The road that cut through the forest had long forgotten the touch of ordinary travelers.
It was a narrow ribbon of cracked earth winding between towering trees whose branches clawed into the sky like crooked fingers. The night felt unnaturally heavy, as if the air itself had thickened with something ancient and unseen. Even the wind seemed cautious. It slipped through the leaves in low murmurs, brushing against moss-covered stones and broken statues scattered across the land like forgotten memories.
The sky above carried no mercy.
Instead of a gentle silver moon, a dark disc hung overhead. It was strange, almost unnatural, as if the heavens themselves had turned their face away from the world below. Shadows stretched endlessly across the forest floor, swallowing every path and every sound. Far away, a jackal howled. The cry traveled through the trees like a warning.
Then two cars cut through the darkness.
The deep purr of an expensive engine broke the silence as a black Mercedes rolled slowly along the forest road. Behind it, another car followed carefully, its headlights flickering through the branches like wandering ghosts.
Inside the Benz, Rajesh sat behind the wheel with relaxed confidence, one hand resting on the steering wheel while the other tapped lightly against the dashboard to the faint music playing on the radio.
In the backseat, Lalita and Ganga had been talking nonstop for the last fifteen minutes.
"No, listen to me," Ganga insisted, leaning forward between the seats. "That singer was terrible. He sang the same song three times."
Lalita laughed softly. "You were dancing to it every single time."
"That's not the point."
Rajesh chuckled. "You two have been arguing about the music since we left the place."
From the passenger seat, Bhavya peered out through the windshield, scanning the dark road ahead. "Rajesh, slow down a little. The turn should be somewhere here."
Rajesh raised an eyebrow. "You sound very confident for someone who has no idea where we are."
"I saw it once when we were kids," Bhavya replied defensively. "Baba used to talk about this place."
Behind them, the second Benz followed steadily.
Shaswat sat at the wheel while Madhu sat beside him, occasionally glancing at the dark forest outside. In the back seat, Preet and Yogesh were arguing quietly while Alkesh stared out of the window with visible unease.
"This forest looks cursed," Alkesh muttered.
Yogesh sighed. "You say that about every forest we visit."
"No, seriously. Look around. Does this look normal to you?"
Preet leaned forward slightly. "He's not wrong. Something about this place feels... strange."
Shaswat simply shrugged. "Relax, we're just exploring."
After a few more minutes of driving, the road widened slightly.
Then the cars stuttered to a halt before a shattered remains of grandeur.
Before them stood the ruins.
At first glance it looked like the skeleton of a palace that time had slowly devoured.
What may have once been a sprawling palace, now lay in rotting disarray. Ivy-choked walls sagged under the weight of time, their sandstone facades cracked and blackened by fire or curse, vines twisting like veins through fissures wide enough to swallow a man. Colonnades of carved elephants and deities slumped into the earth, their stone eyes hollowed by erosion, mouths agape in eternal silent screams. Broken domes gaped skyward, exposing rusted iron lattices overgrown with thorny creepers, and the ground was littered with rubble: shattered marble pedestals, toppled lingams encrusted with moss, and piles of decayed wood from what might have been grand doors. The air reeked of damp rot and something sharper, like old blood baked into the soil. It was impossibly old, this place, whispering of Mughal feasts or Maratha sieges, now just a carcass for jackals and ghosts.
Madhu stepped out first, her heels sinking into the soft earth, arms crossed tight.
Bhavya folded his arms and stared at the ruined structure. "Rajesh bhai," he said slowly, "why exactly are we here?"
Rajesh stretched his arms casually. "Arre, Baba used to talk about this place all the time. He said it was peaceful. Good for late night adventures. No cops, no crowds—just us and the stars."
Lalita looked at the broken palace with visible doubt. "Peaceful?" she asked. "This looks like the beginning of a horror story."
Yogesh hung back by the Benz, rubbing his neck, eyes darting to the shadows. "Yaar, I'm getting bad vibes. Like someone's watching. Let's just light a beedi and head back to Juhu Beach."
