THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS: EPISODE 3

Aryan’s breath hitched. His trembling fingers hovered over his phone screen. He wanted to reply, to demand answers, but his gut twisted in warning.

He didn’t.

Instead, he sprinted to the mirror. He needed to see himself. He needed proof that he was still there. But when he stared into the glass, a fresh wave of nausea crashed over him.

His reflection was…wrong.

It wasn’t missing, but it looked faded. As if he were vanishing bit by bit, the edges of his figure dissolving into the background. His heartbeat thundered in his ears.

“What the hell is happening to me?”

The apartment door creaked. Aryan whipped around, his body rigid. The door was slightly open, though he had locked it. A shadow lingered in the hallway beyond.

A voice followed. A whisper.

“Come find me.”

A chill settled in his bones. The voice was familiar. Too familiar.

It was his own.

The phone in his hand buzzed violently. He looked down. Another message.

“You waited too long, Aryan. Now, you must chase yourself before you disappear completely.”

Chase himself?

His eyes darted back to the mirror. His reflection was gone.

His pulse spiked. There was only one thing to do is follow the voice.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, his footsteps echoing into the void.

The walls stretched unnaturally, the air thick with something wrong.

Doors that never existed before lined the corridor, each with his name.. except his name was missing, replaced by a blank space.

He reached for the first door.

As soon as his fingers touched the handle, a memory ‘he didn’t know he had’ slammed into his mind.

A hospital room. White walls. A doctor standing over him. His own voice, weak, asking:

“Am I going to be okay?”

The doctor’s expression was unreadable.

“If you remember…then no.”

Aryan staggered back, gasping.

Something terrible had happened.

And he was about to find out what.

- To be continued.