Chapter 5: Echoes of the Forgotten
A Fragile Return
The helicopter blades sliced through the cold Arctic air, carrying the survivors away from the nightmare they had barely escaped.
Neha sat by the window, staring blankly at the endless expanse of white below.
The station grew smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely — swallowed by the land of ice and silence.
Beside her, Aarav sat stiffly, his hands gripping the edge of his seat.
Neither of them spoke.
There was nothing left to say.
The others huddled in silence too, each trapped within their own haunted thoughts.
They were alive — but something inside them had changed forever.
And deep down, they all knew it.
Some wounds do not bleed.
Some wounds stay hidden... festering in the shadows of the mind.
**
Debriefing
At the mainland base, they were immediately separated and questioned by officials in sharp uniforms and cold, calculating eyes.
The government didn't like surprises — especially not from secret research missions in remote, frozen corners of the world.
"What did you find?""Describe the anomaly.""Are there any biological threats?""Did you encounter any... unexplainable phenomena?"
Neha answered as best she could.
She told them about the strange readings, the ancient structure, the disappearance of her team members.
She left out the creature.
The whispers.
The memories.
Because how could she explain it?
Who would believe her?
Even she could hardly believe it herself.
**
Nightmares
Back in the temporary housing assigned to them, Neha tried to sleep.
But her dreams were poisoned.
In the darkness behind her eyelids, she saw the frozen faces trapped in the ice, their mouths silently screaming.
She felt the cold breath on her neck again.
She heard her mother's voice — not loving, but mocking.
When she woke up, her sheets were soaked with sweat, and the room felt wrong — heavier, darker, colder than it should have been.
Across the hall, Aarav was going through the same torture.
They didn't need to speak about it.
The nightmares had followed them.
The ice had never truly let them go.
**
Something Is Wrong
In the days that followed, strange things began happening around the base.
Lights flickered without reason.
Electronic equipment malfunctioned.
People reported hearing whispers in empty rooms.
Some claimed to see fleeting shadows darting just at the edge of their vision.
A young technician vanished one night, her empty shoes found just outside the main gates.
Security cameras caught nothing.
It was as if she had simply been... erased.
Neha felt the old fear rise again.
They hadn't left the nightmare behind.
It had come with them.
**
Confrontation
One evening, Neha found Aarav sitting alone in the cafeteria, staring at a cup of cold coffee.
"We have to tell them," Neha said, her voice low and urgent.
Aarav didn't look up.
"They won't believe us," he said.
Neha sat down across from him.
"Maybe not. But we have to try."
Aarav finally looked at her, and for a terrifying second, she thought she saw something else looking back — something dark, something ancient.
But it passed.
Or maybe she imagined it.
Paranoia was their new constant companion.
**
Warning Ignored
When Neha finally gathered the courage to speak to the base commander, she told him everything.
About the creature.
About the memories.
About the deaths.
He listened patiently, then gave her a kind, patronizing smile.
"You've been through a traumatic experience," he said gently."We'll arrange counseling."
That was it.
No action.
No containment.
No alarms.
They didn't believe her.
Or worse — they didn't care.
They would cover it up, like so many things before.
Neha realized they were truly alone.
**
Changes Among Them
Over the next few days, Neha began noticing small, terrifying changes in the survivors.
Priti, once cheerful and talkative, now sat silently in corners, smiling at nothing.
Kabir, who used to play his guitar every night, now simply stared blankly at the walls, his fingers twitching as if strumming invisible strings.
And Aarav — her closest friend — grew distant, colder.
Sometimes, when he spoke, there was something off about his words — too smooth, too rehearsed, like a bad imitation.
Neha began to doubt her own senses.
Were they infected?
Was she?
Was she even still herself?
**
The Old Diary
Desperate for answers, Neha returned to the battered leather notebook she had found back at the station.
Flipping through its cracked pages, she found a final entry she hadn't noticed before:
"If you are reading this, you must already know.It will wear your face.It will speak with your voice.You will doubt everyone — even yourself.And when you are too tired to fight... it will take you too."
Neha slammed the book shut, her hands trembling.
It wasn't over.
It had only just begun.
**
Isolation
Neha started isolating herself, locking her door at night, refusing to eat food she hadn't prepared herself.
She trusted no one.
Not even Aarav.
Especially not Aarav.
One night, there was a knock at her door.
"Neha, it's me," Aarav's voice called softly."Please open up. I'm scared."
Her heart ached.
But she stayed silent.
Because in the reflection of her window, she saw it —two shadows standing outside her door, not one.
One spoke.
One watched.
Waiting.
**
A Terrifying Truth
Neha understood now:The creature didn't just copy people.
It layered itself into them.
First memories.
Then behavior.
Then the body.
And finally... the soul.
It was already inside some of them — perhaps all of them.
It wasn't a fight she could win by running.
It was a fight within the mind, the spirit.
A war where the enemy wore the faces of those she loved most.
**
A Decision Made
Neha packed her bag with supplies — food, water, a map, and a loaded pistol.
She would leave the base before it was too late.
Escape into the frozen wilderness if necessary.
Anything was better than staying and becoming... one of them.
As she tightened the last strap, she glanced once more at her reflection.
Her eyes looked back at her — dark, determined.
And for a terrifying moment... unfamiliar.
Was she already too late?
Was the infection already inside her?
She shook the thought away.
There was no time for fear.
Only survival.
Neha pulled up her hood, slung her pack onto her back, and stepped into the darkness.
The icy wind swallowed her immediately —but it was a better fate than staying behind.
Somewhere out there, in the endless cold, she would find answers.
Or she would die trying.