The whisper in the dark room faded, but the fear remained.
Rahul, Geeta and Somya stood frozen for a moment. The old notebook still lay open on the table, its pages slightly moving as if someone had just touched them.
Rahul broke the silence first.
" We should leave.... right now.
But Rahul shook his head.
" No, he said quietly . " We didn't come this far to run away."
Geeta looked at the notebook again. " There must be something important in here."
She carefully turned the next page.
Instead of writing, this page had a map of the school building . Strange red marks were drawn in different places- the library, the science lab, and the old storage room near the back staircase.
Rahul frowned. " Why would you someone mark these places?"
I leaned closer to the page." Maybe these are the place where...things happened."
Just then, Riya noticed something else.
" At the bottom ," she said softly. " There's a note."
The note read:
" The truth is hidden where the shadow never leaves."
Rahul looked confused. " What does that even mean?"
Somya thought for a moment.
" The back staircase, she suddenly said. "It's always dark there. Even during the day."
Riya's eyes widened." You're right."
Without wasting another second, the three of them quitely left the hidden room and hurried through the corridor. The school building was empty, and every sound of their footsteps echoed loudly.
When they reached the back staircase, the air felt colder.
Rahul turned on his flashlight again.
Something was different.
On the wall beside the staircase was a small metal panel they had never noticed before.
Somya slowly touched it.
" It's loose," she whispered.
Mukesh carefully pulled the panel open.
Behind it was a small compartment.....and inside the compartment was an old cassette recorder.
Rahul stared at it in surprise.
" A recorder? Who would hide this here?"
There was a label on the tape.
Somya read it aloud.
"Evidence - Do not erase."
Mukesh felt a strange tension building in his chest.
He pressed the play button.
For a few seconds, only static could be heard.
Then suddenly -
A terrified voice began speaking on the tape.
And the voice sounded very familiar.