Next day early morning Naina reaches her room silently.

She finds Pooja awake but the lights still turned off. Her back turned towards Naina.

Naina initially walks towards the switchboard to switch on the light, but suddenly idea strikes her, and a naughty smile stretches on her lips.

Smiling, she slowly walks ahead and reaching her, she hugs her wrapping her hand around her waist, satisfied that she managed to scare her.

"Darr gayi na?",

asks Naina, excited.

But Naina doesn't get any reaction from Pooja, which comes as a thing unexpected.

She leaves her free, wondering what is the matter with her.

"Kya hua Pooja?",

she asks her, knitting her brows.

When she still doesn't answer, Naina walks to the switchboard again and switches on the light.

"Pooja kya...",

she says whilst turning to look towards her.

She shivers profusely when she discovers Pooja sleeping in her bed! And the one she took to be Pooja, is standing in front of her just at the same place where she hugged her taking her as Pooja, her back still turned towards Naina!

Sounding normal to Pooja after the incident that occurred in Naina's life wasn't easy. But she somehow managed to calm herself, just for Pooja as she didn't want to disturb Pooja by sharing the truth with her, although she had prepared herself to even reveal in front of her that she was with Rajveer, if situation of that sort comes. But after thinking further she decided to keep it from her. But that doesn't mean the incident wasn't disturbing her; hovering her.

To worsen the situation and mess with her mental peace, this incident chose to happen!

The mere fact that her room has been occupied by not two but three for the first time, makes her every nerve end to stand erect. Apart from the fear of realization of it, the fact that she is unable to see the face of the one who is standing in front of her, suffocates Naina.

Unlike any other person who would have chosen to ask 'Kon ho tum?' in such an incident, a now experienced Naina, chooses to just stare her, opening her eyes wide. Her breathing rate abnormal. Her body begins turning warm as the fear begins to run through her veins slowly. During that slow process Naina's mind gets occupied with thoughts beginning with - Who is she? Followed by - How does she look like?; What will Naina's eyes meet with, the moment she chooses to turn? The warmth turns to heat and she starts sweating when the lady turns slowly and Naina discovers that she is completely unfamiliar to her!

Naina immediately takes backward steps. Had it been some normal intruder, the soldier in Naina would have awaken; but Naina doesn't have to be told that this is something abnormal!

She does nothing to Naina. But her mere glaring Naina, scares Naina.

"Po...oja....",

calls out Naina, in her state of shock.

But alas! Pooja doesn't wake up as Naina's voice is not loud enough to wake her up, out of fear.

She doesn't stop staring Naina and walks towards her. Her steps towards Naina freezes Naina at her spot.

Covering her face with both of her hands, Naina shouts. Her shout this time wakes Pooja up,

"Maine kuch nahi kiya... Maine kuch nahi kiya!"

Naina looks towards Pooja in shock and finds her sitting on the bed. Pooja realises that she had been dreaming and Naina's shout has woken her up.

"Naina tu?!",

she exclaims, staring Naina.

Naina runs to Pooja and they hug each other tight.

"Tu kab ayi? Kya hua?",

asks Pooja, concerned.

"Kuch nahi.",

says Naina, trying to calm down.

"Fir tu chillayi kyun?",

asks Pooja, concerned and confused.

"Chipkali thi.",

lies Naina.

Pooja slaps her forehead, smiling.

"Tu Chipkali se darr gayi? Pagal!",

she says.

Pooja hugs Naina. Naina hugs her back, scanning the room with her eyes, but to her relief she finds no one there. Taking it as her hangover from the incident that took place, Naina let go off the thought and smiles in relief.

👻👻👻👻👻

Mohit who was busy filling his plate for breakfast at the mess, stops suddenly upon feeling someone's presence around himself. A presence that makes him feel uncomfortable. He turns to find Huda staring him.

"Huda, tu? Kaisa hai?",

asks Mohit.

Huda with his supernatural power, makes Mohit to feel and see himself getting surrounded by fog. Mohit gets shocked.

"Arey... Arey ye kya ho raha hai?",

he shouts in horror.

"Koi hai? Koi hai?",

he shouts as he could see no one there whereas the mess is pretty crowded.

Mohit begins to breath abnormally, starting to feel suffocated and trapped. He feels cold hand touching him.

