The city never slept.
Mumbai's streets hummed even past midnight — traffic lights blinking like tired eyes, engines growling, rain dancing over rooftops. From the 14th floor of the Sagar Heights apartment complex, the chaos below looked like a video on mute.
Seventeen-year-old Rihan Kapoor sat on his bed, back against the wall, staring at the reflection of his own face in the window.
His room was dim. The only light came from the streetlamp outside, filtered through rain-smeared glass.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The wall clock counted every second too loudly, as if mocking him.
Then it came again.
A voice.
"She's lying."
Rihan didn't move. His lips didn't even twitch.
He simply blinked.
"She was with that boy. The one with the fake smile."
The voice had no echo. No breath. It didn't come from the room. It came from within.
Rihan turned his head to the side, slow, robotic. On the floor beside his bed lay his phone, screen still on. A message from Diya, the only person who ever really talked to him.
> "Sorry I didn't show up today. Got a cold. Next time, promise 🫤"
Rihan read the message again. Then again. Every time, the words felt more distant.
He whispered, "You don't know that."
The voice replied instantly.
"I do. You saw her. At the cafe near the metro. Smiling. Laughing. With him."
"No," Rihan muttered, shaking his head.
But he had seen it.
On the way home. Just for a moment.
Diya in a yellow hoodie. Laughing. With Rohit — captain of the school cricket team, the boy who called Rihan "a psycho freak" in the locker room.
"You were just the backup plan. A stray dog she fed crumbs."
"Shut up."
"Weak. You're so weak. You let them look at you like you're broken. And you are."
Rihan stood up, violently. His chair fell backward. He walked to the bathroom, turned on the tap, and splashed cold water on his face.
But when he looked in the mirror…
…it wasn't just his own reflection staring back.
It was slightly off.
His face — the same — but the expression was wrong. A smile curled on the lips. The eyes twitched, almost amused.
"You see me now, don't you?"
His hands trembled. He blinked hard.
The smile was gone.
It was just him. Rihan.
But deep down, he knew that wasn't true.
---
Later That Night
Rain hit the window harder now.
Rihan sat at his desk, doodling with a blunt pencil. He didn't know what he was drawing — just lines and shapes. Until he looked down and saw what it had become.
A face.
Not detailed. No eyes. No mouth. Just an outline. A human figure standing behind another figure, both drenched in rain. The second figure — the one in front — looked like him.
The one behind?
A shadow. No features. Just a presence.
"Why do you draw me?"
Rihan dropped the pencil.
"I didn't," he whispered.
"Yes, you did. You always do. You're obsessed with me. Because you know I'm real."
He shut his eyes tight.
"I don't want you here. Go away."
"I'm not here, Rihan. I'm you."
---
Morning
At 7:00 a.m., Rihan left for school like nothing was wrong.
His mother barely looked up from her tea. She hadn't smiled at him in years.
"Your uniform's dirty," she said flatly.
He nodded. "Okay."
That was all.
Outside, the news played on a neighbor's TV. A young woman had died. Jumped in front of a train at Dadar Station. Just… walked off the edge.
Rihan paused.
A photo flashed on the screen. Blurred. But familiar.
Her name: Meera Sharma.
Rihan's pencil dropped again.
He knew her. She had once lent him a pen during a class test. Said "don't worry, happens to everyone" when his broke. Her smile was warm. Safe.
Now she was gone.
Dead.
Just like that.
---
That Night
Rihan couldn't sleep. The city was quiet. His fan creaked overhead.
Then came the voice.
Softer this time.
"She saw me. That's why she had to die."
He sat up straight in bed. Sweat on his neck. Breath caught in his throat.
"No… I wasn't there."
"Weren't you?"
He saw flashes.
A train. Screeching brakes. A girl in a red scarf. Her eyes wide — not with fear, but with realization.
She recognized something… before she fell.
Rihan clutched his head. "I didn't do anything!"
The voice chuckled. Cold. Dry.
"Of course not. You never do. I do it for you."
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