Shadows of Deceit: Tales of Terror and Intrigue

**Main Characters:** Dev Aashish Raj Ritu and Ayushi Hello friends, this is a short fiction story, and this is Part One. I hope you enjoy reading this story. Thank you! The school vacation had just ended. As Dev was heading home, someone called out to him from behind; it was Raj's voice. "Hey Dev, wait up! I need to talk to you." "Yes, Raj, what's up? Is there something you need?" Dev replied. "What do you mean? Can’t I even talk to my friend? Come on, just tell me." "Alright, I know you’ve moved into your new house, and tomorrow is my birthday, so why don’t you come over? You can check out my new place too." "Sure, I'll definitely come. So, see you tomorrow!" It was 11:00 PM. Dev thought to himself, "Raj really values our friendship; I should go over to wish him a happy birthday." His house was 5 kilometers away. Upon reaching Raj's house, Dev realized, "This is the address, but there are no houses here; the area is deserted. I’ll go home and talk to him tomorrow." "Hey Raj, wait! I came by your house at midnight to wish you a happy birthday, but there was no house there." "The address is correct; did you really come to my place?" Raj asked. "Yes, I’m telling the truth," Dev replied. "Don’t worry; there’s a dense forest near my house, and it was dark at night, so you might not have seen it. Just come with Aashish today; he knows where my house is." At 8:00 PM, Aashish and Dev reached Raj’s house. "Look, the house is right in front of you. You must be dreaming or something!" Dev said. "Hello Raj! Wow, you guys came early! Come on in," Raj welcomed them. "The party starts at 11:00 PM; why are you so late?" "Where are Ayushi and Ritu?" "They’re nearby." The birthday party had ended. Raj gathered his four friends: Dev, Aashish, Ayushi, and Ritu. "Why don’t we play a game?" he suggested. "What kind of game?" Dev asked. "Look, it’s midnight, and you need to head home in the morning. There’s a deserted bridge near my house, and I placed a box full of chocolates and Coca-Cola on the other side this morning. Whoever crosses the bridge and brings back a chocolate and a Coca-Cola will prove they’re not scared." "What's the big deal?" Aashish asked. "The thing is, Aashish, there are no lights on the bridge, and it’s completely deserted. You can only take a torch with you, and when you cross the bridge, there will be three paths; you must take the first one." Ritu and Ayushi went first but didn’t return. To find them, Raj went to the other side of the bridge but also didn’t come back. "Aashish, this must be Raj’s plan to scare us. But we won’t be scared; let’s go!" Dev said. Aashish and Dev reached the other side of the bridge. "Man, you can’t even see our house from here!" Dev exclaimed. "You're right; let’s find those three." "Hey, look! A torch is lying here; it’s red! This must belong to Ritu, which means she went the other way. Let’s go!" As they entered that path, they found Ayushi unconscious. "Ayushi! Wake up!" After a while, she regained consciousness. "What are you doing here?" "I was going the first way when someone pushed me!" "But Ayushi, this is the second path." "What?" "Yeah, let’s check this path because Ritu’s torch is lying here." They proceeded further, wondering if Raj and Ritu were trying to scare them. "Oh man, where are we? Look ahead; there's a house—just one house! I’ve never been here," Ayushi said. "Now I’m 101% sure Raj and Ritu are hiding in that house, waiting to scare us. Let’s check it out!" The three entered the house. From the outside, it looked small, but inside it was a maze. "Raj, Ritu, where are you? Don’t scare us!" "Hey Dev, look! Raj is unconscious over there!" "Raj, wake up!" Raj regained consciousness and said, "Thank goodness you guys came! There’s a ghost here!" "What? What nonsense are you talking about?" Dev replied. "I’m serious! Hurry, let’s get out of here, and we need to find Ritu!" "Are you serious?" "Yes! This is a maze, and I’ve never been here before. In fact, I’ve never seen this path. I’ve been here many times during the day, but this house and all... it’s not good!" "Okay, fine, we’ll talk about this later. First, let’s find Ritu. Let’s go upstairs and check each room." As they explored, Ayushi found an old diary that looked antique, dated 1973. "Let’s open it!" "This diary says that if someone is reading it, they have entered this house. It warns: if you can get out, hurry! I came here like you, and now I’m trapped. There’s a spirit here that was killed cruelly; its body is buried behind a wall, but its heart was removed and placed in a cupboard in one of the rooms. You must take that heart and bury it with the body behind the wall. If the spirit is in someone’s body, it will let go of that body. But remember, as soon as you bury the heart with the body, you must leave the house within 45 minutes, or you’ll be trapped here for 61 years!" "Let’s find the heart quickly!" They searched the entire house but couldn’t find the heart. "Did you notice something, Dev? The last camera in this house is 402." "Yeah, but when I checked each room after 102, there was no 107; instead, it was labeled 402 Part 2. We should check those two rooms!" "Let’s go then, I’ll check 402 for the heart, and you guys dig for the body behind 402 Part 2. Don’t be scared when you see the corpse; I’ll be back!" Dev returned with the heart wrapped in cloth and together, they buried it with the body. They then searched for the last door to exit the house. "Ayushi and Raj, you guys look for the exit door. Aashish and I will bring Ritu, and remember, wherever we go, we’ll drop a chocolate to mark our path so we don’t get lost." "Here’s a chocolate I took from the box; let’s go!" "One thing, Aashish, if there were a witch here, we would definitely see her. But nothing scary has happened; could it be that we misunderstood the diary?" "I’m feeling the same way." "Ah—ah—ah—who is screaming? That sounds like Raj!" **Part 2 Coming Soon!** *Written by - Siddharth*