Chapter 12: The Red Tide Rising

The Day of the Massacre

The morning began with a fracture.

Malini sat on the sofa, scrolling through the photos from the exhibition on Priya's phone. A notification popped up. A WhatsApp message. No name. No text. Just three dots: "..."

The profile picture was a void—a black circle. Malini felt a cold prickle of dread. She had seen this number before. Priya had finally saved it. But why?

Before she could tap the chat, the phone was ripped from her hand. Priya stood over her, her face a mask of cold fury. "I told you never to touch my phone, Malini. Do you ever listen?"

"Akka, I was just looking at the photos..."

"Get out," Priya hissed. Her eyes were bloodshot, a thin trickle of crimson leaking from her right nostril. "Just get to school and leave me alone!"

The Silence of the Corridor

By 9:30 AM, the Women’s College felt wrong.

Malini arrived at the gate in her father’s auto. She had convinced Suri to let her drop off Priya’s forgotten lunch box—a peace offering.

As she walked through the halls, a strange phenomenon was occurring. Students were streaming out of the building, bags packed, faces confused.

"Why is everyone leaving?" Malini asked a passing student.

"Holiday," the girl shrugged. "The teachers just sent us out. Something about a power failure or a sudden staff meeting. We don't care, we're going to the movies!"

Malini frowned. If it was a holiday, why was Priya still inside? She headed for the third floor, her footsteps echoing in the increasingly empty corridors.

The Butcher and the Blade

On the third floor, the exam hall was a bubble of suspended reality. Rekha stood outside in the hall, punished by the teacher for cheating. She was staring out the window, watching the exodus of students below.

"Ma'am," Rekha called out. "Everyone is gone. Why are we still here?"

The teacher walked to the door, her brow furrowed. She pulled out her phone to call the principal.

At that moment, Malini reached the top of the stairs. The sun was streaming through the windows, blinding her. She squinted, seeing a figure standing near Rekha.

"Watchman?" Malini called out. "Where is the senior exam hall?"

The figure turned. It wasn't the watchman.

It was a mountain of a man in a charcoal suit. His face was a landscape of scars and pits, his eyes two burning coals of madness. In his hand was a butcher's knife, its edge dripping with something dark and thick.

"Y-you..." The teacher stammered, dropping her phone.

With a movement so fast it defied his size, the man—Katthi—lunged. The butcher's knife disappeared into the teacher’s throat. A wet, gurgling sound filled the hall.

Rekha backed away, her screams trapped in her throat. She didn't see Malini standing ten feet away. She didn't see the little girl’s face turn white as she stepped into a puddle of the teacher's spreading blood.

The Reveal

Inside the classroom, the atmosphere shifted from confusion to carnage.

Vaani’s phone buzzed. A news alert: Karthi, local businessman, found dead in his apartment. Throat slit.

Vaani looked up, her heart hammering. "Priya! Karthi... he’s dead!"

Priya didn't flinch. She was standing at her desk, her back to the class. Slowly, she turned around. Her white uniform was sprayed with a fresh, arterial fan of red. Beside her, the girl who had been sitting in the next desk was slumped over, her head missing, her blood painting the floor.

Priya held a heavy, blood-stained axe. Her expression was empty, her eyes glazed as if she were looking at a different world.

"I know," Priya whispered.

Outside, the first scream of the massacre finally broke the silence. The harvest had begun.