Night had once again embraced the endless jungle.
The fire at the center of the camp burned gently, its warm orange glow pushing away the darkness that surrounded the cave. Outside, the cool night breeze carried the scent of wet earth and distant flowers, while countless insects filled the forest with their endless chorus. Above them, the unfamiliar sky glittered with countless stars, and the enormous blue moon bathed the jungle in a soft, mystical light.
One by one, the exhausted students drifted into sleep after another long day of traveling.
Soon, the cave became silent.
Only two people remained awake.
Abhimanyu sat quietly near the cave entrance, his back resting against a large stone as he stared at the beautiful night sky. His thoughts wandered aimlessly, replaying everything that had happened since they had arrived in this strange world.
Not far from him, Meera sat with her back against the cave wall.
Leonard had fallen asleep on her lap sometime earlier.
His breathing was calm and peaceful as Meera gently ran her fingers through his hair. There was a warmth on her face that made the frightening world around them seem a little less cruel.
Abhimanyu happened to look in her direction.
For a brief moment, he simply watched the scene.
Then...
A small, awkward smile appeared on his face.
Meera noticed him looking.
She smiled back.
Neither of them spoke.
The silence between them wasn't uncomfortable.
It was simply... heavy.
After a long moment, Meera let out a quiet sigh.
"Time is ruthless... isn't it?" she said softly.
Her voice was soft, almost carried away by the wind.
Abhimanyu looked toward the fire before replying.
"...Yeah."
Only one word.
Yet it carried years of emotions.
Meera noticed the sadness hidden behind his calm expression.
Slowly, her hand stopped moving.
She no longer patted Leonard's head.
Silence returned once again.
The fire crackled softly between them.
For several minutes neither of them knew how to begin.
Finally, Meera gathered her courage
"What did you do after we broke up?"
Abhimanyu turned toward her and forced a faint smile.
"I already told you that—"
"Don't," she interrupted gently.
"Stop pretending."
"I don't want the answer you've told everyone else."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"I want to know how you really felt."
Her words caught him off guard.
For several seconds, he simply stared at the fire.
His mind drifted back to memories he had spent years trying to bury.
Finally, he spoke. "Honestly at first it was really difficult."
He let out a small laugh that carried no happiness.
"I kept thinking about us. I kept wondering if things could have been different."
He paused for a moment.
"It felt strange...not having you in my life anymore."
The cave fell silent again.
Meera quietly listened without interrupting him.
She wanted him to finish.
She wanted to hear the truth.
"Did it take you a long time to move on?" she asked softly.
Abhimanyu nodded.
"Yeah."
"It wasn't something that happened overnight, Some days were okay. Some weren't, I tried keeping myself busy work, friends, my family."
He smiled bitterly.
"But there were moments when I'd suddenly remember you... sometimes it was a place , sometimes it was a song and sometimes there wasn't any reason at all. And somehow you'd still appear in my mind."
Meera lowered her eyes.
A faint feeling of guilt settled inside her heart.
After another long silence, she asked quietly,
"Did you ever hate me for what happened?"
Abhimanyu answered almost immediately.
"No, I was hurt I was disappointed. But I never hated you."
He looked toward the cave entrance where the moonlight spilled across the ground.
"Eventually I realized there wasn't much point in holding onto that pain forever."
His voice was calm.
There was no anger left in it.
Only acceptance.
After a while, he looked back at Meera.
"What about you?"
"Did you ever remember those days?"
A gentle smile appeared on Meera's face.
"Sometimes mostly... I remember the good moments."
Meera looked up at the stars.
"The breakup was painful but it also taught me how to live life alone."
The word **alone** lingered in the air.
Abhimanyu understood immediately.
She wasn't only talking about surviving without him.
She was talking about everything she had gone through afterward.
He quietly smiled.
"...Me too."
"Alone."
Neither of them spoke again.
The silence between them wasn't awkward anymore.
It was peaceful.
Two people...
Who had once dreamed of spending their lives together...
Now sat beneath the same sky...
Talking like strangers who still understood each other's hearts better than anyone else.
After a while, Meera smiled gently.
"I'm glad you finally told me how you really felt, that's all I wanted to know.
Abhimanyu opened his mouth.
He wanted to say something.
Perhaps ask the question that had stayed buried inside him for years.
But before he could—
"Ahem..."
A fake cough suddenly echoed through the cave.
Both of them quickly turned.
Ravi was sitting against a nearby rock with a mischievous grin spread across his face.
He slowly clapped his hands.
"Wow! What a beautiful reunion."
Abhimanyu's eyes widened.
"When did you wake up?"
Ravi shrugged innocently.
"Oh, not much just around the part where both of you started confessing your feelings."
Meera's face immediately turned slightly red.
Abhimanyu quickly walked over and covered Ravi's mouth.
"If you value your life you'll forget everything you heard."
Ravi pulled his hand away and chuckled.
"Relax I won't tell anyone."
He leaned closer and whispered,
"Though I have to admit. You two still look pretty good together."
Before Abhimanyu could respond, Ravi quickly lay down and covered himself with his blanket.
"I said nothing. I'm asleep."
Meera couldn't help laughing softly.
Even Abhimanyu shook his head with a helpless smile.
The heavy atmosphere had disappeared.
A few minutes later, everyone settled back to sleep.
Abhimanyu lay down on the cool ground and closed his eyes.
Just as silence returned once more, Ravi's quiet voice came from beside him.
"You know..."
"The most painful thing isn't losing someone."
Abhimanyu slowly opened one eye.
Ravi continued, still staring at the cave ceiling.
"It's when the person closest to your heart..."
"...is standing right beside you..."
"...but you can never truly have them again."
Abhimanyu remained silent.
For a moment...
He wondered how someone who joked all day could suddenly speak words that felt so real.