Shocked and terrified Mohit runs to the bathroom and splashes water on his face. He looks himself into the mirror, terrified. The sound of running water hits his eardrums. He walks towards one of the bathrooms from where apparently the noise was coming. He discovers a bucket getting filled with water. He doesn't understand why he peeps into the bucket. But when he peeps, he gets shocked to discover it getting filled with blood over water. He stumbles back in horror. Huda reaches him there at that particular moment. Mohit turns to look towards Huda and says,

"Huda dekh... dekh uss mein khoon...!!",

pointing towards the bucket.

Huda, staring Mohit throughout asks him,

"Kahan?"

Mohit walks towards the bucket to show him. Huda accompanies him.

"Ye dekh...",

he points out but gets shocked to discover water in the bucket.

"Nahi main such keh raha hun...",

he tries to explain, focusing on Huda's reflection in the water.

But when he focuses he discovers Huda glaring him, his eyes filled with rage. Before he could turn to see Huda, Huda holds him by his neck and submerges his face into the water. Mohit fights to breath and save his life. Huda stays adamant, drowning him all the more. He continues with it until Mohit stops fighting for his life and stops breathing.

👻👻👻👻👻

After few moments of staying unconscious on the floor of the bathroom, Huda gains consciousness.

"Oye main... main yahan kya kar raha hoon?",

asks Huda to himself, in confusion.

His eyes then fall on Mohit's body and he gets shocked. He jerks him to wake him up, calling his name,

"Mohit!!! Mohit!!!"

But he receives no answer. Huda checks for Mohit's breath and gets second shock when he realises that it is not there - he is dead!

Huda pushes himself back out of fear!

"Nahi! Ye... ye nahi ho sakta!!",

he says, sweating profusely, staring at the body without blinking his eyes.

👻👻👻👻👻

Alekh comes running behind Huda when he informs him about Mohit's death. They stare at the dead body in utter shock.

"Ye dekh Qaidi!!",

he says, pointing towards the dead body, staring it in horror.

Alekh too stares the body in utter shock.

"Ye sub kaise hua Huda?",

asks Alekh, his voice deep as if trying to control his anger and frustration.

"Pata nahi Qaidi mujhe jab hosh aya to ye aise parha hua tha. Main darr gaya. Maine... maine koshish bhi ki isse jagane ki par...",

Huda turns to look towards Alekh before continuing and stops abruptly upon discovering Alekh staring him suspiciously.

"E...ek minute...",

he says while gesturing with his index finger.

"Qaidi kahin tu... kahin tu ye to nahi soch raha ke ye sub maine...",

he trails off in disbelief.

Alekh's expression changes a little as if now Huda is coming to the point!

"Abey tu pagal ho gaya hai kya?!!!",

asks Huda, surprised that Alekh could take him as the culprit.

"Main aisa kyun karunga?",

asks Huda.

"Apun ne dekha hai Huda pichle kuch dino se tere tewar badle-badle lag rhe hain.",

accuses Alekh.

"Pichle kuch dino se?",

murmurs Huda.

He suddenly realises and says,

"Qaidi... pichle kuch dino ka na kuch kuch pal aisa hai jo... jo mujhe yaad hi nahi!!",

Huda shares it with Alekh.

Alekh knits his brows, willing to shift his angle of thinking.

Huda, staring at infinity, states in horror,

"Jaise... jaise ye shareer to meri rehti hai magar meri aatma... meri aatma meri nahi hoti."

This sounds crazy to Alekh.

"Ye tu kaisi behki-behki baatein kar raha hai Huda?",

Alekh scolds him, inside he feels that there is indeed something amiss that maybe Huda is trying to point towards.

Huda turns to look towards Alekh in horror and says,

"Main such keh raha hoon Qaidi. Mummyji ki kasam."

And now it is confirmed that he ain't lying at all because he never swears lie on his mother, this everyone knows.

"Ye maine nahi kiya Qaidi. Ye maine nahi kiya.",

he cries, desperate to make Alekh believe him.

Alekh rests his left hand on Huda's right cheek in understanding and nods his head assuring him that he understands.

Huda hugs Alekh, crying and repeating,

"Maine nahi kiya ye Qaidi. Maine nahi kiya."

Alekh consoles Huda silently whilst thinking who else could have done that if not Huda!

👻👻👻👻👻

While the postmortem and investigation were going on, Brigadier Chandok excuses himself and walks to his cabin.

"Ye sub kya ho raha hai iss academy mein? Ye sub kya ho raha hai mere saath?",

Brigadier Chandok talks to himself.

"Pehle Mr. Sinha aur ab Cadet Mohit!!",

he exclaims in utter shock and sadness.

