FLASHBACK
Ryaan was only five when it happened. A small boy with messy hair, bright eyes, and a habit of drifting away into his own little world. That day, he was in the kindergarten playground, sitting on the ground with his legs crossed. Other children were running around, laughing, shouting, throwing balls. But Ryaan wasn't interested in any of that. His eyes had latched onto a cat a fluffy white cat that had wandered in from somewhere outside the school boundary.
It was sitting very quietly, sunlight catching its soft fur, making it look almost magical to a child's eyes. Ryaan watched it without blinking. He felt something warm and strange in his chest, like the world had become quiet just for him and the cat. He reached out a hand as if to touch it, but the bell rang sharply.
Lunch break was over.
The noise snapped him out of the moment. The cat lifted its head, looked at him once, and then everything became blurred. Ryaan couldn't remember what happened next only that the cat's gentle "meow… meow…" somehow grew louder, too loud for his little ears. It felt like the sound crawled inside his head, echoing, vibrating, refusing to stop.
And then...
Nothing.
A blank space in his mind.
He walked back to the classroom like a quiet ghost, unaware of how he looked. When he pushed the door open, the entire room froze. The chatter faded. The crayons dropped from tiny hands. Dozens of eyes widened in horror.
Ryaan's uniform was drenched—smeared with thick red blood. His hands were dripping. His face had lost all color, pale like a sick child. He stood still in the doorway, almost expressionless.
The silence lasted only seconds.
Then the children started screaming.
Some cried loudly, some hid behind the desks, others backed away from him as if he carried a monster inside him. The teacher rushed from her table, confused at first, then terrified. Her breath caught, eyes widening so much that even a five-year-old could tell something was wrong.
"R–Ryaan… what happened to you?" she whispered, then raised her voice shakily, "Go wash yourself! Now!"
Her hands trembled as she pointed toward the washroom. But Ryaan didn't move. He felt stuck. As if his shoes had grown roots into the floor. His eyes were fixed on his own hands. Little hands. Red hands.
Just then, another boy burst into the classroom, panting and shouting louder than anyone else.
"Miss! The cat is dead! The cat is dead outside!"
A wave of cries and panic spread again. Children covered their ears, some screamed harder, others whispered to each other in fear.
The teacher's knees seemed to weaken, but she forced herself to kneel in front of Ryaan. Up close, the blood looked even more shocking. She swallowed nervously and tried to keep her voice gentle.
"Ryaan… did you do something to the cat?"
His lips trembled. "I didn't…" His small voice cracked. "I didn't do anything."
"Did you see what happened?"
Ryaan pressed his hands against the sides of his head. "I heard… meow… meow… in my ears. Like she was calling me. It wouldn't stop."
The teacher exchanged a terrified look with the assistants gathering near the doorway. Whispers spread like wildfire.
"This child isn't normal." "He's always lost in his own world." "Maybe he killed it by mistake." "Or maybe he tried to save it." "He's just five… but still…"
Some teachers sighed with pity, others with suspicion. None knew what to believe.
And in the middle of all the chaos, little Ryaan stood alone confused, scared, staring at the blood on his uniform. The only sound he could still hear was that haunting meow echoing somewhere deep inside his head… even though the cat was already dead.