(A/N):
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The stairwell was quiet again when they came down,
But the air still carried that thick, unsettling pressure —
As if the building itself was holding its breath.
Jojo stood near the cracked wall opposite the cursed room,
His phone in hand.
The faint blue glow of the screen reflected in his eyes.
"Sara,"
He murmured, his tone low and steady,
"run a deep trace on every tenant who's stayed here in the last six months. And cross-reference it with anyone named Raghavan."
"Affirmative,"
The AI's smooth voice answered instantly.
"Capturing data through the mirrored surface."
Jojo turned slightly toward the dusty wall mirror hanging beside the corridor's power box.
He angled his phone, snapping three quick pictures.
The digital lens shimmered faintly —
And for a split second,
Immediatly he took the picture of the group picture of the friends who were staying here.
Then the screen blinked, and the AI's scan began running.
Inadu watched him with mild concern.
"Could it be a demon involved?"
Jojo smirked faintly.
Smirk~
"Lets wait and see."
A few seconds later...
The voice returned.
"Report compiled.
Four primary residents linked to this building.
Srinivasan — unemployed.
Vimal — mid-level bank employee.
Raghavan — aspiring filmmaker, currently did few shot films.
Sajith — mechanic, repairs electronic appliances.
No criminal records."
"...."
Caroline listened silently, crossing her arms.
Jojo's eyes narrowed slightly.
Frown~
'That confirms it,'
He thought to himself.
"'They're not just connected… they must have that cursed locket with them currently.'
Before anyone could reply,
The sound of footsteps echoed up the staircase.
Thud. Thud.
"...."
"...."
"...."
An old man appeared —
Frail, wearing a white dhoti and faded shirt, keys jangling in his hand.
His brows knitted when he saw them standing there.
"Who are you people?"
He asked, his voice tired but suspicious.
"Why are you in this building?"
Jojo turned to face him with a polite smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Evening, sir. We're looking for a place to stay for the night."
The man's confusion deepened.
"Stay? Here? No, no… this is not a lodge. All rooms are occupied—"
Jojo stepped closer and placed a firm hand on his shoulder —
Gentle, but unyielding.
His voice softened, almost cordial.
"...."
"Just one night,"
He said.
"We don't need much. Just a room to rest."
The old man hesitated —
"...."
About to protest again —
When Jojo pulled a bundle of cash from his coat and handed it to him without breaking eye contact.
The man froze.
"...."
His eyes darted from Jojo's face to the thick stack of bills, then back again.
"I… suppose there's one room,"
He stammered.
"That'll do,"
Jojo said simply.
He gestured for Inadu and Caroline to follow.
The old man unlocked the dusty door opposite the cursed room.
The hinges creaked open,
Releasing a faint gust of cold, stale air.
Creak~
"You can stay here,"
The landlord muttered, pocketing the cash quickly.
"Just… be sure don't cause any trouble."
Inadu shot Jojo a look.
"Don't worry old man we are friendly."
Jojo chuckled lightly as he stepped inside the dark room.
Chuckle~
"We'll see how friendly our neighbour really is."
The door closed behind them with a dull click.
Click~
After Half an Hour...
The sound of footsteps echoed up the narrow stairwell —
Hurried, uneven, drenched in tension.
Srinivasan was the first to appear,
Muttering under his breath,
His hand clutching his jacket tight against the chill climate.
Vimal followed behind,
Still grinning like nothing was wrong,
Grin~
"...."
His wet sneakers squeaking faintly on the concrete steps.
Behind them came Raghavan,
Clutching a folder to his chest —
The same one that contained his half-finished revised Demonte Colony script —
And last of all, Sajith, whose expression looked darker than ever.
His eyes flicked sharply up the hall toward the end where Jojo, Inadu, and Caroline were quietly standing near the opposite door —
Hidden partly by the shadow of the staircase.
Jojo leaned slightly against the wall, arms crossed, silently watching.
"...."
"...."
"...."
As the four men reached their door,
Sajith stopped abruptly.
"...."
