The city was alive with blinking lights, distant sirens, and the faint hum of drones patrolling the skies. But Aryan didn't notice any of it. His focus was razor-sharp, every sense tuned to the mission ahead.
Ahead of him stood the building—the fortress—one of the most secure facilities in the country. Government-run, high tech, guarded like a military base. And inside it was something priceless, something that shouldn't exist on Earth.
The artifact.
A mysterious object brought back by astronauts studying a black hole in deep space. No one really knew what it was, but the government was keeping it locked away, buried deep inside the Void Vault—a place so secure it was practically a myth among thieves.
Aryan glanced sideways at Robert, his partner in crime. Robert was the cool, collected type. The kind who planned every detail down to the millisecond. Aryan? He was the opposite—he lived for the rush, the chaos, the unexpected. He was a thief not because he wanted money, but because he craved the thrill.
Robert's eyes flickered with a cold light as he checked the gadgets on his wrist. "We've got twenty minutes before the next security sweep," he said calmly.
Aryan smirked. "Twenty minutes to steal an artifact from a government black hole research center. Sounds like a walk in the park."
"Don't get cocky," Robert replied, voice steady.
The building's outer doors slid open silently as they slipped inside. The lobby was like something out of a sci-fi movie—white walls, glowing blue panels, holographic security cams spinning slowly on invisible axes.
Two guards patrolled, but Aryan and Robert moved in perfect sync, shadows in the sterile light. Cameras scanned every inch, but Robert's tech scrambled the feed just enough to give them a blind spot.
They navigated through maze-like corridors, past biometric scanners and laser grids. Aryan's heart thumped, but his face stayed calm. He loved moments like this—where danger was just inches away, and one wrong move meant disaster.
After ten minutes, they reached the heavy steel door marked "Void Vault."
Robert pulled out a device—tiny, shaped like a pen. He pressed it against the scanner, and the lock clicked open.
Inside, the vault was a small room bathed in eerie blue light. In the center, on a pedestal, rested the artifact.
It looked like a smooth black stone, but as Aryan stared, he could see faint patterns shifting across its surface—like the night sky, moving slowly, alive.
"This is it," Robert whispered.
Aryan stepped closer. He could almost feel a pulse from it, like it had a heartbeat.
Robert reached out, fingers trembling slightly. "Let's grab it and get out before the guards know what hit them."
But the moment Robert's fingers touched the stone, everything changed.
Robert's eyes went blank.
A sharp, electric snap seemed to crack through his mind. His hand jerked, and before Aryan could react, Robert raised his gun—and started firing.
"Robert, what the hell?!" Aryan yelled, diving for cover behind the vault's thick wall.
Bullets shattered the control panel. The sirens blared instantly, screaming through the building.
"Run!" Aryan shouted, but Robert wasn't moving like himself. His face twisted, wild and unfocused.
The guards were already coming—footsteps pounding, radios crackling.
"Robert, snap out of it!" Aryan tried to reach him, but Robert suddenly shoved him hard, throwing Aryan back into the vault and slamming the heavy door shut.
"You're insane!" Aryan yelled, pounding on the door as Robert fled.
Outside, the alarm's shrill scream echoed through the halls.
Footsteps. Shouts. Weapons locked and loaded.
Aryan's heart hammered so loud he thought it would burst.
Why had Robert turned on him? Why had he betrayed him like this?
The last thing Aryan saw before the guards arrived was the empty pedestal—the artifact was gone.
Gunfire tore through the vault's door. Glass cracked, metal bent.
Aryan pressed his back against the cold wall, breath ragged.
Is this how it ends?
His thoughts raced.
He wasn't ready to die—not like this. Not betrayed, not alone.
He thought about his life, the choices that led him here.
Not long ago, he was just a kid, dreaming of adventure, sick of his boring routine.
Now he was trapped, a hunted man with nothing left.
Bullets punched holes in his Body .
Aryan closed his eyes.
He whispered, "This is the end."
Flashback: Why He Chose This Life
Aryan remembered the first time he felt truly alive—not in some fantasy world or story, but right here, in the gritty reality.
He was a kid growing up in a small town where nothing ever happened.
School was a prison. Life was a dull grind—wake up, go to class, do chores, sleep, repeat.
His parents had died in an accident years ago, leaving him with only his grandfather.
Grandpa was kind but old-fashioned, always telling Aryan stories of magic and other worlds.
Aryan used to listen, but as he grew older, those stories felt like lies.
He wanted something real. Something dangerous. Something that made him feel.
So he ran.
At first, petty crimes. Breaking into stores, stealing small things.
But soon, he wanted bigger—bigger risks, bigger rewards.
That's when he met Robert.
Robert was different.
Cold, efficient, but with a strange charm.
Together, they pulled off small jobs, then bigger ones.
The thrill of the heist, the narrow escapes—it was the only thing that made Aryan feel alive.
Present :At Vault
Aryan closed his eyes and died