"Kahin... kahin kisi ki nazar to nahi lag gayi iss academy par... mujh par...??",

he thinks.

"Main bhi kaisi baatein kar raha hoon! Main kabse 'nazar' wagehra faltu ki baaton par vishwas karne laga.",

he dismisses his own thought.

"Sub theek ho jayega! Sub theek ho jayega!",

he consoles himself.

"May I come in Sir?",

Rajveer seeks his permission to enter the cabin.

His voice startles Brigadier Chandok. He looks towards Captain Rajveer intially in horror, then in relief.

Captain Rajveer knits his brows upon discovering Brigadier Chandok scared. Getting into the cabin in his state of tension, Captain Rajveer asks,

"Is everything fine Sir?"

"Captain, jo kuch bhi hua... main... main usse nahi bhool pa raha.",

Brigadier Chandok shares his situation with Captain Rajveer, staring at a point at his desk without blinking his eyes.

"Sir samjh to mujhe bhi nahi aa raha ke ye sub hua kaise. Jis halat mein Mohit ki laash mili... Kisne kiya hoga ye?",

asks Captain Rajveer to Brigadier Chandok, trying to solve the mystery.

"Mujhe... mujhe pata hai....!!"

Brigadier Chandok's words come as a shock for Captain Rajveer!

"Si..r... aapko...??",

he utters, confused and surprised.

Still in a state of horror Brigadier Chandok nods his head in slow motion, looking towards Captain Rajveer, his eyes opened wide.

"Kisne kiya hai?",

asks Captain Rajveer, still unable to convince himself that Brigadier Chandok would know.

"Ye... ye Mr. Sinha ka kaam hoga!",

he reveals, shock evident on his face.

"Mr. Sinha?",

asks Captain Rajveer, unable to understand who is he talking about.

Major Nair reaches there at that very moment and interrupts,

"Brigadier Chandok ka ek dushman."

Captain Rajveer and Brigadier Chandok look towards Major Nair upon hearing his voice. Captain Rajveer looks confused. How come Major Nair knows about some enemy of Brigadier Chandok and he himself is completely unaware of it?

"Dushman?",

asks Captain Rajveer, unable to accept.

"Ha...an... Captain, thode problems hain Mr. Sinha aur mere beech.",

Brigadier Chandok says, a way to let go of the topic by answering to Captain Rajveer.

"But Sir wo aapki dushmani aise kyun nikalega yun academy ke kisi Cadet ke saath aisa karke? Aur... aur usse yun academy ke ander ghusne ki ijjazat kon dega?",

asks Captain Rajveer.

"Captain ijjazat zinda log lete hain murde nahi!",

says Major Nair.

"Haan to...",

Captain Rajveer stops abruptly as his mind registers what Major Nair said.

Given the fact that whatever happened with Rajveer and Naina - 'zinda', 'murda', 'aatma', 'bhoot' have suddenly turned casual words for Rajveer and not some unusual word that would immediately attract some 'zinda' human being like Rajveer's attention.

But when it does, Rajveer turns to look towards Major Nair in shock, his eyes opened wide,

"K...kya... ka..ha... aapne?"

Major Nair replies, maintaining the eye contact with Captain Rajveer, nodding his head in affirmative he says,

"Wohi jo aapne suna Captain! Aur wohi jo aapne samjha!"

They stare each other.

"Mr. Sinha is dead!"

Captain Rajveer gets yet another shock.

"Aur koi natural death nahi thi wo."

Major Nair shares the incident with Captain Rajveer.

Captain Rajveer gets shocked hearing the incident.

"Sir... Sir aap theek hain na?",

asks Captain Rajveer, turning to look towards Brigadier Chandok in shock, after hearing everything.

"Aa...p aap dono?!",

Captain Rajveer adds, looking towards both of his seniors in succession.

They nod their heads respectively.

Turning to look towards Brigadier Chandok, Major Nair says, tapping his left index finger on Brigadier Chandok's table in order to make his point clear and show the urgency,

"Sir main aapse keh raha hoon ye Dr. Shalini kar rahi hain!"

Now this comes as yet another shock for Captain Rajveer. He immediately turns to look towards Major Nair to make sure that he heard it right.

"What?!",

Captain Rajveer exclaims more than asks! His brows knit together.

Ridiculous! - he thinks.

He maintains his stare on Major Nair trying to understand where is he coming from. Why would he say that?

