: The White Flowers of Truth
It was past eight in the evening. The faint, comforting smell of rice wafted from the small kitchenette in Aarav's room. He'd put rice in the pressure cooker. Two whistles had gone off. He quickly moved to take it off the stove, and just then, a third whistle escaped. Aarav grabbed cold water from the fridge and poured it over the cooker's lid. The hissing stopped.
Right there, he took out the leftover dal from the morning and set it to warm. As the dal began to simmer, the rice was fully cooked. Aarav opened the cooker. The grains were fluffy and separate. He let the rice cool slightly and began to eat. The first bite brought a wave of satisfaction to his face.
"Wow, the rice turned out great today," he thought to himself.
After finishing, he washed the utensils and put the leftover rice in the fridge. Then he sat on his bed and opened his laptop. In the search bar, he typed: NCLRL.
---
Far from Mumbai, in a hilly region, Kiyan stood outside a ruin-like structure. All around him, a white floral glow shimmered. The light didn't come from flowers in the ground, but from small devices mounted on the walls an odd, artificial luminescence.
Just then, two men emerged from inside the ruin. Both wore white lab coats, and on those coats was the same emblem: a white flower.
The first man said, "Bro, that thing is too dangerous. Don't even say its name."
The second replied, "Yeah, you're right. Who knows, she was about to break out today, but they arrived just in time and saved us."
Hearing this, Kiyan's golden eyes flashed. He turned sharply and began sprinting back toward the city.
---
Aarav's laptop was open to a blog page"The Secret Explorer." The article's title read: "The Truth About NCLRL: The Lab That Toys with Human Lifespan."
Aarav began to read intently. The author wrote that the lab was established in 2000 under a secret project. Its founder's codename was 'Mr. Oxpert'. The article claimed people were abducted and brought here, subjected to illegal experiments, even attempts at mind control. The most terrifying claim was this: "The people in the city suddenly aging? It's connected to this lab. This lab is built in a place where thousands of white Ketaki flowers bloom."
Aarav's heart began to pound. White flowers... the same ones on Papa's lab coat?
He immediately picked up his phone and called his father. One ring... two... five. No answer. He typed a message: "Papa, are you okay? I read some scary things about NCLRL. Please call me."
As soon as the message sent, Aarav's throat went dry. The hostel room began to feel stifling. He stepped outside, needing to breathe fresh air.
It was past ten at night. He walked aimlessly on the street, a whirlpool of questions churning in his mind. Why does Papa work there? Is that article true? Can someone really control people?
Just then, a car came speeding from the front. It had a terrifying demon mask fixed to its grille, complete with two horns. The car was heading straight for Aarav. He froze, rooted to the spot.
Suddenly, a powerful arm yanked him backward. He lost his balance and fell on top of someone. His eyes squeezed shut.
When he opened them, he saw Kiyan beneath him. Kiyan's golden eyes were glowing, holding worry and something else... a strange, smoldering intensity. Aarav got lost in those eyes for a second.
Then Kiyan shoved him off. Aarav fell to the ground.
"You? Here?" Aarav said, getting up. "And you had to pull me like that? What if I got hurt? Look, I scraped my hand! Is this any way to communicate? If you wanted to talk, you could just use your words, couldn't you? But no, you have to make a heroic entry every time and scare me half to death. Why are you just standing there silent now? Why don't you say something? If I talk, you'll say I talk too much"
Aarav's attitude, his careless rambling despite the fear still visible in his eyes, was something that ignited the storm inside Kiyan further. He suddenly grabbed Aarav by the neck, clamped a hand over his mouth, and pulled him behind, turning his own back to the street. The car sped past.
Aarav grabbed Kiyan's wrists, pulling his hand away from his mouth. "Get off me! What is this rudeness?"
Kiyan glared at him. "Enough. Go home now. Or else
"Yeah, or else what?" Aarav cut him off, eyes flashing with anger. "Or else you'll kill me? Or gag me again? Kiyan, I'm not your toy that you can save when you feel like it and scare when you feel like it!"
Kiyan gave no answer. He just kept looking at Aarav at his angry face, his rapid breaths and then he turned and walked away swiftly.
Seething, Aarav also ran off, back toward his hostel.
---
Kiyan was running wildly through the jungle, as if trying to outrun his own thoughts. He crashed into a tree trunk and slumped to the ground. He buried his head in his hands.
"What is it about that boy?" he whispered, his voice broken. "Why don't my powers work on him? Why do I keep finding myself near him, even when I don't want to? Why do I keep saving him from dangers? What's happening to me?"
Aarav's face swam in his mind scared, angry, but with a stubborn glint in his eyes that didn't seem afraid of Kiyan.
He knelt on the ground, looked up at the sky, and let out a long, pain-filled scream. "Aaaahhhh!"
The scream tore through the jungle's silence, echoing into the distance. From his golden eyes, no tears fell, but a faint light shimmered and dripped, dissolving into the air and vanishing.
---
(Chapter End)
Next: The connection tightens. Aarav's search leads him closer to the lab's secrets, while Kiyan's unexplained pull toward him becomes a vulnerability both must face. The white flowers hold the key to a past that binds their families together.