Authors pov
Silence swallowed the room after the last scream of panic faded. Sona sat on the edge of the bed like a doll someone had forgotten to wind back up, eyelids heavy, body bruised, breath uneven. Arjun stayed beside her with a stiffness that wasn't human, one hand at the back of her head as he checked every injury again and again, as if touch could erase reality.
Her phone lay on the floor where it had fallen.
That single image still burned behind all their eyes.
Every angle, every shadow, every pixel of her naked body on display.
Yet not taken tonight.
Not taken by Arjun.
Not taken by the dead killer.
Taken by someone else.
Someone new.
Someone watching.
Sona's breathing hiccuped, exhaustion dragging her under even as fear tried to pull her awake. Arjun pushed her hair back, his jaw tight enough to crack bone.
"Sleep," he whispered, though his voice was a storm swallowing itself. "I'm right here."
She didn't fight.
Didn't argue.
Didn't have the strength.
Her eyes closed slowly, lashes trembling like she wanted to stay awake but her body betrayed her. Arjun adjusted the blanket over her shoulders, fingers pausing on her cheek with an emotion too dangerous to be named.
Kabir stood by the door, arms tight across his chest, Riya tucked into his side with a worried frown. None of them spoke till her breathing softened into the fragile rhythm of sleep.
But the silence didn't last.
A new vibration cut through the calm.
A sharp ding that ricocheted through the dorm like a warning shot.
Riya flinched.
Kabir's arm stiffened around her hfing her tugher against him.
Arjun's head snapped up.
The phone lighting up this time wasn't Sona's.
It was Riya's.
And the moment she picked it up, her hand began to shake. Color drained from her face, leaving her pale and hollow.
"No…" she whispered. "No no no no…"
Kabir stepped forward instantly. "What happened?"
Riya turned the screen toward him with trembling hesitating fingers.
The image was unmistakable.
Her naked.
Unedited.
Uncropped.
Taken without her knowing.
Taken long before tonight.
The same exact style.
Same angles.
Same composition, as sona.
Someone was watching both of them.
Someone touching their past without permission.
Someone who knew exactly how to humiliate.
Before she could react further, Kabir grabbed the phone out of her hand.
He stared at the screen.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't blink.
Then something terrifyingly calm slid over his face — a dangerous kind of quiet that didn't match the storm inside him.
His voice came out low, steady, and lethal.
"I will kill this person."
Riya's eyes widened.
Arjun didn't disagree.
He didn't even pretend to.
He rose from the bed slowly, movements too controlled, too deliberate, eyes dark as a predator recognizing another.
"For once," Arjun said quietly, "you and I want the same thing."
Two childhood friends.
Two predators in their own rights.
Two men who were usually on opposite sides of sanity.
Now united by one threat.
Kabir pocketed Riya's phone with a finality that sounded like a death sentence. "We start tonight."
Arjun nodded once. "We finish tonight."
Riya looked between them, helpless, shaken. "Guys… slow down. We need a plan. You can't just—"
"We're not asking," Kabir cut in lightly, and that lightness was worse than shouting. "We're informing."
Arjun tossed him a cold glance. "You handle the technicals. I'll handle the hunting."
Kabir gave a short nod. "Done."
Just like that, they slipped into roles they should never have known how to play so perfectly.
Arjun turned back to Sona for one moment, crouching beside her sleeping figure. His voice softened into something raw.
"I'll end this," he whispered. "I swear it."
Riya sat beside Sona carefully, brushing a thumb over her forehead, checking her pulse again just to reassure herself. "I'll look after her. Just… don't do anything stupid."
Kabir's expression twisted. "Stupid is following what belongs to us."
Arjun didn't argue, already pulling his jacket on, dark eyes gleaming with the promise of violence.
Twin storms walking out the door.
But before they could leave, something else happened.
A rumble of thunder?
No.
A vibration.
From Sona's phone.
Arjun froze.
Riya reached it first, and her face went white.
"It's another message," she whispered.
Arjun snatched the phone.
A new image.
