AKSHAT SINGHANIA - A literature professor in Singania Institute of Arts and Commerce. He is soft and caring person
with a tough exterior, who doesn't believe in love or marriage because of his parent's broken relationship and his ex wife's betrayal...
A cold wind howled through a lifeless corridor, its walls stained with an unspoken horror. Tiny feet ran, barefoot, bruised, bleeding. Akshat,just a child,gasped as his chest rose and fell rapidly. Shadows moved behind him, growing longer, closer, their whispers turning into growls.
"Akshat," a voice hissed, a chilling tone soaked in menace. "Come back here."
His little legs stumbled, heart pounding as the old wooden floor groaned beneath his weight. He was six. Alone. Helpless. Rain lashed outside the broken windows, its sound crashing like cymbals, louder, louder,until it merged with muffled cries, guttural laughter, and the heavy sound of something dragging.
And then, hands,long, ghostly, monstrous,reached out of the dark. Not human anymore. Cold, clawed fingers brushing against his arms, his chest, his neck.
He shrieked.
"NO!" he screamed in his dream, his tiny voice drowned in thunder. He darted through the endless hallway only to reach a cliff,beyond it, a lake that wasn’t made of water but venom, black and bubbling. And instead of turning away, Akshat stepped closer to the edge.
"Let it end…" the child whispered, eyes hollow. "If I fall, it will all stop. They can’t reach me there."
He stepped into the air,and began to fall.
But in the void below, something shimmered.
A single drop.
Golden.
Pure.
Warm.
A drop of nectar.
And before the poison could swallow him, that drop melted into his skin, racing through his veins like sunlight. He gasped, eyes widening, as the voices faded… the pain dulled… and the shadows vanished into a blaze of gold.
"Aks,Akshat!!" A voice… a real one.
His eyes fluttered open, his chest heaving, soaked in sweat.
"Akshat!" Amrit was kneeling beside him on the bed, cupping his face, her own eyes rimmed red with worry. She was gently patting his cheeks, whispering his name again and again.
As soon as Akshat sat up on the bed, his chest rose and fell with sharp, uneven breaths. His trembling hands gripped the bedsheet as though it were the only thing anchoring him to reality. His body was drenched in sweat, face pale, eyes wide but unfocused. When Amrit tried to touch his shoulder, his whole body jerked in response as he yanked himself away.
“Akshat…” she whispered softly, stepping closer.
But the moment her hand brushed against his arm again, he flinched harder, recoiling as if her touch had burned him. His knees came up to his chest, legs pressing tightly together, arms hugging himself, eyes clenched shut with a desperation that made Amrit’s throat tighten.
