The Bane Retreat: Hell of 2003

THE CURSE

1998

Unknown Location

The wind was unusually cold that night. Dark clouds hung low over the mountains, blotting out the stars until the silence felt heavy, broken only by the occasional gust rushing through the sharp rocks.

At the edge of the snowy cliff stood a girl.

Her hair was tightly braided, and blood—some dried, some fresh and hot—stained her clothes. She looked entirely exhausted, like someone who had been running for days. Yet, her eyes remained fixed on the darkness ahead.

She slipped a trembling hand into her pocket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper. The parchment was ruined with blood, but she unfolded it carefully anyway, fighting the wind that tried to snatch it from her fingers.

There was only one sentence written across the page: “The descendants must die.”

She read it again.

A faint, chilling smile touched her lips. It wasn’t a smile of happiness or sadness; it was the expression of someone who had finally understood a terrible truth. A single tear rolled down her cheek, mixing with the crimson on her skin.

Without looking back, she tightened her grip on the paper and took a step forward.

She disappeared into the darkness below.

The paper slipped from her hand, vanishing into the abyss with her. A few seconds later, the mountain fell dead silent again.

The bane retreat: Hell of 2003

Episode 1 : The changing winds

India

2024, March

Mumbai

Sathya was supposed to be writing, but his mind just wasn’t in it. He sat at his desk, staring blankly at the half-finished chapter on his laptop, completely stuck.

With a soft sigh, he gave up and leaned back in his chair. His eyes naturally drifted to the side of his desk, landing on the one photograph he kept there.

It was a picture of him and a girl.

Just looking at her face made his chest loosen. A quiet, genuine smile broke through his frustration, replacing his writer’s block with a sudden rush of warmth. He picked up the frame, looking at her eyes, completely lost in a memory that felt like a breath of fresh air.

As he sat there just looking at her, his phone buzzed, lighting up the desk.

A notification popped up from Instagram. It was her—the exact same girl in the photograph. On his screen, her chat name showed up under the nickname he had given her: Ritu followed by a small pink heart.

His chest tightened with a sudden burst of excitement. He didn’t even hesitate before tapping the notification open.

The message was brief and urgent: “Come to our spot right now.”

A grin tugged at his lips. He quickly typed back a single word: “Why?”

Her reply came almost instantly, leaving no room for argument. “No more questions, my love. Just be here by 7:47.”

Sathya laughed softly to himself, the warmth from the photo spreading all through him. He typed out a quick message letting her know he was on his way, closed his laptop, and grabbed his keys.

He was already halfway out the door, keys jingling in his hand as he headed toward his car, when his phone buzzed again in his palm.

He flipped it over to check. Another message from Ritu had popped up:

“and yaa pick your bestie Tara on the way and be fast rahww 💖💖”

Sathya chuckled, shaking his head at the screen. That was so typical of her—always planning, always keeping him on his toes. He gave a quick mental check of the time, realizing 7:47 was creeping up fast. If he had to detour to pick up Tara, he really did need to move.

He unlocked the car, slid into the driver’s seat, and quickly pulled up Tara’s chat to text her that he was outside.

He shot a quick text over to Tara, who was probably sitting at home bored out of her mind anyway.

“Get ready fast and head down to your lobby. I’m on my way, will be outside in a few.”

He didn’t even wait for a reply, knowing she’d pull herself together the second she saw a chance to get out of the house. Sathya tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, started the engine, and pulled out into the evening traffic. The clock on the dashboard was already ticking down, and he still had to navigate the Mumbai streets to grab Tara and make it to Ritu by 7:47.

Lively Apartments, Mumbai

Tara looked down at her phone and rolled her eyes, but she was secretly glad for the distraction. She knew Sathya well—if she didn’t get moving, he’d keep bugging her until she did. She dragged herself off the couch, tossed on some clothes, and checked herself in the mirror before heading out.

She almost made it to the front door before her mom stopped her with the classic question. “Where are you going?”

“Maa, Sathya’s outside,” Tara said, keeping her voice casual. “He wants to go for a drive or something.”

It was a total lie, and she knew it. Sathya never planned things this abruptly out of nowhere. Rithika was definitely behind this sudden meetup, but using Sathya’s name was the ultimate cheat code to get her mom to agree without any extra questions.

Sure enough, the moment her mom heard Sathya was involved, she just nodded and let her go.

Tara stepped out into the hallway and pressed the button for the elevator. To kill a little bit of time on the way down, she started playfully teasing a little kid riding in the lift with her, laughing to herself until the doors finally slid open at the lobby.

Outside, the weather had completely shifted. The Mumbai sky had gone dark, and a crisp, beautiful chill had rolled in, making the whole evening feel incredibly atmospheric.

Sathya had the passenger door unlocked and waiting. The second Tara rushed out of the building and hopped in, he hit the gas and pulled away from the curb.

