In another part of the school, Aman's group was moving slowly through the dark corridor. Only Aman carried a flashlight, its weak beam sweeping side to side with every step they took.
The silence was heavy, broken only by the faint echo of their footsteps.
"Hey, Aman… we can't hear any noise from the others. Not even a single sign they're still in the school," Rohit said, his voice low and worried.
"Don't say that," Aman replied quickly, his eyes sharp. "I'm sure the others are safe. They must still be in the building."
Kabir, walking right behind them, nodded. "Yeah bro, I agree. They're with Dev after all. He might act like he doesn't care… but deep inside, he does." He smirked. "And Arjun? That guy's cold and badass. Ghosts would fear him before he even lifts a finger."
Kabir chuckled at his own words. Rohit joined in, and even Aman smiled a little. For a short moment, the tension eased.
But as they continued down the hall, a sudden creeeeak echoed.
The three froze.
Ahead of them, an old classroom door slowly swung open on its own, the wood whining with every inch. When it finally stopped, silence returned for a heartbeat—before a soft sound drifted out.
It was a children's voice.
Singing.
A broken, eerie nursery rhyme.
Rohit's face went pale. "W-what is this, bro…?" he whispered.
Kabir snorted, trying to cover his own unease. "Maybe these bratty ghosts are trying to scare us. And they think they can?" He forced a laugh and stepped toward the door. "Let's see."
He pushed inside.
But the moment he crossed the doorway, something dropped from above.
FWUMP!
A black, cloth-like shape fell right over his face. Kabir screamed and flailed his arms.
Rohit doubled over laughing. "Bro! I think they actually succeeded in scaring you!"
Kabir finally tore the black cloth from his face, throwing it aside with a curse. His breathing was still heavy, but he forced himself to grin.
Aman stepped closer to the open doorway, his flashlight cutting through the dusty air inside. He didn't move in yet, just stood there watching the darkness.
"Let's go check inside," Aman said firmly. "Maybe we'll find something… drawings of the last day drawn by children as i have seen in movies that usually children draw to describe something, or some other clue."
He paused, his jaw tightening. "Or… maybe that drawing. I'm not sure if it would be here. But we need to search."
Rohit frowned. "Wait, which drawing are you talking about, bro?"
Aman's voice turned cold, almost hollow as he answered, "The drawing through which all of this started. The one that pulled the supernatural into this school."
At his words, a sudden chill swept down Rohit's spine. He hugged his arms close, his eyes darting nervously toward the shadows.
Kabir, finally calming down, groaned. "Bro… can you not use that creepy voice while talking about things like this? Seriously. Your tone kills me more than these ghosts."
He forced a laugh, but his voice cracked a little, betraying his nerves.
Scene shift to Dev's group with Arjun.
The staffroom was silent, the flickering tube light above buzzing faintly. Dust floated in the stale air, settling on old papers scattered across the floor.
Arjun's eyes glinted faintly red for a second as he glanced at Dev, but no one seemed to notice. The tension thickened, almost suffocating.
Rishi and Sameer exchanged a quick, confused look. They didn't know what Dev had just asked, but the weight in the air told them it wasn't something ordinary.
Arjun finally spoke, his voice low and cold.
"So, you want to know who I am…?"
The room seemed to tighten around them, shadows pressing closer. Then, with a sudden shift, Arjun leaned back casually and smirked.
"Bro, I'm just Arjun Varma."
The heaviness broke instantly, like a balloon popping. Sameer let out a small nervous chuckle, and Rishi blinked in relief, though his camera was still fixed on Arjun.
But Dev didn't laugh. He smirked, leaning forward slightly, his eyes sharp as blades.
"I know that, bro," he said. "But what I want to know is—why did your family come to school on the last day?"
The staffroom fell silent again. Even the tube light stopped flickering for a moment, as if the entire building was holding its breath, waiting for Arjun's answer.
The room was still, every sound muted as if the walls themselves leaned closer to hear Arjun's words.
Arjun's playful smirk faded, replaced by a strange calm. His voice lowered, carrying a weight that felt older than him.
