"I am at home,

Suffering within my own self,

I can't live anymore".

Shiva woke up, sweating. He was having a nightmare. A different one this time; it was not the one which he usually had to face. He started hearing strange voices, which freaked him out. It was time for him to get carried away and off he went with Cotard.

He regained consciousness after an hour or so and found everything normal. But something wasn't right. He could feel it.

Shiva went out to buy some groceries later that day. He returned, turned the lock and entered his house. He suddenly saw a man standing in front of him.

"What! Hey, who are you?" he was shocked.

"The clock is ticking my boy", said the man.

Shiva turned to see the clock hanging to his left wall and took a glimpse in the framed photo that was hanging below it. It was his father's. The man standing was his father! He looked straight but the man had vanished.

He got scared, but soon he comforted himself, by regarding it as a delusion and went to his room. He was feeling a lot strange today. For the last few days, as if his Cotard's Syndrome had stopped affecting him much.

He went to the washroom and saw himself in the mirror. It was strange. His full face was covered with scars. It was unusual. He lived alone. Somehow he managed to get rid of it and came out of the washroom.

The day passed and the night made its entry.

He went to sleep after having his short dinner. As soon as he closed his eyes he started to smell something. The smell was decaying and unpleasant. He opened his eyes and saw himself sleeping beside him. To his horror, he fell from the bed and stood up shaking. He was horrified to see that in front of him. But as soon as he stood, it was gone. Everything was back to normal and the rotting smell had also vanished.

It was bad. Shiva couldn't sleep, till he heard another noise coming from the kitchen. He went there, following the weird noise. He looked outside, through the kitchen window. The street dog was barking.

Suddenly a hand felt in his left shoulder. A chill went down his spine. "Mom!!!", he shouted. He was shocked. "How come you entered, the door was locked I guess?"

"Son, its, my house, I can do anything.", replied his mom.

"Ok, ok", he said and hugged his mother. 

"Gosh!! I missed you so much, everything's okay now?"

"Yeah it seems to be I guess, by the way, you look tired, go and get some sleep," said his mom, comforting him.

The next morning, Shiva woke up hearing the voice of his mother calling from the kitchen. As he headed towards his mom, he heard a voice from his mom's room.

"Don't go there honey, I heard it too."

Shiva could hear his heartbeat increase gradually. It was fear which he felt. He ran to the kitchen, but saw nobody.

Next, he banged open the door to his mom's room. He was horrified. His mom was hanging from the ceiling. Tears flowed through his eyes. He couldn't understand anything. Suddenly, a severed head came tumbling in front of him. It was full of blood and it resembled Shiva in looks. Seeing his own head in this condition, Shiva's heart stopped and off he went with Cotard.

He got his senses back and woke up sweating. Saige was sitting in front of him.

"Shiva! I was so worried...my god!", saying this Saige hugged him. 

Shiva started crying, "Something's not right. Somebody is haunting me or maybe something. My mom didn't commit suicide, really..."

Everything was all ok till Saige was shocked to hear the word suicide.

"What! I heard that your mom died three days ago. She couldn't fight the infected virus anymore. She died in the quarantine center."

...