📖 Book Title: The Seventeen on the Unknown Island
Chapter One: The Beginning of Darkness
It was a deep, silent night.
There was no moon in the sky, and darkness covered everything like a heavy blanket. In the distance, the sound of waves crashing against the shore echoed through the air.
Suddenly, Arif woke up.
He felt something was wrong.
His body was lying on cold sand. The air felt strange, and a chilling wind brushed against his skin.
Arif slowly opened his eyes.
At first, he couldn't see anything. The darkness was so thick that even his own hands were invisible.
He forced himself to sit up.
"Where am I…?" he whispered.
His throat was dry, and his voice sounded weak.
After a few moments, his eyes began to adjust.
And that's when he saw them.
People.
Lying all around him.
Arif quickly stood up.
"Hey! Wake up! Everyone, wake up!" he shouted, panic rising in his voice.
One by one, they began to move.
Riya was the first to wake up. She rubbed her eyes and said,
"What happened…? Where are we?"
Then Sohan sat up, looking confused.
"This doesn't look like a room… we're outside!"
Slowly, everyone woke up.
Seventeen people.
But none of them knew how they got there.
Tanmay quickly pulled out his phone.
The screen lit up — but there was no signal.
"No network… nothing at all…" he said quietly.
Rakib frowned.
"Is this some kind of prank?"
No one answered.
At that moment, Arnab suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted,
"Look over there!"
Everyone turned.
Far away, they could see the ocean.
Endless water in every direction.
They were on an island.
A cold wave of fear passed through everyone.
Nira's voice trembled.
"Are we… trapped here?"
No one had an answer.
Arif took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
"Listen, panicking won't help. First, we need to figure out how we got here."
Riya slowly said,
"I think… we were all on a bus…"
"There was a bright light…"
"And then… nothing."
Everyone went silent.
Many of them started remembering the same thing.
Suddenly, Shubho looked down at the sand.
"Did anyone notice something strange?"
"What?" someone asked.
Shubho swallowed.
"We are seventeen people…"
"But there are eighteen sets of footprints."
Everyone looked down.
The sand clearly showed multiple footprints.
They started counting.
One… two… three…
Eighteen.
There was one extra set.
The atmosphere turned cold.
Farhan snapped angrily,
"This is nonsense! Someone is trying to scare us!"
But Raj, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke softly,
"But… there's no one else here…"
At that exact moment—
A sound came from the bushes.
"Rustle… rustle…"
Everyone stepped back.
Arman picked up a thick branch and moved forward.
"Who's there?! Come out!"
No response.
Only the wind.
Tanmay slowly approached the bushes.
He reached out and pushed the leaves aside.
And then he saw it.
A piece of paper.
He picked it up and handed it to Arif.
Arif's hands were shaking.
He opened it slowly.
And read the words written on it—
"One of you is not real."
Silence.
Nira's eyes filled with tears.
"Does that mean… someone among us is fake?"
Rakib let out a nervous laugh.
"This is stupid! Someone is messing with us!"
But Laboni, who had been quiet until now, spoke in a low voice,
"What if it's true?"
No one said anything.
Deya suddenly started crying.
"I don't want to stay here… I want to go home…"
Arif took a deep breath.
"We stay together. No one goes alone. That's the only way we stay safe."
Everyone nodded slowly.
But fear had already entered their hearts.
"One of us… is not real."
The night grew darker.
And far away…
Someone was watching them.
But none of the seventeen realized it…
(To be continued…)