"My family…" he began, eyes fixed on Dev, "was called by the principal on the last day… to solve the supernatural cases happening in this school."
Rishi's grip tightened on his camera. Sameer blinked, unsure if he had heard right.
Dev's smirk didn't fade, but his gaze sharpened.
"Supernatural cases?" he pressed.
Arjun nodded slowly. A faint, almost unsettling smile crept back across his lips.
"It's my family's tradition. We are no ordinary people. Some call us tantriks. Good with mantras… and with magic."
The air grew heavier, like invisible chains tightening around the squad. Even the shadows in the corners of the staffroom seemed to twitch at the mention of mantras.
Rishi whispered under his breath, "No way…" while Sameer felt a shiver crawl up his spine.
Dev leaned back, eyes locked on Arjun, unblinking.
"Then tell me, Arjun Varma… what exactly are you doing here now?"
Arjun's expression softened for a moment, almost human, almost vulnerable."I… heard laughing voices from here," he said quietly, his eyes flickering toward the dark corners of the room. "That's why I came. To look for you others."
Dev studied him carefully, smirk fading into a straight, calculating stare."I see," Dev muttered, then leaned forward slightly. "Arjun… do you know anything more about that last day? Didn't your family tell you anything?"
The question hung in the air like a blade.
For the first time, Arjun didn't answer immediately. His lips pressed together, his face stiff, as if the weight of Dev's words dragged him into a place he didn't want to go. Rishi felt his breath hitch, and Sameer glanced between the two, sensing the suffocating tension.
The silence stretched. The faint creak of the old building's wood was the only sound.
Finally, Arjun lifted his head, his eyes blank but carrying a hidden storm. His voice was low, almost breaking."They didn't… return home later that day."
The room seemed to darken at once. Rishi's grip on the camera tightened. Sameer's throat went dry.
Dev's eyes narrowed, sharp as blades."What do you mean… they never returned?"
Arjun didn't answer. He just stared back at Dev, his gaze too calm, too unnatural—like someone who had already accepted the horrors he was speaking of.
The squad stood in uneasy silence after Arjun's revelation. His voice cut through the tension like ice.
"Because of that drawing."
Rishi blinked, gripping his camera tighter.
"What… what was in that drawing, bro?"
Sameer, curiosity and fear in his tone, leaned in.
"Yeah, tell us. What kind of drawing?"
Arjun's eyes darkened. His voice was low, flat, carrying an unnatural weight.
"It isn't a simple drawing. It's a door. A pathway. To a completely different world… or something worse."
Dev's smirk twitched. His eyes sharpened like knives.
"And how do you know that, bro? Don't tell me you've seen it before."
Arjun's gaze didn't waver.
"I was in that art class… when she drew it. I saw it with my own eyes."
The air went heavy. Sameer swallowed hard.
"So… what should we do now?"
Arjun's reply came without hesitation.
"We get that drawing. And when we find it—" his tone chilled further, "—I'll destroy it with my mantras."
Dev chuckled, breaking the tension with his trademark grin.
"Bro… you're a damn magician."
Arjun ignored the jab and turned, beginning to walk toward the corridor. His footsteps echoed.
"Wait—" Sameer called out, stepping forward. "Where are you going, bro? Shouldn't we stick together? It's safer. And you're the only one who knows what that drawing looks like."
Arjun paused mid-step. Slowly, his head tilted back toward them, his eyes shadowed. His voice dripped with disdain.
"Together…? With you dumb people?" He scoffed. "We should split and search. I know you three never had the guts to walk alone in a haunted place."
He lifted one hand from his pocket and traced a shape in the air.
"The drawing looks like… circles. Patterns within circles. Like this."
Dev smirked again, refusing to let Arjun's coldness win.
"As expected from a brat."
Arjun froze. His voice lowered, sharp as a blade.
"…What did you say?"
Dev stepped closer, grin widening.
"Nothing true, bro."
For a moment, the tension crackled like static between them. Then Arjun stuffed his hands back into his pockets, turned without a word, and walked into the dark corridor.
