Episode 01

It was a bright sunny morning when Abhay and Vipul reached Mussoorie. It was a long drive from their place. After the success of their last adventure, they had decided to take a break.

'Ah-ha!! Finally, Abhay we have reached, and I thought you had lost track. Well done, my friend.' Vipul spoke spreading his arms in front of the car.

Their bodies ached after driving the entire night. They stood near the sunrise point, looking at the golden rays of the rising sun spread across the valley. Mussoorie is aptly named the Queen of the hills, in the foothills of the Garhwal Himalayan range. Rich biodiversity with many species of plants, trees, shrubs and wildlife makes it a perfect destination for both of them to have a silent weekend. They stood silently at the point and watched the sunrise slowly from the gaps of the mountains.

'This is beauty, my friend.' a visibly happy Abhay said.

They both kept on staring at the beauty of Mussoorie, unaware of what are they going to face in the coming time. After a memorable view of the sunrise, they started to move towards their hotel. It was a homestay property situated on the outskirts of the town. They started moving towards it, crossing the small curved lanes. Small kids were playing all around, ladies sitting outside their homes and working, some were getting ready to go to the fields, the men were already on the streets for their work. It was quite a busy day for the holiday season, but this is the best part of the holiday season. As they moved left towards a sharp corner, they came across a large lane that had houses on both sides. They moved straight towards the end. The houses ended after some time. At the end of the lane, there was a house. As they crossed it, suddenly something flashed in front of Abhay's eyes. He quickly pressed on the brake and looked outside.

'What happened, Abhay?' asked Vipul.

'Ah... Nothing. Something flashed in front of me.' said a visibly shaken Abhay.

Abhay kept his head on the steering wheel and tried to think about it. All he could remember are some flashes of someone from behind walking around in a room. He started sweating.

'Here, take some water. Let me drive from here. You take some rest.' said Vipul by handing him over the bottle of water.

With it, Vipul started driving towards their hotel as a pair of eyes watched them from the house. The curtains were again closed after they passed away.

'I hope you are not coming up with some new vision. We are on a holiday.' Vipul said as they sat in front of the bonfire with their drinks.

'I think it was because of lack of sleep. We kept on driving the entire night. No issues at all. Let's have a great weekend.' said Abhay.

'You know what, Abhay. The hills have their own secrets. I think we should not disturb the serenity of the hills.' said Vipul.

Abhay nodded in agreement, and the glasses clinked as they started talking with people sitting around the bonfire.

***

Episode 02

It was a dark hallway, which was sparsely populated with furniture. The wooden floor made a creaking sound as he slowly moved ahead. He could see nothing. As he was slowly waving his hand in front of him to know if the path ahead of him is clear or not, he felt something pass by him. The air turned icy. He could feel cold air coming out of his mouth. He turned around and saw nothing. It was cold and silent. He was freezing. As he reached the end of the hallway, he stumbled upon something and fell near the dining table. He looked around. A fading bulb lit the entire room. He was shocked to see someone lying on the floor in a pool of blood in the hallway. He dragged himself back and crawled near the refrigerator. A huge butcher knife had been stabbed in the back of the person, lying with his face on the floor in his own pool of blood. He froze there when suddenly the lights started to blink. As the lights went dark, he saw a face with blood oozing out from the edge of his forehead, sore lips, eyes without eyeballs, and the lights came again. There was no one in front of him. He was shaking in fear. He was not able to erase that image from his mind when suddenly; the lights went out.

He stood up and tried to move out when something caught him by his throat and pushed him towards the wall beside the sink. The face came near, tilted his head towards the right and kept on staring at him. He had lost his voice when he saw a centipede covered in blood coming out of the empty eye socket and moved down towards the nose, which was half mutilated. The face said something inaudible. The grip around his throat tightened as he was finding it difficult to breathe, and as the lights again went off, his eyes opened. He was in the hotel bed and sweating. He looked around and saw Vipul sleeping on the other end. The clock struck 2:19 am as he sat in the bed looking out of the window.

