CRYONICS

Chapter 5

Two years later -

a beautiful October morning. Lots of people Gathering up for the upcoming cultural Festival in the neighborhood. from old senior citizens to kids, everyone trying to play a part to help with the decorations. Making it stand out the most. Mel and dhruv Now, 16 years old, grown up quite a lot As said by their mother frequently. They stay together most of the time. And this time was no different, they found it hard to mix up with the group of other kids, but this time was different as those other kids approached them first and as their parents said, do not be rude and they gave in politely trying to expand out their friends group.

"Dhruv not druve"

The boy looked frustrated trying to correct the pronunciation of the name He's quite proud of.

"Yeah, whatever. It's just the same" they said making dhruv a little uncomfortable and angry. after a while All the kids felt like they were no fun. They gave up and left them to move to a different place. Three more kids approached them. They looked like they knew each other and were friends among themselves. Regardless they didn't had much expectations after the previous disastrous interactions. But after a few exchanges, they were kind of getting a lot more comfortable with these three and they were a lot of more nicer than other kids they have met before.

"Dhruv, nice name!"

Just when the boy said it dhruv felt like floating on 9th cloud

" That's Chris. Luna and myself Louis or Lui."

"Oh, nice to meet you. This is Melissa, My bestie" said dhruv quite boasting about it.

"Nice to meet you too. Section A right?" Said Luna in an excited tone.

"Yep. But how did you know Luna?" Asked Mel.

" I saw you two in school. we three are from section B."

" So any plan for today or wanna hang out with us? I got a good idea" ask Louis, who is quite the outgoing and extroverted, whereas Chris who has been silent all this time was more introverted, but unfortunately gets pulled in with them every single time.

" not really. We were just helping in the decorations" said dhruv

" they'll handle all of that themselves. Let's have some fun now"

Now that Louis said this, everyone was curious as to what he exactly meant. "really? what are we going to do today? Luna said almost jumping on excitement after hearing her twin brothers declare a plan for possible Adventure. Chris left out a big sigh and the other two were left Confused and speechless. Lui and Luna shared the rest and the image of the chaotic twin was clearly floating in Everyone's mind. after walking a few meters Lui pushed aside the tree branches from the front with his hand, exposing a secret Road covered with old leaves, muddy traces, dry branches and a musty rotten smell coming from somewhere. all of them gasped and cover their mouth and nose With their hand.

"And what's this horrible smell? Where are you Taking us Lui??" said, Chris pretty irritated. Lui who was smiling said

"Ugly paths often lead to a beautiful paradise"

" it feels more of a dead cementery than a paradise" said dhruv.

Mel who was silent all this time, quietly observed the whole environment and frequently looking back to ensure she remembers the direction to go back to avoid any trouble. After walking a few more minutes, there, Stands Tall, an old rusty bungalow quite opposite to that of a paradise. Old and half the structure falling down. horribly torn down in every single place Making it known to everyone, how it's being surviving for more than 100 years.

"This is your Paradise?" Asked chris along with everybody staring at Lui for an answer made him a little panicked. "Well, is it not? This is an antique piece" sighed Chris again.

"But seriously though It's almost Halloween. Let's explore the place guys, It'll be fun with the scary vibe" .

Everyone was hesitant as first but eventually agreed to promising If anything scary happens they will run back immediately.

With this everybody gave in and Lui pushed the door open. the door opened with an expected creaking noise. Everybody was well prepared for the horrible and disturbing sound after seeing it a hundred times in horror movies.even still hearing it in person, sends chills down the spine, especially the echo, it created. Mel, who was the last in line noticed, a small chair on the entrance balcony of house on which dozens of rodents were nibbling on some biscuits. the biscuits looked fresh. alarms went off in her mind about something not being right but didn't say any more since it might unnecessarily freak everyone out. one by one, everyone stepped inside. everyone's face whitened upon realizing what a nightmare they have stepped into. Chris had an obvious expresssion of being worried about the whole situation while Mel was calm and cool as a cucumber. Dhruv was holding Mel tightly ready to run if anything threatens their life. everyone took a few steps to examine the environment, which was scary indeed particularly for a group of young teens.

''hello?'' asked luis being the first to break the unbearable silence.

''what are we going to do now?'' asked Melissa with her usual poker face.

''Just explore I guess?'' said Louis in a low voice, trying to lighten up the situation.

''hey Dhruv, can you please tell Melissa to not look at me that way. Her gaze scares me more than any ghosts''

''shut up. there's nothing wrong with her.'' said Dhruv in an irritated and hoarse voice almost threatning in way.

''look its still not too late. Let's go back. It's giving me some nasty Vibes'' said Chris.

''Now that we are here it's better to explore a bit.'' said Luna.

Everyone agreed.

After roaming around for a bit. Lui spoke out

''Well, that was it. now lets split into 2 groups''

before Louis could finish Dhruv interrupted.

''Hell no. I have seen in movies. That's like inviting ghosts to kill us.''

everyone Nodded and it was decided that they are gonna move together. Nobody went to the second floor as the floor was half falling down and barely holding on. So everyone was looking around the whole room which was huge. There were many paintings, half of which was utterly ruined and somewhere barely visible.Out of all of them was one particular portrait which stood out from the rest. and caught Mel's attention. A relatively bigger. One with golden frame of outstanding design and artwork.

''That? ohh I guess thats the famous painting of this house that the people talk about'' said Lui in response to Mel asking about it.

''huh?'' replied Chris standing with a questioning face with everyone equally curious to the rest of the story.