Thank you all to give chance to this book . So, let's start our journey. If you like the prologue do follow me.

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JAIPUR

25th October, 2024

The raindrops had grown louder now - each drop hitting the earth like a warning. Storm clouds swirled above, dancing violently across the horizon, while the winds cut through the air in restless gusts. The weather had reached its most fragile, volatile state - much like her mind.

Being a neurosurgeon was already demanding.

Being a psychologist on top of that?

Exhausting.

A woman darted through the hospital gates, her footsteps echoing in urgency. Drenched in a mustard-yellow kurti that clung to her like a second skin, she fought the wild wind as her hair whipped across her face. Brushing the strands away with one hand, she moved just past the hospital doors, pausing under the open sky.

She looked up - just as lightning ripped across the heavens, casting a strange, ethereal glow across her face.

Her eyes narrowed. Her lips curled into a soft, annoyed pout.

"Seriously, Baba?" she muttered under her breath. "You had to send the rain now? If I don't reach home in time, Maasi will go full detective mode. And Ruhani... she's already unwell."

The mischief in her tone couldn't fully hide the weariness behind her eyes.

There was sadness there. Subtle. Tucked behind her playful complaints.

"Please, Baba," she whispered to lord shiv , looking at the sky again - this time with quiet hope. "Thoda toh kripa kijiye... make it stop."

And as if the sky itself couldn't deny her plea, the rain didn't vanish completely - but softened. The downpour turned into a drizzle.

The storm calmed, just a little.

Only the winds stayed wild, brushing against her like an unseen presence.

She smiled. A small, victorious kind of smile.

Then walked toward the parking lot - toward her car.

Just as she reached out to open the door, the wind struck again - this time carrying a torn article, which smacked lightly against her face. Startled, she peeled it off, brows furrowing as she glanced down to read what fate had just thrown her way...

" And once again... someone flipped the coin. Someone... or perhaps the Creator Himself."

She read those words , a faint smile curling on her lips. With a soft sigh, she let the article slip from her fingers and took her seat in the car.

She turned the key in the ignition - once, twice - but the engine only coughed in protest.

Typical.

After a few failed attempts, the car finally gave in and roared to life.

"Ugh, Baba," she huffed with a playful pout, " Jab problem hoti hai na tab aur problems aati jaati hai ",

The roads stretched endlessly ahead, soaked in shadows and silver rain. The storm had thickened - nightfall bleeding into darkness as the windshield wipers fought to keep pace with the downpour. Her usual route home was long, and now... half of it was submerged beneath floodwater.

Now only two options left , Go back to the hospital. Or take the short route - the one no one usually chose this late at night.

It shouldn't have been a problem.

But short routes often hold the longest consequences.

She turned anyway.

Minutes later, her car choked on its own breath and gave up entirely.

Dead engine. Nowhere.

Her house wasn't far - maybe a thirty-minute walk - manageable if it weren't for the merciless rain now crashing against her windows like fists.

She reached for her phone But this time her phone also betrayed her as her car .

She scanned her surroundings, her brows narrowing with familiarity. She knew this place. She used to come here on quiet Sundays, or when life felt too loud. It was an abandoned playground, soaked now in rain and memories. A single pole light flickered dimly near the entrance, casting a ghostly hue across the wet earth.

Her eyes fell on the broken padlock lying on the ground near the gate. It was open.

She stepped in, cautiously.

Toward the right, there was a small cabin - for security guards. She approached the window, peering inside , but only sadness again approached her face , there was no one in the cabin .

"Maybe the guard went home because of the rain," she whispered with a soft pout.

She steps forward to leave but she hears someone's painful voice .she hears someone groaning in pain . Her instincts screamed to run. But the sound grew louder , as the sound attracted her for help .

She moved quietly toward the bushes, careful not to make a sound. Kneeling down, she parted the leaves slightly - just enough to glimpse what was happening. The scenario she saw in front of her made her shivers down her place , she was not able to move from her place , she gulped down in fear , tears automatically escaped from her eyes .

A man lay on the ground, soaked in blood. Groaning. There were also several other men who were standing looking at him , they had guns in their hands .