"Major Nair aap jante bhi hain aap kya keh rahe hain? Doctor.... Dr. Shalini?? Unka inn sub cheezon se kya lena dena?",

Captain Rajveer immediately turns protective towards Dr. Shalini.

"Major, jawab do Captain Rajveer ki baat ka!",

demands Brigadier Chandok, himself finding it weird and dismissing.

"Mera... mera vishwas kijiye please aap dono.",

requests Major Nair, urgency in his voice, looking towards Captain Rajveer and Brigadier Chandok successively.

"Mujhe lagta hai Dr. Shalini mein Mr. Sinha ki aatma hai.",

says Major Nair, staring them in horror.

Unable to take it anymore Captain Rajveer gets up, shouting at Major Nair,

"Dimag kharab ho gaya hai aapka Sir!"

"Captain, look...",

Major Nair tries to make him understand but Captain Rajveer interrupts him,

"Bus... mujhe aur kuch nahi sunna.",

and he starts walking away when Major Nair raising his voice asks him,

"To phir aap iss baat ka kya reason denge Captain ke wahan main Dr. Shalini ki main awaz to sunn paya...",

shaking his head he continues,

"....magar unhe wahan dekh nahi paya?"

Captain Rajveer freezes at his point.

"Aur theek hai agar nahi bhi dekh paya magar jab hum kisi ko itne ache se jaante hain to unke aura ko mehsoos kar paate hain. Magar... magar mujhe unke wahan hone ka ehsaas kyun nahi hua Captain?",

asks Major Nair, trying to prove his point.

Captain Rajveer tries to think of an answer to that. Turning he says,

"To phir yahi cheez Brigadier Chandok ko mehsoos kyun nahi hui?",

Mocking at Major Nair, Captain Rajveer adds, laughing a little, sarcastically,

"I am sure wo aapse zyada Brigadier Chandok ko apna maanti hain."

Major Nair feels humiliated, hence adjusts his collar to ward off the humiliation and awkwardness.

Thinking, Major Nair asks, serious and wondering,

"Yahi to mujhe janna hai kyun nahi hui?",

and he looks towards Brigadier Chandok.

The way he utters those words tell Captain Rajveer and Brigadier Chandok that Major Nair is really serious about this!

👻👻👻👻👻

Rajveer walks through the corridor, his mind occupied with the conversation he had with Major Nair and Brigadier Chandok. Investigation officers have left already. He gets pulled to his left by an unseen figure. His heart skips a beat.
His cheeks turn warm. His brows get knit. The soldier in him wakes up immediately. His rate of heartbeat then picks up pace. His eyes open wide to see who it is!

His eyes meet a pair of eyes both the pair of eyes looking each other in horror!

"Naina!",

he exclaims in horror after a brief moment.

"Sir... Mujhe aapse kuch baat karni hai.",

says Naina in desperation.

They take their moment to breath and accept that it is only them and nothing supernatural!

Sighing audibly, Rajveer says,

"Bolo!"

He then remembers her condition when they returned to the academy and suddenly his all focus zeroes to Naina and her well being. Holding her by her upper arms in urgency, he asks looking straight into her eyes,

"Tum... tum theek ho na?"

Naina nods her head three-four times in succession, closing her eyes briefly, to make him believe that she is fine.

Naina hugs Rajveer tight, pulling himself to herself to feel him. Rajveer tightens his hold on her.

"Kya hua Naina?",

asks Rajveer, calm now.

Ending the hug but still not leaving him, staring straight into his eyes Naina tells him everything that she felt in her room. Rajveer knits his brows in tension as the story unwraps. Finally when she says that there was nothing there, Rajveer concludes that it was her hallucination and sighs in relief.

"Kabhi kabar kuch situation humare dimag par apna chhap chhorh jaate hain Naina. Humare dil mein ek darr ghar kar jaati hai ke wo hadsa kahin phirse na ho jaye humare saath. Just... just like...",

Rajveer tries to think of an instance to make her believe in his words.

"Just like mera tumse durr jana!",

he smiles a little, the smile is for assuring her that he now is going nowhere away from her.

Hearing his words Naina clenches his shirt around the lower part of his upper arm, around his elbow as the fear of losing him again grabs her.

Rajveer blinks his eyes and shakes his head to negative and says,

"Don't worry Naina, main kahin nahi ja raha."

"To wohi darr humare saamne hallucination ke roop mein baar baar aata hai tab tak jab tak ki humara dimag humare iss darr ke ehsaas ke upar kabu nahi pa leta.",

explains Rajveer.

