimalist — only a few dishes were laid out, and just two chairs were placed.

Two strikingly handsome young men were seated. One, with short hair and deep black eyes, sat upright with a formal air. As they were seated, it was hard to judge their height, but both seemed tall. The first man wore a sharp formal suit, while the other had on blue trousers and a t-shirt. His long black hair fell loosely around his shoulders, and his piercing blue eyes gave him a distinctive presence — yes, it was none other than Rudra.

The other man was Gaurav.

From Rudra's poised posture — one leg crossed over the other, calmly enjoying his meal — it was evident this villa belonged to him.

They were still eating when Gaurav's phone rang. He immediately stopped, got up from his chair, and stepped outside to take the call. A minute later, he returned in haste, only to find Rudra still relishing his meal with the same calmness.

Gaurav hesitated to speak. He wasn't sure whether to interrupt Rudra or not. For a few seconds, he simply stood by the chair. Then finally, he spoke:

"Sir… the young miss is in danger."

But Rudra didn't react at all. He continued eating, completely unbothered.

A moment later, he finished his meal, wiped his hands, and said,

"Sit down and finish your food."

"Sir, the young—"

"You heard what I said. Sit. Nothing will happen to her."

"Send a few men for Kavya's protection. And bring that girl... Riya. I need to have a word with her."

Rudra spoke coldly, rinsed his hands at the basin, and disappeared up the staircase toward his room.

Gaurav was now left alone in the grand, silent hall. He calmly finished his meal, cleaned the tableware, and walked into one of the rooms on the ground floor.

The room was massive. But what made it truly unique was the eerie blue light — not from any bulb, but from numerous glowing screens. The largest screen covered almost an entire wall, displaying a symbol — the infinity loop, shaped like a horizontal figure eight.

Strange, advanced-looking machines filled the room. Below the main screen lay an enormous controller, resembling a keyboard but far from ordinary — it had over 500 keys, and at its center, a large hollow sensor that worked like a cursor or perhaps... like something much more sophisticated.

The whole setup screamed advanced tech, decades ahead of anything the world had seen — perhaps something humanity wouldn't even touch for another fifty years.

Gaurav approached the controller and placed his hand over the sensor. The moment his fingers touched it, the screen went pitch black. Darkness consumed the room.

Ten seconds later, the screen lit up again — this time glowing ominously in red. Black text began to flash across:

FINGERPRINTS DETECTED

MATCHING FINGERPRINTS

DETECTION COMPLETE

FINGERPRINT MATCHED

--------------------------------------------

MR. GAURAV

THE NAIVE SHADOW

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF SHADOWS

--------------------------------------------

Suddenly, lines upon lines of code flooded the screen, flickering rapidly. The entire sequence took less than five seconds.

Gaurav pulled a chair toward him and sat down. His fingers began dancing across the controller at lightning speed, typing intricate commands. A few moments later, all the numbers vanished from the screen — all except one: 375.

He clicked it and withdrew his hand.

A chat box emerged.

A moment later, a message appeared:

WHO ARE YOU

"Tch... Did they hire someone new? Can't they see the purple star on my ID?" Gaurav thought, irritated. Reluctantly, he typed:

THE NAIVE SHADOW

A minute passed.

No reply.

Five minutes.

Gaurav clenched his jaw.

"This is ridiculous... Seems like it's time to clean up some trash," he muttered.

Ten full minutes later, the screen glitched violently, and a face appeared — a middle-aged man, sweating profusely.

"Greetings, My Grace. I'm so sorry you had to wait..." he stammered, bowing slightly.

The feed looked like a video call, except it was one-sided — the man could not see Gaurav, no matter what.

Silence.

Then, Gaurav spoke coldly:

"Why are you apologizing? The one who should be here — where is she or he? whatever."

"S-sir, actually..." the man faltered.

Gaurav watched his expressions closely. His eyes narrowed.

"is that person some relative of yours?"

The man turned pale instantly.

"Trying to play games? Do your superiors know about this?"

"N-no, sir. I haven't told them yet..." he replied, shaking.

Gaurav's tone darkened.

"You know what the consequences are. And yet, you made that move — without reporting it."

"my grace,please..please... calm down. Let me explain. She's my niece. I only recommended her. She passed every test with her own merit!"

Gaurav listened in silence, then asked,

"If everything was legitimate, why didn't you inform your superior then?"

The man stuttered, "Everyone in the branch already knows. I think even my superior suspects. But... I never officially introduced her. Actually Her communication skills are... Terrible. She snaps easily and uses foul language when angry. I was afraid she'd be dismissed before she could prove herself. I was going to introduce her soon."

So he's been training her privately, Gaurav realized. That's why she didn't speak to me...

"Well then," Gaurav said, tone sharper now, "There's a mission. Some targets need to be picked up."

"Who are they, sir? Please issue the orders."

"I've already sent the photos to your device. Check them. And one more thing — your niece will handle this mission alone. You're not to assist her in any way. If she fails, she's out. If she succeeds... she's in."

With that, Gaurav ended the call. The screen returned to the glowing infinity symbol. He stood up and left the room.

As he stepped out, he pulled out a sleek, strange-looking phone and dialed a number.

As soon as the line connected, he said:

"I've sent you a picture. Your job is to protect her. But no one should know you're there."

He ended the call.

"Everything's almost in place. All that's left... is to bring our guest home," he whispered with a deep breath — and walked out of the villa.

But what Gaurav didn't know... was that somewhere out there, the girl he was looking for... was already looking for them.