CHAPTER 3 – The Hidden Truth

Eshan spent the whole night shaking, unable to breathe.

Now the memories were clear.

He had. lived in this town as a child.

He had. fallen into the pool.

And the girl… she had jumped in to save him.

But she didn’t come back up.

The pale man—her father—had dived in after her.

He didn’t come back either.

Eshan woke up in a hospital that day, saved by someone else.

His family immediately moved away.

And his mind blocked the trauma.

He had forgotten them.

But they had not forgotten him.

That evening, Eshan walked to the pool one last time.

He needed to end this.

The girl was sitting at the water’s edge, feet in the pool, looking at him calmly.

“Why didn’t you come back for us?” she whispered.

Tears fell from Eshan’s eyes.

“I was a child… I didn’t know… I’m sorry.”

The girl stood.

“It’s too late now.”

Suddenly, the water behind her rose like a tall dark wall.

The pale man appeared again, reaching forward.

“Your turn.”

Eshan stumbled as the ground shook.

He felt a force pulling him toward the water—

as if fate itself wanted to finish the story.

Everything went dark.

When Eshan opened his eyes, he was lying on a couch. A soft light was above him. A calm voice said:

“You’re awake, Eshan.”

He looked around—

He was in a (therapy room)

A therapist sat beside him.

“You had another severe hallucination,” she said gently.

“You saw the girl again, didn’t you?”

Eshan whispered, “She’s real… her father… the pool…”

The therapist sighed.

“Eshan… listen carefully.”

She handed him a file.

Inside was a picture.

Not of the girl.

Not of the father.

But of Eshan himself… kneeling beside a small body covered with a sheet.

The therapist continued:

“Three years ago, your daughter Lin drowned in a pool.

Your mind couldn’t accept it.

So it created a different story… where someone else’s child died… not yours.”

Eshan’s blood went cold.

Lin.

The girl in pink.

Not a ghost.

Not a stranger.

His daughter.

The pale man wasn’t a ghost either

It was **Eshan’s own reflection**, twisted by trauma and sleeplessness.

Everything he saw…

every night…

was his mind trying to show him the truth he refused to face.

The pool wasn’t haunted.

Eshan was.

The final line:

“Lin never left the pool.

Only Eshan tried to.”

after 15 days.

After the truth finally hit him in the therapist’s office,

Eshan felt empty… but also strangely clear.

For the first time in years, the nightmares stopped.

The drowning sounds stopped.

The visions stopped.

He thought everything was over.

That night, he slept without fear.

But the next morning changed everything.

When he opened his door to get some fresh air,

something small was lying on the doormat.

A (pink ribbon)

Lin’s ribbon.

The one she always wore in her hair.

Eshan froze.

His heart started beating fast again.

He slowly picked it up — his hands shaking.

The ribbon was wet.

Not just lightly wet…

but dripping with water.

Pool water.

Cold.

Salty.

Fresh.

New.

Eshan looked around.

No one was there.

The street was quiet.

The air was still.

He whispered, “This can’t be real…

But then

from inside his house, behind him

he heard the softest whisper:

Papa… don’t leave me again.”

Eshan turned instantly.

No one.

Only the hallway.

Silent. Empty.

But the wet footprints on the floor

were very, very small…

and they were walking toward his bedroom.

Eshan realized something terrifying:

The hallucinations were gone.

But Lin wasn’t.

The pool took her life…

but it did not take her completely.

And now,

she wasn’t calling him into the water anymore.

She was coming out.

For him.

Season 2 soon....

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