Naina nods her head in understanding. She feels relaxed upon hearing the explanation from Rajveer.

Smiling, Rajveer says,

"So relax. All you need to do iss uss hadse se aage barho. Tum... tum Pooja ke saath raho. Apne sarey doston ke saath raho. Hansi-mazak karo. Dekhna sub theek ho jayega.",

he smiles again, looking towards Naina, embracing her in a side hug.

Naina nods.

Rajveer sighs.

Naina stares him, gauging his tensed mood, she asks him,

"Kya hua? Aap pareshan lag rahe hain?!"

Rajveer raises his brows upon getting caught.

He thinks that he would have shared the truth of his current mood with Naina had she herself would have been in right frame of mind. But the incident that she shared tells Rajveer that she needs to be kept away from this situation hence he chooses to keep it to himself.

Smiling, he says,

"Nahi! Aisi koi baat nahi hai."

"Pakka?",

asks Naina to assure.

"Hmmm...! Pakka.",

smiles Rajveer and nods his head.

"Kiss me.",

she says as she feels that he needs this more than she does at the moment. That whatever he is hiding from her is something important and he needs her support. And this kiss would be an assurance to him that whether he chooses to share or not but she is always there with him be it physically or morally.

Rajveer immediately cups her face and kisses her slow and deep as if this is the last time they are doing this and he wants to feel her completely. Naina flows in the rhythm set by him. Rajveer vents his frustration through this kiss. Naina accepts it all, this is the least she could do to give him a brief mental peace.

As he ends the kiss after satisfying his soul, Naina greets him with,

"I love you!"

"I love you too Naina!",

he says with all his heart. His feelings all the more acute than any previous time he said it to her, as he really needs her by his side given the on going situation.

They hug each other one last time.

👻👻👻👻👻

Nothing significant comes out after the first round of investigation. Alekh tries to seek permission from the investigating officers for leaving the academy for few days. He tries to explain that he already is late he must have left by now. But the investigating officers do not permit him.

👻👻👻👻👻

After lights out at the middle of the night Yudi wakes up as his sleep breaks for no particular reason. He tries to return back to sleep, twisting in his bed after frequent interval just to get that right position that would drift him back to sleep but nothing helped. Irritated, Yudi leaves the bed and sneaks out of the room.

Yudi, who has been tagged as coward by almost all in the academy, surprisingly didn't feel scared about roaming around at this odd hour in the academy all by himself. Rather what actually was scary for him was getting caught by one of the faculty members. But even that couldn't stop him.

More than the sense of eyes, it is the sense of skin that tells us about the presence of someone around. The sudden change in the blowing of the air reveals about the presence of someone around. The sudden blocking of the air around us, tells us that we are not alone, even before our eyes turn to see who is with us.

Upon reaching the middle of a certain corridor, Yudi realises that he has never been to this corridor earlier than this night. As much as dreadful it looks because of the darkness in front, it looks tempting too.

But why would darkness look tempting to Yudi out of all people in the academy?

In that eerie silence in the academy at the middle of the night, Yudi chooses to surge through the darkness. What has gotten into him this night, only God knows!

He begins to walk towards the darkness. Despite it being so dark, Yudi could certainly feel that something or someone is there that is giving him this magnetic pull. And this curiosity of his that who it is if doesn't die, he would not be able to sleep tonight. But what he fails to understand is with this curiosity there is a chance that he too might die!

Walking further into the darkness he suddenly realises that the darkness is finally getting to its end when a light coloured white light makes the front of him finally visible to an extent. His pupils finally dilate a little. Smiling in relief, he suddenly realises that someone is standing there at the end of the light. A man in white shirt and denim jeans.

This is weird! Not anyone in the academy would be so well dressed at this hour of the day. Yudi knits his brows lightly. Tilting his head a little towards left, he tries to see who it is, but doesn't succeed. The air blows in more than the normal speed. The only sound audible is that of the blowing air that is hitting the walls of the academy and then the eardrums of Yudi's.

"Hello?!",

Yudi calls out to the person standing in front wanting to see his face.

But to his dismay the person doesn't move an inch.

The fact that he hasn't reacted to his voice begins to build tension in Yudi. His rate of heartbeat begins to pick up pace. Already roaming around at this hour of the day and in such a dark corridor, he happens to meet someone who is not willing to turn around in Yudi's single call. He didn't hear his call, this option is out of list as in this silence... eerie silence - if Yudi could put it in right words, no one would fail to hear someone's call and would turn immediately other than the person who doesn't want to turn on his call; wanting to ignore him or.... someone who wants Yudi's entire attention - even more than what he is giving at the moment!

