Bhavna held Maya's hand in hers, pressing two fingers gently against her wrist again, counting silently. Still steady. Still alive.
"She's warm," she whispered. "She's okay."
Rix stood over the unconscious teenage boy and the child beside him. "This one's still out. Breathing. Probably dehydrated."
Tarun scanned the treeline. "No creatures. Nothing following us. Why does it feel worse than before?"
Rana paced back and forth, knife still in his grip, like the monsters were just waiting for him to blink.
Then they heard it.
Footsteps.
From behind.
From the path they had just come from—the same narrow path back toward the cave.
Rix turned first. "Wait—who's—"
And then they saw him.
Arjun.
Walking.
No limp.
No blood.
No torn clothes.
Just… walking. Like he'd just come back from a long jog, not from the hell they left behind.
Bhavna blinked. "Arjun?"
He stepped forward, casual. Calm.
"Yes," he said, nodding slowly. "It's me."
His voice was the same.
His face the same.
But something about his eyes made Rana's fingers tighten around the hilt of the blade.
Rix let out a breath. "Man, you scared the hell out of us. We thought you stayed in there."
"I did," Arjun said. "I made a mistake. A wrong decision."
He smiled thinly. "I shouldn't have gone."
No one noticed the way his shadow lagged half a second behind him.
Tarun's eyes tracked Arjun's movements as he stepped closer to Maya—swift, steady, and upright.
Then it hit him.
"Wait…" he muttered. "Wasn't your leg... messed up?"
Rix blinked. "Yeah. You couldn't even walk an hour ago."
All eyes turned to Arjun's legs.
No limp.
No bandages.
No blood.
He stood perfectly tall. Balanced.
Even his torn jeans were whole again.
"Bro," Rix said slowly, "how did your leg heal?"
Fake-Arjun looked down, as if noticing it for the first time.
Then he gave a shrug—and smiled faintly.
"Guess I got better."
Then—he saw Maya.
On the ground.
Unmoving.
His entire expression changed.
"Maya!" he shouted, suddenly rushing forward.
Bhavna stepped aside, startled.
"Wait—careful, she's still unconscious—"
But he was already kneeling beside her.
He looked down at her face with strange intensity.
Too still.
Too perfect.
Then—
He grinned.
And quietly whispered something only she could hear.
Except it wasn't Maya he was talking to.
It was the thing inside her mind.
He leaned close and said, in a voice that was not Arjun's anymore—deep, echoing, layered with something else entirely:
"Haha... Goodnight... Seven… three… two."
The words slithered out, not spoken but exhaled like smoke.
Bhavna, standing closest, blinked. "What did you say?"
Fake-Arjun turned to her with the same soft smile.
"Hmm?"
She took a step back.
Tarun frowned. "You okay, man? You look… pale."
Rana's eyes narrowed. "Where's your limp?"
Fake-Arjun stood slowly.
Maya still lay silent.
The fake-Arjun smiled again—just a bit too wide.
"Must've healed," he said calmly. "Like magic."
For a moment, no one moved.
Then the child stirred.
And the real Maya twitched.
Bhavna whispered, "That's not him."
But it was too late.
The thing was already inside the group.