"Why,"
He asked suddenly, his tone flat but simmering,
"didn't you lock the room?"
The others blinked, caught off guard by the sudden accusation.
Vimal frowned, scratching the back of his head.
Frown~
"Lock? Ah, shit—yeah, I forgot, man. Relax. Nobody's gonna break into this dump."
The sharp glare Sajith gave him made even Vimal's grin falter for a second.
"...."
"...."
"...."
There was a strange weight behind those eyes —
A kind of suppressed anger, or something worse.
Without another word,
Sajith turned the key,
Pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
The others followed —
Raghavan laughing awkwardly to ease the tension.
"Bro, he's still pissed about that astrologer thing. Let him cool down."
Inside, the room looked exactly as they'd left it.
Almost.
The lights flickered faintly,
The fan above creaked with a dull metallic whine.
Everything looked normal —
The bed, the TV, the small dining table covered in beer cans and takeaway boxes.
But as Vimal stepped further inside, he frowned.
Frown~
"Did any of you leave the candle burning?"
They all looked toward the shelf.
There, in the corner of the room, stood a small red candle —
Its flame steady despite the wind seeping in through the cracked window.
Srinivasan's voice trembled slightly.
"That… wasn't burning when we left."
Raghavan turned to Sajith, half-smiling.
"Did you light it again?"
But Sajith didn't respond.
He just stood near the doorway,
Hand still rubbing the back of his neck,
"...."
His gaze locked on the candle's faint glow.
His lips moved —
Whispering something too quietly to hear.
Behind him, unseen by the others,
The reflection in the mirror across the hall rippled like water.
Jojo narrowed his eyes,
Seeing it through the gap in the half-open door from across the corridor.
Inadu's voice came softly beside him.
"You feel that?"
"Yeah,"
Jojo murmured.
His pupils glowed faint orange —
"...."
The faint shimmer of hellfire reflecting in his irises.
"Something's possessing him from the inside. The curse is using his body as the gate. There is no life in it."
Caroline leaned against the wall, whispering,
"So what do we do?"
Jojo didn't answer.
"...."
He was already walking toward the opposite door, his footsteps silent on the cold floor.
Inside, Raghavan's laughter died as he turned toward Sajith.
"Sajith… what are you saying?"
He asked uneasily.
Sajith's he matress on the ground and fell on it to sleep.
Night fell hard over Chennai.
Rain battered against the apartment windows like cold,
Skeletal fingers tapping endlessly.
The whole building felt damp, silent, and strangely heavy —
"...."
As if the walls themselves were holding their breath.
Inside the room...
Raghavan rummaged through a dusty cardboard box filled with his research:
Grimy VHS tapes, yellowed notes, newspaper clippings about hauntings, and old horror films he used for references.
"Paathiya? (Did you see this?)"
He said, pulling out a cassette.
"This one is insane. Perfect for tonight."
Vimal grinned.
Grin~
"Super da! Put it on. Let's get scared."
Srinivasan locked the door behind them with a casual twist of the bolt and plopped down onto the floor beside them.
"Oi, wake him,"
Vimal said, pointing to Sajith —
"...."
Lying on the cot facing the wall, still as a statue.
Raghavan leaned over.
"Sajith… movie time."
No response.
Just the soft whistle of rain outside.
"...."
"He must be exhausted,"
Srinivasan shrugged.
"Let him sleep. At least he's not crying today."
The three sat in front of the TV,
The room lit only by the flicker of the candle and the weak fluorescent bulb overhead.
Vimal slid the cassette into the old VCR.
With a click and a grind, the tape started whirring.
The TV screen crackled with static, then—
A shaky image appeared.
Not of a movie.
Not of actors.
Not of any horror film.
Instead, the screen displayed…
them.
All three of them.
Sitting in front of the TV.
Exactly as they were now.
Raghavan froze.
Srinivasan's smile died.
Vimal leaned so close his breath fogged the glass.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"Machan… is this a camera feed? Did somebody install CCTV in our room?"
"There's no camera here,"
Raghavan whispered.
On the screen, the image sharpened.
