The room melted away into darkness, and the next thing they knew, they were standing deep in the jungle—the very place where their past had been buried. 

The air was thick and cold, the trees whispering with an unnatural rustling. The ground beneath them felt damp, as if it had been disturbed recently. 

"We… we actually have to do this?" Mihir’s voice was barely above a whisper. 

"There's no other way," Ishan muttered, his face pale. His hands trembled as he grabbed a fallen branch, using it to scrape away at the dirt. 

The others hesitated but soon followed, using their hands, sticks, anything they could find. Every scoop of soil sent a shiver down their spines. The wind howled like a ghostly wail, urging them to dig faster. 

Then—THUD! 

Siddharth’s fingers hit something solid. His breath hitched. He cleared the dirt away, revealing something wooden and rotting. 

A coffin. 

Their stomachs churned. The sight of it made their blood run cold. 

"I can't do this," Raunak staggered back. "I CAN’T!" 

"We have to," Vicky said, though his own voice wavered. "This is the dare. If we don’t…"

He didn’t need to finish. They all knew what would happen. 

Ishan gritted his teeth and reached forward, his fingers curling around the splintered edge of the coffin lid. He took a deep breath and— 

CREAAAAK! 

The lid swung open. 

A gasp rippled through them. 

Inside lay a skeletal figure, wrapped in the remains of what had once been a white dress. The bones were twisted, as if the body had suffered even in death. 

And then—THE EYES OPENED. 

A scream ripped through the air as the skull’s hollow sockets filled with an unnatural, glowing red light. The bones cracked, shifting unnaturally. 

"YOU LEFT ME HERE!"

The voice roared through the jungle, echoing in their skulls. The ground shook violently beneath them. 

"RUN!" Mihir yelled. 

They didn’t think twice. Pure terror took over, and they bolted, pushing through the thick jungle, branches slashing at their faces. The wind screeched, as if the forest itself was against them. 

But no matter how far they ran… 

The voice followed. 

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE."

The jungle seemed endless, the trees stretching like monstrous shadows, blocking any trace of the path ahead. The friends ran blindly, their breaths ragged, their hearts pounding so hard it felt like they might burst. 

"We can’t outrun her!" Ishan gasped, stumbling over a thick root. Ritvik grabbed his arm, pulling him up before he hit the ground. 

"THEN WHAT DO WE DO?" Mihir yelled, his voice cracking with fear. 

"We have to face her!" Vicky's voice was firm despite the sheer terror gripping his heart. "We buried the truth. We can’t keep running!" 

As if in response, the air around them grew dense—colder. A thick mist coiled around their legs, slowing them down. The whispering wind morphed into laughter—low, bitter, and filled with agony. 

Then—A SCREAM. 

Louder than before, shaking the very ground beneath them. 

And she was there. 

Not just a vision, not just a memory. But standing before them, in the flesh—or what remained of it. 

Her decayed form dripped with soil, her lifeless eyes burning red, her white dress in tattered shreds. She was no longer a girl—they had created a monster.

Her twisted fingers lifted, pointing at them. 

"Play the game," she hissed, her voice slithering around them like poison. "Play the last round of truth and dare." 

The ground rumbled, and before any of them could react— 

The earth beneath their feet collapsed. 

They plunged into darkness.

Darkness swallowed them whole. The impact of the fall knocked the breath from their lungs, leaving them gasping, choking on the thick dust rising around them. 

Then—light.

A single flickering lantern illuminated the underground chamber. The walls were damp, the stench of rot filling the air. And she was there. 

"Sit."

Her voice held no rage now, just cold authority. It was a command, and they had no choice but to obey. 

As they struggled to sit up, their hands and feet felt heavy—thick chains had appeared out of nowhere, binding them in place. 

Ritvik's breath hitched. "What... what is this?"

She took slow, deliberate steps towards them. "The last round of truth and dare," she whispered. 

They trembled. 

"Truth first," she said, crouching down in front of Raunak. 

"Why did you do it?" 

Raunak's throat tightened. "I—I didn't—"

CRACK! 

An invisible force slammed him against the wall. 

Her voice remained calm. "Lies won’t work here." 

He sobbed, blood trickling from his nose. "I tried to—kiss you. I thought you were playing hard to get! You were so beautiful, always acting arrogant, ignoring me—" 

SLAM! 

His head snapped back, his body convulsing in pain. 

She turned to Ishan next. "And you?" 

Ishan shook violently, tears spilling down his face. "I... I took pictures of you while you were bathing." His voice cracked. "I thought it was harmless fun! We—We even laughed about it later!"

Her rotting lips curled into a chilling smile. 

"Fun." 

