It started twenty-four hours ago.
Nothing felt wrong at first.
The room was warm, cluttered with books, laptops, and half-finished assignments. The ceiling fan spun lazily above, pushing around the stale air of another late-night college grind.
Rohan leaned back in his chair. "I swear, if this project doesn't get us at least an A, I'm dropping out."
Aarav didn't respond.
He was staring at his screen—but not reading.
Just thinking.
"Bro?" Rohan waved a hand in front of him. "You alive?"
Aarav blinked. "Yeah."
"Then contribute something."
"I am."
"You've been typing the same line for ten minutes."
Aarav exhaled lightly. "Just… thinking."
Rohan smirked. "Thinking about the project? Or about Meera?"
Aarav didn't look up. "Shut up."
That was enough of an answer.
The phone rang.
Aarav glanced at it.
Meera calling.
Rohan raised an eyebrow. "Speak of the devil."
Aarav picked up immediately.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Not complete silence.
Something… faint.
A sound.
Like—
static.
Or wind.
Or breathing.
"Meera?" Aarav's tone sharpened. "Where are you?"
For a moment, he thought he heard footsteps.
Then—
a soft scrape.
Like something dragging.
"Meera, can you hear me?"
No response.
The sound stopped.
The call ended.
Aarav stared at the screen.
Call duration: 12 seconds.
Rohan straightened slightly. "What happened?"
Aarav was already dialing again.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Again.
Switched off.
Something shifted inside him.
Not fear.
Not yet.
But something close.
He stood up abruptly.
"I'm calling Nishika."
Rohan frowned. "Why?"
"They're together."
The call connected.
"Nishika?"
"Yeah? Aarav?"
"Where's Meera?"
A pause.
"She left like… an hour ago. Said she was coming to you guys."
Aarav's grip tightened on the phone.
"She never got here."
Silence.
Then Nishika's voice changed.
"That's not funny."
"I'm not joking."
Rohan stood now.
"What do you mean she didn't reach?"
"I mean she didn't reach."
Nishika spoke again, faster now. "Her phone?"
"Not reachable."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Colder.
Aarav turned to his laptop.
"Stay on call," he said.
"What are you doing?" Rohan asked.
"Tracking."
He pulled up location access.
Meera had shared it once—months ago, during some stupid safety conversation she had insisted on.
He had never used it.
Until now.
Loading.
Loading.
Then—
A dot appeared.
Aarav froze.
"That's not right."
Rohan moved closer. "What?"
"That location…"
Aarav zoomed in.
Forest area.
Outskirts.
No residential zones.
Nishika's voice came through the phone. "What is it?"
Aarav swallowed.
"It's… outside the city."
"Why would she go there?"
No one answered.
Aarav's mind was already moving.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Listen," he said, voice steady now. "Go there. I'll send you the location."
"What? Alone?"
"No. Just reach. We're coming."
He ended the call.
Then typed quickly.
Message sent to Ansh:
"Meera missing. Location attached. Come now."
Rohan grabbed his jacket. "You think this is serious?"
Aarav didn't answer.
He was already moving.
The road out of the city was empty.
Too empty.
Streetlights thinned.
Then disappeared.
Nishika was already there when they arrived.
Standing near the road.
Arms wrapped around herself.
"You took too long," she said immediately.
Rohan glanced around. "This place is creepy as hell."
Aarav didn't respond.
His eyes were fixed ahead.
The house.
It stood in the middle of the forest clearing.
Modern.
But wrong.
Not broken.
Not ruined.
Just… abandoned.
Ansh arrived minutes later.
Breathing slightly heavy.
"What's going on?"
Aarav turned to him. "She's here."
Ansh frowned. "How do you know?"
Aarav held up his phone.
Ansh glanced at it.
Then at the house.
"Then why are we standing here?"
They moved.
Together.
The gate was open.
Nishika whispered, "Did someone already come here?"
No one answered.
Aarav pushed the gate.
It creaked.
Loud in the silence.
The front door was unlocked.
Rohan muttered, "Yeah… this is bad."
Inside—
Dust.
Old air.
Stillness.
Aarav stepped forward.
Then stopped.
There was a path.
Through the dust.
Someone had been walking here.
Recently.
Ansh moved ahead. "Then she's inside."
Too quick.
Again.
"Stay together," Aarav said.
They moved through the house.
Room by room.
Nothing.
Then—
Upstairs.
The light flickered.
Nishika flinched. "Did you see that?"
"Bad wiring," Rohan said.
But he didn't sound convinced.
They entered the first room.
A chair.
A rope.
Scratches.
Nishika's voice broke. "No… no…"
On the floor—
A broken bangle.
Aarav picked it up.
He knew it instantly.
Meera's.
His chest tightened.
But his face didn't change.
Ansh stepped closer. "Then she was here."
Was.
Aarav noticed.
But said nothing.
Second room.
Empty.
Third—
Locked.
Ansh stepped forward immediately.
"Move."
The door broke open.
Dark stairs.
Going down.
A cold draft hit them.
Nishika stepped back. "No."
Aarav didn't move.
He was looking at the floor.
Dust everywhere.
Except—
near the basement entrance.
Clean.
Used.
He turned slowly.
Ansh was already looking down the stairs.
Waiting.
Too ready.
Something shifted.
Not a conclusion.
Not yet.
But a feeling.
Aarav stepped back into the hallway.
His mind replayed everything.
The call.
The sound.
The location.
The house.
The path.
The rope.
The bangle.
The basement.
And Ansh.
Always ahead.
Always certain.
Always pushing.
Too many small things.
He looked up.
At Ansh.
For the first time—
not as a friend.
But as a possibility.
"Ansh," Aarav said quietly.
Ansh turned. "Yeah?"
A pause.
Aarav's eyes didn't leave his.
"You said you've never been here."
Silence.
"Right?"
The air tightened.
Rohan frowned. "Bro, what are you—"
Aarav took a step forward.
Not aggressive.
Not loud.
Just certain.
"Then how did you know where to go?"
Ansh didn't answer.
Nishika's voice dropped to a whisper.
"…Ansh?"
Aarav exhaled slowly.
The pieces weren't fully clear.
Not yet.
But they were no longer random.
They were… connected.
And at the center—
Him.
Aarav's voice lowered.
"…You've been here before."
No accusation.
Just a statement.
And that—
was worse.
TO BE CONTINUE.