I feel as if I'm the Alice of Alice in the wonderland, Pevensie siblings of The Chronicles of Narnia and Natalie of Isn't It Romantic. But Alice fell in a hole following the rabbit, and the Pevensie siblings entered a magical wardrobe, in classic fantasy novels. Even Natalie fell in a coma before finding herself in a PG-13 Rom-Com world, which she hated, but all I did was fall asleep in my bed. Yeah, I love investigative series, starting from CID to The Fall, I have followed many investigative series. But do I have to be the next target in the serial killing?

After the idea of solving the mystery could let me escape this dream world popped up, I couldn't stay put. Muting my mobile volume, I opened the video and started noting down the details such as the names of the victims, the date of death, and the department of the victims. All seven murders took place around 03:00 AM when the girls were sleeping on the bed.

Also, I search for the previous serial killing news updates that the CB-CID officer mentioned in his statement and collect those details too. I start mapping a relationship chart for a reasoning problem using the data I collected for Axis College serial killing.

After mapping, initially, I couldn't find any link between the girls from other departments. The girls from the same department are not just classmates, but they are close friends. All four departments have separate blocks. Also, the girls from different departments were not participating together in any extra-curricular or co-curricular activities. Then according to what the first-year girls who came into my lecture hall said in the morning, I must be the next target, as I'm the best friend of Vedhika.

There must be some common link, and the serial killer couldn't be randomly picking any girl. The killer must be following some sort of chain, which has gone unnoticed or neglected. I have only one other department friend, Mahima, we both used to travel by the same bus and became friends.

What could be the missing link between these girls?

Then suddenly, I remember seeing these girls at the bus stop from where I board. The public transport-traveling crowd from my college, either travel by bus, train, or share autos. Since our college is famous, students from across the city study here. They have to either board the bus from the same side of the college campus or the opposite side.

If I'm the next target according to the first-year girls' theory, then the previous victim was Vedhika, we both used to board the bus from the same bus stand, but Vedhika takes a different bus from mine. And I have seen Bhaviya boarding the same bus as Vedhika. I have also witnessed Ishwariya and Niveditha getting into the same share auto. I'm just unsure about Sara and Fathima, and I haven't seen them at the bus stand from where I board.

Then only two options are left: they must be traveling by own vehicle or boarding the public transport from the opposite side. I once again check the news articles and the crime report program to find their residential area. They are from a faraway distance, so driving a vehicle could be tiring, so only possibilities are bus and train.

Sara has a direct bus route to reach her house, but in the case of Fathima, traveling by train could be the easiest and fastest way to get her destination. The nearest railway station is four kilometers (2.5 miles) away from our college, so either her friend has to drop her by the railway station or Fathima has to board a bus or share auto up to the railway station. Fathima must be reaching the railway station with the second option if I rule out the first option. The bus route in which Sara travels has a stop at the railway station, and if Fathima is not taking a share auto, she can always go by the same bus as Sara's.

Now the chain looks complete, so, not only by those girls' theory but also with this chain, I'm the next target. The murder has selected Aarthi as the first kill and followed the chain of classmate and bus mate. While traveling in the same bus or share auto, being from the same college, and possibly being friends by travel, there is no need for them to stay in each other's phone contact list. But talking and sharing about daily life can also be counted as friends. Also, depending on the person's attitude, they quickly get friends with the other person or stay reserved. It could have been easy for the killer to stalk them being invisible in the public crowd.

It's clear that he followed his chain, but the purpose or reason behind killing us all is still a mystery to me. Only if I can know the full details of them, I can find the reason for getting targeted. If he is following the chain, next to me, it can be anyone from my college traveling in the same as mine, it can even be Mahima, and I won't let that happen.

I have seen in some fantasy series that when a person dies in his/her dream, the person sleeps forever as their subconscious dies. I don't want to get killed in this dream, to escape from the dream world, I have to survive.

To survive, I have to find when the killer is planning to murder me.

First, I go with the method of CB-CID officers, the difference between the date's method. I note down the time differences from the map that I have drawn. They resulted in 11, 9, 9, 12, 9, and 9. Also, the killer has killed everyone around the same time, which is early morning 03:00 AM.

It must be a feasible time for the killer to move unnoticed. At that time, except for the group who are doing night shifts in their organization or the group that do binge watching any series, all other people in the country will be sleeping.

The students who do late-night studying or the people who return home late from their office or late-night flights also probably reach their respective houses and sleep by the time. Even the population that wakes up early to study, or do daily poojas at home, or any auspicious events, like housewarming and wedding in the Brahma Muhurtham won't wake up until 04:00 AM. So 03:00 AM was the killer's most comfortable choice to kill the victims.

Now all I need to know is the date the killer has planned to kill me.

When I check with the previous city serial killing dates pattern, even in those day gaps, the number 9 repeats twice or thrice in-between a different numeral. Those numbers are either in ascending or descending order, sometimes just randomly they are placed. I think of every logical and progression methods that were available and get frustrated when I couldn't conclude.

Damn, it. Even before the killer is going to kill me, I'm going to die in frustration of decoding the date.

I lean my head against the headboard, and I keep looking at the dates. In my habit of summing up the numbers in a date whenever I come across someone's birthday, I casually start doing the same with the day on which Aarthi got killed.

2+2=4+6=10+2=12+1+9=22, again 2+2=4.

I repeat the same for Ishwariya's death day and get the four as the final answer. Now I try for all the dates and get the summed-up result as 4.

So, the killer kills when the addition of the numbers in the date is 4.

I check the calendar for any other days giving four as the final value. Also, the hits happened with a gap of at least nine days.

So, I'm going to be killed on the date resulting four from at least nine days after the previous kill.

Vedhika got killed on 20.08.2019, and then with a minimum of 9 days difference, it is 29.08 2019. I do the mental calculation.

2+9=11+8+2=21+1+9=31. Again 3+1=4.

Today's date is 28.08.2019. So, the killer is going to kill me tomorrow in the early morning at 03:00 AM. I take a glance at my mobile screen's right-side corner to check the time.

The digits change from 11:59 PM to 12:00 AM, beginning the day 29.08.2019. The day I'm going to get killed. All I have is just three hours.

I feel tired and hungry, then I remember that my mom didn't come and call me for dinner until now.

How can she just forget to provide me dinner? Or is it due to the time leap of the dream as it happened in the morning during the class test?

I go out of my room to check on my parents in their bedroom. I knock at their door twice, and when I don't get any response, I open the door to find their bedroom empty. I go and check the living area, kitchen, and dining. But I couldn't find them anywhere.

I didn't see dad from the beginning of the dream, and only mom was there.

Now she is also missing. Lately, I saw her when she came to pick my dresses for laundry, and unintentionally she gave me a clue, now she is nowhere.

I stop in my tracks as the realization hits me. After the class, the first year girls and Nina disappeared in the crowd after revealing to me about Vedhika's death. Mahima vanished when I realized that I'm in my dream. Now, mom has also disappeared after giving me a clue related to the crime report show disclosing case details during investigation.

So, everyone exits from the dream after serving their purpose.

If my purpose is served, then I can wake up from the dream.