After several seconds, he simply nodded.
"...Yeah."
Then he closed his eyes.
Outside...
The wind continued to whisper through the trees.
Inside the cave...
Sleep slowly claimed everyone.
None of them knew...
That by tomorrow morning...
Their peaceful journey was about to change forever.
The first rays of the morning sun filtered through the long trees, slowly waking the forest from its slumber. Birds with colorful feathers flew across the sky, their strange cries echoing through the jungle. After a quick breakfast of fruits and fresh water from a nearby stream, the group packed their belongings and continued their journey.
The atmosphere was lighter than before. Ravi and Karan were already arguing over who had eaten the last sweet fruit, while Javier and Mateo laughed at their childish behavior. Even though they were trapped in an unknown world, they had slowly begun adapting to it.
Abhimanyu walked at the front with Leonard, Aarav, and Meera, carefully observing the surroundings.
The jungle was unusually quiet.
Too quiet.
Suddenly—
Rustle... Rustle... Rustle...
Everyone stopped.
The sound was coming from somewhere ahead. It wasn't the movement of leaves caused by the wind.
The sound grew louder with every passing second.
Panic spread through the group.
"W-What's that?" Ishita whispered nervously.
"Another beast?" Dev asked, gripping a thick wooden spear.
Several people instinctively stepped backward.
Others began talking over one another.
"What do we do?"
"Should we hide?"
"We should run!"
"No, stay together!"
Their voices became louder with every second.
"Enough!"
Leonard's voice cut through the panic.
Everyone immediately looked toward him.
"Calm down!"
He took a deep breath before speaking again.
"If we panic now, we'll only make things worse."
His calm tone slowly settled everyone's nerves.
One by one, the frightened students steadied themselves.
Abhimanyu nodded in agreement.
"Stay together."
"No one moves unless we know what's coming."
Everyone tightened their grip on whatever weapons they had managed to make from sharpened branches and stones.
The bushes ahead suddenly shook violently.
CRASH!
A figure burst out of the dense bushes.
The person stumbled forward before collapsing face-first onto the ground.
He was covered in dirt.
His clothes were torn.
His entire body trembled from exhaustion.
For a moment, nobody recognized him.
Slowly the man lifted his head.
The moment Abhimanyu, Meera, Aarav saw his face, their expressions froze.
"...Mason?", Aarav's voice was filled with disbelief.
The others looked between them in confusion.
"You know him?" Hana asked.
Aarav sighed heavily.
"Unfortunately."
"He's... a troublemaker."
Mason struggled to his feet, breathing heavily.
His eyes were filled with panic.
"Run!"
He looked at everyone desperately.
"You all need to run!
"There isn't any time!"
Abhimanyu stepped forward, remaining surprisingly calm.
"Calm down, What happened?"
Mason looked over his shoulder as if expecting something to burst from the forest at any moment.
"A monster..."
He gasped for air.
"A huge monster is chasing me!"
The entire group stiffened.
Nikita immediately pointed an accusing finger at him.
"Are you insane?!"
"You brought it here?"
Riya glared at him with open anger.
"You idiot!"
"If it follows you here, we're all dead! get away from us!
Go let the beast eat you somewhere else!"
Mason shook his head desperately
"I didn't know you were here!"
"I swear!"
"I wasn't trying to bring it here!"
Most of the group remained terrified.
Only Abhimanyu and Meera stayed calm.
Javier stepped forward.
"Everyone, yelling won't solve anything."
Abhimanyu nodded.
"He's right."
He looked toward the direction Mason had come from.
"If the beast hasn't seen us yet so we can change our route."
"Maybe it'll continue chasing him instead."
Karan frowned. "And how exactly do we know it won't follow us?"
Leonard crossed his arms.
"We don't, but standing here arguing won't help either."
"We have to try."
Everyone slowly nodded.
It wasn't a perfect plan... But it was the only one they had.
As everyone prepared to leave, Mason silently looked toward Abhimanyu. The familiar feeling returned.
Jealousy.
Back on Earth, people naturally listened to Abhimanyu.
Even here... nothing had changed.
Mason clenched his fists.
Why... why does everyone always trust him-
His thoughts were interrupted.
Abhimanyu looked at him. "Were you alone or did you arrive here with someone else?"
Mason hesitated, the question made Mason lower his head.
His face darkened.
"...Dead."
His voice was barely audible.
"They're all dead."
Everyone fell silent.
"The beast killed everyone, I... I was the only one who managed to escape."
A heavy silence spread across the group.
Several people lowered their heads.
Some whispered quiet prayers.
Even Abhimanyu believed his story.
Only Ravi narrowed his eyes.
Something didn't feel right.
He quietly walked beside Samar.
"What do you think?"
Samar kept watching Mason.
"I don't know... but something about his story feels strange."
Ravi nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing. Should we tell Abhimanyu?"
Samar was just about to answer—
ROOOOOAAAAARRRRRRR!!
A deafening roar exploded through the jungle. The ground trembled violently beneath their feet. Birds scattered into the sky.
The trees shook.
Everyone froze.
Their hearts nearly stopped.
Slowly...
The bushes ahead parted.
Heavy footsteps echoed across the forest.
THUD...
THUD...
THUD...
Then It appeared.
A monstrous beast nearly six meters tall stepped into the clearing.
Its body resembled a gigantic tiger, covered in black-striped golden fur that shimmered beneath the sunlight. Every muscle beneath its skin rippled with terrifying power.
Behind it swayed a long serpent-like tail that moved as if it were alive, its scaled surface glistening with an eerie dark glow.
Its crimson eyes locked onto the group.
A low growl escaped its mouth, revealing rows of dagger-like fangs.
For a single horrifying moment...
No one dared breathe.
The beast had found them.
— End —