The portal glowed faintly in the distance, casting its unearthly light across the wrecked alley where the chaos had unfolded. Arham stood before it, his gaze steady but heavy with emotion. Neha watched him, her arms wrapped tightly around herself.
"You don't have to go," she said softly, her voice trembling.
Arham turned to her, his eyes filled with warmth. "I do. This world isn't ready for someone like me. I'll draw attention, questions... things you don't need right now."
Neha's voice broke. "But I just got you back."
Arham stepped closer, cupping her face gently. "Hayati, this isn't goodbye. If you ever need me, truly need me, I'll find my way back. I promise."
Tears slid down Neha's cheeks as she nodded, unable to speak.
He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead before stepping back toward the portal. The swirling light enveloped him as he passed through, his figure disappearing into the otherworldly glow.
Neha stood motionless, staring at the portal as it continued to shimmer, its presence unchanged. Despite Arham's departure, the portal remained open, standing like an ominous doorway, unmoved by Dr. Mark's failed attempts to control it.
---
The days that followed felt eerily calm. Neha and Zuree tried to resume their routines, attending classes, and catching up on missed assignments. The girls who had escaped the portal returned to their respective lives, the traumatic events beginning to fade into memory.
For a moment, it seemed like the nightmare was truly over.
In the quiet evenings, Neha often found herself staring at the sky, wondering where Arham was and whether his promise would hold true. Zuree, ever perceptive, stayed close, her protective instincts stronger than ever.
"You think it's really over?" Zuree asked one evening as they sat by the hostel window.
Neha glanced at her, forcing a small smile. "It has to be. We've done all we can."
But the uneasy silence between them spoke volumes.
---
It started small, an anonymous email in Zuree's inbox with a subject line that read: "We're watching."
The message contained a single attachment: a blurred image of Neha and Zuree walking across campus.
The next day, Neha's phone buzzed with a notification from an unknown sender. The message was chillingly familiar: "Secrets are fragile. Are you ready for yours to break?"
Zuree slammed her phone onto the table, her frustration boiling over. "I thought this was done! How are they still doing this?"
Neha, her face pale, shook her head. "Dr. Mark. He won't stop. Not until he's destroyed everything."
---
Dr. Mark sat in his dimly lit office, still thinking of that portal which is out of his control.
"It's sentient, or something close to it," Tahir said, pacing the room. "It doesn't respond to logic or systems. It acts of its own accord."
Dr. Mark's lips pressed into a thin line. "It doesn't matter. We'll use what we can. The leaks, the warnings... they'll break them down. We don't need the portal to win this fight."
Tahir nodded, his eyes gleaming with a cold determination. "And if that fails?"
"Then we remind them of what we're capable of," Dr. Mark said darkly. "Everyone has a breaking point."
Over the next week, the warnings intensified. Private photos of Zuree surfaced online, doctored to suggest things that weren't true. For Neha, a long-buried incident from her past was suddenly unearthed, spreading like wildfire across social media.
The weight of it all crushed them. Zuree's hands trembled as she deleted comment after comment on her posts. Neha avoided her phone altogether, the shame and anger eating away at her.
One evening, as they sat in the hostel room, Neha broke the silence. "We can't keep running from this. They'll destroy us if we let them."
Zuree nodded, her jaw tightening. "What do we do?"
"We fight back," Neha said firmly. "We find a way to end this, once and for all."
That night, as the campus lay quiet, Neha and Zuree made a pact. They wouldn't let Dr. Mark and Tahir win. Together, they began to formulate a plan, one that would turn the tide in their favor.
The portal loomed in the distance, its glow a constant reminder of the power they were up against. But for the first time, Neha and Zuree didn't feel helpless.
The storm wasn't over, but they were ready to face it head-on.