"Yaar, you're acting weird."
Zoya Malik dipped her paratha into her chai, staring at Areeba like she'd lost her mind.
"You're saying the dogs were eating a—what, a human?"
Areeba swallowed. "I don't know."
"You sound crazy, baji," Zoya teased. "Maybe you need to quit your job and sleep properly."
Areeba sighed. "Just be careful when you go home, okay?"
Zoya rolled her eyes. "Baji, this is Karachi, not a horror movie."
That night, Zoya worked late too. A client meeting ran overtime, and by the time she left the office, it was past midnight.
As she walked toward her apartment, she saw them.
The dogs.
A hungry one, standing alone.
And the others… eating something wrapped in red fabric.
Zoya frowned. A strange unease settled in her stomach.
She walked faster.
The next night, she bought a pack of seekh kebabs and returned. The hungry dog was waiting.
She placed the food down. It pounced on it immediately.
Zoya smirked. "Poor thing."
Then, her eyes flickered to the other dogs.
They had stopped eating.
They were watching her.
Her stomach clenched.
She looked down.
The red fabric was gone.
In its place, she saw a piece of blue cloth.
Her breath caught. No. This is a coincidence. Just my mind playing tricks.
And then—
A sound.
A whisper.
Low. Raspy. Not human.
"One by one… the shadows come."
Zoya ran.