CHAPTER 3 — THE DEAD WHO REMEMBER
Arjun ran until his lungs burned. He thought if he get caught would die but if he keep running non stop he will definitely die either way. He can't even take a chance to stop or sit.
He didn't remember turning corners. Didn't remember crossing the bridge or passing the closed temple gates. His body moved on instinct alone, driven by the echo of his name being spoken by something that should not exist. He never saw something like this before movies and horror stories.
He finally collapsed, when he woke up it was inside Dayapur General Hospital.
The emergency ward was dark, only faint moonlight kept things visible.
There was no generators, no nurses or no patients. There were Only beds.
Rows and rows of beds filled with bodies covered in white sheets.
Arjun backed away slowly.
"No… no… no…"
A sound rose from the far end of the ward, Clapping.Slow. Applauding.
A sheet slid off one of the beds automatically.A corpse sat up.Then another.And another one.
Soon, every bed was occupied by something sitting upright—necks twisted, limbs stiff, eyes wide open and fully aware.
They spoke together."We remember when gods still screamed."
Arjun's mark throbbed violently. Blood poured down his wrist, soaking the floor.
"Stop!" he shouted. "I don't want to hear this!" "I want to go from here to my home,my family."
One corpse stood,He was A child.Its face was half-burned, hospital tag still tied to its toe.
"They lied to you," it said softly in a childish tone.
"Gods were never protectors. They were wardens."
The ward lights flickered on.off.on..
On the walls, ancient murals began to appear beneath peeling paint—images of humans bound in chains, their prayers flowing upward like smoke… into thrones above.
Another corpse spoke.
"Prayer was payment to them."
Arjun staggered back, shaking his head.
"You're lying…" stop saying all this nonsense, i don't want to know anything,just leave me.
A doctor's corpse stepped forward, chest split open.Inside was no heart.Only a golden lock, broken and rusted.
"When humans stopped believing," it said,
"the prisons weakened."
The child raised its burned hand and pointed at Arjun.
"You were born when the first god escaped."
The ground shook.
The murals began to bleed.
Arjun screamed as visions flooded his mind—
a god dragged screaming into chains,
a human crowned with stolen light,
and a throne that rejected its master.
And then Suddenly—All the corpses turned their heads toward the entrance.
Footsteps echoed and The ash-robed man from before stepped inside, his expression were grim.
"So it's started," he muttered.
He looked at Arjun.
"The dead don't speak unless a Key-Bearer is nearby."
Arjun swallowed.
"A… what?" Key? bearer?
The man tightened his grip on his blade.
"The ones who can open what should stay sealed."
Before Arjun could respond—
Every corpse in the room bowed.
The walls cracked.
From the ceiling, something massive began to descend—its shape wrong, its presence crushing.
A voice echoed, layered and divine.
"Return the Key."
The ash-robed man cursed.
"Too late," he said.
The mark on Arjun's palm awaken again, Eye (Red pupil).
And something inside him woke up.