Morning brought no peace.
Arjun tried to leave the village, but the road had disappeared, replaced by a dense forest that seemed endless.
The villagers avoided him until an old woman finally spoke.
"It knows your name now."
That evening, the village priest arrived carrying a rusty iron key.
"This opens your basement."
"My grandfather said never to open it."
The priest replied,
"He locked it to keep something inside. If you don't open it before the seventh night... it will open itself."
As darkness fell, the house began to breathe.
The walls expanded and contracted like lungs.
The old clock stopped forever at 3:03.
Then came the knocking.
Not at the front door.
Inside the walls.
Hundreds of knocks echoed through every room.
The basement door slowly unlocked itself.
Arjun descended the wooden stairs with a flashlight.
The basement stretched impossibly far into darkness.
Shelves lined the walls.
On each shelf sat glass jars.
Inside every jar floated a human eye.
All of them opened together.
At the end of the room stood a giant mirror.
But it didn't reflect Arjun.
It reflected someone else.
Someone smiling.
Someone wearing Arjun's face.
The reflection silently pointed behind him.
A cold breath touched his neck.
"You finally came back."
When Arjun turned around...
No one was there.
But his reflection had disappeared.