• Not the basement again please...

Veda's voice, calm and slightly amused, drifted from the doorway. "Looks like you guys are having quite the party here. Glad to see someone's enjoying themselves."

"Absolutely!" Arya agreed, winking at Veda. Jai and Isha exchanged a quick glance and a small smile, clearly enjoying their playful torment of Arya. Gauri playfully shoved Arya, who laughed and took a few steps back, a safe distance from her playful retaliation.

After a relatively normal lunch, a sense of unease settled over Gauri. While the others remained occupied, she quietly slipped away, a lantern clutched in her hand. Her footsteps echoed softly as she descended the creaking stairs to the basement. Each step was measured, her senses on high alert. She made her way to the chilling corner where the bloodstained chains still hung.

Taking a deep breath, she lifted the lantern, its flickering light illuminating the gruesome scene. The chains swayed slightly in the still air. But the imagined figure from her nightmare was gone. The space was empty, the only evidence of past horror the dark stains on the chains and the cracked stone wall. It certainly didn't appear as if anyone had been down here since the incident, and certainly not before their arrival.

Suddenly, a fleeting movement caught her eye – a swift, shadowy figure flitting at the edge of her vision. Her heart pounded. She gathered her courage, her voice barely a whisper. "Who's there?"

The same deep, unsettling voice from the previous night echoed in the cavernous space. "Me?"

And then, she felt it again. A pair of hands, unseen, slipped around her waist from beneath her dupatta, their touch sending a jolt of icy fear through her. She trembled violently, the lantern shaking in her grasp, casting wild, distorted shadows on the bloodstained walls.

His voice, a low rumble right beside her ear, sent shivers down her spine. "Afraid?" he growled softly. When she remained frozen, unable to speak, he repeated the question, his tone hardening slightly. Eventually, a small, terrified nod was her only response.

"Do you want me to leave you?" he asked, his breath warm against her skin. She nodded again, more desperately this time, her entire body trembling.

A deep, dark chuckle echoed in the stillness of the basement, the sound sending a fresh wave of terror through her. His lips brushed lightly against her ear as he spoke again. "And what makes you think I would leave you so easily, Gauri?"

She was shaking uncontrollably now, her grip tightening on the lantern. "That boy," he murmured, his voice laced with a possessive undertone. "The one who held you like this in the kitchen… you weren't wanting him to leave, were you?"

Her lips parted involuntarily, a single, unintentional word escaping her trembling breath. "Arya…"

The large chest pressed even more firmly against her back, making it difficult to breathe. She could feel him nuzzling her neck, his breath hot and possessive against her skin. It felt primal, like a wild animal scenting its prey.