The house was no longer just haunted—it was alive. Breathing. Watching.

The air shifted with each step the group took, thick with rot and dread. Somewhere upstairs, Guna—or what remained of him—was moving. Slowly. Confidently.

“Split up again and we’re dead,” Rajesh whispered, pressing the group into the corner of the grand hallway. “We stay together.”

“But he knows this place now,” Rohan murmured. “She knows it.”

Deepika’s fingers were shaking. “She’s using Guna like a puppet. But he’s still in there. I know it. I saw his eyes, just for a second.”

A loud, dragging sound echoed from the hall above. Wood scraping on wood. Guna’s silhouette appeared at the edge of the staircase—shirt soaked in shadow, his face cast in flickering amber light.

His mouth curled into an unnatural smile.

“You don’t have to run,” he said, his voice calm. Too calm. “I’m still your friend. You can trust me.”

The way he said it sent a shiver down all their spines.

He took a step down.

“I remember each of you... your secrets. Your fears. She showed me things... things even you don't know about yourselves.”

He was toying with them.

And then—

He charged.

They scattered.

***

Meanwhile – Guna’s Soul

In the dark corners of his own mind, Guna floated—disconnected from his body. No longer in the house, not truly. He was somewhere else. Somewhere ancient.

He stood on a stone floor, cold and wet with blood. Torches flickered on moss-covered walls. And in front of him: her.

Not the ghost. Not the twisted specter he had seen in the mirror.

This was her before.

A girl, no older than twenty. Dressed in ceremonial white, wrists bound in red thread. Her face—serene. Her eyes—empty.

Around her stood five people. Hooded. One held a blade.

And then, Guna realized: they were all lovers.

She had loved each of them. Trusted each of them.

They had lured her to this house. To this altar.

They whispered apologies as the blade sliced across her throat.

Her blood spilled onto the stone symbol burned into the basement floor.

Guna turned away, horrified—but her spirit was behind him now, her eyes glowing with sorrow and rage.

“You see now,” she said. “I wasn’t born a monster.”

“They made me one.”

“You were like them once,” she whispered, circling him, “but you… you stayed. You defied me. You showed loyalty.”

“I needed a vessel with roots in both doubt and belief. And you were perfect.”

Guna’s soul trembled. “Let me go,” he said. “Please.”

But she only smiled.

“I’ll show you everything.”

***

Back in the Mansion – The Hunt

Rajesh grabbed a fire poker and led the others into a side room—an old dining hall littered with dust-covered furniture.

They barricaded the door just as footsteps echoed outside.

Guna’s voice came again, distorted. Taunting.

“Deepika, remember the dream you had last week? In it, you kissed Rajesh... but in real life, you still pretend it didn’t happen. I know the taste of your lies now.”

A crash. The front door flew open. Guna was inside the room.

Ragini held up a candle in front of the mirror hanging on the wall. “Maybe we can trap her again,” she hissed. “Like they tried before.”

Rohan shook his head. “That almost got you possessed.”

“We don’t have a choice.”

As Guna entered the room, his grin wide and hungry, Ragini stepped forward with the mirror—angled so it caught his reflection.

His body froze.

Inside, Guna’s soul screamed.

***