The plastic casing of the screen groaned. A hairline fracture appeared on the glass. A faint smell of jasmine began to fill the room, mixing with the scent of ozone and burning silk.

Arjun’s heart hammered against his ribs. He turned around, staring at the empty room. There was no one there. No yellow dupatta, no scent of jasmine. Just the hum of his computer fan.

The neon glow of Arjun’s dual-monitor setup was the only thing lighting his cramped apartment. It was 2:00 AM, the hour when curiosity usually outweighs caution.

The file was a .zip titled Priya_Home_Photos . It was small, only 40 megabytes. He hit download.

As the progress bar crept forward, the air in the room felt different. Stagnant. He unzipped the folder and found thirty-two JPEGs. He opened the first one. It was the girl from the thumbnail, laughing as she held a stray cat. The metadata said the photo was taken yesterday.

“I’m tired of waiting in the cloud, Arjun. Let me in.”