The squad watched as his figure disappeared into the shadows… and for a split second, faint reddish light flickered in his eyes.
Rishi was recording Arjun's disappearance into the darkness with his camera and said,"Bro, his entry and exit are both badass."
Dev smirked and replied,"Obviously, bro. It would be badass—I'm the one who taught him."
Sameer and Rishi exchanged a glance, silently thinking what the heck, and then laughed quietly.
Sameer asked,"Bro, what should we do now?"
Dev replied,"We should go and find that drawing piece."
Rishi adjusted his camera lens and said,"All right, let's move on."
Scene shifts to Aman's group.As they were searching the room, the children's singing voice they had heard before was coming from an old tape recorder. They slowly moved towards it.
Rohit asked, "Bro, what the heck? This tape recorder is still playing."
Kabir replied, "Bro, I think the ghosts come up with different ideas each time to scare us… and they think I'll be scared? Huh."Saying this, Kabir kicked the recorder. It slammed against the wall and stopped playing.
Rohit immediately said, "Bro, why did you kick it? Shouldn't it be precious to some ghost? What if they come for revenge on you?"
Kabir froze for a second, then said, "Bro, are you with me or with those brats?"
After this, they continued searching, but couldn't find anything else related to the incident.
Aman finally said, "Let's move on to the next rooms. There's nothing here."Rohit and Kabir nodded.
They walked into the corridor towards another classroom.
But the scene shifted back to the tape recorder…
The children's song began to play again—only this time, the sound glitched, breaking into distorted fragments.
Suddenly, a strange deep, guttural voice took over the recorder. It began to sing in a slow, haunting rhythm, as if mocking the children's tune.
The empty room vibrated faintly with the unnatural sound, and the recorder's reels spun wildly even though it was broken.
Aman's group was walking through the dark corridor when suddenly Aman stopped.Kabir, who was just behind him, bumped hard into his back.
Kabir: "Bro, kindly say when you're gonna stop. My ribs ain't made of steel."Rohit chuckled at that, but Aman didn't respond.
Aman (serious, whispering): "Shh… I heard a noise."
Both Kabir and Rohit went silent, ears straining. For a moment, only the hum of darkness. Then faintly—soft, broken sobbing.
Rohit (nervously): "Bro… it sounds like someone's crying. And it's coming from ahead."Kabir (rolling his eyes): "Obviously. These bratty school kids even bully ghost kids now."
Aman gave him a calm look.
Aman: "Let's go check it out."Kabir (groaning): "Seriously, bro? That's just some bullied ghost kid."Aman (firmly, calm but strong): "Maybe. Or maybe it's a real person. Who knows? Either way… helping people is my rule to live life."
Kabir sighed dramatically.
Kabir: "Fine, bro. Let's go save that ghost kid from her bullies."
They started walking towards the sound. The crying grew clearer.
Rohit (whispering to Kabir): "Bro… you sure it's a ghost being bullied?"Kabir (nodding like a sage): "Yep. There was this one kid in our school who always bullied others. I bet it's her ghost. I called her 'Dora the Mocker.'"
Rohit burst out laughing.
Rohit: "Bro, you're kinda funny at giving names."Aman (cutting in, serious): "We've reached."
They stopped. A signboard hung crooked on the door. Kabir squinted.
Kabir (eyes wide): "Bro… it says Girls Washroom. No way. I'm not entering that."
Aman didn't even flinch. He raised his fist and slammed it against the board. The piece that read "Girls" cracked and fell off, leaving just "Washroom."
Kabir stood there, mouth open.
Kabir: "Bro… if you asked me kindly, I wouldn't have declined. Why the hell did you smash the board?!"
Aman then said, "Let's enter."Kabir groaned, "Fine… but if a ghost girl drags me by the ear, I'm blaming you, bro."Rohit just nodded silently, adjusting his flashlight with a nervous smile.
The three of them slowly pushed the door open. A faint creak echoed through the empty corridor as the washroom came into view—dusty mirrors, cracked tiles, and faint water dripping somewhere in the back. The crying sound grew louder, more heart-wrenching.