21 August – The Night of the Strange Moon
They say once every thirty years, there's a night unlike any other.
If the full moon's reflection touches your body, the air turns strange, rain begins to fall, and if lightning strikes near you without harm… you are bound to someone.
That person is your soulmate.
"Sounds like a fantasy novel," Ziyu muttered, flipping through a magazine without looking up.
Vishu, sprawled on the couch in Ziyu's massive luxury room, was animatedly telling the story. "I'm serious! My uncle swears it happened to someone in his village. If the thunder touches you and nothing happens—boom—you're connected forever!"
Ziyu let out a bored sigh. "This is all fake, Vishu. Don't waste your time believing it." He stood, brushing invisible dust from his shirt. "Come on. We're already late for lunch."
Vishu narrowed his eyes. "You'll believe it soon."
Ziyu opened the door, but before they could leave, it creaked again, as if on its own. He didn't even look. "Vishu, let's go. I'm hungry."
The two of them left the room, the legend forgotten for now…
But five days later, on the night of 21 August, everything changed.
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Beat Me – Chapter 2
Avnish and the Night That Waited
Avnish liked to call himself a middle-class boy.
It made him feel grounded, ordinary. But in truth, his life was richer than most middle-class people could imagine.
After their parents' death, he lived with his elder sister, Diya—a woman who believed only in work and money. No gods, no superstitions. She was the kind of modern force that earned a lakh a month, her sharp heels clicking on airport floors across countries. She carried the entire burden of their lives on her shoulders, but never let the weight touch him.
For Avnish, life was simple—his world was movies, friends, and occasionally helping Diya when she was home for her one-week visits. When she was away (which was most of the year), the apartment was his kingdom.
They had just moved into a new apartment two months ago. Avnish liked it—open balcony, a view of the city, and a bedroom large enough to roll across without hitting the wall.
It was on a quiet afternoon that he stumbled across an online article titled:
"21 August: The Night of the Soulmate Lightning."
It explained the same bizarre legend Vishu once told Ziyu—once in thirty years, if the moonlight touched your body and lightning struck without hurting you, the gods were marking you for your soulmate.
Avnish snorted aloud. "Hah… what nonsense."
He scrolled down, but his finger stopped. What if?
The kind of what if that made his lips curl in a mischievous grin.
"You know what… I want to try this. Real or fake, let's find out," he muttered to himself.
At around 7 p.m., Avnish decided to watch the rare night sky with his best friend, Govind.
They dragged two chairs onto the balcony, sitting side-by-side with the telescope pointed at the fat, rising moon.
Govind's stomach broke the silence with a loud, desperate growl.
"I'm hungry," he complained, clutching his belly. "Let's make something before we die here."
Avnish groaned but followed him into the kitchen. They tossed random ingredients into a pan, talking and laughing, too distracted to notice the smoke building.
Five minutes later, Govind pulled the pan off the stove. Inside, the food was black—pure koyla.
They stared at it.
Govind sighed. "Now what?"
Avnish's own stomach answered with an angry growl. "We… order something."
But just as they reached for their phones, the apartment went completely dark. Not just their flat—the whole city. Streetlights, buildings, everything vanished into shadow as if someone had wiped the light from the world.
Avnish frowned, his pulse picking up. "This… is weird."
Govind glanced at his phone. "No signal."
Avnish checked his too—dead. No calls, no internet.
A strange heaviness filled the air.
The moon above seemed brighter now, and the night… quieter.
Too quiet.
Govind broke the silence. "Let's just go to the convenience store. I'm starving."
Avnish hesitated for a moment, feeling that odd pull in his chest—but finally nodded. "Fine. Let's go."
They grabbed their wallets, stepped out of the apartment, and into the strange, waiting darkness.