Chapter -1,,
It was a rainy night. A soft wind drifted through the air, carrying the smell of wet earth. My parents and siblings had gone to my grandparents' house earlier that day. They were supposed to return by evening, but the rain was getting heavier, and I feared they might be stuck somewhere.
By dusk, the sky had turned pitch black. I was alone in the house when suddenly I heard a voice calling my name from outside.
"Sahariyar…"
My heart skipped a beat. Who could be calling me on a night like this? I stepped outside cautiously, scanning the darkness. There was no one there — only the steady rhythm of rain hitting the ground.
I told myself it must have been my imagination and went back inside.
A few minutes later, I heard another sound — this time from behind the house. It was faint, wet, and unsettling. My chest tightened. Grabbing a flashlight, I forced myself to walk toward the source of the noise.
It was coming from the cowshed.
My hands trembled as I reached for the door. Every instinct told me to run, but curiosity — or fear — pushed me forward. I slowly opened it.
What I saw froze my blood.
Four shadowy, unnatural figures surrounded my cow. Their movements were jerky and wrong. They were tearing into it, ripping flesh apart with horrifying hunger. The sound… the smell… it was unbearable.
My body shook violently. A cold wave of terror surged through me. I slammed the door shut and sprinted back to the house, barely able to breathe.
I burst inside —
—and stopped.
My parents… my brother… my sister… were all sitting there calmly, as if nothing had happened.
Relief flooded me. I tried to steady my breath and told them everything I had just seen. Every detail.
They listened.
But not a single one of them looked surprised.
Not even a little.
Instead, they quietly avoided the topic… as if it meant nothing.
A heavy silence filled the room.
Then suddenly—
my phone rang.
The sharp sound cut through the air like a blade.
And in that moment, a fear deeper than anything I had felt before gripped me.
I didn't know what to do next…