Aahan felt like he was on fire but in a good way. He had never felt so energetic in his entire life... no, he did. Eight years ago, on that fateful night.
He had felt a similar sensation back then, coupled with the awful smell. But he had no memory of what happened after that. He only remembered having a knife in his hands and a lot of blood around when he woke up.
Although he didn't remember what he had done, according to the police reports, he had stabbed four of his classmates using that knife. Aahan had no recollection of doing it, but the evidence was all against him.
Conveniently enough, no one had seen his 'classmates' bullying him at the party. No one had seen how they dragged him into a corner and slammed his head into a wall till the blood gushed out of his forehead.
Nor had anyone seen them stabbing his ankles with the said knife. Yet every one had seen him stabbing the bullies? Yeah right!
All of the bullies' parents were well off and probably used their connections to screw him over in order to save their children and their image.
Just remembering the things he was forced to endure made his blood boil. His already raging soul became even more enraged as he charged towards Asura, as his vision turned red.
However, this time, Asura wouldn't wait for Aahan to do something unexpected again.
But at the last moment, Aahan intentionally dropped on his legs, sliding between Asura's legs and stabbing him behind his left knee. Asura couldn't support his body weight on one knee and collapsed.
Aahan then planned on jumping on the demon's back and stabbing him to death. However, Asura had no intention of dying so easily. He swung his massive arms, intending to crush the human.
However, Aahan dodged the attack by moving sideways before using the demon's arm as a platform and jumped. Before Asura knew what was happening, Aahan had grabbed his head and smashed his disgusting face with his knee.
Usually, Aahan would have been surprised by the manoeuvres he was pulling. But it almost felt like his consciousness had taken the backseat, and something else was forcing him to fight against the Asura.
Aahan didn't care what it was as long as he could defeat the Asura. He was happy even if he had to sell his soul for the sake of saving his brother.
But as the fight continued, the thoughts of saving his brother or himself were pushed aside. In a twisted way, he began enjoying the battle and tormenting the demon.
He repeated the knee strikes until Asura could keep his balance anymore and fell on his back. It was the moment Aahan had been waiting for.
He quickly mounted the demon and picked up the sword. Without any hesitation, Aahan slammed the blade into Asura's forehead.
But in a surprising show of strength, Asura grabbed the blade before pushing Aahan off himself. Before Aahan could realise what was happening, Asura roared at the top of his lungs.
Aahan fell to his knees, covering his ears. The high-pitched wail was too much to handle as he was forced to close his eyes because of the pain. The pain he felt was unlike anything he had felt before.
Soon, his head began throbbing like crazy, and then blood came gushing out of his mouth, nose and even his ears. Even in his condition, Aahan knew he had to move, or else the demon would most definitely end him.
And then, just as everything seemed lost, the wailing ceased. Aahan was momentarily relieved before frantically opening his eyes, only to see Asura missing.
Just then, he saw the shadow behind and immediately got into position to block the demon's attack. However, Asura's strength proved too much for Aahan to handle, and he was flung towards his unconscious brother.
"You thought you had a chance, didn't you?" Asura scoffed as he began changing his form.
His previous muscular body grew even bigger, towering over Aahan like a measly insect. Not only that, although the demon's tongue was still attached to Aahan's hand, Asura had seemingly grown a new tongue, a normal one.
"You humans are all the same..." Asura continued while looking at Vivaan. "One would die protecting the other. How amusing..."
Aahan wanted to stand... he wanted to fight... but his body had given up on him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move, and his vision soon turned blackish.
In his final moments, Aahan reached out to Vivaan, reaching out for his brother. But he couldn't, as Asura kicked Vivaan away.
'I'll kill you! I'll kill you even if it is the last thing I do!' Aahan cursed the demon in his thoughts as his mouth was too sore to move anymore.
"Hm... maybe I should kill you first," Asura laughed as he grabbed Aahan by his neck. "But no, you are important to us."
'...important?'
"The Elders would be pleased if I brought you to them alive. After all, you're an anomaly."
Saying so, Asura threw Aahan over his shoulder and began retreating. Through his blurry vision, Aahan got one last look at his brother... drenched in blood.
'I'm... sorry...'
Ultimately, all was lost, and Aahan couldn't do anything. Vivaan would die from bleeding if he weren't dead already.
Aahan would never be able to uncover the truth of what happened that night like he wanted, and his parent... they lost the only capable son they had all because Aahan meddled somewhere he wasn't supposed to.
'If only I hadn't followed the smell... Vivaan would have defeated this bastard... and we'd be out there, alive.'
But just as his vision faded away, Aahan saw something shiny fly towards him. He didn't know what it was, but it had to have been a weapon, for in the next instant, a pained cry escaped the Asura's lips.
Asura's grip on him loosened as it crumpled to the ground, releasing its hold on him. Before blacking out, Aahan got a good look at someone walking towards him.
It was an older man with a bushy beard and wearing a white dhoti resembling the sages one could find around the banks of the Ganga.
"Who..." Aahan managed to mumble before blacking out for good.