They leave Shoreline Retreat thinking the problem is solved.
The new hotel is modern.
Bright lobby.
Sea-facing balconies.
Tourists everywhere.
Music near the pool.
Exactly the opposite of the previous hotel.
Everyone immediately relaxes.
---
Deep drops onto a couch.
"See? This is a hotel."
Aryan points dramatically.
"Notice how nobody looks like they're hiding bodies."
---
Even Wick looks less tense.
Not relaxed.
Just less tense.
---
The group spends the day exploring the town.
More shopping.
More food.
More photos.
Dipanshu somehow loses his wallet.
Finds it in his own pocket.
Gets bullied for the next two hours.
---
But for Shristi, something underneath the brightness felt... wrong.
Not scary.
Just strange.
She caught herself glancing at mirrors too often.
Her reflection always looked a heartbeat slower-blinking after she did, smiling a little too late.
When she laughed with Varsha or helped Sonal braid her hair, her own voice sometimes echoed back a fraction later, as if the walls were mimicking her.
She told herself she was tired.
---
At lunch, she orders food.
When it arrives...
She doesn't remember ordering it.
---
At a souvenir shop:
Varsha asks,
"When did you buy that?"
---
"Buy what?"
---
"The bracelet."
---
Shristi looks down.
A bracelet is around her wrist.
She has absolutely no memory of purchasing it.
---
Everyone assumes she's distracted.
Including her.
---
Only Prishka notices.
---
That evening they visit the market again.
Crowded.
Lively.
Colorful.
---
At one point Wick loses sight of Shristi.
Only for a minute.
Maybe less.
Then he finds her standing completely still.
In the middle of the crowd.
Just staring at the ocean.
"Shristi."
No response.
"Angel."
She blinks.
Turns.
Smiles.
"Sorry. Zoned out."
"You zoned out again."
"I'm fine," she said quickly. "Just sleepy."
Wick studied her a second too long. His instinct said otherwise, but he let it go. "Get some rest after dinner," he murmured.
---
Something about it bothers him.
---
Later, while everyone gathered around the bonfire outside the hotel garden,
Music.
Food.
Stories.
Normal vacation stuff.
Prishka keeps watching Shristi.
Not because she wants to.
Because her instincts won't leave her alone.
Then it happens.
For a split second.
Shristi laughs at something Aryan says.
Everyone laughs.
Except Prishka.
Because for a moment...
She hears another laugh underneath Shristi's.
Not louder.
Not separate.
Just...
Wrong.
By the time she looks again—
Everything is normal.
Sonal sat cross-legged on the sand, tracing circles with her finger.
"This place feels like déjà vu," she said suddenly.
Dipanshu tossed her a marshmallow stick. "Because all beaches look the same after midnight."
"No," she said, frowning. "It's like I've been here before... but in a dream."
The group laughed it off, except for Prishka.
Her gaze flicked toward the dark horizon, eyes narrowing.
She'd felt the same pull since morning-a hum in the air, faint but constant, like an invisible current.
The sea should have sounded like crashing waves.
Tonight it sounded like whispers.
—
Around midnight, the generator lights flickered. Once. Twice.
Then everything went black.
A chorus of groans rose from the rooms.
"Typical power cut," Aryan muttered, searching for his phone's torch.
Wick was near the balcony when he saw it-the faint outline of a figure standing at the far end of the courtyard.
Too tall. Too still.
"Hey," he called out, thinking it might be a guard. No answer.
He blinked-and the figure was gone.
And with that everyone went to sleep.
---
That night:
Everyone goes to sleep.
---
Around 3 AM.
Shristi wakes up.
She is standing.
Not in bed.
At the balcony.
She doesn't remember getting there.
The necklace hangs against her chest.
Cold.
Heavy.
Far below—
The ocean crashes against the shore.
And for the first time—
She hears it.
A whisper.
Not outside.
Not inside the room.
Inside her head.
---
One word.
---
Her name.
---
To be continued…