The clock struck midnight.
Arvika lay wide awake in bed. Not a blink, not a breath of rest.
Tanishka had regained consciousness. She smiled, spoke, even joked like her old self.
But something was deeply wrong.
Very wrong.
The room was quiet—too quiet.
Outside, cold mountain wind rattled the glass of the window. But beyond that…
There was a presence.
Something… or someone… was walking past their window.
No footsteps.
No shadow.
Just the eerie feeling of a cold, heavy presence gliding silently past the glass.
Arvika turned toward Tanishka's bed.
She wasn't asleep.
Her eyes were wide open—staring fixedly at the ceiling.
Arvika whispered,
"Tanishka?"
No response.
And then… the air thickened.
The light in the room dimmed without reason.
A strange weight pressed down on her chest.
Click.
The door creaked. Just slightly ajar.
Arvika's heart skipped. She turned to look—
No one.
But out in the hallway…
A shadowless figure glided past—silent, slow, and unseen except for the cold it left behind.
---
Morning came.
The sun rose, but the fear didn't fade.
Tanishka was back to "normal," again.
But Arvika had made up her mind.
She needed answers—now.
She went to the hotel manager and asked if there was someone local who could tell her more about the strange things happening in Kolakham.
The man lowered his voice.
"There's one person... Dharani Uncle. He's the oldest soul in this village. If anyone knows the truth about this land—it's him."
---
Dharani Uncle lived in a crumbling wooden house, tucked behind fog-draped trees.
He was bent with age, eyes foggy but sharp, as if he could see things others couldn't.
Before Arvika could speak, he said in a voice like dry wind—
"You two went near the hill, didn't you?
The one with the stone covered in old inscriptions?"
Arvika felt the chill return.
"Yes. And after that, my friend… she started behaving strangely."
Dharani Uncle sighed, his breath rasping.
"That wasn't just a stone. That was a seal.
Long ago, a monk imprisoned an evil entity there—
A cursed guardian spirit that turned dark.
He bound it using chants, blood, and shadow magic.
That place was sealed... forbidden.
No one was supposed to go there."
He paused. Looked at her straight in the eye.
"When someone disturbs that place—the spirit breaks free.
And it doesn't wander... it chooses.
It possesses."
Arvika's voice trembled.
"You're saying... my best friend... she's no longer herself?"
Dharani Uncle nodded slowly.
"The spirit is inside her.
The more time passes, the deeper it merges.
You don't have much time."
"Can I still save her?"
He looked out at the misty trees and said quietly—
"There's one way.
You must perform the Sindoor-Sheel-Tapasya.
It's an ancient ritual, done inside a temple forgotten by most—
a place where dark spirits still cannot enter.
But you must go alone. And you must not fear it."
---
That night, Arvika returned to the hotel.
Tanishka was sitting upright on the bed.
Her eyes were on her—but they were hollow. Empty.
Eyes without soul.
Then she spoke.
"You've figured it out, haven't you?
You know I'm not her."
Arvika froze.
Tanishka's lips curled—not a smile, but something worse. A knowing expression.
"This body… belongs to me now.
You want your friend back?
Then come.
Try and stop me.
Let's see how far your love really goes."
---
The story doesn't end here.
And neither does the darkness.
(To be continued...)