Yudi looks heavenwards and his every nerve ending stands erect when he realises that the lights of this part of the corridor are turned off all of them, not even a single light is kept turned on. Then how come the place where this person is standing is illuminated?

Sweat beads begin to get collected at Yudi's neck. His throat begins to turn dry. He slowly turns and looks behind him in order to roughly calculate the distance he needs to cover to get out of this terrifying zone and reach his room. He curses himself silently when he realises that he cannot even check the distance covered by him because of the darkness!

"Main bhatak gaya hoon!",

cries someone in Yudi's ear, as if pleading him to show the way out of the place.

And Yudi's whole body turns rigid though his heart beats at a tremendous speed.

In his state of horror, he finds it impossible to even turn to look towards the person. Yudi gulps his saliva to moisten his drying throat.

He doesn't touch Yudi. He doesn't have to, his mere presence and Yudi's sense of his being something supernatural is enough to frighten Yudi to the core!

"Mujhe jaane do...",

pleads Yudi, holding his emotion of fear. His voice forced out of his choked throat, hence hardly audible.

A side vase comes flying towards Yudi which Yudi manages to escape from. It falls with a loud thud on the floor. Apparently if not all but someone must have woken up with that loud thud in the academy. One of the faculty members did wake up and tried to listen again - was it his hallucination or something; a dream maybe! But he couldn't hear anything again. He drifted back to sleep.

Yudi felt someone has held his hand from behind. It takes every ounce of his energy to look behind him to see who it is! He is sweating profusely by now. Standing in front of him is a man this much he could understand but who it is, he fails to realise. And before Yudi could understand anything, he enters Yudi's body without his Ijjazat!

👻👻👻👻👻

Naveen's father walks around the house while Naveen's mother is busy cleaning the place. He finds a showpiece kept at the corner of a side table which is turned towards the wall. Picking it up he blows the collected dirt on it and places it properly facing opposite to the wall. Smiling, he walks forth, when he stops by the noise of the showpiece being turned - the friction created by the showpiece and the table's wood. He turns to look towards the showpiece and gets shocked upon discovering it in the same position as it was prior to his turning it around. He walks back to the show piece and gets another shock upon discovering the dirt collected back on the showpiece as if it is there untouched! He stares the showpiece in horror.

Loud noise of the ringing of the landline phone sends shiver to run down Mr. Ahluwalia's spine. He places his hand over his chest in order to calm down his racing heartbeat. He turns to look towards the room where the phone is kept. He knits his brows. His rate of heartbeat races against the uniform frequency of the ringing of the phone. With a throbbing heart, throbbing for what reason, he doesn't know, he walks towards the room and slowly pulls the handle of the room to open the door. But the rusted door gives him tough time. He tries again, but same result! He tries another time, the noise of the ringing of the phone is getting on his nerves and he needs to get rid of it as soon as possible. He tries to pull the handle to open it - once! twice! thrice! in quick succession. He stops briefly to think of some other way. He looks through the key hole into the room, it looks like the room is filled with heaps of cartons. While he was scanning through the room - as much was visible through the little key hole; his heart skips a beat as suddenly something blocks his view of the room - eye of a man, staring back at Mr. Ahluwaliya!!!

Every nerve ending of Mr. Ahluwalia stands erect! A cry of help could be made - he couldn't even realise this. All he could feel was; the only thought circling his mind was - he is trapped; and he will die!

When he feels the door slowly getting unlocked. Shocked, he looks towards the held handle widening his eyes. His rate of heartbeat intact. His throat absolutely dry! Gulping saliva - out of question - such was the state of horror!
He leaves the door handle free and takes a step behind. The door slowly opens. When did the phone stop ringing during this whole fiasco, he has no idea. But the creaking noise of slowly pulling of the door open dragged the entire attention of the hearing power of Mr. Ahluwalia. He is sweating profusely. His heart thumping inside his chest.

In front of his eyes are heaps of cartons filling the room. The room is dark but a dim dark blue coloured light is turned on that is making the room partially visible.

Mr. Ahluwalia with his eyes wide opened tries to look for someone who must have opened the door, but he finds no one there. And this fact increases the level of tension and horror in him. Getting into the room is a huge task! Will it be a right decision to enter? - thinks Mr. Ahluwalia.

