A technician flipped a switch.
A sharp crack—like a lightning bolt in a coffin.
The girl’s body convulsed violently, jerking against her restraints as if being ripped from within.
Her hair flung back with the force, and in that moment, I saw her face.
Vedika.
But not the Vedika I remembered. Not the girl from sixteen years ago.
Her face bore the scars of unspoken nightmares. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, marred with bruises and fresh wounds. Her eyes... her eyes locked on mine through the tiny window—wide, pleading, and brimming with a pain words could never describe.
Another shock.
Her body seized again.
My hands clenched into fists. I couldn’t watch anymore.
I turned away, stepping back into the corridor, trying to breathe, trying to forget the sight of her body writhing under those merciless pulses. And then—silence.
The doctors emerged a few minutes later, discussing the session in hushed tones as they walked past me, unaware of who I was or why I stood frozen there.
Now was my chance.
I slipped into the room.
Vedika lay still, unconscious, her chest rising and falling in ragged breaths. I approached, uncertain if I should speak, or simply stand in mourning for what she had become.
Then—her eyes opened.
In a single, fragile glance, she recognized me.
And then—tears.
Silent, uncontrollable, cascading down her cheeks.
Tears that said everything she could not.
Tears that whispered:
"You're here... Finally... Someone came for me."
And in that moment, I knew—
No matter how deep this darkness ran, I couldn't leave her there.
Just then, the ward boy entered and said firmly, “Sir, you shouldn’t be in here. If the doctors see you, they’ll be furious.” He glanced at the unconscious girl and added, “She’ll be moved to another room tonight. You can meet her there.”
Vedika was transferred to a different room—one deeper in the asylum. The night grew darker, heavier, and longer—as if dawn had been swallowed whole, never to return. It felt like time itself had stopped breathing.
A little later, the same ward boy returned. His face looked pale in the dim corridor light. “You can meet her now,” he said, “but honestly, sir, I don’t know what you expect to talk about. She hasn’t spoken a proper word in years. According to her records, she’s been here for fourteen long years. No one really knows what happened to her. All she ever mutters is—‘He will take me... He will take me...’”
He paused, leaned in slightly, and whispered, “I’ve been working here for ten years, sir... and I still don’t know who this ‘he’ is. No one does. And do you know what’s even stranger?” He looked around cautiously, then continued. “You’re the only one who’s come to see her in over a decade. In the early days, some relatives visited... but they stopped coming. And now, after ten years—you’re here.”
He pointed to a room at the end of the hallway. “That’s her room, sir. You can go in, but I’d advise you—don’t get too close. And one more thing…” His voice lowered into a chilling tone, “Are you sure… you’re not the one she’s been waiting for? The one who will take her away?”
And with that cryptic warning, the ward boy turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving behind an echo of silence and suspicion.
Just then, the ward boy stepped in, his expression tense. “Sir, you shouldn’t be in here. If the doctors catch you, there’ll be trouble.” He glanced nervously at Vedika and added, “We’re shifting her to another room tonight. You can meet her there.”
Vedika was moved.
And the night… oh, the night only grew darker and longer—as if it had forgotten how to end. The sky outside was pitch black, heavy with rain and silence, stretching endlessly like a tunnel with no light at the end.
A while later, the ward boy returned. This time, his voice was softer, almost hesitant. “You can meet her now. But sir… what could you possibly say to her? She doesn’t talk. Not a word. According to her records, she’s been here for fourteen years. No one really knows what happened to her. All she ever whispers is... ‘He will take me… He will take me…’”
He paused, his eyes scanning the empty corridor, then leaned in with a whisper that prickled the back of my neck. “I’ve been working here for ten years. And in all this time, no one—no one—has ever figured out who this ‘he’ is. It’s a mystery. But here’s the strangest part…”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“In all these years, you’re the only one who’s come to see her. At first, when she was admitted, some relatives visited. But after a year, they stopped. No letters. No calls. Nothing. And now… after ten years, you show up.”
He gestured toward the room at the end of the hallway, a door marked with chipped paint and silence. “This is her room. You can go in, but stay at a distance. And one more thing…”
He paused, his voice low and deliberate.
“Are you sure you’re not the one she’s been waiting for all this time? The one who will take her?”
Without waiting for a response, he turned and vanished into the hallway, leaving only the sound of his footsteps—and the heavy question hanging in the air like a curse.
I could barely summon the strength to face Vedika in her current state… but I had no choice. I needed the truth of that day—the truth buried in her broken mind.
As I stepped into her room, a cold draft swept across my face. It felt like someone—or something—was already there, watching.
Vedika lay in the corner, half-conscious, her body frail and defeated. I didn’t need to introduce myself. The moment her eyes met mine, recognition flickered like a dying flame. With a cracked, barely audible whisper, she said, "Save me…"
And then… she collapsed.
I rushed to her side, my eyes tracing the hollow shell she had become. Her skin was pale, marred with bruises and scars, her once-bright spirit now just a flicker buried beneath the weight of torment. I couldn’t bear to see her like this.
As I turned to leave, her hand suddenly grasped mine—ice-cold and trembling. In a voice filled with terror, she murmured, "Please… save me… He will take me..."
My heart froze.
Just then, the ward boy reappeared and moved quickly toward her. "Sir, we can’t keep her here. She’s dangerous… highly unstable. She’s attacked staff before," he said, without emotion, as if she were just another case file.
He began wheeling her out of the room—back to the basement.
And I… I just stood there, motionless.
I sank onto the bench outside her room, my head in my hands, guilt gnawing at me like rot beneath the skin. This is my fault.
If only I had stopped those three friends that day.
If only they hadn't gone there.
Maybe then… none of this would’ve happened.
Maybe Vedika would still be whole.
But it was too late now.
And whatever truth she held inside her… was drowning in the shadows of that cursed basement.
As I made my way to the hospital’s main gate, ready to return to the hotel, a wall of torrential rain greeted me. The downpour was so intense, and the fog so thick, that the world beyond the gate had dissolved into a grey blur.
Just then, the ward boy appeared behind me, his voice cutting through the patter of rain.
“Sir, in this kind of storm, you won’t be able to leave. It’s best you stay here tonight.”
I asked, “Is there any hotel nearby?”
He laughed — a hollow, almost mocking chuckle.
“Hotel? Sir, who would build a hotel or a house in this godforsaken jungle? This place is nothing but wilderness.”
I frowned. “Then what do the hospital staff do in situations like this? Where do they go?”
He shrugged. “No one stays here at night, sir. The staff leave by 4 p.m. every day. It’s too dangerous after dark. The roads vanish into the woods, and this entire area is cut off from the city. Only one guard remains on duty. Tonight is Friday — the night we administer ECT therapy to the patients in Basement-3. That’s the only reason Dr. Nidhi and her team stayed so late. And... I think she stayed to meet you too. She mentioned someone would be coming to see the patient in Room 666.”
With those words, he turned and disappeared into a small building outside the hospital — probably his staff quarters.
I was left alone, with the sound of rain roaring like a raging beast around me.
I found a bench near the gate and sat down, hoping the rain would ease. But even more than the storm outside, something else stirred within me — an unbearable restlessness, an ache to see Vedika again. My mind was spinning, haunted by everything I had seen and heard that night.
Somewhere between thoughts and thunder, sleep crept in without warning. My eyes slowly shut, and I drifted into uneasy slumber, right there on that cold, rusted bench.
Will Vedika, in her broken state, finally reveal the truth of that cursed day?