The room no longer felt like a place Raihan recognized. Just moments ago, Neela had been standing right in front of him, her voice calm yet filled with urgency. And now, there was nothing. No sound, no presence, only a suffocating silence that pressed against his chest.
Raihan stood still, trying to steady his breathing, but something deep inside him refused to calm down. It was not just fear. It was something else. Something that felt like he was no longer alone, even though the room appeared empty.
His fingers tightened around the bracelet. It felt colder than before, almost as if it was reacting to whatever was happening around him.
"Neela?" he called out softly.
No response.
The air felt heavier.
A faint sound echoed from somewhere behind him. It was not loud, but it was enough to make his heart skip a beat. Slowly, he turned around. The shadows along the walls seemed longer now, stretching in unnatural ways.
"This is not real," Raihan whispered to himself, as if saying it out loud would make it true.
But deep down, he knew something had changed.
Suddenly, a soft whisper brushed past his ear.
"You were not supposed to remember."
Raihan froze.
His entire body went cold.
He turned quickly, his eyes scanning the room, but there was no one there. The voice had been close. Too close.
"Who is there?" he asked, his voice shaking despite his effort to stay calm.
Silence answered him.
But the feeling did not leave.
Instead, it grew stronger.
Raihan stepped back slowly, his mind racing. The memory he had just seen, the night in the rain, the headlights, Neela standing in front of him. It all felt too real to deny.
And now this.
"They are coming."
Neela's words echoed in his mind.
"Who are they?" he muttered under his breath.
His eyes fell on the corner of the room, where something caught his attention. A small wooden table stood there, one he had not noticed before. On top of it lay an old notebook, its cover slightly worn, as if it had been untouched for a long time.
Raihan hesitated for a moment.
Then he walked toward it.
Each step felt heavier than the last, as if something invisible was watching his every move.
When he finally reached the table, he slowly picked up the notebook. A thin layer of dust covered it, but the moment he touched it, a strange chill ran through his fingers.
He opened it.
The first few pages were empty.
But then, something appeared.
Words.
Faint at first, as if they were being written right in front of him.
Raihan's breath caught in his throat as the letters became clearer.
"You chose to forget."
His heart started pounding again.
He flipped the page.
More words appeared.
"She was never meant to stay."
"What does that mean?" Raihan whispered, his voice barely audible.
He turned another page.
This time, the handwriting changed. It felt more familiar.
His eyes widened.
It was his own handwriting.
"I cannot let this memory destroy me."
Raihan staggered back slightly, almost dropping the notebook.
"No… I did not write this," he said, shaking his head.
But the more he looked at it, the more certain he became.
It was his.
Every word.
Every letter.
He had written this.
But he had no memory of it.
The room suddenly felt colder.
The lights flickered again, casting brief shadows that moved too quickly to follow.
"You see now."
The whisper returned.
This time, it came from the front.
Raihan slowly lifted his head.
For a split second, he thought he saw someone standing near the far wall. A figure. Tall, unmoving, its face hidden in darkness.
And then it was gone.
Raihan's heart raced uncontrollably.
"This is not possible," he said, trying to convince himself.
But nothing about this felt normal anymore.
His gaze returned to the notebook.
His own words stared back at him like a truth he could no longer escape.
"You chose to forget."
Why?
What had he seen that was so painful, so unbearable, that he had erased it from his own mind?
And what did it have to do with Neela?
A sudden thought struck him.
If he had chosen to forget…
Then someone, or something, had helped him do it.
The air grew colder again.
The presence returned.
Stronger this time.
"You should not have come back," the voice said, clearer now, carrying a tone that was neither human nor completely unreal.
Raihan felt a wave of fear rise within him, but this time, he did not step back.
Instead, he tightened his grip on the notebook.
"I need to know the truth," he said firmly, even though his voice trembled.
For a moment, everything went still.
Then, a soft sound echoed behind him.
A familiar sound.
A voice he would recognize anywhere.
"Raihan…"
His breath stopped.
Slowly, he turned around.
There, standing near the door, was Neela.
But something was wrong.
Her expression was not the same.
Her eyes… they felt distant. Almost empty.
"Neela?" he said, taking a cautious step forward.
She did not respond immediately.
Instead, she looked at him with a quiet intensity that sent a chill down his spine.
"You are not supposed to see this," she said softly.
Raihan frowned. "See what?"
Neela took a step closer.
And for a brief moment, her form flickered.
Like a broken reflection.
Raihan's eyes widened in shock.
"What is happening to you?" he asked.
Neela stopped.
Her gaze softened for just a second, as if the person he knew was still there, fighting to stay.
"They are watching," she whispered.
Before Raihan could ask anything else, the lights went out completely.
Darkness swallowed the room.
The air turned freezing cold.
And from somewhere within the darkness, multiple whispers began to rise.
Not one.
Not two.
Many.
All speaking at once.
All repeating the same words.
"You were never supposed to remember."
Raihan stood there, surrounded by voices he could not see, holding onto a truth he was never meant to find.
And for the first time, he realized something terrifying.
This was not just about memory anymore.
This was something far beyond it.
Something that had been watching him all along.