A new threat.
A new angle of Sona and riya both.
Naked.
Vulnerable.
Sleeping.
Taken earlier.
Taken before today.
Taken when someone had been close enough to breathe the same air as them.
His hand shook.
Arjun never shook.
But this time… he did.
So kabir was.
The message carried no username.
No number.
Nothing traceable.
Just text.
round one is done.
Round two starts when you decide who you're protecting."
Kabir whispered, "This person is playing with us."
Arjun whispered, "This person is already dead."
The room felt too small for their rage.
Kabir turned toward the table, already opening his laptop, eyes burning. "I'll trace whatever I can. Riya, stay with them. And Arjun…"
Arjun's gaze lifted slowly.
Kabir's voice dropped.
"Don't disappear alone."
Arjun smirked without humor. "Watch me."
But even as he walked toward the door, as tension hung thick, as fear curled around all of them like smoke…
They were finally together.
Finally on the same side.
Finally ready to hunt the hunter.
This new enemy didn't know what mistake they'd made.
Because threatening those girls had made two men furious.
Threatening two girls had made them monsters.
And somewhere in the shadows, unnoticed by all, another phone screen lit up.
Someone was watching.
Someone was waiting.
Someone was counting their breaths.
Round two had already begun.
Night stretched long and tense, the kind that didn't blink.
Kabir and Arjun didn't speak as they walked out of the apartment; they had shifted both girls to Kabir's penthouse dorm if collage was not safe anymore, they didn't need to. Their anger stitched them together tighter than any friendship ever had.
The moment the door shut, Riya locked it behind them and returned to Sona's side, aware that she wasn't the only one being watched tonight. Its both of them now.
Down the hallway, Arjun exhaled sharply, shaking his fingers once like he was straining to keep control. On "Laptop." Or on his anger.
Kabir opened it even before they reached the car, standing under the flickering streetlamp. The cold glow hit his face, making his eyes predator-sharp.
"Images first," he muttered.
Arjun leaned in, jaw tight, arms crossed like steel bars.
Kabir zoomed in on the metadata. "There's nothing. Whoever did this stripped everything."
Arjun gave a humorless half-laugh. "They think they're smart."
"Annoyingly smart," Kabir corrected.
But even in the stripped-down files, hints remained – the tiniest breadcrumbs for someone insane enough to look deeper.
And both of them were.
Kabir clicked through filters and contrast mapping until the screen looked like a dark galaxy. Arjun tilted his head slightly.
"Go back," he ordered.
Kabir did. And he saw it.
A blurred shape in the background faint, almost erased but human. A reflection in the glass behind Sona. Shoulders hunched. Phone raised. A silhouette that did not match Arjun, Kabir, or Riya.
Kabir's blood chilled. "This wasn't taken from outside. This was someone inside their space."
Arjun's fist clenched. Hard.
"Who the hell has access to their place?" Kabir whispered.
"No one," Arjun answered. "Except us. And the collage-building staff."
That was the first spark.
Kabir opened building records. "Night guard… cleaner… handyman… but none of them match the body shape."
"Who would?" Arjun muttered. "Think."
Kabir pressed hands to his temples. "Someone from their or our past. Someone who knows their patterns. Someone who knows our timings too."
Arjun's gaze lifted sharply.
Kabir went still.
They thought the same name at the same time.
But Kabir said it first.
"That weird nerd from our class. The one who kept staring at Sona and riyain school? What was his name… Nikhil. Nikhil Patankar."
Arjun's eyes narrowed. "He transferred after first year. Why would he be here now?"
Kabir typed fast. "Let's see."
A moment later his face drained.
"He's in the city. Works as a freelance photographer."
"Photographer," Arjun echoed. "Of course."
Kabir's breath stuttered. "But he wasn't the only creep. Remember our biology professor? The one who got suspended for stalking a girl two years ago? Sir Aadesh Somani?"
Arjun looked murderous. "He lives near the lake area. Where the killer's body was dumped."
Both stared at each other.
One night.