There they were —
The same posture, same clothes, same expressions…
Except one detail was wrong.
On the screen:
Vimal stood up from the floor and walked toward the bathroom, yawning.
In the real room, Vimal stopped breathing for a moment.
"That… that's me."
On the screen:
He pushed open the bathroom door and stepped inside.
He looked in the mirror.
Then the light flickered.
Something unseen struck him.
Hard.
His head snapped sideways with a loud CRACK.
CRACK!!!
He screamed—
But the real Vimal couldn't hear his own voice from the tape.
He was being beaten violently by something invisible.
Thrown into the mirror.
Glass shattered, slicing into his forehead.
Blood dripped down like rain.
In the real room, Vimal staggered back from the TV.
"No… no… no… that's not going to happen—right?"
SCENE 2 – SRINIVASAN ARRIVES...
The TV jumped again.
Now Srinivasan appeared in the bathroom doorway, looking worried.
"Vimal? Vimal! What happened?!"
But when Vimal opened his mouth to speak—
A different voice came out.
A voice identical to Vimal.
"I'll come… soon."
The real Vimal clutched the wall, trembling.
"That wasn't me… that wasn't me…"
He looked at his hands like they were no longer his.
SCENE 3 – RAGHAVAN AND SAJITH...
Another cut.
Now Raghavan was standing over the sleeping Sajith,
A pillow gripped tightly in his hands.
His face blank.
His eyes white.
He slowly lowered the pillow toward Sajith's face—
"NO!"
Raghavan screamed in the real world.
"I WOULD NEVER—"
On-screen:
Sajith's eyes snapped open—
White and empty.
He lurched up, grabbing Raghavan's throat with supernatural strength.
Raghavan stumbled backward, knocking into a shelf.
A bottle of oil toppled over and spilled onto him.
He tried to catch his balance—
The candle in his hand fell—
FWOOOM
Raghavan was engulfed in flames.
His body thrashed, burning alive.
Srinivasan rushed in on-screen,
Trying desperately to put out the fire with his bare hands—
but Raghavan collapsed on the floor, motionless.
Burned to charcoal.
The real Raghavan collapsed to his knees, sobbing.
SCENE 4 – SRINIVASAN'S ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE
The TV jumped again.
Srinivasan was now running to the front door.
He twisted the handle.
Locked.
He rammed his shoulder into it.
No use.
He rushed to the window,
Pushed it open, and stuck his head out.
Just as he looked back inside—
The screen abruptly cut to black.
Silence.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The three men in the real room stared at the blank screen, pale, drenched in sweat,
Their breath frozen in their throats.
Vimal whispered.
"…Are we… already dead?"
Srinivasan shook violently.
Raghavan stared at the TV, tears streaking down his cheeks.
Because the truth hit all three:
What they saw wasn't a prediction.
It was a recording.
Something inside their room had already chosen their deaths.
And now the apartment door behind them…
Clicked shut by itself.
Just when the three inside were frozen in terror,
Still staring at the blacked-out TV screen…
KNOCK. KNOCK.KNOCK.
The sound echoed through the apartment like a death toll.
Srinivasan jumped.
"...."
Vimal clutched Raghavan's arm.
No one moved for a full five seconds.
"Open… open the door…"
Srinivasan whispered to himself, trying to gather courage.
He staggered to the door, unlocked the latch, and yanked the handle.
Nothing.
The door didn't budge.
"...."
He pulled harder.
Nothing.
He pulled with both hands.
Still nothing.
Outside—
Jojo, Caroline, and Inadu stood silently in the hallway,
Listening to the frantic rattling from the other side.
Caroline frowned,
Frown~
"Why isn't anybody opening—"
Before she could finish,
She heard the muffled scream from inside.
"HELP! PLEASE—HELP!"
Caroline stepped forward and gripped the handle with her full vampire strength.
Her muscles tensed.
The metal bent slightly under her grip—
"...."
—but the door didn't move an inch.
Her eyes widened.
"What the hell…?"
Inadu's voice was cold and whisper-soft.
"It's sealed. the space inside. Shield doesn't want them leaving."
