“Maya, I wanted to ask you something,” Priyank finally spoke, pushing his dinner around the plate.
What happened today-the old building, the key-it had messed with his head. No matter how he tried, the building wasn’t there again. As if it was all a dream. But the key in his pocket was solid proof that today was real.
“Ask,” Maya looked up, her gaze sharp.
Levi, Rish, Priya, Jackson, and Elk all turned to Priyank, waiting.
“So I was running on the training grounds today,” Priyank began, fiddling with his spoon.
“And?” Maya prompted, confusion lacing her voice.
“There was… a building,” he stumbled over the words, not sure how to explain.
“What do you mean, ‘a building’?” Jackson’s eyes narrowed.
“Yeah, what building? There’s nothing out there,” Elk added. “Even the pack doesn’t use those grounds. That’s why we picked it for training.”
“Maybe you ran too hard,” Rish chimed in, swallowing a mouthful of food. “We’re out there every day. No buildings in sight.”
Priyank’s fingers twitched. How could they not have seen it? He remembered the scent, the place, so vividly.
Were they right? Had he just imagined it all in his exhaustion?
But his pocket felt heavy, the key a tangible reminder. That was no dream or hallucination. It was real.
Yet if it was real, why hadn’t anyone else seen it? And why, when he’d tried to find the building again, had it vanished?
It was as if the building had appeared just for him, only to disappear the moment he left. Like a mirage, but one that left behind a rusty key and a nagging sense of unease.
Priyank looked around the table, at faces ranging from concerned to sceptical. He reached into his pocket, fingers closing around the key. Its edges were rough, real. He pulled it out and set it on the table with a dull clink.
“I found this,” he said. “In the building.”
The living room fell silent. All eyes fixed on the tarnished key.
Priya reached out first, her slender fingers hovering over it. “May I?” she asked softly. Priyank nodded. She picked it up, turning it in the light. “It’s old,” she murmured. “Very old.”
Maya’s brow furrowed. She held out her hand, and Priya passed her the key. Maya examined it, her expression unreadable. “Where exactly did you find this?” she asked, her tone sharp.
Priyank described the spot as best he could-the uneven ground, the heat, the crumbling walls. With each detail, Maya’s face grew darker.
“That’s impossible,” Jackson cut in. “We’ve patrolled every inch of our territory. There’s nothing out there but rocks and scrub.”
“I know what I saw,” Priyank insisted. “It was real. I was inside it.”
Elk shook his head. “Buildings don’t just appear and disappear, kid.”
“Maybe…” Rish started, then stopped, glancing nervously at Maya. She nodded for him to continue. “Maybe it’s like the old stories. Places that only show themselves when they want to.”
A chill ran through the room. Priyank felt it, saw it in the way Priya hugged herself, in the tightening of Jackson’s jaw.
“Those are just tales,” Levi scoffed, but her voice lacked conviction.
Maya stood abruptly, the key clenched in her fist. “Enough. Priyank, tomorrow you’ll show me exactly where this… building was. The rest of you, not a word of this to anyone. Understood?”
They all nodded, even Levi. Maya swept out of the room, leaving a silence heavy with unspoken questions.
Later, as Priyank lay in his bed, he heard a soft knock. It was Priya. She slipped in, her eyes wide in the dim light. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
He nodded, making room for her to sit. She perched on the edge of his bed, her warmth so close. “I believe you,” she said. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
Priyank’s throat tightened. He reached for her hand, half-expecting her to pull away. She didn’t. Her fingers twined with his, a small comfort.
“What if it comes back?” he asked. “What if it’s… dangerous?”
Priya squeezed his hand. “Then we will see what it is.”
“Are you still mad at me? For what happened this morning?” Priyank asked, not knowing what else to say.
Priya sighed. “Yes, but… not as much. You apologized, so that’s something. But it doesn’t erase what happened. I was shocked, startled.”
Priyank nodded, his gaze dropping to his hands. “I know. I’m sorry, Priya. I don’t know what came over me. It’s like I wasn’t even in control.”
She looked at him, her dark eyes searching his face. “That’s what worries me, Priyank. You’ve always been… intense. But today was different. It was like you were someone else.”
“I felt like someone else,” he admitted. “When I realised what I was doing, how I was making you feel…” He trailed off, the memory of her trembling voice a knife in his gut.
Priya touched his arm, just a whisper of contact. “Calm down.”
“How can I calm down? We were doing so fine, nothing wrong. Things were settling, but because of one thing, I turned it back to where we started.”
Priya sighed. “Dwelling on it won’t help. So just let it go. You don’t need to overthink this. Yes, it made me uncomfortable, but I’m still here. That means things aren’t as ruined as you think.”
Priyank looked at her, a mix of hope and doubt in his eyes. “You’re really still here? After what I did?”
“I am,” Priya said firmly. She moved closer, the bed dipping under her weight. “What happened… It wasn’t good. But I can’t forget how you protected me.”
He nodded slowly, words drying up in his throat. What could he say?
She was so forgiving, even after he’d nearly forced a kiss on her. She was ready to forgive, even trying to comfort him, lying beside him. It showed how different she was.
Priyank was someone who held grudges like he held his breath. He never forgot or forgave. But with her, almost everything became a clean slate, just because he’d protected her once. He felt selfish, being forgiven so easily.
Except for one thing-she couldn’t forgive or forget him killing her dog. But with everything else that happened in the past, she was pretty much normal. Or at least, she was trying to be.