Scene 1 – The Morning After
Aarav didn't remember when he finally fell asleep.
He only remembered sitting all night
with his back against the wall,
his eyes refusing to leave the mirror.
When morning came, everything felt normal.
Birds outside.
A delivery bell ringing.
Messages piling up on his phone.
But normal felt wrong now.
Slowly, Aarav turned his wrist.
There it was.
Etched beneath his skin—
DAY 1 / 7
Not ink.
Not a wound.
As if his body itself was keeping count.
"This isn't real," he whispered.
But his voice didn't sound convinced.
Scene 2 – School
The classroom buzzed with noise.
A teacher writing on the board.
Students whispering, laughing.
Aarav heard none of it.
His mind was stuck on one thing.
2:17.
Riya leaned toward him.
"You got home safe last night… right?"
Aarav nodded.
"Yeah."
A lie.
Kabir smirked.
"Man, you look like someone who came back from somewhere else."
Sameer laughed.
Too loud.
Too sudden.
Aarav looked at him.
Held his gaze a second longer than normal.
Sameer raised an eyebrow.
"What? Why are you staring?"
Aarav looked away.
Rule #1 echoed in his head.
Scene 3 – The Playground
There was no excitement this time.
Only discomfort.
The playground stood silent in the evening light.
The well was exactly where it had always been.
Still.
Waiting.
Aarav sat beside it.
The others stayed a few steps back.
"After last night," Aarav said slowly,
"I think this place doesn't just take voices."
He paused.
"I think it takes memories."
Riya frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"I feel like I've forgotten something important," Aarav said.
"And I don't know what."
Sameer stepped forward.
"You're overthinking. That's all."
Then—
Cold air rushed out of the well.
Not wind.
Breath.
And a voice followed.
"Aarav…"
Clear.
Close.
Kabir's hands trembled.
"That's… that's your voice."
Aarav pressed his lips together.
He remembered the rule.
He didn't respond.
He turned around.
Sameer was smiling.
Scene 4 – Sameer's Moment
"Why are you ignoring me?" Sameer asked calmly.
Too calmly.
His eyes didn't match his tone.
Riya spoke quickly.
"Enough. Let's leave."
Sameer lowered his head slightly.
Then said—
"Aarav."
Just the name.
Nothing else.
Aarav's heart slammed against his chest.
Because he heard it twice.
Once from Sameer.
And once—
From the well.
Scene 5 – Night
11:58 P.M.
Aarav locked his door.
Covered the mirror.
Kept the lights on.
His phone vibrated.
"You didn't answer your own voice."
A few seconds passed.
Another message arrived.
"But you failed to notice something."
Aarav typed back with shaking fingers.
What?
The reply came instantly.
"Your friend already answered."
A photo filled the screen.
Sameer.
Standing alone beside the well.
Darkness swallowing everything around him.
Timestamp: 2:17 A.M.
Aarav's breathing grew shallow.
From the corridor outside—
Bare footsteps.
One step.
Then silence.
As if something was listening.
The cloth slipped off the mirror.
The reflection stood there.
Silent.
Then words appeared on the glass:
"Rule #1 was only a warning."
A second line followed.
"Rule #2 will require a sacrifice."