The constant thoughts of Dhruv's screaming at Kri's mercy tortured her. None of her attempts to reconnect the call were successful. Whoever Kri was, he had the same vocabulary as Dhruv.
"I am coming Dhruv."
Horrified crowd and traffic blocked her path. Powerful tremors had torn down the paths ahead. Chaos had spread in entire city and nobody cared about the ones who had fallen and struggling to escape. None of them looked sane enough to ask about the cause.
She exited the car and helped a man standing up. "What's happening?"
He pointed at the end of the path and gestured about something big, and ran away to save himself.
Several lights descended from the sky. One of them crashed near her, resulting in a devastating impact—scaring away the witnesses. To her relief, it crashed into an empty area. "What the hell is going on?"
She was still a kilometre away from the destination. A guy on the bike caught her attention, stuck, but still safe, mesmerised by the lights in the sky. She pushed him aside. "Sorry! I need this!" and stole the bike.
"It's on EMI!" the guy said.
Even on a motorbike, it was tough to navigate through the crazy and scared crowd. Just as she made the last turn towards her destination, an unforeseen phenomenon shook her core. In a split second, she lost her balance on the bike and crashed into the car ahead, falling on a car's roof a few metres further.
'You have reached your destination,' the GPS announced.
The GPS on her phone showed she had reached Connaught Place, but instead of the bustling centre, there was a devastated area with a huge burning dip, wreckage of vehicles, and lifeless bodies, all surrounded by the debris of buildings. Standing in the middle of a fiery pit was an enormous and enigmatic white object, with a remarkable level of mathematical precision in its feathered design. "Spaceship?"
While she was trying to make sense of the surreal scenario—her phone rang. It was Dhruv's. However, she knew he wouldn't be the one responding.
"I perceive you, mortal," Kri said.
***
From the middle of the massive spaceship, a pathway emerged and approached her. The spaceship destroyed the military choppers and jets, with no effort. They just exploded after coming to a certain range. "This can't be real."
The path halted inches away from her feet, making it clear there was no going back. With Dhruv's life hanging in the balance, she took a determined step onto the path—unsure of how her journey had taken such a critical turn and who or what exactly Dhruv's family was? All the talks about angels doesn't appear as mere fantasy now.
Upon stepping, the path started shrinking, disappearing into the spaceship. A semi-transparent white layer materialised on either side, protecting her from the fiery pit beneath her.
The air vibrated with the piercing screams and desperate cries of survivors trapped in an unexplainable and terrifying situation. She pretended to be brave, but her body was trembling with each passing second. She glimpsed the survivors, their faces etched with pain. They supported each other in their desperate escape from the pit.
A loud collision occurred at the head of the spaceship, caused it to tilt with the path she was standing on. Within a few seconds, Atharv descended in front of her—stopping the sudden tilt. He glared at her, seething with frustration.
"I told you to wait!" he said. It was the first time he had raised his voice against her. He wrapped his arms around her, giving her strength and calming her fear.
"He's inside!" Manya said. Atharv wiped her tears. "They are hurting him!"
"Manya, listen."
"No," she tried to push him away. "I am going to kill that bastard!"
"Well, this is actually the fight I would like you to be the part of, but, no."
"Mamu. What is this?"
"Two terms: Spaceship and Artificial beings."
"Is this alien invasion?"
"I would love to talk but, the time is against us right now." He grabbed her arm so hard it caught her off guard and pushed her away from the path. "Just leave it to your mamu." Her body froze from fear of falling into the fiery pit.
Sooner, she watched tiny orange butterflies fluttered out of Atharv's shirt. And he vanished right before her eyes—into the heart of all the chaos.
***
In a state of surprise and confusion, she landed on the grass a few feet away with no scratch. Within seconds, a barrier materialised from the spaceship, surrounding the entire pit and spaceship. Halted a few inches from her.
Unsure of what awaited her, she cautiously threw stones on the barrier to test it. The stones bounced back harmlessly, yet she remained nervous with each step. When she brought her arm nearer, a harmless static discharge brushed against her skin. She rested her hand on the barrier. Within seconds of tickling, a small part of the barrier vanished, releasing electric discharges that landed on the ground.
The tilted spaceship had stabilised and realigned. But where Atharv collided with it, there was now a hole. A hole, from where several enigmatic beings flew out from, the beings with wings. These creatures had blue wings that could either attract or enchant anyone who lay eyes on them. Every strand of hair, feather on their wings and a halo above head had the same captivating blue colour with faint hints of white.
