📖 Story 15: The Child Who Wasn’t There
The little boy held Diya’s hand tightly.
Too tightly.
As if he was afraid she might disappear.
“It’s okay,” Diya said gently.
“We’ll help you find your mother.”
The boy nodded.
But he didn’t speak.
The Observer watched quietly from across the street.
Not smiling.
Not moving.
Just watching.
Something about that bothered Kayal.
If this was a test…
Why did he look uncertain?
“What’s your name?” Rajiv asked the child.
The boy looked up.
For a moment, confusion crossed his face.
As if nobody had asked him that before.
Then he answered.
“Arun.”
A simple name.
A normal name.
Nothing strange.
Yet Kayal couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.
The group started walking.
The boy stayed close to Diya.
Almost too close.
The city around them continued normally.
Cars moved.
People talked.
Shops closed for the evening.
Everything looked real.
And yet…
Nobody seemed to notice the child.
Not a single person.
A woman almost bumped into him.
She apologized to Diya.
Not the boy.
A shopkeeper smiled at the group.
His eyes passed directly through Arun.
Rajiv noticed it too.
His expression changed.
“Did you see that?”
Kayal nodded slowly.
“Yeah.”
Zoya frowned.
“What?”
Rajiv lowered his voice.
“Nobody’s looking at him.”
The words hung heavily between them.
Diya stopped walking.
The boy stopped too.
Still holding her hand.
She knelt down.
“Arun.”
The boy looked at her.
“Can other people see you?”
For the first time…
The child looked afraid.
Real fear.
“I don’t know.”
Silence.
Nobody knew what to say.
Even the Observer seemed interested now.
He took a step closer.
The boy immediately moved behind Diya.
Not because he knew the man.
Because he was afraid of him.
And that changed everything.
If Arun was part of the test…
Why was he scared?
The Observer stopped.
For the first time since meeting them…
He looked surprised.
Only for a second.
Then it was gone.
Kayal noticed.
And so did Rajiv.
The Observer didn’t know everything.
That was new.
That was dangerous.
Suddenly the streetlights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then every light on the street went out.
Darkness.
Not complete darkness.
Just enough.
Enough to make the city feel unfamiliar.
People around them kept walking.
Kept talking.
Kept moving.
As if nothing had happened.
But the four of them knew better.
Something had changed.
Arun squeezed Diya’s hand.
Then whispered:
“He’s coming.”
Everyone froze.
“Who?” Diya asked.
The boy looked into the darkness beyond the street.
Toward a place where even the Observer wasn’t looking.
And for the first time…
Fear appeared on the Observer’s face.
Real fear.
Not curiosity.
Not interest.
Fear.
The lights suddenly came back.
The darkness vanished.
But Arun was gone.
His hand.
His voice.
His presence.
Gone.
Only Diya remained kneeling on the pavement.
Staring at an empty space beside her.
The Observer slowly stepped backward.
For the first time…
He wasn’t following them.
He was leaving.
And that terrified Kayal more than anything else.
Because if the Observer was afraid…
Then something much worse had just entered the game.
To Be Continued…
Review The World Wasn’t Ready for Them- Story 15.