Some journeys begin with careful planning.
Others begin with stupidity.
This one began at 2in the morning, inside a café in Gurgaon.
The café was one of those late-night places that never really slept. Yellow fairy lights hung lazily across the ceiling, casting a warm glow over wooden tables filled with half-empty coffee mugs and plates of unfinished fries. Outside the large glass windows, the city was quieter than usual. A few cars passed occasionally on the empty road, their headlights sliding across the walls before disappearing into the night.
At a corner table sat four friends who clearly had no intention of going home anytime soon.
Aarav leaned back in his chair, balancing it dangerously on two legs. Kabir sat opposite him, scrolling aimlessly through his phone. Riya and Meera shared the couch along the wall, both wrapped in oversized jackets to fight the café's enthusiastic air conditioning.
Empty cups of coffee and two plates of nachos sat between them.
Meera stared at the clock on the wall and shook her head. "It's two in the morning and we're still here. Normal people are asleep."
Kabir didn't look up from his phone. "Normal people are boring."
Riya smirked. "Says the guy who spent ten minutes arguing with a delivery app about a missing sauce packet."
"That was principle," Kabir replied calmly.
Aarav stretched his arms and yawned. "Alright, I'm bored."
Meera raised an eyebrow. "That's usually when bad ideas happen."
Riya leaned forward with sudden excitement. "Let's tell horror stories."
Kabir groaned immediately. "Why horror stories?"
"Because it's two in the morning," she said, gesturing dramatically toward the dark window behind them. "Perfect atmosphere."
Meera nodded thoughtfully. "Actually, that sounds fun."
Kabir sighed. "Fine. But if someone goes home and has nightmares, I'm not responsible."
"Relax," Aarav said. "You'll be the first one hiding under the blanket."
Kabir pointed a finger at him. "You start."
Aarav pretended to think for a moment. Then he leaned forward slightly, lowering his voice.
"Okay," he said. "But this is not just a story. This actually happened."
Riya immediately rolled her eyes. "Of course it did."
Aarav ignored her.
"Last year Kabir and I went trekking in the mountains near Himachal," he began. "There's this small ridge where trekkers stay overnight. Two lodges up there. One old… one newer."
Kabir glanced up from his phone now, listening.
Aarav continued, "We stayed in the older one."
"Let me guess," Meera said. "It was haunted."
Aarav smiled faintly. "We didn't know that at the time."
The café around them buzzed quietly with distant conversations and the soft clinking of coffee cups. Outside, the night felt heavier somehow.
"At exactly three in the morning," Aarav said slowly, "I woke up."
Kabir looked at him with a small grin. "Because the microwave turned on."
Riya laughed immediately. "What?"
Aarav nodded calmly. "The microwave in the room. It just turned on by itself. No one touched it."
Meera frowned slightly now.
"And then," Kabir added, finally joining the story, "the door slowly opened."
Riya folded her arms. "That sounds like a power issue."
"Wait," Aarav said. "It gets better."
He leaned forward slightly.
"The fridge opened next."
Meera blinked.
Kabir continued, "And suddenly the room got freezing cold. Like someone opened a freezer."
"Don't exaggerate," Riya said.
"I'm not," Kabir replied quietly.
Aarav tapped the table with his finger.
"The next morning we found out something interesting," he said. "A couple used to live in that same room."
Meera leaned forward now. "Used to?"
"They were found dead there," Aarav said.
The table went silent.
"No injuries," Kabir added. "No explanation. Just… dead."
Riya stared at them for a moment.
Then she burst out laughing.
"Oh please."
Kabir frowned. "What?"
"That's the most obvious horror story setup I've ever heard," she said. "Microwave turns on, fridge opens, mysterious dead couple. What's next? A ghost asking for Wi-Fi?"
Aarav leaned back in his chair.
"You don't believe it?"
"Not even a little."
Kabir smirked. "Then prove it."
Riya raised an eyebrow. "How?"
Aarav pointed at her.
"Go there."
She blinked.
"What?"
"You said it's fake," he said calmly. "Fine. Let's go back there."
Kabir sat up straighter now.
"Oh this is good."
Meera looked between them. "Wait… you're serious?"
Riya leaned forward across the table.
"Are you daring me?"
Aarav grinned.
"Yes."
Kabir tapped the table excitedly. "Truth or dare rules."
Riya crossed her arms with a confident smile.
"Fine."
"Fine?" Meera repeated.
Riya stood up, grabbed her jacket, and looked at the others.
"Let's go."
Kabir blinked. "Right now?"
"Why not?"
"It's two thirty in the morning!"
"Exactly," she said. "Perfect horror story timing."
Meera stared at her sister like she had lost her mind.
"You cannot be serious."
Riya shrugged casually. "Road trip."
Kabir slowly began to grin.
"This," he said, standing up, "is the best bad idea we've had in months."
Aarav tossed a few notes onto the table for the bill.
"Adventure it is."
Meera looked at the three of them in disbelief.
"You idiots are actually doing this."
Kabir slung his jacket over his shoulder.
"Friendship rule number one," he said.
"If one person does something stupid…"
Aarav finished the sentence.
"…the rest join them."
Riya pushed the café door open.
Cold night air rushed inside.
"Well?" she said, looking back at them.
"Are we doing this or not?"
For a moment the three of them hesitated.
Then Kabir laughed.
"Let's go see your haunted mountain."
None of them realized it yet.
But by sunrise…
They would wish that story had stayed just a story.