'Wake up, Vipul, Wake up.' shouted Abhay

Vipul woke up rubbing his eyes and spoke in a sleepy tone, 'What happened?'

'I had another one.' said Abhay, looking at Vipul.

Hearing it, Vipul came back into his senses and asked, 'Are you sure?'

'Yes, I am. I don't know where it was, but I think it has to do something with this place only.' said Abhay.

'Ok... Ok, calm down and let's note down what you saw.' said Vipul.

With it, they both sat down. Abhay started narrating the entire incident in details while Vipul noted it down, pointing out certain things in Abhay's vision.

'A dark hallway with some furniture, a dead body lying at the end of the hallway is a room which looked like a dining room. Are you sure this has to do something with Mussoorie only? Maybe we can call Madhav sir and inform him.' said Vipul.

'No, Vipul. I am sure this is about this place. Trust me on it, Vipul.' said a confident Abhay.

'Ok, I believe you, but how are we going to search that place?' questioned Vipul.

'I have an idea. First thing in the morning, let's go to the place where I had a sudden flash. I think that flash at that point, and my vision is somehow related to a house in that place only.' said Abhay.

With it, they again lay down, switched off the lights. Vipul went back to sleep, but Abhay lay wide awake thinking about what he saw.

***

Episode 03

Abhay was not sure regarding the house. They reached the place where he had the flash and looked around. They parked their car at a distance. It was not difficult to recognise the house. One house stood out from others. That house gave an eerie feeling as they crossed the house.

'Something about this house is not right. I think this may be the house.' said Abhay.

Before Vipul could say anything, they saw a small girl coming out of the house. She was carrying a small doll and had a barbie backpack. Following her was a young lady, maybe in her early 30s, locking the door and coming out of the house. Both of them sat inside a car and moved out.

'Are you sure this is the same house?' Vipul inquired.

'Yes, I think so. I have a feeling about this house.' said Abhay.

'But I do not see anything nothing wrong in this house. Just an innocent girl and her mother going out. Let us check the houses on the other end.' Vipul said.

'No, Vipul. This is the house. I could feel someone was watching us from this house yesterday when we stopped here.' said Abhay.

Abhay dialled a number, 'Hello sir, how are you?'

A loud voice greeted Abhay from the other end. "How are you, Ghostbuster? Don't tell me you have a new case and you need my help.'

'You are right, sir. Actually, we are in Mussoorie.' said Abhay and explained the entire story.

'This is tricky, but maybe I can help you. Give me some time, and meanwhile, you enjoy the place.' said Madhav and disconnected the call.

'You really think, sir, can come out with something in this case.' Vipul asked.

'There may be a slim chance in it but let's hope for the best.' said Abhay

With it, they moved their vehicle from that place to avoid suspicion. After an hour, Abhay received a call. It was Inspector Madhav.

'Hello, Hi Abhay. I spoke to some of my fellow officers in Mussoorie. In recent days, there has been no FIR related to suspicious deaths or missing persons. Some minor cases do not fall under your case category. Maybe no one filed a complaint related to it. If you want any help, my batchmate during my training days, Shashank is posted there. I can ask him to accompany you.' said Madhav.

'Thank you, sir. We will let you know when required.' said Abhay.

'Now what?' Vipul asked.

They stood looking at the vast Himalayas from the Lal Tibba. Abhay kept quiet and said nothing. As he looked around, suddenly he saw that face. He was staring at Abhay, but the irony was he had no eyes. It seemed as if he was inside a dark space. He looked around and felt rocky structures all around. He wanted to stand, but something was holding him, and he fell to the floor. Something pulled him inside, and he reached near the end. As he was trying to free himself, he felt something. As he moved his hands more, he could feel a mutilated face, and he fell back in fear. At that moment there was a bright flash, and he could see a dead body lying in front of him and a white shadow floating in front of the body. He did not dare look at the shadow but tried looking at the body and realised the face resembled the face in his vision. Slowly he looked up to see the shadow and screamed in fear as he saw the same face with blood dripping out from the entire body. The shadow came near him and said something audible. A sudden flash and he was in the same house. This time he was standing near the living room. He saw a man limping across the hallway towards the dining room. The entire house was dimly lit. Heavy rains dominated the sound inside the house. He could only see glimpses of what was happening when the lightning struck in the sky. At a flash he saw the man limping towards the dining hall, the next flash he saw a lady running from behind with a butcher knife. In the next flash, he sees the man on the ground and the lady stabbing him from behind as blood splattered all over. She stabbed him repeatedly and finally stabbed deep inside and left the butcher knife in his body. His body trembled as he crawled painfully towards his last breath. Blood was oozing out from his back, and he was vomiting blood. He breathed his last in his own pool of blood. Abhay looked at the lady as she was trembling and was sitting in the room's corner. Suddenly he heard a large scream, and he snapped back to the present. He fell to the floor as Vipul tried to hold him.

