The silence after the voice vanished was unsettling, like the house had exhaled but wasn’t finished with them yet. For a few minutes, no one spoke. They simply stood in that room, unsure whether they had won… or merely delayed the inevitable.

It was Ragini who broke the stillness. “We need to explore more. If that… thing… didn’t get what it wanted, it’s not over.”

Rohan nodded, jaw tight. “We stick in pairs. No one’s alone.”

Rajesh slung an arm protectively around Deepika. “You mean trios. Guna’s coming with us. We’ll check out the basement.”

Deepika shot a glance at Guna, who was still shaken but nodded. “I’ll be fine. Just… don’t leave me behind.”

Ragini gave a tight smile. “Good. Rohan and I will head upstairs again. I want to know more about that mirror. I think it’s tied to everything here.”

As they split up, the house seemed to shift around them, floorboards moaning, the walls breathing.

***

Ragini and Rohan – The Upper Floor

The staircase groaned as Ragini and Rohan ascended. The upper floor smelled like dust and secrets. Every door they passed seemed to hum, faint and low, like the rooms held their own memories.

They stopped at a locked room at the end of the corridor. Rohan gave it a gentle push—it didn’t budge.

Ragini pulled out a pin from her hair and crouched by the lock. “Been practicing this,” she smirked.

Within seconds, the lock clicked. The door creaked open, revealing a small study. Moonlight filtered through grimy windows. The air was thick with the scent of old paper and mildew. On the far side, there was another mirror—oval, smaller, older.

This one wasn’t cracked.

As Ragini approached it, she gasped.

In the reflection, she and Rohan were not alone.

Standing behind them, clear as day, was the pale woman. But this time… her head was turned toward Rohan.

Ragini reached back—no one was there. The woman in the mirror smiled and mouthed something: “He belongs to me.”

Rohan saw it too. His face went pale. “We need to leave. Now.”

But Ragini couldn’t move. Her eyes locked on the reflection. She felt… drawn in. The edges of the mirror began to shimmer.

***

Rajesh, Deepika, and Guna – The Basement

Meanwhile, the basement door groaned as Rajesh forced it open. A wave of cold air rushed past them, as if the house were exhaling from its rotting lungs.

“Smells like death,” Deepika whispered, holding her nose.

Guna hesitated at the top of the stairs, but Rajesh grabbed a flashlight and began the descent. “Come on. If the answers are anywhere, they’re down here.”

The stairs creaked with every step. The air was thicker, damper. As they reached the bottom, the flashlight illuminated old crates, shelves with strange symbols carved into them, and walls blackened with time.

Then they saw it—a large, circular symbol on the floor. It looked burned into the stone. Around it, five faded candles and a small journal, its leather cover warped from moisture.

Deepika picked it up and opened it slowly. The handwriting was wild, erratic.

“The house demands unity. The house punishes betrayal. Five must enter. Four must remain.”

Guna's voice was barely a whisper. “That’s… us.”

Suddenly, something moved in the darkness. A scraping sound, low and guttural. The flashlight flickered.

Rajesh raised the light—and a shadow darted across the wall.

Guna stumbled back. “Did you see that?!”

Rajesh didn’t answer. His gaze was fixed on the symbol. The center of it was bleeding. Thick, black liquid seeped from the cracks, forming words in the stone.

“One of you already belongs to me.”

Deepika’s hand trembled as she touched Rajesh’s arm. “What does that mean?”

Before he could respond, the floor began to tremble beneath them. A distant scream echoed from above—it was Ragini.

***