Chapter 1

The sun was setting, and the clouds drifted peacefully across the sky. The gentle lapping of ocean waves filled the air. Water surrounded me. My body floated on the surface, and the sea stretched as far as my eyes could see. How did I get here? Where was I?

I tried to move, but I couldn't. I wasn't dead; I was still alive. I wanted to sit up, to see my surroundings. The sea floor seemed to rise abruptly, or perhaps a landmass appeared beneath me. I felt solid ground under my feet. Immediately, I pushed myself up to a sitting position. Now, the ocean water only reached my knees. I had no idea where this land had come from so suddenly. Maybe there was an island nearby, or perhaps I had simply drifted onto a submerged bank.

What was strange was that no island or landmass was visible anywhere around me. I had no idea how far or wide this muddy ground extended. I lacked the courage to venture forward. I wanted to stay put for as long as possible.

Near me, a small plant sprouted from the surface of the water. As I watched, it began to grow rapidly. Before my eyes, the tiny plant transformed into a small tree. In the center of the tree, a large eye formed, shaped exactly like the third eye of Shiva.

I couldn't understand what was happening. My fear knew no bounds. Sweat poured from my body. I stood up. It felt as if the tree was calling to me. I started walking towards it, my legs moving without my conscious command. As I drew closer, the eye on the tree seemed incredibly captivating. A desire to touch it welled up within me. I stretched out my hand. The eye was beautiful.

Suddenly, the ground beneath me vanished. I plummeted downwards at an alarming speed, sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean's abyss. I tried to swim up, but it was useless. The more I struggled, the deeper I sank. My breath hitched in my throat, and I felt myself dying. I knew these were my final moments. How did I even get here?

Gasping for air, I woke from my dream. My body was drenched in sweat. My hands trembled uncontrollably. Horrific nightmares were nothing new to me, but every time I had one, I was just as terrified as the last. It always felt like something new was happening.

It was the middle of the night, a full moon hanging outside. The whole house was asleep, even my mother. But I was wrestling with these terrible dreams.

I was tired of bearing all of this. This time, I decided I wouldn't let myself fall back asleep. I vowed to keep my eyes open and see what would happen. But despite my resolve, I woke up with the dawn, having succumbed to another nightmare. My lack of proper sleep made me irritable and quick to anger. I'd snap and yell at the smallest things. I'd screamed at those close to me countless times. The people who knew me understood. Those who didn't, left. It was hard to tolerate me. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't change some things about myself.

It was time for the office. I was getting ready when there was a knock at the door. It was Mom. "What do you want?" I asked, irritated. She replied loudly from outside the door, "You got a letter!" A little anxious, I opened the door and took the letter from her hand. Innocent, she asked what kind of letter it was. Ignoring her, I muttered, "It's just an office fax," and pulled it from her grasp. My mother, with a son's love, said, "Vinod, I made your favorite flatbreads for you. There's chicken curry too. Eat as much as you like."

"Yeah, yeah, okay," I said, barely listening, and closed the door. I didn't think about whether Mom felt hurt. I tore open the letter. It was the visa approval for my foreign application. I jumped around my room, ecstatic. I wanted to scream out loud, "I did it!" but instead, I celebrated quietly to myself, not wanting anyone to hear. My family didn't know I'd applied to go abroad, and I didn't want to tell them.

My joy continued. My mobile rang, and I picked up, saying "Hello." It was Pooja on the other end. "We're meeting at Coffee Day, remember?" she asked. Pooja was my girlfriend. I needed to tell her I was going abroad. But I didn't want to. I couldn't spend any more time with her. Breaking up with her was the best option. I decided I would leave her.

Later that evening, at the office, Vinod zoned out during a meeting. He forgot what he was doing there. His boss berated him for it.

Vinod's thoughts: No matter how much I try to control myself, I can't. I'm losing myself without even realizing it. The line between reality and dreams feels increasingly thin. I want to escape from all this. I want to sleep peacefully. I know going abroad won't change this situation. But I can't manage my sleep, these situations, my family, my love, my friends – everyone. That's why I want to run away.

