“No… no… please leave my father.”

Six-year-old Abha pleaded while staring at a shadow in front of her.

“Please… don’t hurt him.”

But while saying those words, the sight before her made her freeze.

Her father’s lifeless body, covered in blood, lay right in front of her.

Once again… she had failed to save him.

Her tears had not even dried when suddenly her father’s blood-soaked body moved.

She slowly walked closer. But when she turned the body over, she realized…

It definitely wasn’t her father.

It couldn’t be.

Two dark, black eyes were staring straight at her.

Suddenly the figure began to laugh.

A loud, horrifying laugh that made blood trickle out of her ears.

She stumbled back away from the corpse.

“Child… tell me… where is your father?”

He laughed.

The same dreadful laughter echoed again, piercing her ears with unbearable pain.

Abha could not bear the pain anymore.

“No!” she screamed.

“No… you’re not real!” she cried, though she tried to make her voice sound strong.

She stood up and ran.

“I’m trapped in my dream again… I have to get out of here… Get out, Abha… Arjun is waiting for you,” she encouraged herself.

Without looking back, she kept running… and running.

But that terrifying laughter still echoed inside her ears.

For years she had been trying to escape that voice… that nightmare.

She just wanted it all to end.

Suddenly, a truck appeared in front of her.

She screamed.

But someone grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the truck.

And finally… her eyes opened.

Her younger brother Arjun was sitting beside her, holding her hand.

He handed her a glass of water.

“Are you okay?” Arjun asked.

“Yes… I’m fine,” Abha said after drinking some water.

“Won’t you be late? Go get ready. I don’t want your ridiculous friend sitting in our house again.”

She tried to joke.

But Arjun didn’t smile.

“Did you see the same dream again?” he asked.

For a moment, she remained silent.

“Yes,” Abha said quietly, hiding her face.

“This is the fifth time this month. And the month isn’t even half over yet. Do you know why this is happening?” Arjun asked.

He had many questions… questions his sister kept hiding the answers to.

“No… I don’t know,” Abha snapped.

“I don’t know anything. Now if your interrogation is over, go get ready.”

She tried to sound strict… but failed.

Arjun stood up and hugged his sister.

“I’m always with you. Remember that.”

Finally, defeated by her brother’s concern, she said,

“ The priest told me… after a certain stage, the dreams will start coming again and again. After this year… they might even come every single day.”

“Didn’t he give any solution?” Arjun asked.

“No… there is no solution. And I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t get along with my boss,” Abha said with a small smile, trying to reassure him that she was fine.

Just then—

Thud!

The front door opened loudly.

“Dude! You scared me,” Arjun said, placing a hand on his chest.

His friend Raj walked inside.

“Why did you give him the house keys?” Abha asked.

“How many times do I have to tell you? I didn’t give them to him. He took them from my bag, made a copy, and put them back,” Arjun replied.

“Then take them back.”

“I’ve taken them back three times already. Who knows how many copies he has made,” Arjun said.

“Oh hello! I’m standing right here. Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Raj interrupted.

“Then why are you standing here? Leave. You are not welcome here. We don’t need you in this house,” Abha said before walking into the bathroom.

“Tell your sister to talk to me properly. Otherwise I’ll cancel the wedding,” Raj said loudly toward the bathroom.

“I’m not stupid enough to marry you,” Abha shouted back, slamming the bathroom door.

“Dude, I’m your friend. I know you. And I’m telling you, you’re not marrying her,” Arjun said.

Inside the bathroom, Abha could hear her brother and Raj arguing outside.

These were the moments she tried to hold on to.

These small moments… were the only happiness in her life.

Sitting beside the door, she began laughing… and crying at the same time.

(How do I tell you… that all of this will stop the moment I stop breathing?)

She couldn’t forget what the priest had told her.

He had clearly said that her life was nothing but a curse.

A curse that would end only with her.

She still hadn’t found the courage to tell Arjun the truth.

Abha’s life had never been easy.

And the future would be even more difficult.

Her younger brother Arjun and his friend Raj were always with her.

But how long would they be able to stay?

Life’s ups and downs often make a person stronger.

But for that, one must also have a certain faith in oneself.

Abha had accepted Pandit ji’s prophecy as the truth of her life.

She didn’t know what the future held.

But she knew one thing for certain—

When her life ended… all her nightmares, her fears, and her memories would end with it.

(What kind of life is it… when all you can do is sit and wait for your own horrifying death?)

Her days were passing by,

A white T-shirt and blue jeans were her favorite clothes. A ponytail tied in her messy hair suited her well—at least that was what her younger brother and her would-be husband, Raj, believed.

With an average height and a round face, she was someone most people would easily like. And if someone accidentally looked into her eyes… they would surely become mesmerized.