Curiosity takes a toll on him! He takes his right foot into the room but keeps it suspended in the air and reconsiders entering. He slowly peeps into the room. His eyes still wide opened. He turns to look to his left then right, then finally looking in front of him he slowly enters the room.

He looks around the room, horror filling him with each passing moment. His mind gets so much clouded with the feeling of horror that he sees no one there and for toppings the darkness in the room too becomes the hindrance. The dim light is not sufficient enough to make everything visible clearly, especially when you are searching for something dark - a spirit!

He is sweating profusely.

Once he has already looked around but found nothing out of ordinary. But something in him didn't give him permission to leave the room yet, as if deep down he knows he is missing witnessing something. He could hear his own breathing - such was the height of terror he has reached by now. He looks again trying to get hold of that one whose presence his mind has already accepted but sight of eyes are fighting against!

The phone rings again all of a sudden, skipping Mr. Ahluwalia's heartbeat. He turns to his right and finds a black landline phone ringing. The ringing of the phone is creating a vibration, as a result of which the table on which it is kept, is vibrating too!

He stares at the phone in horror, as if it is unusual of a phone to ring. He skeptically takes his hand towards the phone to receive the call and in the same speed he places the receiver on his ear to listen.

Something in him told him that he doesn't have to greet the person at the other end with a 'hello'. Something in him stopped him from doing so! He stays quiet and tries to hear the silence at the other end of the call.

But to his horror after a brief silence from the other end he could hear several noises as if someone is whispering something to him through the phone but in such a velocity that it is impossible for a normal person to understand.

"K.. kon...?",

he asks, trembling in fear.

"Akele mat rehna...!",

a girl teases him from the end of the call. Her whispering voice makes the already weird warning of hers all the more horrific.

The receiver slips from his hand in his state of horror and he gets frozen; his eyes widen more - only if there is possibility left, after all they were already wide opened, when an eye stares back at him!

His mouth opens forming an 'O'! Trying to suck the air his lungs applying more pressure than normal. Mr. Ahluwalia turns to leave when his eyes get locked with another pair of eyes!

She, who is staring him is a girl of around the age of thirteen or fourteen. Normally girls of this age gives you a sweet, smiling, and heavenly look, as if they are some avatar of Goddess Laxmi or Saraswati. But nothing about the stare of this girl is sweet and definitely not godly! Rather the vibes of hers are terrifying. Other than her hair which is combed neatly and left untied, nothing about her is neat! The dress that she is wearing - the little of which is visible, it seems to be worn out. Her eye that is staring Mr. Ahluwalia is as if shouting at him to leave! As if he has committed a sin by entering her territory. There is rage in her eye and there is hunger! Hunger not only for food but for those humans too who dare to not obey her rules!

"K... kon ho tum...?",

he asks, fumbling out of fear.

She stays quiet. Staring him still, never blinking her eyes.

"Mai...maine... poocha... ko...kon ho tum?",

he asks again, staring back in horror, unable to blink his eyes out of fear.

She slowly turns to her right and within moments she leaves.

Mr. Ahluwalia, upon witnessing her absence now, slowly walks forth and peeps to see where did she go, but to his utter horror he discovers that it is the wall to her right. Where there is no possibility to walk even an inch, this girl has completely left the place as if walking into and through the wall is her everyday task - a normality for her!

"Nahi! Ye... ye nahi ho sakta!",

he utters in horror, trembling in fear.

"Ye nahi ho sakta!!",

he repeats.

A hand rests on his shoulder from behind. The already terrified Mr. Ahluwalia, shouts out loud!

But this time the shout doubles! Someone shouts with him, a female. He turns to look towards the source of the shout and gets shocked upon discovering - no one there! Deep down, subconsciously Mr. Ahluwalia was expecting Naina's mother to be there  but alas! when nothing about this place is normal, then how can this be?

Meera Ahluwalia upon hearing her husband's cry of terror comes running to him whilst shouting,

"Kya hua?! Kya hua?!"

Reaching him, she rests her hand at the same place where earlier a hand rested.

Terrified, Mr. Ahluwalia shoves Meera's hand and says, getting away from her,

"Durr rahiye mujhse!"

This comes as a surprise for Meera.

Knitting her brows in tension, Meera says,

"Arey kya hua? Meera hoon main!"

Mr. Ahluwalia looks towards Meera in horror. Pulling her to himself he hugs her in order to assure himself that it is indeed her! Still keeping her in his embrace, he slowly looks behind him towards the room in horror.

From where he is standing he could see the curtain of the room blew whereas during his visit to the room there was no air present that could blew even a withered leaf let alone the curtains.

