"....ven... Number eleven... Roll number 11!"
"P-Present Sir."
Rahat Mahmud pushed his glasses backward and looked in front.
" Student Arisha, why are you so absent minded? "
"I'm sorry, teacher. It won't happen again."
"Keep that in mind."
While the rollcall resumed, Arisha Haydar,mostly known as Risha, stared at the sky. It's been like this for a week. The sky is cloudy, the weather's gloomy. And there's absolutely no sign of rain.Maybe it's very normal but Risha is feeling uncomfortable to a disturbing degree. Something's coming, and it's calling her. Risha got no idea who is that but she knows he is there,very close. And this feeling is exactly what's bothering her.Just why, why can't she brush it off as nothing? Why can't she convince herself that she is thinking too much?
After just one period, the class was dismissed. It was due to the weather forecast. A Storm is coming. Coming out, Risha immediately felt the fierce breeze forcing the long and strong trees to bent down. The sky was covered with black clouds and everything was dark like the night. Not a single ray of light could cross those thick clouds. A roar of thunder came with the lightning. 'Strange, why didn't the lightning lit up the place but made it even darker?', Risha thought to herself. 'And was the school always this lifeless? Everyone is here rushing for home, shouting, yet i feel a silence and solitariness like that of a grave?'
"Risha?Hey?"
Risha was back to reality woth Fiona staring at her intently.
"Rishu,you okay?" Fiona aked again. Her worry was showing in her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine. " Risha answered, she didn't want to bother Fiona with her baseless worries.
"Then let's go. How long you want to stand here like a statue?Hurry up!"
"Yes,I'm co...''
Words remained unfinished, for the one to receive it was gone.Well,Fiona wasn't exactly gone. She was standing still, the lightning has burned her in less than a second. She didn't have time to be even surprised. She was just dead, leaving the other one dumbfounded. Risha was in daze, her mind unable to function. What just happened?
Soon it started raining, a strange black liquid coming in the form of rain. Risha hated rain, so instinctively she backed down. With a confused mind, she witnessed a revolutionary event, the end of human race.
While they weren't dead like Fiona, Risha still couldn't bring herself to call them human,she never can. True,the outer layer is exactly like humans but they are not. Risha knows they aren't. How can those gaze even belong to humans?
That time, she witnessed black rain fall upon people and emit black smoke. It was strange, how could she distinguish colours in complete darkness? But she wasn't inthe situation to think. After all, she saw people shout like they were ripped apart. So much pain, but what was the source? The smoke spread further multiplying the victims.
"Aaaaahh"
"Save me"
"It hurts"
"Mommyyy"
The sobs and pleas filled the air. In midst, Arisha Haydar was standing, completely unharmed. The smoke didn't approached her at all. She saw people fall down, their faces filled with pain. And suddenly it crossed her mind.
'My family! Are they alright? '
Without wasting any more time, she ran toward ger home. She didn't mind the rain, not noticing that it didn't touch her at all.
Block - H /Road - 2 /House - 23, the place Risha lives. It's usually a crowded area but now it has the same silence. Risha stopped in front of her home. Was everything okay? Were her family suffering just like others? Her heart tightened. Slowly she knocked to find the door was open. She entered. With every step, she felt her more scared.
"Mum?Dad?Shaon?Where are you? "
Her voice was trembling. Where are they?
She heard a little sound and ran toward the guestroom.Seeing them, she felt relieved. But as soon as her younger brother Shaon talked, a cold wave went down her spine.
"Appi,did you ran from school? Why are you sweating so much?"
There was nothing wrong with the speech but she instantly panicked. She heard her family calling her from far away.
"Risha?"
"Dear what happened? "
"Hey child"
And soon it was replaced with deep voices.
"Why is the brat acting like this?"
"Why is she here in the first place?"
"Why is she completely dry?"
"Does she know something? "
"What should we do with her?"
It didn't take long for Risha to understand they're talking through mind link. Their worried facade didn't stop her for seeing them gritting teeth with anger. 'How is this possible?' Risha didn't know. Something was struggling to come out of her. And before anything, she whispered startling others,
"You, you are dead."
The room fell into silence. Even mind like was stopped. Risha, like a possessed one, continued, "They are gone forever. But here they stand in front of me. You are not them. Who are you? Are you from him? "
Then she came to sense faced with their murderous gaze. And this time, there were no facades at all. The hatred was all over their faces, open and terrifying. A moment and then, she felt a sharp pain coursing though her.