But that was only if they managed to see her eyes.

Both of her eyes were a deep sea-green color.

Looking into them felt as if you were drowning in the ocean itself.

With her dusky complexion and a sweet smile, she looked like a delicate doll.

If only she really were made of plastic… then perhaps she wouldn’t have to suffer the pains of this human life.

According to Abha, her entire life was cursed.

A curse that had already destroyed her family.

Now she would never let anything happen to her brother.

When her father died, she hadn’t understood what she should do. But now things were different. She was an adult now… a sensible person.

All she had to do was stay away from the accidents she could see coming.

She could do that.

She had been doing it all along.

And she would continue doing it.

She just had to stay strong.

Just like today—her day had been going on as usual when suddenly she noticed some girls from her old school.

“Hey… you’re Abha, right? Do you recognize me? Riya… from St. High? We were in the same class,” the girl said.

Just then another girl walked up.

“Babe, how long are you going to take?” Lara asked. Then she glanced at Abha and said, “How many times have I told you not to talk to everyone?”

“She’s not just anyone. I know her,” Riya replied.

“It’s wiser not to know people like her,” Lara said while looking at Abha.

“If you don’t want to talk, go sit at the table and wait.

I’ll bring the order,” Riya said firmly. She wasn’t someone who stayed quiet.

“So you’re going to talk to your best friend like that for this weirdo?” Lara said, pointing at Abha.

“When it comes to teaching my best friend what’s right and wrong, I will do it,” Riya answered immediately.

“Fine then. Spend your afternoon with her,” Lara said and walked away.

And along with her… the dark shadow that had been standing there for a long time, staring at Abha, also moved away.

Abha finally took a breath of relief.

“Lara isn’t bad at heart. She just overreacts sometimes,” Riya explained. “You don’t need to be afraid of her.”

Abha glanced toward Lara, who was walking out of the hotel.

“Can you keep your friend here for a little while?” Abha asked.

“She won’t listen. She’s stubborn,” Riya said.

“Listen… you have to stop her here somehow.”

“She called you weird, and you still want to stop her?” Riya asked.

“Please try to understand… death is hovering around her. Somehow you must keep her here for ten or fifteen minutes,” Abha tried to explain.

“You know… this is exactly why everyone in school was afraid of you. Don’t mind me, but you shouldn’t say such scary things. And why do you always wear these sunglasses?” Riya asked.

“It’s easy for you to say that… because you can’t see what I can see. Go and stop her,” Abha said.

She looked again toward the road where Lara was standing.

The black shadow seemed to be calling someone from the right side.

And Lara was standing there arguing with someone on the phone.

Lara stepped forward to cross the road.

“It’s too late now,” Abha murmured while looking toward the street.

Riya didn’t understand anything.

She had always been curious about Abha. She believed Abha was actually a good girl. But because her past had never been normal like other children’s, she struggled to mix with people.

Riya also looked toward Lara, who was crossing the road.

Lara had crossed half the road, and her car was parked just ahead.

“See? You were worrying for nothing,” Riya said.

But just as Lara opened the car door—

A truck came speeding from behind and crushed her along with the door before speeding away.

When Riya turned back, the scene in front of her left her stunned.

“Life feels like it lasts only for a few moments,” Abha said quietly.

“Moments that pass before you even realize it. And suddenly… your life ends in a single second.”

“How did you know what was going to happen to her?” Riya asked in shock.

People had gathered outside.

An ambulance had arrived.

The police were called.

Receiving no answer from Abha, Riya slowly started stepping backward.

Before she could leave, her brother—an inspector—arrived.

“Is everything okay?” he asked, placing a hand on Riya’s shoulder.

Riya was startled. She was trembling with fear.

She glanced at Abha.

“Nothing…” she said softly.

“The girl who had the accident outside… she’s your friend, right?” her brother asked.

“Yes,” Riya replied.

“I’m sorry to say this, but your friend didn’t survive. She died on the spot.”

Seeing Riya burst into tears, he hugged her.

“The driver who caused the accident also crashed later. The truck caught fire completely. He received punishment for what he did.”

After consoling her, he took Riya away.

But the way Riya kept looking at Abha before leaving… felt like a warning of deep trouble.

At that moment Raj entered the hotel from the back door.

Seeing Abha shocked, he immediately pulled her into his arms.

“Don’t look there. Those things will only hurt you.”

Abha’s tears refused to stop.

“Why do you trust me? Don’t I seem strange to you? Look around… wherever I go, you will only see death.”

Raj held her tightly.

“No… I don’t see anything except you.”

“Nothing else.”

(Death was following Abha at every step.

Will this game of hide-and-seek between them ever end?)

A week had passed.