Jojo exhaled slowly.
A long, annoyed sigh.
Sigh~
Like a man realizing he had to do extra work on an already busy day.
He placed his hand on the handle.
Just that.
Inside the room...
The moment Jojo's fingers touched the metal outside,
Sajith —
Who had been lying unconscious on the floor —
"...."
Suddenly jerked like he'd been electrocuted.
His body snapped upward violently—
THUD!
He rolled, hit the wall, and then stood up in one crooked, unnatural motion.
His eyes were pure white.
No iris.
No humanity.
Srinivasan, Vimal, and Raghavan froze, their blood turning to ice.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"Sa… Sajith…?"
Srinivasan whispered.
Sajith turned his head slowly—
Too slowly—
Like a broken puppet being dragged by invisible strings.
All three scrambled to the door, pounding on it, screaming.
"OPEN IT!"
"SOMEBODY OPEN THE DOOR!"
"PLEASE!"
Behind them, white-eyed Sajith tilted his head,
A wide unnatural grin tearing across his face.
The black cube around the room tightened like an invisible fist.
Outside...
Jojo's eyes glowed faintly with hellfire.
He muttered under his breath,
"Enough of this crap."
His hand partially transformed —
Bones turning black, cracks glowing with molten orange lines of hellfire.
He gripped the handle.
CLICK.
The lock exploded from the inside.
The door swung open on its own.
Smoke drifted from Jojo's fingers where hellfire still burned faintly beneath the skin.
Caroline blinked.
"…You did that with one hand. Seriously?"
Inadu smirked.
Smirk~
"Trust me. This is the polite version."
Inside the apartment
The moment the door opened, the three survivors fell backward like someone had cut their strings.
Sajith's head snapped toward the open doorway,
A low, guttural growl leaving his throat—
but when his white eyes met Jojo's…
He froze.
Every light in the apartment flickered violently.
The black cube surrounding the room pulsed once —like a heart skipping a beat —
then began to crack.
Jojo stepped inside, eyes narrowing.
"…There you are."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Sajith's possessed body trembled, reacting to Jojo's presence like prey sensing a predator.
Caroline and Inadu followed behind, their expressions turning cold and battle-ready.
All three—
Srinivasan, Vimal, and Raghavan—
Stumbled out of the doorway like men escaping a burning building.
Srinivasan grabbed Jojo's shirt desperately.
"PLEASE—sir—we need to RUN. Something's wrong with Sajith—something happened—he—he—"
Before he could finish,
RING! RING!
"...."
"...."
"...."
Srinivasan's phone lit up.
The screen flickered for a second—
Like a signal trying to break through thick interference—
but it connected.
The caller ID:
Astrologer.
Srinivasan gulped and answered.
Gulp~
The moment the line opened,
The astrologer's voice burst out—
Shaking, breathless, terrified.
"LISTEN TO ME! YOU THREE—LISTEN! Stay away from that boy. Stay FAR AWAY!"
Srinivasan froze.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Vimal and Raghavan leaned in.
The air felt heavier.
The hallway lights flickered.
The astrologer swallowed hard, then whispered—
Like he feared someone else was listening:
"I checked his horoscope again…"
His voice cracked.
"…Your friend Sajith… died yesterday."
The world stopped.
All three friends went pale, horror draining the blood from their faces.
"...."
"...."
"...."
"W–What?"
Raghavan whispered.
"What the hell do you mean he died? He's right here! He's inside—"
The astrologer interrupted, screaming.
"NO! NO! THAT IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!"
Behind them, inside the dark apartment,
They heard something—
A low, ragged breath.
But it wasn't human.
The astrologer continued, voice cracking from terror.
"Whatever is inside your home… whatever is standing near you… is borrowing Sajith's body."
A faint SNAP sounded from inside the apartment.
SNAP~
Like bones bending.
Jojo's expression didn't change—
But hellfire flickered behind his eyes.
Caroline's fangs slid down instinctively.
Inadu's irises went completely black.
Srinivasan's hand shook so badly the phone slipped and fell to the floor.