Preet snorted, elbowing him. "Bad vibes? You're just hungover from all that vodka. Come on, it'll be fun—explore a bit, tell ghost stories."
Rajesh grabbed a small torch from the car. "Well," he said, turning it on, "we came all this way. Might as well explore."
Slowly, the group entered the ruins. Their footsteps echoed softly against the stone floors as they moved through the broken halls. The torchlight revealed faded murals and cracked sculptures along the walls. Rajesh walked ahead, leading the way.
Behind him, Preet and Alkesh were already arguing. "You always complain," Preet whispered sharply. "And Rajesh always drags us into stupid situations," Alkesh replied.
Further behind them, Madhu and Lalita walked side by side. Madhu's voice dropped low, laced with that familiar worry. "Lalita di, I don't know if Shaswat's family will ever accept it. You know how powerful and rich the Singhania family is. What if they do not want someone like me as their daughter-in-law?"
Lalita gently squeezed her hand. "Madhu, listen to me. They will accept you." Madhu looked doubtful. Lalita smiled warmly. "Rajesh's mother accepted me. And I am not even from their social circle. If she can accept me, she will definitely accept you."
Madhu's eyes softened slightly. "You really think so?"
"I know so. The Singhanias' hearts are bigger than their egos."
Their conversation stopped when they reached a large hall. The ceiling had partially collapsed, allowing a thin shaft of moonlight to fall across the center of the room.
"You're such an idiot, Alkesh—should've brought more torches," Yogesh muttered.
"Shut up, bhai, you're the one who forgot the matches," he shot back.
The group spread out, laughter echoing unnaturally loud as they poked through chambers choked with rubble, sharing drags from a Charminar cigarette, the smoke curling like spirits into the night.
On one wall hung a large painting.
Despite the dust and cracks, the portrait was strangely intact.
It showed a royal figure.
The man wore layers of pearls around his neck, so many that they almost covered his chest. His skin looked unnaturally pale, almost lifeless.
Lalita's fingers brushed a faded mural half-buried in the wall, and she froze. The eyes... were the most disturbing part. They were red. Not painted red. Glowing red.
In his grasp gleamed a massive golden vase, its surface etched with intricate lotuses, translucent glass panels revealing a viscous red liquid inside, like blood congealed to syrup.
"Yaar, look at this king," Lalita breathed, tracing the pearls. "So pale, like he's from another world. And those eyes—staring right through you."
Shaswat leaned in, torch steadying on his face. "Wah, check the vase. Filled with what? Lassi gone bad? Or maybe royal wine turned to poison."
Ganga giggled nervously. "Creepy as hell. Bet he was some raja cursed by a tantrik. Those red eyes scream vampire."
Shaswat chuckled, pulling Madhu close. "Or just bad art from the old days. But pearls like that? Worth a fortune even now."
Bhavya frowned. "That painting is creepy." Preet stepped closer. "Whoever this was, he was probably some ancient king."
Madhu reached out, her palm pressing the mural's edge. Suddenly, a low rumble shook the ground, dust cascading from the ceiling like filthy snow.
CREAAAKKKKKK
The wall groaned, stone grinding on stone, and a hidden passage yawned open beneath their feet—a section of the floor moved aside. A staircase revealed itself, descending deep into darkness.
Screeches erupted from the distant forest, not jackals now but something guttural, monstrous, like throats raw with hunger.
"Shit—what was that?" Yogesh yelped, stumbling back.
"Run—inside? No, wait—" Bhavya grabbed Preet's arm.
But Rajesh was already stepping toward the stairs. "Come on. This is amazing."
"This is mad, bhai, turn back!" Ganga pleaded, voice echoing.
"Too late now, didi. Just a basement," he called back, but his bravado cracked.
The staircase spiraled deep underground. Deeper they went, walls closing in, the screeches fading then swelling again. "Something's out there—monsters, I swear," Preet whispered, clutching Alkesh.
The passage spat them into a vast chamber, cobwebs veiling a pedestal.