"Angels?"
They were looking for something or someone. One angel looked at Manya and headed straight for her. Her fear caused her to recoil and crawl back.
Right as the angelic being got closer—several bright orange ropes of light emerged from the hole—moving towards the angels. In a mere instant, everything before her vanished, dropping her jaw.
The spaceship, angels and the burning hollow. They all disappeared in the lavishing view of Connaught palace, where the flag danced with rhythmic grace and the sounds of traffic filled the air, making the destruction from before feel like a mere dream. Even torn roads and destroyed vehicles behind her—has vanished. A scream escaped her when she saw only half of her legs. Yet, when she flinched and rose to her feet, they returned. "What was that?"
An orange butterfly-like object that flew out from Atharv's shirt was hovering close to her and emitting a mesmerising light. With caution, she moved her hand over the light. It was casting an illusion over everything close by. The second she took a few steps forward; it all came back.
There were a bunch of angels with ropes wrapped around their necks, trying to break free like wild animals. Their efforts proved futile, and one by one, their strength gave in. Sooner, their lifeless forms hanged from the bindings. Several squared-shaped spaces opened up on the wall of the spaceship and swallowed the dead angels. The orange rope disappeared with them.
Various parts of the spaceship burst into flames; a sight that reassured her despite her lack of understanding about what was happening inside. In her desperation to contact Atharv and Dhruv, she made several unsuccessful phone calls.
Following a series of explosions, a new pathway emerged before her, which she believed to be a result of a malfunction and Atharv. In a rush, she entered the spaceship, hoping to find Dhruv and confirm the reality of the beings she had seen moments ago.
***
A haunting darkness surrounded her, with a faint light a few feet away. With each step, her fear grew stronger. The thickness of the air inside had consumed her presence.
In front of her, the square lit into a shade of purple. Her heartbeat pierced through the eerie silent. The moment her foot hit the square—an unsettling laughter filled the entire space.
"The one he sacrificed for. Is here!" Kri said.
"Sacrificed?" she said. Panic wrapped around her, suffocating her with its tight grip. "Dhruv!" she cried out. All the paths around her got blocked by a purple layer.
Before her, a trail of purple lights emerged, guiding her further into the abyss of darkness. Dashing forward, the walls were destroyed and lifeless angels laid on the ground; with a strange metallic odour lingering in the air.
After arriving by a circular platform, she took careful steps onto it. The platform lit up; it was covered with stains of black thick liquid. Even the platform was emitting light; It couldn't defeat the darkness surrounding her. It moved up to a different level in the spaceship.
The floor was flooded with distressful screams. It wasn't any different from the previous one. Moving further, there were more lifeless angels scattered around. A sudden grasp on her leg forced out a scream. The wounded angel pulled her down to the ground. He showed an unusual strength that she had to fend off with multiple kicks. She gasped in horror as she witnessed the familiar black liquid pouring out from his body. It's their blood!
"Manya!" Dhruv's voice echoed through the floor.
"Dhruv!"
"Manya! Where are you?"
Her heart on the verge of bursting from restlessness—she followed his voice. She turned onto a path littered with lifeless angels; their wings dripped in blood. But this time, she observed their killer. Atharv. Like a wild beast, he ripped each of them apart—a sly grin spread across his face—trembling her limbs.
The moment their gazes met; a shiver ran through her body. He used an angel's wings to wipe away the blood from his face and arms.
"Why can't you listen to me?!" He threw a lifeless angel towards her, but it missed its mark and struck the angel behind—who was prepared to behead her. Whipping her neck back to Atharv, she flinched upon seeing him inches away from her—blocked by a purple barrier.
An angel appeared out of nowhere and lifted Manya into arms. She used all her strength, but it was impossible to break free from the angel's grasp.
Destruction reached her ears from afar; it was following her, and she knew who was causing it. The angel was struggling to grasp the reality; held fear for the endless torture chasing him.
A furious roar reached her ears. She witnessed a hand, covered in black blood—gripped angel's neck. It was Atharv. Atharv's and Manya's gaze met—a cold sensation shot down her spine. "Sorry?" she said.
Enveloped by the fear, the angel dropped her into the abyss below. Darkness engulfed her and had no clue where it led. A spotlight came out of nowhere and shined on her; just before crashing onto the ground. In front of her, a space appeared—revealing a wounded angel lying next to a throne in a pool of black blood.