'Hey, what happened? Drink some water.' said Vipul.

'I know now, Vipul.' said Abhay.

They both looked at each other.

***

Episode 04

They parked their car in front of that house and started to move towards the house. A pair of eyes were observing them from inside the house. They rang the doorbell and waited. After some time, the door unlocked, and the lady stood in front of them,

'Yes, how can I help you?' asked the lady.

Abhay started, 'Hello, we happened to pass by this area. We saw your house, and it is so beautiful. We wanted to appreciate you directly, and that is why we came over here.'

"Thank you, and I have designed it myself. Hello, my name is Neha, and I am an Architect." She smiled and replied.

How casually she is talking, even though she knows that she is a murderer. As they were talking, suddenly they heard a loud screaming noise, and she ran inside. As Abhay and Vipul ran inside after Neha, the door closed automatically with a loud thud. Before they could go upstairs, Neha came down with a smile.

'I thought I heard my daughter scream and when I ran to her room, I realised that this morning only I had left her in her friend's home for the weekend. Did you also heard a sound?' said Neha.

Both nodded in agreement. As they were talking, suddenly the lights blinked.

'Wh... Who is it?' stammered Neha as the blinking continued.

They slowly moved towards the dining hall. Suddenly a knife flew and struck the wall beside her. She screamed in fear and hugged Abhay.

'What is going on here?' Neha spoke in a trembling voice.

With it, the lights went out, and things started to disperse. A faint howling sound echoed in the entire house. The three tried to move towards the entrance door when something blocked them. As they were making their way, suddenly something dragged her inside to the hallway. Her screaming echoed and slowly faded away as she moved farther away in the hallway. Abhay and Vipul ran towards her. They reached the end of the hallway but found no signs of her, and with it things became normal, lights were restored, things were in place, and as they moved towards the living room, they saw the entrance door was open. It started to rain.

'We can't leave this place. We have to help her.' Said Abhay.

Vipul was still in shock to say anything. He slid down on the floor and sat down, shaking in fear. Abhay slowly moved towards the hallway, which was dark. Flashes of light were blinking slowly from the broken tube lights. Big splattered raindrops were striking the glass panels of the windows with the occasional lightning. As he came to the end of the hallway, he saw Neha lying on the floor unconscious with shattered glass pieces around her, blood dripping from her left side of the forehead, lips and various cuts in both her hands. Abhay saw her lying still from the faint light of the blinking bulbs. At that moment, he saw something strange. Her daughter was standing near the stairs looking at them. She said she had left her daughter with her friends and there she is. Everything is a lie.

Abhay slowly came near her, and with utmost care lifted her from the debris and moved her towards the hall. Vipul was now ok from the shock and helped Abhay in putting Neha on the sofa.

'I think I saw her daughter upstairs. I am not sure if it's she or I imagined her at that place.' said Abhay.

'Let me check while you keep an eye on Neha.' said Vipul.

After that, Vipul moved upstairs to rescue the daughter. She was sitting in the corner of her room with her doll in hand and covering her face in her thighs. Abhay was not lying. It is her daughter, and Neha lied to us.

'Come with me, please. Your mother is downstairs.' said Vipul.

She refused to go with him.

'It's ok, don't worry. My friend Abhay and myself, Vipul are here to help you.' said Vipul.