The selfsame golden vase sat, pristine amid the filth, red liquid swirling lazily within. Webs clung like funeral shrouds, thick as ropes.
Rajesh stepped forward slowly. "Looks valuable."
Lalita frowned, "It's the same thing that the king in the painting held in his hands. But why—"
Before she could even finish speaking, Rajesh grabbed the vessel. At that very moment, a deafening roar thundered through the palace. The walls trembled fiercely, dust shaking loose from the stone. And then, something stirred within the shadows.
A figure coalesced from the darkness.
A woman, face shrouded in gloom, skin corpse-pale, her body a grotesque tapestry of embedded jewels—rubies piercing flesh, emeralds jutting from ribs like shrapnel.
She lunged, claws raking, eyes blazing inferno-red as she raked her long nails across Madhu, making her wail in agony. Lalita quickly shoved the woman away.
Yogesh screamed, "WE NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT-"
The woman threw herself at Bhavya, who was closest. Rajesh swung the vase like a club, cracking her shoulder; bone snapped wetly, black ichor spraying. Shaswat charged, torch jabbing her side, sizzling flesh filling the air with charred meat stench. Yogesh hurled rubble, missing wide. She slashed Preet's arm, blood welling hot and crimson, soaking his shirt. Ganga screamed, frozen.
Suddenly, Bhavya and Preet rushed forward. In one swift motion, they grabbed the woman and forced her to the ground. She thrashed wildly beneath them, her shrieks rising into sharp, piercing cries that echoed through the room.
Madhu and Lalita, backs to the wall, spotted a boulder-sized stone slab. They both looked at each other. Lalita shouted, "MOVE EVERYONE!!!"
Madhu and Lalita lifted the heavy slab together and hurled it toward the woman on the floor. As they did, Preet and Bhavya quickly leapt aside to avoid the impact.
The slab smashed down on the woman, crushing her skull instantly—cartilage and bone crunching, brains erupting in gray-pink slurry flecked with glittering jewels, gore splattering their faces, warm and sticky. Her body twitched, jewels clinking as it slumped, headless ruin pooling blood that reeked of copper and rot.
Ganga retched, tears streaming. "Oh God—we killed her! What was that thing?" Madhu gagged, wiping gore from her eyes, but there was no time as more screams echoed.
They bolted up the stairs in blind panic: Lalita first, Rajesh hauling her as he held the vessel, then Ganga sobbing, Shaswat shoving Bhavya, Madhu scrambling, Preet clutching his bleeding arm, Yogesh cursing, Alkesh dead last.
A noise tore as a claw snagged Alkesh's ankle.
He screamed, twisting. The eight above whipped around. It was a different one, one with grey skin. The creature stared up at them with glowing eyes.
Alkesh clawed at the stone steps. "PLEASE!!!!!! HELP ME!!!!" He screamed as the creature kept pulling him down the stairs while the others watched in horror.
"Help! Pull me up—didi, please!" Alkesh wailed, nails scraping stone.
Ganga lunged back. "Alkesh! No—grab my hand!" But Rajesh yanked her arm, Shaswat dragging Bhavya, the group surging away. Lalita held the vessel now.
"Leave him—we can't!" Preet sobbed.
Ganga thrashed. "No, he's our brother—stop!"
Rajesh slapped her, "WE NEED TO LEAVE!!!"
They ran, stumbling up the steps and diving into the cars. Doors slammed. Engines roared to life one after another. Behind them, Alkesh's howls tore through the night, raw and desperate, echoing across the empty grounds. The sound chased them as the cars sped away into the darkness. But they did not look back.
The passage slammed shut on its own as the ruins trembled once more. The air filled with shrill, demonic shrieks that seemed to seep from the very stones.
From below came the sickening sounds of violence. Flesh tore with a wet rip. Bones cracked like dry twigs, snap, crunch, pop, echoing through the darkness. The human cries of Alkesh rose higher and higher, raw and guttural, until his throat seemed to tear apart on the final note.
"AAAAAIIIEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!!"