By the time midnight had passed the previous night, exhaustion had crushed us completely. None of us bothered with final conversations or even a simple goodnight. We simply dropped onto our beds and let sleep consume us whole.
When I finally woke again, harsh sunlight pierced through the curtains like knives.
Peter groaned from the other side of the room. “Tell me it’s still early.”
I glanced at the clock and frowned.
“Not even remotely,” I replied. “It’s one o’clock.”
“One?” Abdul’s voice came sharply from the doorway. “You mean one in the afternoon?”
Diljeet entered behind him, still looking half asleep. “Thirteen hours,” he muttered. “We slept for thirteen straight hours.”
Amit rubbed his tired eyes. “Looks like our brains counted last night as combat duty.”
For several moments, nobody dared bring up what we had witnessed.
Then Peter finally broke the silence.
“Did anyone else have dreams?”
The room fell quiet instantly.
Abdul slowly nodded. “Yeah.”
“Me too,” Amit admitted softly.
I stood up and stretched. “First priority is food. We can deal with nightmares afterward.”
The hunger hit all of us at once—not just ordinary hunger, but the desperate need for something comforting and familiar.
Diljeet clapped once. “Get the cook.”
When the cook arrived, Abdul spoke immediately.
“Make paya, haleem, and biryani.”
The man blinked in confusion. “All together?”
“All together,” Peter confirmed seriously. “And don’t hold back.”
The cook chuckled nervously. “Give me two hours.”
Those two hours crawled painfully slowly.
Amit paced around the room nonstop. “You’re absolutely sure that word meant ‘come’?”
Before I could answer, he muttered to himself, “I checked every translation already.”
Peter sat beside the window staring outside. “If something was actually summoned… why hasn’t it appeared yet?”
“Maybe it takes time,” Abdul answered quietly.
Diljeet’s expression darkened. “Or maybe it’s waiting for tonight.”
Nobody laughed at that.
Then the smell reached us.
Hot spices.
Slow-cooked broth.
Saffron and ghee.
Peter inhaled deeply. “That smells heavenly.”
When the dishes finally arrived, steam curled upward like smoke from sacred incense.
Abdul grabbed the biryani first. “Bismillah.”
The rest of us immediately joined in.
The paya was rich and silky, the haleem heavy with butter and spices.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Only spoons scraping against plates filled the room.
Peter leaned back with satisfaction. “If tonight kills us, at least our final meal was legendary.”
“Don’t joke about that,” Amit snapped sharply.
“It was only a joke.”
“It wasn’t funny.”
The silence returned again.
Diljeet finally spoke in a low voice. “That voice we heard…”
Everyone froze.
“It wasn’t just speaking,” Abdul murmured. “It was commanding.”
“It sounded like authority,” I added. “Like someone giving orders.”
Peter frowned deeply. “You think the creature obeys him?”
Amit stared at the table. “No. I think the beast belongs to him.”
The air suddenly felt heavier.
Diljeet carefully continued, “That shadow… it had to be at least eight feet tall.”
“And those eyes,” Peter whispered. “Bright red.”
Abdul shook his head slowly. “That thing wasn’t human.”
“No,” I said firmly. “Not human at all.”
The reality of those words settled over us like stone.
Amit straightened in his chair. “Then we stop hiding.”
Peter looked up. “Meaning?”
“We go back,” Amit answered. “And face it.”
Diljeet nodded once. “Ten tonight.”
Abdul looked around the table. “Everyone agreed?”
One after another, we nodded silently.
“Ten p.m.,” I confirmed. “We return.”
Later in the evening, tea was brought to us.
The soft clinking of cups echoed through the quiet room.
Peter stared into his tea thoughtfully. “Everything feels different now.”
“It is different,” Abdul replied.
Amit slowly lifted his cup. “To finding the truth.”
Diljeet raised his next. “To surviving.”
I lifted mine last. “To all of us.”
We drank together.
But nobody smiled.
Hours slipped by.
Dinner arrived once more—fresh kebabs, creamy korma, and warm naan.
Peter poked at the food uneasily. “Eating before this feels strange.”
“It’s preparation,” Abdul answered.
“For what?” Peter challenged.
“For war.”
That single word lingered heavily in the air.
Amit exhaled slowly. “Let’s not pretend this is heroic. We may not survive tonight.”
“Yes,” Diljeet said calmly. “That’s possible.”
Silence swallowed the room again.
I stood up first.
“No equipment tonight.”
Peter looked confused. “What?”
“No cameras. No sensors. No recorders.”
Abdul understood instantly. “Weapons only.”
Amit nodded. “If that thing can take physical form, gadgets won’t matter.”
Peter hesitated nervously. “And you think bullets will?”
“Maybe,” Diljeet replied. “Maybe not. But we won’t stand helpless.”
We entered the equipment room.
The ghost-hunting gear stayed behind.
EMF scanners remained untouched.
Thermal cameras sat abandoned on the table.
Instead, locked weapon cases were opened.
Cold steel reflected beneath the lights.
Peter swallowed hard. “This just got serious.”
“It was serious from the beginning,” Abdul answered.
I checked the weight of the weapon in my hands. Heavy. Reliable.
Amit carefully loaded ammunition. “Aim carefully. No panic.”
Diljeet tightened his grip. “The police are already positioned on the rooftops.”
“They still can’t fire?” Peter asked.
“Orders from higher authorities,” Abdul confirmed.
Peter scoffed softly. “Lucky them.”
“No,” I replied quietly. “They’re terrified too.”
Outside, darkness slowly consumed the sky.
At nine-thirty, we gathered in the courtyard.
Peter finally broke the silence. “If it speaks again…”
“We don’t let it finish,” Amit said immediately.
“And if the earth cracks open again?”
Abdul locked eyes with him. “Then we hold our ground.”
Diljeet placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “You can stay behind if you want.”
Peter stared at him for a second. “And leave you fools alone against an eight-foot monster?”
A faint grin crossed Diljeet’s face.
“That’s what I thought.”
At nine-fifty, we climbed into the vehicle.
No music played.
No one joked.
Only the low growl of the engine filled the silence.
As we neared the society grounds, shadowy figures could already be seen on nearby rooftops—the policemen waiting in position.
Their captain approached quietly. “Same instructions as yesterday. Observation only.”
“Not this time,” Abdul answered.
The captain glanced at our weapons before giving a grim nod. “May God watch over you.”
We stepped toward the center of the field.
The same cursed patch of earth.
The same unnatural silence.
Peter whispered nervously, “It feels aware of us.”
“Good,” Amit replied.
Ten o’clock arrived.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
A freezing wind swept across the ground.
Diljeet raised his weapon. “Take positions.”
We spread out carefully.
Abdul’s voice remained steady. “No matter what happens… nobody runs.”
“Nobody runs,” we repeated together.
The silence became suffocating.
Then it came.
A low vibration echoed through the darkness.
Peter inhaled sharply. “It’s here.”
At the edge of the field, two glowing eyes appeared first.
Low to the ground.
Predatory.
The hound slowly emerged from the darkness.
But this time, it didn’t search the earth.
It stared directly at us.
Aware.
Watching.
And behind it—
A massive shadow slowly materialized.
Towering nearly eight feet tall.
Its crimson eyes burned like embers in the dark.
Then the deep voice thundered across the field once more.
“Iew.”
Peter’s whisper trembled. “Oh God… it’s really here.”
Abdul slowly raised his weapon. “Tonight it ends.”
The towering figure rose to its full height.
The earth beneath it shivered.
And then—
For the very first time—
It stepped toward us.
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