Vimal took a trembling step back.
"S–Sir… that thing… it's not Sajith my friend?"
Jojo turned toward the darkness inside the room.
The lights inside flickered out one by one.
Sajith's body twitched.
Twich~ Twich~
Then—
Like a puppet whose strings were suddenly yanked—
He jerked upright.
His skin shriveled in seconds, tightening over bone like dried leather.
His cheeks sank.
His lips peeled back.
In less than a heartbeat,
Sajith's body became a mummified corpse standing on trembling legs.
Then—
CRRRRK—
CRACK— CRK-KK—
His joints bent in impossible directions.
His arms elongated unnaturally.
His neck snapped sideways.
His spine arched backward until his chest faced the ceiling.
And then he dropped to the floor—
Landing on all fours.
A ghostly, hollow face, stretched and warped, emerged over his own.
A mask of death clinging like mist.
He began moving.
Not walking.
Skittering—
Like a starving spider.
Fast.
Wrong. Broken.
He went straight for Jojo.
Caroline took a step,
But—
WHOOSH!
The creature suddenly shot forward like a blur.
Jojo didn't flinch.
"...."
He didn't lift a hand.
Before the creature could reach him—
THWUMP!
Sajith's body was suddenly slammed sideways,
Violently crashing into the wall hard enough to crack the plaster.
But he didn't fall.
He hung in mid-air,
Limbs dangling, jerking like he was struggling against invisible chains.
Behind Jojo, Inadu stood with one arm raised,
Fingers curled like she was gripping an invisible throat.
Her eyes entirely black.
"Stay,"
She hissed.
The creature writhed.
Its bones cracked.
Its head twisted toward Jojo, mouth widening until it split its own cheeks.
Jojo stepped closer, voice turning cold as void:
"Who are you?"
No response.
Only a wet clicking sound, like a hundred insect mandibles scraping together.
Jojo's tone sharpened.
"Why these three? Why are you targeting them?"
The creature spasmed violently,
Then its jaw dropped open so wide its lower mandible snapped.
Snap~
A deep, layered voice poured out—
Not Sajith's,
Not human,
But something echoing through the decades:
"THEY… BROKE… THE RULE…"
Its neck twisted further—
"WE… NEVER… FORGIVE…"
Inadu tightened her grip.
"Answer properly,"
She growled.
The creature screeched—
A piercing, ghost-wailing shriek that rattled the windows—
Then suddenly whispered,
Voice shivering like a dozen trapped souls.
"Demonty Colony… We were waiting… We need to follow…"
Its ghost-face pushed outward, pressing through Sajith's dead skin like something trying to break free.
"AND HE—"
It pointed its twisted arm at Raghavan, Srinivasan, and Vimal.
"IT WAS THEIR DESTINY…"
Its voice deepened, hateful.
"TO SERVE OUR GOD…"
Raghavan trembled.
His knees buckled.
"...."
The creature snarled, the ghost-face peeling further forward from the mummified skull.
"WE REMEMBER HIM."
"WE REMEMBER ALL OF THEM."
"AND WE WILL MAKE SURE THEY JOIN US."
Jojo's eyes narrowed dangerously.
Frown~
Caroline stepped back, instinctively sensing what was coming.
Jojo's voice dropped into a cold, heavy whisper.
"You're not a demon. Not a ghost…"
He leaned forward.
"You're all of them. A colony."
The creature shivered violently, acknowledging it with a grotesque grin.
Grin~
Before it could speak again—
Jojo's expression hardened.
"Inadu… release its mouth."
She flicked her fingers.
Jojo stepped closer.
"I'm going to ask one last time."
His voice grew low, dark, almost predatory.
"WHO sent you?"
The creature's ghost-face finally tore free, hovering inches above the mummified body—
Eyes hollow, mouth gaping.
And with a sound like bones grinding, it whispered.
"THE BLIND ONE… THE UN—CROWNED KING… CALLS US… NOW IT WAS THEIR TIME TO BECOME A PART OF OUR GOD."
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Thanks for reading the chapter!
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