Episode 4: Aarav’s First Lie

After that night, silence in the mansion changed shape.

It no longer felt like absence of sound.

It felt like something deliberately holding itself back.

Siya stopped sleeping properly. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard it again—Maya’s voice coming through the locked door, soft but certain.

“I was going to be a bride…”

And then that second sentence that stayed in her mind like a bruise.

“Ask them.”

But the most disturbing part wasn’t the voice.

It was Aarav’s reaction.

Because he wasn’t surprised anymore.

The next morning, Aarav acted normal.

Too normal.

He made tea. Checked his phone. Walked around the house like a man inspecting property, not a man living inside something wrong.

Siya watched him carefully.

“You didn’t sleep,” she said.

Aarav didn’t look up. “Neither did you.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Silence.

Then he finally sighed. “Siya, this house is getting inside your head. That’s all it is.”

Siya stepped closer. “Then why did the voice say you remember?”

Aarav’s hand paused mid-motion.

Just for a second.

Then he continued stirring his tea.

“I didn’t hear anything.”

That was the first lie.

And Siya knew it immediately.

By afternoon, Aarav insisted on leaving the house for supplies.

“We need better locks, better lighting,” he said. “And maybe someone to check the structure.”

Siya agreed, but she didn’t trust the reason.

Because Aarav wasn’t avoiding the house.

He was avoiding something inside it.

Before leaving, Siya stood near the locked room again.

The door looked unchanged.

But she felt it differently now.

Like it had started recognizing her presence.

From inside, nothing spoke.

But the silence felt awake.

They drove into town together.

For the first time since moving in, the air outside felt normal.

Siya turned to him in the car. “You know something about that room, don’t you?”

Aarav kept his eyes on the road. “No.”

Another lie.

Siya leaned closer. “Aarav.”

He exhaled sharply. “Siya, stop. It’s an old house with old noises. That’s it.”

But his grip on the steering wheel was too tight.

And his jaw was clenched like he was holding back words.

At the hardware store, Siya stepped away to pick items.

When she returned, Aarav was speaking to the shopkeeper in a low voice.

She stopped.

Because she heard one phrase clearly.

“…Mehta mansion… no one talks about it anymore…”

Siya stepped closer just in time to hear the shopkeeper respond.

“You bought that house?”

Aarav’s voice was quiet. “It was cheap.”

The shopkeeper shook his head slowly. “Nothing there is cheap.”

A pause.

Then the shopkeeper added:

“That house already had a bride once.”

Siya felt her stomach tighten.

Aarav immediately interrupted. “We’re done here.”

He grabbed the bags and walked out fast.

In the car, silence returned.

But now it was different.

Heavier.

Siya finally spoke. “There was a bride.”

Aarav didn’t answer.

“That girl,” she continued slowly. “Maya Sharma. She wasn’t just random, was she?”

Aarav’s hands tightened on the steering wheel again.

And that was the second lie—

his silence.

That night, Siya waited.

Not for sounds.

Not for whispers.

For truth.

Aarav came back to the house and immediately locked himself in the bedroom. He avoided the corridor entirely.

That told her everything she needed to know.

At 12:07 a.m., Siya stood outside the locked room alone again.

The house felt different tonight.

Less like a watcher.

More like a listener waiting for confession.

She placed her hand on the door.

Warm again.

But this time—

a response came faster.

“You’re closer now.”

Siya whispered, “What happened to you?”

A long pause.

Then Maya’s voice, softer than before.

“He was there.”

Siya froze.

Behind her, a floorboard creaked.

Aarav was standing at the end of the corridor.

But this time, he wasn’t pretending anymore.

His face was pale.

Tired.

And afraid in a way he had been hiding since the beginning.

Siya turned slowly. “Aarav…”

He shook his head once. “Don’t open it.”

Siya’s voice trembled. “You know her, don’t you?”

Silence.

Then—

Aarav finally spoke the truth.

Not fully.

But enough.

“I was here before.”

Siya’s breath caught.

Aarav continued, voice low. “Before you. Before anyone bought it again.”

He looked at the door.

And then added quietly—

“I saw what happened to her.”

From inside the locked room, Maya’s voice returned.

Not angry.

Not pleading.

Just certain.

“Then tell her.”

The hallway lights flickered violently.

And for the first time—

the door handle moved.

Not opening.

But turning.

From the inside.

And Aarav didn’t stop it.

Because now Siya understood:

Maya wasn’t only haunting the house.

She was waiting for the truth to be spoken out loud.

And Aarav Mehta had been carrying it longer than the house had been empty.

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