I can't bear it anymore. How much longer can this go on? Will my whole life be like this? Doctors don't understand. They give me sleeping pills, but my real problem comes after sleep, from the dreams. How can they treat that? I've tried charms, rituals, and prayers too. They called it God's will. They called it a curse or a demonic possession. But no one could save me from the dreams. I even stopped trying and started to accept it. But the dreams are getting even weirder. I don't know how to handle them.

These thoughts swirled in Vinod's mind. Walking aimlessly, he arrived at the coffee shop. This was his "zone out" state – his mind consumed by thoughts and profound tiredness.

At the coffee shop, Vinod and Pooja met. Pooja was very excited, talking and sharing animatedly. There weren't many other couples in the shop, just them and one other. Pooja was thrilled, but Vinod lacked her enthusiasm, which made her realize something was wrong. So, she asked:

Pooja: What's wrong, Vinod?

Vinod: Nothing. Just a little disturbed.

Pooja: Another dream?

Vinod: Yes, you know how it is. No matter how many times I wish they wouldn't come, they keep coming.

Pooja: Forget all that, distract your mind.

Vinod: If I could, wouldn't I? I can't. That's the problem.

From a nearby table, Ramana and Shanmuk were talking loudly, disturbing them.

Ramana: That's what happens when someone overthinks. You know, one guy ended up in the hospital all day.

Shanmuk: Yeah, yeah, I heard about that too.

Vinod: You wouldn't understand my problem.

Vinod told Pooja.

Shanmuk: If you're just going to sit there silently, why did you even suggest meeting? his girlfriend complained.

Ramana: Say something, anything! his lover insisted.

At that, Pooja smiled faintly.

Vinod (with irritation): What's your problem, guys? Why are you always disturbing us?

Shanmuk: Did we disturb you?

Ramana: No way. He's just disturbed himself.

Vinod: Let's go somewhere else. They'll just disturb us more if we stay here.

Pooja: It's okay, they're always like this. Anyway, put that aside. What's really wrong? Share it with me.

Vinod: Today I had a very strange dream. It feels like the dream is trying to tell me something. And those small visuals, it felt like I'd experienced them before. This isn't the first time this has happened. If it continues like this, I don't know how much more my health will deteriorate.

Pooja: So, you haven't been getting those nightmares like before?

Vinod: No, they haven't come back like that again.

Pooja: Last time, Mom was there to save you. Otherwise... You could at least sleep near your parents if there's an emergency.

Vinod: I don't want to trouble them because of my problem. At least they should get some peaceful sleep.

Pooja: Not just them, you should also sleep peacefully without overthinking.

Vinod: Peaceful? Don't overthink? How can I be peaceful when I can't get proper sleep? Because of this problem, I can't even work properly. Sometimes, I just wish I could take complete rest and die. Then I'd get full, peaceful rest, right? I almost died once, just barely survived. Ha ha (laughing), right?

Smack!

Pooja slapped Vinod, grabbed her bag, and walked away.

Vinod was in shock. He looked towards Ramana and Shanmuk.

Ramana: What's wrong with you today?

Shanmuk: She's leaving! Go after her, quickly!

Vinod, listening to his friends, immediately got up and went after Pooja.

She stood at a corner outside the coffee shop, crying.

As Vinod approached, Pooja began to scold him angrily.

Pooja: Are you crazy? Do you want to die? Is it that easy for you to leave everything behind? If you wanted to leave, why did you even fall in love? You should have just stayed by yourself! Even though I knew you had a problem, I understood. What else do you want from me? If you ever talk like that again, it won't be dying in your dream; I'll kill you myself! Get rid of the problem you have now, and everything else will sort itself out.

Vinod: Okay, I'm sorry. It was my fault. I shouldn't have said that.

Pooja: Yes, it was your fault. Don't ever say that again.

Vinod: I won't... Is your anger gone?

Pooja: Hmm... Your friends are calling you. Go.

She pointed to their friends, who were standing a little distance away.

