The house was too quiet.
Too still.
Too hollow.
Aarohi sat curled up on the couch, still trembling from the voice she heard —
the boy's whisper tangled with rain and regret:
"Aara… why did you leave me?"
Her chest clenched painfully.
She wasn't breathing properly.
Her throat was tight.
Her fingers were cold.
Arin sat beside her, gripping her hand as if she might disappear.
"Aarohi," he whispered, "you're safe. He can't come inside. He can't touch you."
But Aarohi shook her head slowly.
"He already has…"
Arin froze.
Aarohi pressed her hand to her chest.
"He's not touching me with his hands… he's touching me with my memories."
Arin swallowed hard.
"Aarohi… memories can't hurt you."
She looked up at him with broken eyes.
"They can when they're killing someone else too."
Arin's breath hitched.
He opened his mouth to argue, but Aarohi was already crying again.
Not loud.
Not hysterical.
Just soft, silent tears — the kind that come from wounds too deep to scream.
Arin gently wiped them away with his thumb.
"Tell me what you remembered," he said softly.
Aarohi shook her head.
"No… not yet. It wasn't clear. It was just… pain."
Arin looked at her with a deeper fear now —
a fear that wasn't for himself,
but entirely for her.
---
Later that night, Aarohi went to her room because she couldn't hold herself together anymore.
She sat on the floor, back against her bed, hugging her knees.
The rain still poured outside.
The curtain fluttered from the wind sneaking under the window.
The sound of thunder vibrated through the walls.
She didn't turn on the light.
She didn't move.
She didn't wipe her tears.
She just… existed.
And then—
Her vision blurred.
Her body went still.
Her breath faltered.
Because a memory pulled her under again.
She wasn't in her room anymore.
She wasn't in this life anymore.
She was in that night.
The pavement was cold beneath her palms.
Rain slapped against her face like tiny needles.
Her breath came out in painful gasps.
Her heart…
her heart hurt so much she could barely move.
And beside her—
A boy collapsed.
Chest rising and falling in uneven, broken breaths.
His fingers brushing the ground beside her.
His face turned toward her.
His eyes searching for her.
"Aara…" he whispered.
His voice cracked.
"Don't… don't leave…"
Aarohi gasped and clutched her chest as the memory slammed into her.
Her room spun.
Her heartbeat raced.
Her tears poured uncontrollably.
"Stop…" she whispered. "Please stop…"
But the memory continued.
The boy reached toward her weakly.
His hand covered in rain and dirt and blood.
"Aara… stay awake…" he begged, voice trembling.
"Don't sleep… you're scaring me…"
Aarohi felt her heart shatter.
She didn't remember his face clearly.
But his pain?
She felt it.
His fear?
She felt it.
His need for her to stay alive?
She felt it.
And she—
She let go.
The memory blurred.
Her younger self — Aara — whispered weakly:
"It hurts…"
The boy shook his head desperately.
"I'm right here… I won't leave you… please… don't leave me…"
Another flash of darkness.
Another sound —
metal screeching.
Impact.
Glass shattering.
Then silence.
And both of them falling.
Aarohi's whole body shook.
"No… no… no…"
She pressed her forehead to the floor.
"I didn't know… I didn't know you were there… I'm sorry…"
Her sobs filled the room.
---
The door burst open.
"Aarohi?!"
Arin rushed inside and dropped to the floor beside her.
Her face was soaked with tears.
Her body was shaking violently.
Her lips trembled uncontrollably.
Arin grabbed her shoulders and turned her gently toward him.
"Aarohi! Look at me! What happened?!"
She clung to him like she was drowning.
"I saw him," she whispered, voice breaking apart.
"I saw the night we died… he was with me, Arin… he was right there…"
Arin's blood ran cold.
"How much did you see?"
Aarohi shook her head, crying harder.
"Not everything… just pieces… flashes… his voice… his hand reaching for me…"
Arin hugged her tightly, trying to steady her breathing.
Aarohi's voice broke completely.
"He didn't want me to die alone."
Arin's jaw tightened.
"And I—"
Her voice cracked.
"I let go of him."
Arin pulled back, gripping her face between his hands.
"Aarohi, listen to me."
His voice was firm, desperate.
"You were dying. You couldn't save him. You couldn't save yourself. This is not your fault."
But Aarohi shook her head violently, tears falling harder.
"He remembers everything… and I forgot him."
Her guilt spilled out like blood from an old wound.
"And now he's hurting because of me."
Arin wrapped his arms around her again.
"Aarohi… I promise you… we'll figure out who he is. Why he followed you. What happened that night. But don't carry this alone. Please."
Aarohi clutched his shirt, burying her face into his chest.
"It hurts…" she sobbed.
"It hurts so much to remember him…"
Arin whispered into her hair:
"Then you won't remember him alone."
Aarohi cried harder.
Because for the first time since her reincarnation…
someone was choosing to stay.
Not because they owed her anything.
Not because they pitied her.
But because they loved her.
Thunder cracked outside.
A sudden silence filled the room.
Aarohi felt something shift inside her —
like her heart had recognized a truth her mind couldn't name yet.
She whispered it softly, painfully:
"I think he cared about me…"
Arin's entire body stiffened.
His grip on her tightened.
And he whispered back, voice trembling:
"I don't care who he was. You're mine to protect now."
Aarohi didn't answer.
Because deep down…
she knew the boy wasn't done.
And her heart wasn't ready for what the next memory would bring.
---