During that time, Riya came to meet Abha again. Somehow she managed to take her out of the hotel for lunch, wanting to talk somewhere their

conversation wouldn’t reach a third person’s ears.

“Look, Abha,” Riya said softly, placing her hand over Abha’s, “I truly want to understand you. I’ve always felt that behind your silence and your tough attitude, there is something hidden. Something you don’t want anyone to see.”

There was no reaction on Abha’s face—only a stone-like calm.

Riya sighed and decided it was better to stop the conversation there.

“Come on, let’s finish eating first. You also have to go back later,” she said with a smile.

Abha nodded slightly. The meal ended in silence.

Even after returning home, Riya’s words kept circling in Abha’s mind. Along with them came memories of the accidents—those that had happened despite Arjun and Raj’s efforts to prevent them.

Days slowly turned into weeks, and Abha’s nightmares grew darker.

Her father’s terrifying image, his manic laughter, and an unseen fear chasing her—these had now become a permanent part of her reality. The cheerful girl she once was now trembled at the shadow of her own past. Instead of laughter, there was always an invisible layer of fear lingering around her.

Arjun, as always acting as her shield, knocked on every door he could for help—doctors, psychologists, and even a spiritual healer. But no one could give a clear answer.

When Abha was a child, her grandmother had taken her and her mother to a priest—the family’s spiritual guide.

The moment he saw Abha’s horoscope, he had said that destruction was tied to her birth.

After hearing that prophecy, Abha’s mother left her father and married someone else. She believed the priest’s words were true, because from the day she married Abha’s father, strange shadows had begun appearing in her dreams. After Abha was born, those dreams seemed to manifest in real life.

Arjun was Abha’s stepbrother.

One month after Abha’s father died, Arjun’s father—who was Abha’s mother’s second husband—was killed in an accident along with her mother. Only Arjun survived.

Since then, their grandmother had raised them both.

The two siblings became each other’s support.

Abha had raised Arjun almost like a mother, and Arjun understood that well. After their grandmother passed away, the two of them had no one in the world except each other.

One evening, while searching through their grandmother’s old trunk, Abha had found a faded photograph. In it, her parents were standing in front of a dilapidated mansion, smiling.

On the back of the photograph were her grandmother’s words:

(Stay away from the shadows of the past.

The day it touches you, it will realize that you exist.

So never go to the place where you do not belong.)

That message led Abha, Arjun, and Raj to the same question:

What exactly was hidden inside their ancestral mansion?

The three of them decided to go there.

Once a magnificent structure, the mansion had now turned into ruins. Broken windows, locked doors, and a courtyard overgrown with weeds made it look even more frightening.

The moment they stepped inside, a strange feeling of familiarity washed over them—like an old memory breathing quietly within its walls.

Since their grandmother’s death, this was the first time they had gathered the courage to come here.

After some time, a faint whisper echoed.

“Help… me…”

The voice seemed to be coming from the basement—the same place their grandmother had never allowed them to enter.

Descending into the darkness, they saw a large bookshelf filled with heavy books. In the center of the room, on a table covered in dust, lay an old diary.

The moment Abha opened it, a black shadow suddenly grabbed Arjun and dragged him backward.

Raj and Abha rushed forward and grabbed Arjun’s hands. Blood began to spill from Arjun’s mouth.

“If you’re looking for someone, then it’s me!” Abha roared.

“He is of no use to you. If you have the courage, try touching me.”

She knew something—the shadow could see her… but it could not touch her.

The shadow released Arjun and turned toward her.

At Abha’s signal, Raj whispered to Arjun, “Can you walk?”

Arjun shook his head.

His leg was badly injured.

Raj glanced at Abha. She was looking around in a strange way, as if fighting something invisible—yet failing every time.

Raj quickly helped Arjun stand.

As Arjun tried to move toward Abha, Raj stopped him.

“She can handle herself. Right now, you need help.”

And he immediately took Arjun out of the mansion.

A few minutes later, Abha also came outside.

The same diary was in her hands.

Tears wouldn’t stop flowing from Arjun’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Abha whispered. “This is all because of me.”

Arjun hugged her tightly.

“This isn’t your fault,” he said. “We shouldn’t have come here. This happened because of my stubbornness. None of it is your fault.”

He tried to comfort her, though he himself had felt something strange inside that mansion.

He glanced back at the building, but all he saw was dense darkness.

After that day, none of them ever looked back toward that mansion again.

While leaving, Abha had seen countless shadows there—but none of them came near her.

She couldn’t understand why.

When she was running out of the mansion, all those shadows had moved aside, giving her a path to escape.

Those shadows often followed her.

So why, this time, had they stayed away?

She didn’t know the truth.

They already knew something she didn’t—

That she belonged to someone else.

Touching her would not just be a mistake.

It would be a crime. ✨