They met that evening by the edge of the lake — the same lake that had swallowed part of their past.
The sun was setting, but the clouds were already moving in. Fast. Unnatural. Like they had waited years for this moment.
Ruhan stood with the polaroid in his pocket, his hands buried deep in the sleeves of his jacket. Samaya was already there, skipping stones like it didn't feel like the world was shifting beneath their feet.
She looked up when he arrived. "It's happening again, isn't it?"
He nodded. "The clouds. The pull. I feel it. And I don't think it's just memory."
She tossed another stone. It skipped once. Sank.
"We made the pact during the first flood," she said. "And broke it the same night."
"Not just broke it," Ruhan murmured. "We left it behind."
Samaya turned to him, her voice low. "We left them behind."
They didn't talk after that. Just walked. Past the edge of the lake. Past the broken trail. Toward the clearing.
The lighthouse loomed again. Only this time, it wasn't just a relic from their past.
The door was open.
And the light at the top — long dead — flickered.
"Is that real?" Ruhan asked.
"I think it's a warning," Samaya replied. "Or a welcome."
Inside, the air was heavier. Damp. As if the lighthouse had been waiting, holding its breath.
They climbed. Step by step. The creak of wood. The groan of memory. The third stair still broken. The fifth still painted with initials.
Near the top, Ruhan paused. "Did you hear that?"
A whisper. Just behind them.
A familiar voice.
"I waited."
He turned. No one. Just shadows.
At the top, the room was empty — mostly.
But by the window, where the wind pushed in from the lake, stood a boy.
Wearing the same hoodie Dev used to wear. Red guitar case leaning beside him.
He didn't turn around.
But when Ruhan stepped closer, the boy spoke.
"Late again."
Samaya gasped.
Ruhan's voice broke. "Dev?"
"I only remember when it rains," the boy said. "Then it all comes back."
He turned slowly. Same face. Same limp. Same eyes.
Alive.
And yet… not.
"I stayed," Dev said. "When the rest of you forgot."
They didn't ask how. Not yet.
Samaya ran to him, hugging him too tight. He didn't flinch.
Ruhan stepped closer. "Aarya's alive too. She sent a letter."
Dev looked out the window again. The wind roared. The lake below churned.
"She never left," he said softly. "She just slipped deeper than the rest of us."
Ruhan swallowed. "Where is she now?"
Dev's voice was barely a whisper.
"She's under the water."
Lightning cracked in the distance. The tower shook slightly.
And the bell, long rusted silent, rang once.
Not from above.
But from beneath.
The water was rising again.
And this time, they'd have to go into it to bring Aarya back.