Vinod: Just a minute. I'll send them off and be right back.

He walked over to his friends and spoke with them.

Shanmuk: How is she now?

Vinod: She's okay now.

Ramana: Good. From now on, spend happy time with her and don't hurt her. Don't go silent again. You either say nothing or utter crazy things like that. What's wrong with you?

Shanmuk: She spends only a short time with you. She's not a fancy and bubbly person like everyone else. But she talks so much because she loves you a lot.

Vinod: I know.

Ramana: She's a good girl. Don't hurt her.

Vinod: Okay.

Shanmuk: Alright, we're leaving now.

Vinod's inner voice: They are good friends. Very few people find friends like this. In this day and age, who truly understands and supports their friends' love? Even if they support, it's only to a certain extent. How many people are there who will stand by you and scold you for your own good, telling you what's right and what's wrong?

She (Pooja) also has a friend. She respected our privacy and left her here.

Pooja and Vinod walked hand in hand.

Pooja: Can I tell you something? My happiest moments in the day are simply spending time with you like this, holding your hand, forgetting everything for a while. What about you?

Vinod zoned out.

Vinod's inner voice: My favorite moments? Moments that make me happy? The more I think about it, the deeper I sink.

Vinod: I can't tell what's real and what's fake because of this dream problem. Is this even my life, or just a dream? Are you, is this life, all of it real? It's been years since I've had proper sleep because of thoughts like these. I want to get out of this.

Vinod's inner voice again: I feel like I'm bothering everyone. I can't spend happy time with anyone.

He zoned out again. Next, he found himself on his bed at home.

Vinod's inner voice: These zone-outs are getting more frequent. Every time, I'm talking or thinking about something, and then I skip a period of time. The next thing I know, I'm somewhere else. I don't even know what's happening to my life. I didn't spend enough time with Pooja. And I couldn't tell her the truth. She hit me hard for just saying I thought I was dying for a small thing. What would she do if I broke up with her? Okay, I don't have the courage to tell her directly. I'll at least send a message. She'll have all night to think about it. Even if it hurts her, this is for her own good. And I'm not doing anything wrong. I'm doing what's best for her. If she keeps building hopes on me, she'll be in a worse situation later. It will be harder to leave her then.

Ramana's words from earlier came back to Vinod: "She's a good girl, don't hurt her."

Vinod's inner voice: This is what's right for her. If this love stops here, it will be better for her.

Pooja's words from earlier came back: "Spending time with you like this is my happiest moment. I always wait for this."

Vinod: She really is a good girl. What will she be like without me? No, no, no. I'm doing what's best for her. She shouldn't suffer with someone like me. It will be better for her to leave me than to tolerate me.

So Vinod decided. He would send her a breakup message. He typed it out. Slowly, sleep began to take over. The moment he pressed send, he fell into sleep.

The Same Dream:

Again, the same place. The sea was calm. Vinod stood on something submerged in the water. But this time, it was different. The water beneath his feet wasn't water at all; it was blood.

He stood on a sea of blood.

Fear gripped Vinod as he saw the blood. He knew immediately that this wasn't going to be a normal dream. A nightmare was coming. And last time, when a nightmare like this came, he almost died but somehow managed to escape. But this time...

The Dream: The tree that sprouted in the middle continued to grow. The vertical eye in the tree's center stared at him. The retina in that eye grew intensely, and from the white area of the eye, spider legs emerged. It was trying to possess Vinod. He couldn't stop looking at the eye.

Vinod's body on the bed began to shake uncontrollably. His body was not his own. It shook violently and terribly, as if possessed by a spirit or a demon.

In the dream, the eye widened further.

Vinod slowly began to move towards the eye. Like a hypnotized person obeying their master's slightest command, Vinod walked towards the eye. Even if he fell, he would get up and keep walking. He would not stop walking.

In real life, Vinod's body, lying on the bed, shook convulsively. Blood oozed from his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. He had even soiled his pants. No sound escaped his throat.

What happened to Vinod, now completely possessed by the heavy eye?

See in the next chapter.