One of them crouched low, gun in hand, his face hidden beneath a black mask. He was taller than the rest, broader . Thunder cracked above them - and in that flash of light, she saw the blood. Real. Fresh. Terrifying.

she was seeing the most terrifying scenario right now , her throat tightened because of her cries , her hands were shivering , she was breathing fastly and how can someone cannot after seeing a man who has lost his one hand and drenched in his own blood .

Her breath hitched.

And in that moment - her fear made the bushes tremble.

The man  with the gun heared the voice, turned his head sharply.

His eyes - those sharp, lethal eyes - scanned the dark like a predator smelling his other prey .

"Who's that motherfucker hiding in the bushes?" he barked, voice laced with rage.

She flinched. Her heart dropped. She ducked quickly, hiding again, her body trembling so hard it hurt. Her heart was racing fastly on her chest , she again gulped down her saliva and closed her eyes in fear , trying to not make any sound . After sometime , she heard a silence. Pure, brutal silence.

She peeked once more , she found no one was there expect Men drenched in his own blood.

She sighed - a breathless, shaking attempt at relief. She keeps her hand on her heart and takes a temporary relief breath . She was relieved that the disaster had gone . She was finally sensing positiveness --- UNTIL SHE TURNED AROUND.

She turned around, her breath hitched , she was shocked looking at him and fell on the ground.

He stood in front of her.

Lightning cracked behind him, outlining the sheer devil he looked like.

He stepped forward slowly, like a beast savouring the moment.

She backed away, crawling, heart pounding in her chest like a war drum.

"I take my words back," he murmured, his voice sharp as a blade.

A smirk stretched on his lips when he saw her fear. The lightning revealed her face - pale, stunned, breaking. His eyes flickered in recognition.

She moved fast - grabbed a handful of mud and threw it at his face.

But look at whom she chose to show her cleverness ' Oh little birdie ' .

He smirked again. Of course the mud didn't even touch his face . He always knew the next move and why not ----

He didn't just survive the underworld.

He ruled it.

He is the Lord of Hades -- The Abyss Syndicate

She turned to run from there but ,

He caught her wrist mid-air and slammed her gently but firmly against the tree.

She shut her eyes tight. A tear escaped.

He leaned close, voice dark and cold.

"Nice try, sweetheart."

His lips  brushed her ear. She shivered. Her breath hitched again . she pushed him away with a strength she didn't know she had.

"I know what kind of monsters you ministers are ! ," she spat, eyes aflame, pointing toward the man bleeding. "You kill innocents to fill your own pockets! "

He chuckled. Calm. Amused.

He gently tucked her rain-soaked strands behind her ear.

" Ministers ? " , he chuckled darkly , " Do you even know what he did?" he whispered, voice calm but dangerous, tilting her chin up.

"N-No. I don't know what his sin is. But it's not you who decides his punishment. That's for God to decide," she replied, voice quivering.

He stared at her, eyes darkening.

And then... he laughed.

Such innocence.

He pulled her close by his other hand , she closes her eyes in fear .

"There is no God here," he hissed.

"I am the God here. And the devil too. I judge. I sin. I punish. GOT IT ? " ,  His voice was heavy yet cold . His last words thundered in the air as he gripped her chin tighter.

Their eyes met with each other , one eye who wores the blanket of sin and the other who breath the devotion , one who's blood runs with the fury of revenge and the other whose soul breathes only peace , where one who only knows to destroy and the other one who only knows to heal , where one was predator and other was his prey .

Their moment interrupted by the loud sound of lightning struck a nearby tree, fire blazing on the tree. They again looked at each other with fire and water eyes , Where the tree was burning in lightning fire and the rain trying to vanish those sins which lighting has just committed . ' isn't it suiting their situation '.

She takes the advantage of moment , she pushed him and ran away from there . He was watching her disappearing posture .

His men stepped forward - but he raised his hand.

"Let her go."

He glanced at his wrist - her bracelet hung from his watch. He looked at the bracelet deeply , he knows whose bracelet is this ! . A delicate charm, now caught in a storm of fate. He recognized the bracelet and now the suspicion that once whispered had now roared into absolute conviction.

He smirked and again looked towards the park exit gate .

"Eklavya Singh Ranawat never leaves his prey," he muttered coldly, eyes flicking to where she vanished into the rain.

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