Saying it, Vipul forwarded his hand towards her. She was still reluctant but gave her hand. They hurried towards the hall where they could still see Neha lying on the sofa injured. Abhay was searching for the first aid kit. She slowly came to her senses.

'Do not move and tell me where is the first aid kit?' asked Abhay.

Neha said nothing. She was shocked to see her daughter standing in the corner with Vipul. She did not say anything.

'Neha, you are bleeding. Tell me, where is the first aid kit?' asked Abhay.

'It is on the top drawer on the shelf beside the refrigerator.' said Neha.

Abhay brought the first aid kit and started to dress her wounds.

'So you lied to us about your daughter.' enquired Abhay.

'I... I did not know you, and I did not want to let you know about my family. So, I lied to you.' said Neha abruptly.

'It's ok. We understand. Now tell us the truth, who is he and why is he after you?' said Abhay in a serious tone.

She mumbled something. Vipul tried opening the door, but to his horror, he found out that the door was locked. They were all stuck inside. He checked his mobile but found out there was no network inside. They both looked at each other while the lights kept on blinkering and slow moaning sounds were heard all over the place. This was going to be a long night for them.

***

Episode 05

A few moments later, the house became normal. Vipul ran towards the door and tried to open it again. It opened. They all came out and moved towards the place where Abhay and Vipul were staying. Vipul dressed her wounds completely. Hot coffees were ordered.

Abhay asked again, 'Please tell us from the beginning. As of now, you must have known we never came to see the house, we were there to help you.'

Neha slowly sipped her coffee and looked at her daughter, who was sleeping inside the blanket.

'It all started a few months back when we shifted to this place. I had decided to leave my old past behind and start a new life over here. I took this place and started a new chapter in my life. But after some time, a man started visiting us regularly on the pretext of something or the other. He was short, puckered face, thinning hairline and shabbily dressed. First, I thought he was someone from the colony who is here for some work, but when he kept on coming repeatedly, I had to ignore him. I stopped answering the door when he came. I did not want to get into any trouble, so I did not inform anyone and thought maybe after some time if I ignore him, he would stop troubling us. But that did not happen. One night as we completed our dinner and were getting ready to sleep, I heard a doorbell. I asked my daughter to go upstairs, and I checked, and it was the same grumpy man standing outside. He kept on ringing the bell. After repeatedly ringing, I asked what he wanted. He responded by saying that he got injured while working nearby and needed help. He promised he would go away after that. I didn't believe him, but he showed me his hand, which was bleeding. I should not have to believe him.' Neha paused for a moment and drank water.

'I opened up the door and let him in and asked him to sit before I went inside to bring the first aid kit. When I came back, he was not in his seat, and when I looked around, suddenly he came from the back and held me tightly. He closed my mouth with one hand and dragged me inside. He looked small, but he was very strong as he held both my hands with his single hand and cupped my mouth with the other. I remember his exact words that, from the day I had shifted to this place, he was looking out for me. Now he got the chance and will not let it go. With it, he slowly proceeded forward. He was all over me. I was shaking in fear. I could do nothing. He stuffed a cloth piece in my mouth and proceeded forward to remove my clothes when suddenly I don't know from where I got the strength, and I kicked him hard. As he fell on the side, I ran towards the dining room and picked up the butcher knife. I wanted to warn him and asking him to leave. I still did not want any trouble. If only I would have informed the police earlier, I would not have faced all these today. But I didn't. He got up slowly. He had an evil grin on his thick lips. He scratched his chin with his hands as he proceeded towards me. I tried to warn him, but he thought I was bluffing and when he kept on coming closer, I closed my eyes and moved the butcher knife towards him. I heard a loud sound, and when I opened my eyes, I saw him bleeding.' Neha paused again and looked outside through the window.

'He had a long cut from his chest till stomach. His white shirt was slowly turning into red. He fell to the floor. I advanced towards him. Seeing me coming towards him, he dragged himself back. I asked him to leave my home premises, but he still had not lost hope. He got up and advanced towards me with full fury. I ducked as