Ishan screamed as deep gashes appeared on his arms, as if unseen hands were carving his sin into his skin. 

Next was Vicky. 

She stared into his eyes. "And you, the leader of the pack?" 

Vicky couldn’t even breathe. "I... I mixed alcohol in your juice." His voice was barely a whisper. "I wanted you drunk... so I could sleep with you."

The silence that followed was suffocating. 

Then, a shriek—not hers, but his. 

His skin started peeling—layer by layer—as if something was burning him from within. 

The others watched in horror. 

One by one, they confessed.

Mihir had locked her in the storeroom for an entire night, laughing as she screamed to be let out. 

Ritvik had spread rumors that she slept around, turning the entire college against her. 

Ashok had stolen her notes before an important exam, making her fail deliberately. 

Vinay —oh, Vinay, the one who was already dead—had pushed her down the stairs in rage when she had rejected him. 

Her lifeless eyes stared at them, absorbing every word, every confession. 

"And then you buried me," she murmured, her fingers brushing across the damp ground. 

"Like I was nothing." 

The weight of their sins crushed them.

She stood up slowly, the air around her growing heavier, colder. 

"Now," she whispered, her voice like a deadly lullaby. 

"Time for the dare."

A suffocating silence settled over them, thick and unbearable. The lantern flickered wildly, casting eerie shadows on the damp walls. 

She stood before them, her hollow eyes locking onto each one of them. 

"Now," she whispered, a bone-chilling smile curling on her cracked lips. "Your final dare." 

Raunak, trembling, managed to stutter, "W-What do you want from us?"

Her eyes gleamed with an unnatural light. "I want you to feel what I felt."

A cold wind howled through the underground chamber. Suddenly, each of them was dragged by an invisible force, slammed against the walls, and held there like puppets on strings. Their limbs twisted unnaturally, their bodies stiffened—just like hers had, the night they took everything from her. 

Their screams echoed off the stone walls. 

"Let’s begin."

She turned to Raunak first. 

His body convulsed as his lips turned numb, his throat locking up. He couldn't move, couldn't speak. It was like an invisible force was forcing him to relive the terror he had inflicted upon her. 

"You wanted to steal my first kiss?" she murmured. "Let me take yours instead."

Her face twisted into something monstrous, her mouth stretching unnaturally wide—then suddenly, Raunak’s lips split open, tearing apart as he let out a bloodcurdling scream. His mouth filled with blood, his voice gurgling in agony. 

The others watched in horror, their stomachs twisting in pure dread. 

She turned to Ishan next. 

"Spied on me, did you?" Her voice was a deadly whisper. "Watched me when I was most vulnerable?"

Ishan started clawing at his own eyes, screaming in pain. Dark blood oozed from his sockets as his vision turned black. 

"Let’s see how you like being watched," she murmured. 

From the shadows, a hundred lifeless eyes appeared, all staring only at him, unblinking, haunting. He sobbed, broken, drowning in the gaze of the damned.

Next was Vicky. 

"You wanted to make me drunk, weaken me, make me helpless?" Her head tilted at an unnatural angle. 

Vicky gagged violently as his body felt heavy, sluggish—as if something was crawling through his veins. He gasped for breath, his body convulsing like he was drowning in his own intoxication. 

The others watched in paralyzed fear as he collapsed, foaming at the mouth, his body shaking violently. 

One by one, she turned to each of them. 

Mihir’s throat closed up, forcing him to experience the helplessness she had felt, locked away in that dark storeroom. 

Ritvik’s voice became nothing but whispers, his words turning into the same poisonous rumors he had once spread about her, now consuming his very being. 

Ashok wept uncontrollably as he was forced to relive the humiliation he had inflicted upon her, his own hands tearing at his own flesh as though to make up for the damage he had done. 

And then there was Vinay. 

Except—he was already gone. 

The room filled with his ghostly wails, a chilling reminder that death had already claimed him. 

She stepped back, tilting her head, watching them writhe, scream, cry.

"I could keep going," she murmured. "Make you suffer for eternity." 

A twisted smile played on her lips. "But that would be too easy." 

The walls trembled. 

The air grew heavier. 

And then—darkness. 

A flash of white light blinded them all.

And when they opened their eyes— 

They were outside the house. 

Their bodies were intact. 

No wounds. No blood. 

Only the overwhelming terror and guilt clawing at their souls. 

The wind whispered her name. 

And then—silence.

They staggered to their feet, barely able to process what had just happened. 

Ritvik’s voice was hollow. "She let us go?" 

Vicky wiped the blood from his lips, his whole body shaking. "No..." His voice cracked. "She made sure we’d never forget."   

But deep inside, they all knew— 

She was always watching.  

....

To be continued..