The quarry was exactly as Rudra remembered it from the field trip—jagged limestone cliffs, deep pits filled with stagnant water, and an eerie silence that made every footstep echo.
Anvi was already there when he arrived. Sitting on the same boulder where Bhairav had been sketching weeks ago.
She didn't look up when Rudra approached.
"You watched everything on the drive?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"And?"
Rudra sat down beside her, keeping distance between them. "And you were right. This is bigger than I thought."
Anvi finally looked at him. Her eyes were red. Like she'd been crying. But her voice was steady.
"My sister's name was Meera. She was seventeen. Brilliant. Kind. She wanted to be a doctor."
Rudra didn't interrupt.
"She came here for a field program. Just like you. Two weeks in, she called me. Said something felt wrong. That students were acting strange. That teachers were asking weird questions during 'counseling sessions.'"
Anvi's hands clenched into fists.
"I told her she was being paranoid. Told her to relax. Enjoy the trip."
Her voice cracked slightly.
"Three days later, she was gone. Reported missing. Police searched for a week. Then they closed the case. Said she probably ran away. Had mental health issues. The school agreed. Even my parents started believing it."
"But you didn't," Rudra said quietly.
"No. Because I knew Meera. She wouldn't run. She wouldn't leave without telling me."
Anvi stood, pacing. "So I spent a year researching. Hacking. Bribing. Digging through every record I could find. And I discovered the pattern. Students disappearing. Always during field programs. Always in October. Always ruled as runaways or accidents."
"And Malhotra was connected to all of them," Rudra finished.
"Not just connected. He selected them. Every student who disappeared had been flagged during intake assessments. Psychological profiles. Stress tests. He was choosing his subjects carefully."
Rudra's jaw tightened. "So where are they now? The missing students?"
Anvi's expression darkened. "That's what we need to find out."
Before Rudra could respond, his phone buzzed.
A message from Bhairav: EMERGENCY. Get back to campus NOW.
Rudra stood immediately. "Something's wrong."
Anvi read the message over his shoulder. "Go. I'll meet you there."
They ran.
The Empty Bed
By the time Rudra reached the dorms, a crowd had gathered. Teachers. Students. Everyone talking at once.
Bhairav was waiting outside, face pale.
"What happened?" Rudra demanded.
"It's Sneha," Bhairav said, voice tight. "She's gone."
Rudra's blood ran cold. Sneha—the quiet girl from their batch. One of the "good students." Always on time. Always polite.
"Gone how?"
"Her bed wasn't slept in. Her things are still here. Phone, wallet, everything. But she's just... gone."
Rudra pushed through the crowd, Bhairav following.
Inside the girls' dorm, teachers were searching. Calling Sneha's name. Checking bathrooms, closets, everywhere.
But Rudra knew they wouldn't find her.
Because this wasn't a random disappearance.
This was the pattern.
He approached Sneha's bunk. Everything was neat. Organized. Her laptop sat on the desk, closed. Her shoes lined up beneath the bed.
Rudra knelt, examining the floor. No signs of struggle. No disturbed dust. Whoever took her, she went quietly.
Or she was unconscious.
Bhairav crouched beside him. "This is it, isn't it? The thing we were afraid of."
Rudra nodded grimly.
A teacher noticed them. "You two—out. This is a restricted area."
They backed away, returning to the common area where students were gathered, whispering nervously.
"Do you think she ran away?"
"Maybe she got lost in the forest..."
"What if something happened to her?"
Rudra tuned them out, his mind working.
Sneha had been at breakfast yesterday. She'd attended the morning lecture. She'd been fine.
So when did she disappear?
He pulled Bhairav aside. "Did anyone see her last night?"
"Priya said she went to bed around 10 PM. Normal routine. But when they woke up this morning, she was gone."
"Did Priya hear anything? See anything?"
"No. She's a heavy sleeper."
Convenient, Rudra thought.
Too convenient.
He scanned the crowd, looking for Anvi. She'd slipped in through the back, blending with the local students.
Their eyes met. She gave a subtle nod.
Then Rudra saw him.
Dr. Malhotra.
Standing near the entrance, talking to the principal. Calm. Composed. Concerned in all the right ways.
He was wearing gloves.
On a warm October morning.
Rudra's instincts screamed.
Malhotra's gaze swept the room—and landed on Rudra.
For a moment, they stared at each other.
Then Malhotra smiled. Faint. Almost imperceptible.
And walked away.
Rudra's hands clenched into fists.
"He took her," Rudra muttered.
"What?" Bhairav whispered.
"Malhotra. He took Sneha. I'm sure of it."
"Rudra, you can't just—"
"I'm not guessing. I'm reading the signs. He's been watching us. All of us. And Sneha fit his profile."
"What profile?"
"Smart. Isolated. No close friends here. Her family's three states away. She's the perfect target."
Bhairav looked sick. "So what do we do?"
Rudra's expression hardened. "We find her. Before it's too late."
The Search
The official search began within the hour. Teachers organized search parties. Students were divided into groups. The forest, the compound, the nearby roads—every area was covered.
Rudra volunteered for the forest team.
So did Bhairav and Anvi.
They moved together, staying close but not too close. To anyone watching, they were just concerned students helping with the search.
But once they were deep enough into the trees, away from the others, Rudra stopped.
"She's not out here," he said.
Anvi nodded. "They wouldn't risk leaving her somewhere she could be found easily."
"So where is she?" Bhairav asked.
Rudra thought for a moment. Then pulled out his phone, opening the photos from the archive room.
He scrolled to the wall of missing students. The photos. The red X's.
"Every student who disappeared was part of Project Rekha," Rudra said. "They weren't killed. They were taken. Used. Experimented on."
"For what purpose?" Anvi asked.
"Psychological resilience. Stress response. The files mentioned 'controlled environments.' They're testing how people react under extreme pressure."
Bhairav looked horrified. "You mean they're torturing them?"
"Not physically. Psychologically. Isolation. Fear. Manipulation. Breaking them down to see how they rebuild."
Anvi's expression was ice. "And when the experiment's done?"
Rudra met her eyes. "They either let them go—traumatized and discredited—or they make them disappear permanently."
Silence.
"So where do they run these tests?" Bhairav asked.
Rudra zoomed in on one of the photos. In the background of the archive room, partially visible, was a map.
A building layout.
He enhanced the image as much as his phone would allow.
There.
A section labeled: "Sublevel Research Facility - Restricted Access."
"There's a sublevel," Rudra said. "Under the old wing. That's where they're keeping her."
Anvi's eyes narrowed. "How do we get down there?"
Rudra pocketed his phone. "The same way we got into the archives. Carefully."
"When?" Bhairav asked.
"Tonight," Rudra said. "Before they move her. Before we lose our chance."
Anvi stepped closer, voice hard. "And if we find her? What then? We can't just walk out with her."
"No," Rudra agreed. "But we can document everything. Record it. Get proof so solid they can't bury it."
"And then?"
Rudra's expression was cold. Determined.
"Then we make sure the whole world sees what Malhotra's been doing."
They stood in the forest, three students against an institution that had been hiding its sins for a decade.
But for the first time, Rudra didn't feel alone.
He had allies.
And together, they were going to tear this place apart.