Tej stared at the ceiling of his room, his mind a tangled mess of thoughts and emotions. It had been weeks since the party, but the aftermath lingered like a shadow over him. He had lied to everyone—his parents, his friends, even himself. The lines between truth and deception had blurred so much that he could hardly tell one from the other. He knew the system was dormant, but its influence still clung to him, wrapping around his mind like a vice.
The whispers had started again, a quiet murmur at the back of his thoughts, urging him to dig deeper, to find out why his real parents had abandoned him. Tej couldn't shake the feeling that the answer lay hidden in the past, buried under layers of secrets and lies. He had to know the truth, no matter how dark it might be.
Tej's obsession with his origins grew with each passing day. He started spending hours at the library, pouring over old records, searching for anything that could give him a clue about his birth parents. But the more he searched, the more frustrated he became. Every lead seemed to end in a dead-end, and the frustration gnawed at him like a relentless beast.
His grades began to slip, and his friends noticed the change in him. They tried to reach out, to offer support, but Tej pushed them away. He couldn't trust anyone, not even himself. The lies had become his only refuge, the one thing that kept him from falling apart completely.
One evening, Tej's best friend, Alex, confronted him. "Tej, what's going on with you? You've been acting so weird lately. We're worried about you."
Tej forced a smile, the same fake grin he'd been using for months. "I'm fine, Alex. Just… a lot on my mind, that's all."
Alex wasn't convinced. "Don't lie to me, man. We've known each other for years. I can tell something's wrong. You can talk to me, you know."
But Tej couldn't talk. He couldn't tell Alex about the lies, the system, or the growing darkness inside him. So he did what he always did—he lied. "I appreciate it, Alex. Really, I do. But I'm just going through a rough patch. I'll be okay."
Alex sighed, clearly frustrated but unwilling to push further. "Alright, Tej. Just know I'm here if you need me."
Tej nodded, but inside he was screaming. He wanted to tell Alex everything, to unload the burden that was slowly crushing him. But the fear of rejection, of being labeled a freak or a liar, kept him silent.
As the days turned into weeks, Tej's obsession grew more intense. He began to have vivid nightmares—dark, twisted dreams where he was trapped in a labyrinth of lies, unable to escape. In his dreams, he saw his real parents' faces, but they were always obscured, just out of reach. The frustration and anger boiled inside him, threatening to consume him whole.
One night, as Tej lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, a thought crossed his mind—what if his parents hadn't abandoned him? What if something had happened to them? The thought was like a spark, igniting a fire inside him. He had to know the truth, no matter the cost.
The next day, Tej skipped school and went to the library, determined to find answers. He spent hours digging through old newspapers, searching for any mention of his birth or his parents. And then, finally, he found something—a small article, buried in the back pages of a local newspaper, about a woman who had gone missing around the time of his birth.
The article mentioned that the woman had been homeless, living on the streets with her newborn baby. Tej's heart raced as he read the words. Could this be his mother? Had she been taken away, leaving him behind? The questions swirled in his mind, feeding his obsession.
Tej knew he had to find out more. He had to know what had happened to this woman, to his mother. But as he left the library, clutching the newspaper article in his hand, a cold, dark voice whispered in the back of his mind.
"Careful, Tej. Some truths are better left buried."
But it was too late. Tej was already in too deep, and he wouldn't stop until he uncovered the truth, no matter how dark or twisted it might be.