The Unknown Sender
1098 Words
The door opened with a low, reluctant creak.
Aarav pushed it slowly, as if afraid that even the slightest sound might break whatever fragile moment they had stepped into. A cool draft slipped out from the darkness beyond, brushing against his face.
Meera instinctively grabbed his arm.
“Wait,” she whispered. “We don’t even know what’s inside.”
Aarav didn’t reply immediately. His eyes were fixed on the narrow gap, where shadows seemed to move with the shifting light.
“That’s exactly why we need to look,” he said quietly.
Before Meera could argue, he stepped inside.
The room beyond was smaller than expected.
But it didn’t feel empty.
It felt… used.
A single dim bulb hung from the ceiling, flickering faintly. The walls were lined with old shelves stacked with papers, folders, and dusty files. In one corner stood a metal desk, its surface cluttered with maps, scribbled notes, and what looked like old photographs.
Meera stepped in behind him, her eyes wide.
“This isn’t just some storage room,” she said. “Someone was working here.”
“Not just someone,” Aarav murmured, moving closer to the desk. “The same person who wrote the notebook.”
He picked up one of the papers.
It was covered in the same symbols.
The same patterns.
The same careful handwriting.
“This is all connected,” he said.
Meera walked slowly along the shelves, running her fingers lightly over the dusty files.
“Why hide this here?” she asked. “Why not just… keep it somewhere safer?”
Aarav shook his head.
“Because this wasn’t meant to be found easily,” he said. “Only someone who follows the clues gets here.”
Meera turned toward him.
“And what happens when they do?”
Aarav didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t know.
A sudden sound cut through the silence.
Buzz.
Both of them froze.
Aarav’s phone vibrated in his pocket.
Slowly, he pulled it out.
Unknown Number.
His stomach tightened.
“That’s… not good,” Meera whispered.
Aarav opened the message.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
The words seemed to press against him.
Not just a warning.
A statement.
“How do they know?” Meera said, her voice barely audible.
Aarav didn’t respond. His mind was racing.
Another message appeared.
“Leave now.”
Meera stepped back.
“Aarav… we need to go.”
He stared at the screen.
Then typed quickly:
“Who is this?”
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
“Someone who knows what happens next.”
A chill ran through him.
This wasn’t random.
This wasn’t someone guessing.
This person knew exactly what they were doing.
“What does that mean?” Meera asked.
Aarav shook his head slowly.
“It means…” he said, “we’re not the first ones here.”
The bulb above flickered again.
This time, longer.
The shadows shifted across the walls, making the room feel smaller.
Closer.
Meera moved nearer to Aarav.
“I don’t like this,” she said. “At all.”
Aarav glanced around the room again.
The maps.
The notes.
The photos.
One of them caught his attention.
He picked it up.
It was a picture of a student.
A boy, maybe their age.
Standing in front of the school building.
Smiling.
But something about it felt wrong.
On the back of the photo, written in faint ink, were the words:
“He found the truth.”
Aarav’s grip tightened.
“Meera… look at this.”
She leaned in.
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know,” Aarav said. “But I think… he’s the one who made all this.”
Before Meera could reply—
Another message came.
“You’re making the same mistake.”
Aarav’s heart pounded.
“Same mistake?” Meera repeated. “What does that mean?”
Aarav stared at the photo.
Then at the room.
Then at the notebook in his bag.
“It means,” he said slowly, “someone tried to solve this before us.”
“And something went wrong.”
The silence that followed felt heavier than anything before.
Meera took a deep breath.
“That’s it. We’re leaving.”
“A minute,” Aarav said.
“No,” she insisted. “Aarav, this isn’t a puzzle anymore. This is real. Someone is watching us.”
As if to prove her point—
The bulb flickered again.
And for a split second—
The room went completely dark.
Meera gasped.
When the light came back—
Aarav turned sharply toward the door.
“Did you see that?”
“See what?” Meera asked, panicked.
“I thought I—”
He stopped.
There was nothing there.
Just the open doorway.
And the quiet hallway beyond.
But the feeling remained.
They weren’t alone.
Aarav’s phone buzzed again.
He looked down.
One final message.
“Last warning.”
This time, there was no mistaking it.
This wasn’t just someone trying to scare them.
This was someone trying to stop them.
Meera grabbed his arm.
“We’re done. Right now.”
Aarav hesitated.
Every instinct told him to keep going.
To dig deeper.
To find the truth.
But another part of him—
A quieter, more cautious part—
Told him something else.
You’re being watched.
He looked at Meera.
Then at the room.
Then at the message.
“…Fine,” he said finally.
“Good,” Meera replied quickly.
They stepped out of the hidden room, Aarav pulling the door shut behind them.
The click of the lock echoed softly.
Too softly.
As if it had been waiting.
They didn’t speak until they were outside the auditorium.
The evening air felt warmer.
Safer.
But not enough.
Meera crossed her arms tightly.
“Promise me something,” she said.
Aarav looked at her.
“What?”
“That we think before we go further,” she said. “No rushing in. No acting like this is a game.”
Aarav nodded slowly.
“I promise.”
But even as he said it—
He knew one thing for sure.
He wasn’t stopping.
Not now.
Not after this.
Later that night, Aarav sat in his room, staring at the photo again.
The unknown boy.
The message.
He found the truth.
His phone lay beside him.
Silent.
For now.
Aarav leaned back, closing his eyes briefly.
“Who are you?” he whispered.
No answer came.
But somewhere—
Beyond his room.
Beyond the quiet streets.
Someone already knew his name.
END OF EPISODE 3
- Writer
