**1. The Thank You That Changed Everything**
I woke to the sound of knuckles rapping against wood—soft, hesitant.
*Knock. Knock.*
The door creaked open before I could answer. Megha stood there, arms crossed, her nails digging into her elbows. She wouldn't meet my eyes.
*"Thanks,"* she muttered.
I sat up, the hospital-issued pajamas sticking to my sweat-damp skin. *"For what?"*
She chewed her lip. *"For not… telling them."*
*Telling them what?* The question died on my tongue as she turned on her heel and vanished down the hallway.
I stared at the empty doorway. Last night's dream rushed back—the one that had left me gasping at 3 AM.
---
### **2. The Dream: A Face in the Crowd**
*I was standing in a train station, the air thick with coal dust and the metallic screech of wheels. People shoved past me, their faces blurred—except one. A girl in a yellow dress, her braids swinging as she ran. She turned, just for a second, and I knew her. Knew the gap between her front teeth, the scar on her knee from a bicycle fall. My throat burned with her name—*
Then I'd wrenched awake, my fingers clawing at the sheets.
Now, sunlight pooled on the floor as I replayed it. *Was she real? A memory or just my broken mind stitching together fragments?*
A clatter from the kitchen snapped me back. Ishita's voice floated up: *"Megha, did you apologize?"*
*"I *said* thanks!"* Megha hissed.
Ishita sighed. *"After what you did—"*
*"I didn't *do* anything! He's the one who—"* A cupboard slammed.
I crept to the hallway, but their voices dropped to whispers.
---
### **3. Breakfast and Half-Truths**
Downstairs, Rakesh flipped parathas at the stove while Ishita's father read the newspaper. *"Ah, Sleeping Beauty!"* Rakesh grinned. *"Dream well?"*
The paratha turned to ash in my mouth. *"Strange dream. A train station… a girl."*
The room stilled. Megha's fork screeched against her plate.
*"What girl?"* Ishita asked too lightly.
*"I don't know. Maybe no one."* I glanced at Megha. *"But someone thanked me this morning for not *telling*."*
Rakesh's spatula clattered. Megha's chair legs shrieked as she stood. *"I'm going to school."*
*"Your summer break started yesterday,"* Ishita said sharply.
*"Study group."* Megha grabbed her backpack and bolted.
Ishita massaged her temples. *"She's… going through something."*
*"We all are,"* Rakesh murmured, but his eyes were on me.
---
### **4. The Library Clue**
After breakfast, I wandered to the bookshelf in the living room—mostly Hindi pulp novels and Rakesh's engineering manuals. But one spine caught my eye: *"Missing Persons of Jharkhand: 2010-2015."*
I cracked it open. Page 23 was dog-eared.
**"Riya Sharma, 16. Last seen at Tatanagar Station, 12/04/2015. Wearing yellow dress, blue sandals."**
My hands shook. *Yellow dress. Braids.*
A receipt fluttered out—a train ticket to Ranchi, dated the day *after* Riya vanished.
The front door opened. I shoved the book back as Ishita walked in, grocery bags in hand. *"Need help?"* I asked, voice strained.
She smiled. *"Just rest. You've been through—"*
*"A lot. Yeah."*
---
### **5. Megha's Phone**
That night, I heard muffled sobs through the wall. Megha's room.
I shouldn't have. But I pressed my ear to the door.
*"—don't *care* if the police called!"* Megha hissed. *"He doesn't remember anything!"*
A pause. Then, softer: *"Because I *saw* her, Aryan. At the station. Riya was—"*
Footsteps. I barely ducked into my room before Ishita passed by.
My pulse pounded. *Megha knew the missing girl. Saw her. Where?*
---
### **6. The Second Dream**
I dreamed again.
This time, I was *in* the train—coal biting my lungs, the girl (Riya?) gripping my arm. *"They'll kill us,"* she whispered.
Then—a hand yanking her braid. A scream. *My* scream.
I woke to someone shaking me. Megha.
*"You were shouting,"* she said, her face pale in the moonlight.
*"I remember,"* I gasped. *"The train. Riya. You—"*
Her breath hitched. *"You *know* her name?"*
Silence. Then she sat on the edge of my bed, her voice cracking. *"I lied. I wasn't at study group the day she vanished. I was meeting her. She said… she'd found something at the coal mine. Something bad."*
*"What?"*
Megha's tears glittered. *"She never told me."*
---
### **7. The Truth in the Morning Light**
At dawn, we snuck out—Megha and I—to the coal mine.
The guard recognized her. *"Back again, Megha? Still looking for your friend?"*
*"Again?"* I whispered.
She ignored me, dragging me past the gates to a rusted train car. Inside, scratched into the metal:
**"R & M – TELL THEM ABOUT THE BOX."**
Megha traced the letters. *"We came here after school sometimes. But that day, she came *alone*."*
I touched the graffiti—and the memory hit like a truck.
*Riya shoving a metal box into my hands. "Hide it! They can't know we—"*
*Then pain. Darkness.*
I staggered. *"I was *there*. They hurt me because I saw… something."*
Megha's phone buzzed. A text from Rakesh:
**"Where are you? The police are here."**
Not Raghav. *Different* officers.
Megha's fingers trembled as she typed: **"Coal mine. We found Riya's message."**
The reply was instant: **"STAY THERE."**
But we ran.
---
### **8. The Box Under the Floorboards**
Back at the house, we pried up a loose floorboard in Megha's closet.
Inside: a metal box.
Riya's diary. Photos of the coal mine's "accident" records—dates, names, payoffs. And a list:
**"People Who Know (DANGER):**
1. Rakesh Yadav
2. Raghav Singh
3. The Boy (?)"
The last page was torn. Only one word remained:
**"RUN."**
---
### **To Be Continued…**
**Next Chapter Teasers:**
- **Who is "The Boy"?** (Hint: Not just you.)