🖤 Contract of Blood and Love 🖤
Rain started falling before they reached the church.
Cold droplets hit the windshield as the black car sped through the empty road outside the city.
Inside the car, silence filled the space.
Not awkward.
Not distant.
Heavy.
Both of them were thinking about the same thing—
What waited for them there.
Beside the steering wheel, Aryan Malhotra drove with one hand, eyes fixed on the dark road ahead.
Beside him, Anaya Sen stared quietly out the window.
The closer they got…
The stronger the strange feeling inside her became.
Like fragments of memories were slowly waking up.
"Aryan…" she whispered softly.
He glanced at her briefly.
"What?"
"I think I've been here before."
Aryan's grip on the steering wheel tightened slightly.
"You said you remembered the church."
"No…" she murmured.
"This feels different."
Her brows slowly frowned.
"Like… I remember the night."
Rain poured harder outside.
Thunder echoed across the dark sky.
And then—
The church appeared.
Old.
Abandoned.
Standing alone at the edge of the forest like a forgotten grave.
Its broken windows and cracked walls made it look almost haunted.
The car stopped.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then Aryan stepped out first and opened her door.
His hand immediately found hers.
Protective.
Instinctive.
"Stay close."
Anaya nodded silently.
The old church doors creaked loudly as they pushed them open.
Dust filled the air.
Everything inside was dark except for faint moonlight slipping through broken stained glass.
Anaya's heartbeat quickened instantly.
"I know this place…"
Aryan looked at her sharply.
"What do you remember?"
She walked slowly forward.
Her footsteps echoed softly.
"There was shouting…"
Her breathing became uneven.
"And my father…"
She touched her head lightly.
"He was scared."
Aryan stayed beside her the entire time.
Never more than one step away.
Suddenly—
Anaya stopped near the altar.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"There."
Aryan followed her gaze.
Behind the old wooden cross—
A small metal symbol was carved into the wall.
The same symbol engraved on the chip container.
Aryan's eyes darkened instantly.
He pushed the cross aside.
A hidden door appeared behind it.
Anaya's breath caught.
"Oh my God…"
Aryan pulled out his gun.
Then looked at her.
"Stay behind me."
The hidden staircase creaked beneath their footsteps as they descended underground.
The deeper they went—
The colder the air became.
Finally they reached the bottom.
A secret room.
Small.
Hidden.
Frozen in time.
Dust covered everything.
Old files.
Maps.
Weapons.
And in the center—
A wooden desk.
Anaya slowly stepped closer.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
Then she saw it.
A photograph.
Her father.
Holding her as a child.
Smiling.
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
"Aryan…"
Her voice broke softly.
"He really was here…"
Aryan picked up one of the files.
His expression changed immediately.
"What is it?" Anaya asked nervously.
He looked at her silently for a second.
Then handed her the paper.
Anaya's hands trembled as she read it.
And her world shattered again.
Because the file wasn't about Viktor.
Or the chip.
It was about her.
SUBJECT: ANAYA SEN
PROJECT CODE: ECLIPSE
Her breathing stopped.
"What… is this?"
Aryan kept reading the documents around him.
His expression growing darker with every second.
"This isn't possible…"
Anaya looked at him desperately.
"Aryan, tell me!"
Slowly…
He lifted his eyes toward her.
And for the first time—
Even he looked shaken.
"Your father wasn't hiding you from Viktor…"
Silence.
Then—
"He was hiding you for Viktor."
The words hit like a bullet.
Anaya stepped back instantly.
"No…"
Her voice cracked.
"No, that's not true…"
Aryan walked toward her slowly.
But before he could say another word—
A sound echoed upstairs.
Footsteps.
Several of them.
Both of them froze.
Then a familiar voice drifted down from above.
Calm.
Cold.
Dangerously amused.
"Touching reunion."
Viktor Dragovich.
Aryan's expression instantly turned lethal.
Because somehow—
Viktor had found them again.
And this time…
He wasn't alone.