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The moment Aryan stepped into Room 13 again, a wave of nausea hit him. It wasn’t like before. The air was heavier. Greasy. As if soaked in something ancient. The wallpaper peeled in long strips, curling like burnt skin. The bulb above flickered, then steadied — but not with light. With a dim pulse.
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Like a heartbeat.
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He walked in, the key still clutched in his hand. The door shut behind him, softly this time, as though it was breathing.
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Everything in the room was exactly as he remembered it, yet completely wrong. The mirror had a new crack, one that hadn't been there before. The bed was made — military perfect — but something breathed underneath the sheets. Slow. Rhythmic.
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Aryan didn’t pull the blanket.
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Instead, his eyes locked on the old rotary phone on the desk. It began to ring.
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He approached slowly.
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Rrrrring.
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Rrrrring.
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He picked it up.
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“Did you think it would be that easy?” said a voice — his own.
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He dropped the phone.
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The sheets on the bed exploded upward. A figure, wrapped in blood-soaked cloth, sat up. No eyes. No face. Just teeth. Chattering. Fast. Angry.
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He ran.
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But Room 13 didn’t let him.
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---
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The walls elongated. The door stretched away from him. No matter how fast he moved, it drifted farther. As if time here was liquid. The window slammed shut. The light dimmed. And then the voice returned.
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“You saw. You forgot. Now you must remember.”
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Suddenly, the television in the corner crackled on, though Aryan hadn’t noticed it before. Static. Then a flickering image:
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A younger Aryan. A girl. Room 13. Locked from outside.
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She was screaming.
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Aryan — the boy — was watching from the peephole. Unmoving. Not helping.
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Tears welled up in his eyes.
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He had buried this. Suppressed it so deep, even dreams couldn’t reach it.
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Until now.
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The bed creature whispered: "We all watched. You watched. Now Room 13 watches you."
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He turned toward the mirror.
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There were eyes in it.
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Dozens.
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Watching. Blinking. Some crying. Others burning.
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One pair — his.
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He reached toward the mirror, trembling.
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And it shattered.
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But the glass didn’t fall. The shards hovered midair, rearranging.
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Into a door.
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A door marked: “Guilt.”
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And behind it, a girl’s voice said:
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"I’m still waiting, Aryan. You promised you'd come back..."
To Be Continued...
Chapter 6 coming tomorrow....
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