The night in Shimla hung heavy - cold, silent, and unforgiving.
Darkness stretched across the mountains like an endless curse, wrapping every secret within its shadows. Somewhere between the frozen winds and the sleeping city... blood was waiting to be spilled.
No one could hear the screams muffled beneath the howling breeze.
No one... except him.
---
Reyansh's POV
It had been four days.
Four fucking days...
And her face still refused to leave his mind.
He shouldn't even know her name. She was nothing but a random girl who scratched his car, ran her sharp tongue like she owned the whole goddamn world, and walked away as if she hadn't just poked a beast with her bare hands.
Yet... she was there.
Every time he closed his eyes - those hazel eyes flashed behind his lids. That little fire in her voice. That stupid sunshine smile she tried to hide behind her boldness.
He could still feel the warmth of her breath against his face - still smell that soft sweet Vanilla scent clinging to her skin.
It pissed him off.
No woman had ever stuck inside his head like this.
She was like a thorn buried deep under his skin - refusing to let him forget.
He should have snapped her neck that night.
But instead... he'd smirked at her.
Like a fucking idiot.
His fingers curled into fists, the leather of his gloves stretching tight.
Weakness.
That's what she was.
A small, harmless distraction in the middle of a much bigger war.
He would forget her.
Eventually.
But tonight... there were more important matters waiting to bleed beneath his hands.
Author POV
A lone warehouse stood at the edge of the city - hidden beneath layers of fog and silence. The air inside was thick - reeking of rusted metal, stale blood... and fear.
The faint flickering light cast long shadows against the cracked concrete walls.
A man hung from the ceiling - tied by his wrists, his body swaying slightly with every shallow breath he took.
Blood dripped slowly from his split lip, staining the floor beneath him.
"P-please... I swear I didn't touch your files..."
His trembling voice cracked through the suffocating silence.
A deep, slow chuckle echoed from the shadows.
The sound sent ice crawling down the man's spine.
Reyansh stepped forward - the dull glow of the light falling across his face.
His honey brown eyes gleamed... but there was nothing warm in them.
Only death.
"Lying to me?"
His voice was soft. Almost gentle.
"That's brave."
The man whimpered, his body shaking harder.
Reyansh tilted his head, circling him like a predator.
"Do you know what happens to brave men in my world, Mr. Arjun?"
Arjun's throat bobbed.
"T-they live?"
Reyansh's cold smirk sliced through the darkness.
"No."
In one swift motion, he grabbed Arjun's jaw - forcing the man's bloodshot eyes to meet his own.
"They beg."
A sharp flick of his knife sliced through the man's cheek, leaving behind a thin crimson line.
Arjun's scream echoed through the empty warehouse - but no one would ever hear it.
No one ever did.
"Y-you don't have to do this... your father forced me-"
Reyansh's entire body went still.
Father.
That one word was enough to awaken the monster lurking beneath his skin.
His grip tightened around the man's throat - cutting off the rest of his pathetic plea.
"Don't speak of him in front of me."
His voice was ice-cold - laced with a hatred so deep, it could burn through bones.
Arjun choked, clawing weakly at Reyansh's gloved hand.
"He... he asked me to hack your information... to find your hidden businesses... your every move..."
Reyansh's jaw clenched.
Of course, his father would try to use his own people against him.
That bastard had always underestimated him.
Always thought he could break him like some puppet.
But what his father never understood was... Reyansh had stopped being breakable the day he watched his mother die in front of his eyes.
Now... he was the one pulling the strings.
Slowly.
Silently.
And he wouldn't stop until he had ripped apart everything his father ever built - piece by piece.
"Let me go... please... I'll disappear-"
Reyansh leaned in close, his breath brushing against Arjun's ear.
"You already disappeared... the moment you crossed me."
With one swift motion, he plunged the knife straight into the man's heart.
A sharp gasp - then silence.
Blood pooled beneath the lifeless body... another ghost added to the mountains' hidden secrets.
Reyansh wiped the knife clean on his black coat, his face blank - as if he'd simply swatted a fly.
He turned away without a second glance.
Killing was nothing new to him.
But tonight...
Tonight, the blood didn't feel enough.
Because even with death on his hands... her voice still echoed in his head.
"Good thing... I don't scare easy."
His grip tightened around the knife.
"You should be scared of me... sunshine."
---
Shimla, Four Days Later
Amaira sat on the swing in her garden - wrapped in her favorite pink PJ's, cradling a hot cup of coffee between her fingers.
The chilly wind played with her hair, brushing soft kisses against her flushed cheeks.
She should have been at peace.
But she wasn't.
Her mind kept drifting back to that night.
To him.
The arrogant jerk with honey brown eyes and a voice that made her heart trip over itself.
Why was she still thinking about him?
It made no sense.
He was cold. Rude. Infuriating.
The type of man she would never, ever want in her life.
Right?
She sighed, shaking her head.
No.
It wasn't him she was thinking about.
It was the way he looked at her.
Like he saw something in her... something even she didn't know existed.
A shiver crawled down her spine - and for once, it wasn't because of the cold.
The mountains were whispering again.
Stories waiting to be written.
And somewhere... buried beneath tho
se frozen shadows...
Two lives were already tangled together.
Neither of them knew it yet.
But the game had already begun.
And in this game...
No one ever walked away without scars.
.....
To Be Continued...
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