THE SECRET ROOM

H

# **The Secret Room**

It was nearly 3 AM. The world outside was silent, yet Rudra lay awake, his mind restless. No matter how much he tried, sleep refused to come. Something was wrong. He could feel it.

Earlier that day, he had found something strange—a key. Not just any key, but an old bronze one, covered in intricate carvings. It had been hidden inside a wooden box in the dusty storeroom of his ancestral home.

This house had belonged to his family for generations. His grandfather had lived here for most of his life, and after he passed away, Rudra’s father inherited it. But no one had lived here in years. Now, with renovations underway, Rudra had come to stay, tasked with sorting through the remnants of his family’s past.

The key had consumed his thoughts all evening. He had tried it on every locked drawer and cabinet, but nothing fit. Then, as he was about to give up, he noticed something—an old door at the end of the second-floor hallway.

Had that door always been there?

The wooden surface was coated in dust, its edges lined with cobwebs. His pulse quickened as he approached it. The lock looked ancient, rusted with time.

With hesitant fingers, he slid the key into the lock and turned it.

*Click.*

The lock released effortlessly.

The door opened.

### **The Forgotten Chamber**

Beyond the door, a narrow stone staircase spiraled downward into darkness. A cold, musty breeze drifted up from below. Rudra hesitated, gripping his phone tightly as he turned on the flashlight. The beam of light illuminated rough stone walls, etched with strange, unrecognizable symbols.

He swallowed hard and took a step forward.

The air grew colder with every step. The silence was unsettling, thick and suffocating.

At the bottom of the stairs, he found himself in a hidden chamber. The space was small, barely larger than a storage room, yet its presence sent a chill through him.

Wooden shelves lined the walls, filled with books so old their pages crumbled at the touch. A large wooden table stood in the center, littered with yellowed papers and, at its heart, an ornate, locked box.

Something about the box unsettled him. It was crafted from dark wood, reinforced with metal, and bore carvings eerily similar to those on the key.

His breath hitched as he reached out.

His fingers brushed against its surface—

And the air shifted.

The room, once still, now thrummed with an unseen energy. The candlelight flickered violently, though there was no breeze. A whisper echoed through the chamber, low and guttural.

*"You should not have come."*

Rudra’s body stiffened. He spun around, heart hammering.

No one was there.

Yet, the shadows on the walls seemed to move.

A sudden, violent *slam* rang through the chamber.

The door at the top of the stairs had shut on its own.

Panic surged through him. He bolted up the stairs, throwing his weight against the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

The whispering grew louder, the shadows stretching toward him. The air grew thick, suffocating. Rudra’s fingers trembled as he pounded against the door.

Then, something cold brushed against his shoulder.

A scream caught in his throat.

Slowly, he turned.

Two glowing eyes stared back at him from the darkness.

### **The Missing Man**

The next morning, the renovation crew arrived as scheduled. They knocked on Rudra’s door, but there was no response. His belongings were still inside—his phone, wallet, even his shoes. Nothing was missing.

Except for him.

But something was different.

At the end of the hallway, where there had once been a smooth wall, a door now stood.

A door that hadn’t been there before.

And if one listened closely, faint whispers could still be heard from behind it.

### **The End. Or was it?** 

Th