Aarav woke up the next morning to a silence that felt wrong. It wasn't the peaceful kind of quiet—it was heavy, like the world was holding its breath. His alarm clock showed 7:00 AM, but it wasn't ringing. The ceiling fan above him was frozen mid-spin, its blades stuck in the air.
He slowly sat up in bed, his heart beginning to race. The curtains near his window were lifted slightly, as if caught in a breeze—but they weren't moving. Outside, everything looked like a paused video. A bird hung in the sky with its wings stretched wide. A car on the road below was stuck halfway through a turn.
"This can't be happening again," he whispered to himself.
Carefully, Aarav stepped out of his room. In the kitchen, his mother stood frozen while pouring tea into a cup. The stream of tea was suspended in mid-air like a glass sculpture. Aarav stared at it in disbelief and gently touched the floating liquid. It felt solid and cold.
A strange tingling sensation spread across his palms. He looked down and saw faint blue light glowing under his skin, like lightning trapped inside his veins. The same energy he had felt at the clock tower the night before.
Suddenly, a sharp cracking sound echoed around him.
A thin glowing line appeared in the air in front of him. It wasn't on a wall or the floor—it was floating in empty space. The crack shimmered like broken glass and slowly began spreading wider.
Aarav stepped back, fear tightening his chest.
From inside the glowing fracture, a whisper emerged.
"Aarav…"
His breath caught. "Who's there?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly.
The crack widened into a circular tear in reality. Beyond it was darkness—but not empty darkness. It felt alive, moving, aware of him.
"You have touched the fracture," the voice said clearly now. "And now time touches you."
Images suddenly flashed in Aarav's mind—cities slowing down, clocks shattering, people frozen while others aged rapidly. Chaos spreading across the world.
"I don't understand!" Aarav shouted. "What do you want from me?"
A shadowy shape began forming inside the tear. It was tall and shifting, its edges flickering like smoke moving backward.
"You are a Breaker," it said. "One who can bend the flow of time. But every fracture demands balance."
Without warning, the shadow lunged toward him.
Instinctively, Aarav raised his hands. Blue lightning burst from his palms, striking the shadow and pushing it back into the crack. The air trembled violently around him.
The fracture shook as if reality itself was breaking.
Then suddenly, the tear snapped shut.
Time restarted.
The fan began spinning again. The tea poured normally into the cup. Birds flew across the sky. Cars moved along the street.
His mother looked at him strangely. "Aarav? Why are you standing there like that? You'll be late for school."
He stood frozen, breathing heavily. Had everything happened in just a second?
He looked at his hands. The blue glow was gone.
But on his right palm, a faint glowing mark remained—shaped like a broken clock.
At school, the world felt different. Sounds seemed sharper. Movements seemed slightly delayed. During math class, he stared at the clock on the wall.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
The ticking slowed.
No one else reacted.
Aarav focused harder. The second hand stopped completely for a brief moment—then jumped forward again.
His eyes widened. He hadn't touched it.
Later that afternoon, as he walked home, the air grew cold. Shadows stretched longer than they should have. A strange feeling of pressure surrounded him.
Across the street, under a tree, stood a tall figure wearing a dark coat and hood.
No one else seemed to notice it.
The figure slowly lifted its head toward him.
"You can see me now," a voice echoed inside Aarav's mind.
"What are you?" Aarav asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
"A Guardian of the Flow," the figure replied calmly. "And you have disturbed it."
"I didn't mean to," Aarav said. "I didn't ask for this."
"No one ever does."
The Guardian stepped forward. The world around them slowed dramatically, like everything was moving through thick water.
"You broke the first seal at the clock tower," it continued. "That fracture released ancient energy. You absorbed it."
"So fix it," Aarav demanded.
"It cannot be undone. Only controlled."
The Guardian raised its hand, and the pressure around Aarav increased. Time nearly stopped again.
Blue energy flared from Aarav's palms, stronger than before. This time, he didn't feel fear.
He felt strength.
"I won't let this control me," he said firmly.
The Guardian paused.
Then it nodded slightly. "Good. Because control must be earned."
Suddenly, the pressure disappeared. Time returned to normal speed. Cars honked. Wind blew. The world moved again.
The Guardian was gone.
Aarav stood alone on the sidewalk, his heart pounding.
But now he understood one thing clearly—
This was only the beginning.
And somewhere in the city, more fractures were forming.