Two suspects.
Too many coincidences.
"We check both," Kabir said.
"Split up?" Arjun asked.
Kabir shook his head. "Not tonight. We stay together."
Arjun nodded, once, sharp.
They drove into the night as fast as they could, city lights streaking past like frantic whispers.
–––––––––––
FIRST STOP: NIKHIL PATANKAR
–––––––––––
His apartment was a mess of camera parts and empty coffee cups. Kabir hacked the door lock with an old trick he never admitted to knowing.
Inside, Arjun scanned the place like a wolf.
Nothing incriminating at first.
Then Kabir opened the laptop.
His exhale turned ice-cold.
"Arjun."
Folders.
Dozens.
Names of girls.
Years.
Dates.
Photos.
Thousands.
But none of Sona. None of Riya.
Arjun grabbed the chair so hard the wood cracked. "He's a creep… but he's not the one."
Kabir nodded. "Move."
They left like a storm, leaving the door half-open.
–––––––––––
SECOND STOP: PROFESSOR AADESH SOMANI
–––––––––––
His house was in darkness, curtains drawn like he was hiding from the moon.
Kabir bypassed the back door. Arjun pushed it open with no hesitation.
Inside smelled of chemicals and cheap perfume.
A beat later, Arjun stopped.
There was a board on the wall.
Pictures pinned.
Articles.
Case files.
Faces of girls.
Patterns.
Riya's picture.
Sona's picture.
Kabir whispered, "No… no, this—"
But Arjun's hand pressed to his chest, stopping him.
"Look closer," Arjun murmured.
Because something was off.
Sona's picture wasn't recent. It was from high school. Riya's was from her college fest two years ago.
Old.
Public.
Downloaded.
"Someone framed him," Kabir said.
Arjun nodded. "He's being watched too."
Their suspect list doubled.
Tripled.
The night felt like a maze with no exit.
Kabir ran a hand down his face. "This doesn't make sense. We're missing something."
Arjun sat on the professor's desk and scanned the room with narrowed eyes. "Someone else connects all points. Someone we never considered."
Kabir froze.
Arjun stared at him.
And something loud clicked between them.
"The handwriting," Kabir whispered. "Of the threats."
Arjun's heartbeat roared.
"That handwriting matches—"
Kabir cut him off. "We need proof."
Arjun nodded sharply.
Before they could think they saw blood from washroom then body. Dead body of aadesh solanki. Kabir froze. Arjun smirk, "one suspect down". He mumble under his breath.
They ran back to the car, leaving body as it is, adrenaline burning through them.
Kabir opened old school records. Old complaint letters. Old notebooks.
Arjun waited. Silent. Coiled. Deadly.
Then Kabir's head snapped up.
His eyes were wide.
His throat worked once, like he had swallowed a live wire.
"It's him," Kabir choked. "Arjun… it's him."
Arjun didn't breathe. Didn't blink. "Are you sure?"
Kabir turned the laptop to him.
Handwriting.
Perfect match.
Every curve.
Every slant.
Every loop.
Arjun's voice dropped into something inhuman.
"he was not at home when we checked, Where does he live now?"
Kabir typed. His fingers shook.
"Near the abandoned lake house."
Exactly where the killer's body was found.
Arjun stood slowly, every line of him promising violence.
"Take me," he whispered.
Kabir nodded once, pale but resolute.
–––––––––––
DAWN
–––––––––––
Soft gold crept across the horizon as their car rolled to a stop on the dirt road. Mist hung low like breath held in suspense.
They stepped out.
And there he was.
Standing near the lake house.
Waiting.
Smiling.
Like he knew they would come.
Kabir inhaled sharply.
Arjun's fists curled.
Both of them moved toward him with the certainty of death itself.
The culprit took one step back, still smirking.
"Boys," he said softly. "You made it."
Kabir growled, "You won't make it past sunrise."
Arjun whispered, "You touched what's mine."
And that's where the chapter ends.
Right as they lunged.
Right as dawn blinked.
Right as the predator finally met predators.