👻👻👻👻👻

The constant sound of slapping of a foot on the floor of their room disturbs Ali's sleep.

Waking up, still half asleep half awake, rubbing his eyes, he tries to discover the source of the sound. Upon finding it, whilst rubbing his eyes, Ali asks,

"Arey Yudi bhai aap sotey kyun nahi itni raat ho gayi hai?"

But his query goes unanswered.

Upon not receiving a reply from Yudi, Ali's drowsiness breaks a little.

"Yudi bhai?!",

he calls him out in his broken voice.

Still no result!

His drowsiness hence breaks a little more. He now begins to focus properly on Yudi.

He realises that Yudi is chanting something.

"Aap... aap kya bol rahe hain?",

he asks, knitting his brows, whilst getting out of his bed and switching on the light of the room.

His heart skips a beat when he trembles a little out of current upon touching the switchboard.

"Chh...!",

exclaims Ali upon feeling the current and turns to look towards the bulb of their room whilst rubbing his finger that felt the current.

"Ye light ko kya ho gaya?",

he asks to no one in particular, still looking towards the bulb.

Ali realises there is a brief change in the rhythm of Yudi's chanting which doesn't last for long and returns back to the earlier rhythm of chanting.

He picks up the torch from the side table, switching it on he flashes the light towards Yudi.

Yudi turns his face away from the light, getting irritated. When Ali doesn't switch it off even on his turning away from the light, Yudi turns and looks directly into Ali's eye, despite the irritation caused by the light, Yudi looks through the light towards Ali, glaring him he shouts at him in two male voices mingled together - one of his own and the other - only God and Yudi know of whose,

"Tere ko samjh nahi aata maine kya kaha?"

Ali's ears turn red out of horror of hearing a voice he doesn't know belongs to whom? This is not only his friend and roommate Yudi's but someone else's too!! He could not miss to hear Yudi's voice mingled with the other voice.

"Yu..di... bha..i...!",

he states, the broken address states about his horror well!

Ali starts sweating out of fear.

He by no means could take the risk of switching off the torch and turn the room dark again!

"Aa...p... aap... humare saath ma...zak.... mazak kar rahe hain na ...?",

asks Ali, somehow managing to keep his state of fear aside.

Yudi glares him upon hearing that.

"Hum... hum abhi Huda bhai ko bulate hain...",

says Ali in horror and runs out of the room.

Ali leaves his room and runs to Huda and Alekh's room and beats the door in desperation,

"Huda Bhai! Huda Bhai darwaza kholiye."

Huda seems to be in deep sleep this night that he fails to listen to Ali's call.

Ali tries again, desperate.

Meanwhile, Yudi scratches the wall with his nails vigorously, making noises through not only the scratching but his mouth as well, as if desperate to scratch out the entire room as quickly as possible, his eyes staring his scratching, unblinked. The velocity of his scratching increases as if Yudi in his insane mode has lost his sanity again!

Huda finally opens the door. Rubbing his eyes, he asks,

"Abey ke baat hai Usool? Kyun meri neend kharab kar raha hai itni raat ko. Ek to itne mushkil se neend aayi thi."

"Huda bhai... wo Yudi bhai....",

he trails off, unable to understand how to put the entire incident into words that too in such a short span.

"Ke kar diya ab Yudiye ne?",

asks Huda, stretching his arms side ways.

"Huda bhai, Yudi bhai ko kuch ho gaya hai, ajeeb-ajeeb harkatein kar rahe hain!",

exclaims Ali in a single breath.

That shocks Huda.

"Kya??!!",

he exclaims in horror.

Together they run towards Yudi's room.

Huda pushes the door open of Yudi's room and switches on the light. Ali stands behind him, holding Huda by his shoulder. Ali dreads inside in the anticipation of what the lights would be turned on. While Huda was switching on the lights of Yudi's room, Ali suddenly remembers and say,

"Oh Huda Bhai lights....",

but he stops in the process of completing the sentence when the light gets turned on easily by Huda!

Ali stares at the illuminated room in horror! How did it happen? It wasn't working just a few minutes ago, right?

While Ali was engrossed in thinking about this weird fact; Huda was shocked to discover the scratchings at various places on every wall!

"Ye kisne kiya Usool???!!!",

he asks in horror.

Ali stays dumbstruck!

"Yudi bhai kahan hain?",

he asks after a few minutes of silence.

Ali and Huda look towards each other in horror!