Tara buckled her seatbelt and leaned back, letting out a sigh. “Honestly, Rithika is becoming a major headache lately. She just does whatever she wants, and you just mindlessly follow her lead.”

“Yaar, it’s not even like that,” Sathya stammered, trying to defend himself while watching the traffic. “I mean...”

“Just drive,” Tara cut him off, crossing her arms with a cute, slightly jealous pout. “Go on, go meet your love.”

Sathya glanced over at her and smiled, letting out a soft laugh. “Tara, come on. You’re my best friend, you know I love you just as much. Don’t be mad at me, raa.”

Other side of the city

Meanwhile, on the complete opposite side of Mumbai, a guy named Varun was caught right in the middle of a loud, crowded party. He had absolutely no idea what was actually going on, but his phone was blowing up.

He leaned over to his manager, shouting slightly over the music. “Hey, you need to handle the rest of everything here. I’ve gotta run—my cousin Rithika just called me.”

Without waiting for a response, Varun quickly pulled up his messages to check the link she had sent. He tapped it, immediately switching over to Google Maps to figure out exactly where the hell she was dragging him to this time.

Varun hurried out to the parking lot and hopped into his car, slamming the door shut to cut off the loud music from the party. He reached for the keys, but stopped when he noticed something on his dashboard.

It was a strange piece of black paper.

He definitely hadn’t left it there. Frowning, he picked it up, and the moment his fingers touched it, his stomach completely dropped. A sudden, heavy chill washed over him out of nowhere. It was this intense, suffocating feeling of pure dread that made the hairs on his arms stand up, like his body was instantly warning him that something was terribly wrong.

He stared at the blank paper, his chest tightening.

Before he could even process what was happening, his phone loudly buzzed on the console, completely breaking the silence. The screen showed Rithika’s name.

The sudden noise snapped him out of it. He answered quickly, and her voice came through the speakers sounding totally stressed. “Varun, please tell me you’re on your way! Come fast, it’s mine and his anniversary. Please don’t mess this up.”

Her voice forced the creepy feeling to the back of his mind. Shaking his head to clear it, he tossed the paper onto the passenger seat, trying to ignore the weird tingling in his fingertips. “I’m on my way right now,” he promised, shifting the car into gear and pulling out into the night.

Around twenty minutes later, Varun pulled up to the location.

He stepped out of the car and found Rithika waiting by the shore of a beautiful, quiet little pond. Standing right there beside her was Isha, Sathya’s sister. The place was peaceful and looked lovely at night, tucked away near the faint outline of an old building.

Rithika immediately pulled Varun aside, gesturing excitedly as she started explaining something to him in a hurried whisper.

It looked like she was breaking down the details of a big surprise she had planned for Sathya, but she was keeping her voice so low that it was impossible to tell exactly what she was up to. She had a massive smile on her face, clearly thrilled about whatever she had set up for the anniversary.

but Varun felt something strange deep within him, and a dead silence emerged inside his heart

and.............

Undisclosed Location

Foothills of the a unknown location's mountains

High up on the exact same snowy peak, the suffocating silence of the mountain suddenly shattered.

The curse had awakened.

Without warning, a terrifying shift ripped through the atmosphere. The night sky didn’t just cloud over—it was violently swallowed by thick, pitch-black clouds that rolled across the peaks like sinister smoke, blotting out every ounce of moonlight. But at one sharp corner of the sky, the darkness bled into a deep, bruising blueish-black contrast, glowing with a strange, unnatural energy.

Then came the sound.

A deep, deafening roar vibrated from the very bowels of the earth. Before any living soul could even process the danger, the ground convulsed. The entire mountain began to shake violently

And.....

Back to Mumbai

Sathya glanced over at Tara, completely distracted from the road for a split second. The dashboard clock already read 7:17, and the pressure was on.

Tara was staring right back at him, her arms crossed as she tried to maintain her best angry glare. But she wasn’t fooling anyone—with her expressive eyes and crossed arms, she just looked incredibly cute.

Sathya couldn’t help it. A wide grin broke across his face, and he let out a soft laugh. Seeing his reaction, Tara’s tough exterior instantly cracked, and she started laughing right along with him.

Shaking his head, Sathya focused back on the traffic, hitting the gas as they continued their rush through the city streets.

“You just drive,” Tara replied, a lovely smile completely taking over her face. She gave him this playfully warning look, her eyes shining with pure amusement. “I’ll deal with you later.”

Sathya chuckled, a warmth settling in his chest. It was just so easy with her. He looked back ahead, a lingering grin on his face, while Tara reached over to mess with the radio. She settled back into her seat with a contented sigh, looking incredibly cute as she started humming along to the music.

27 mins later

They finally reached the spot, and Sathya killed the engine. Tara didn’t even wait for him—she just unclicked her seatbelt, hopped out, and shut the door behind her.

Sathya went to do the same, but his seatbelt caught. He yanked it, but the metal tab was jammed solid in the slot.

“Oh, come on,” he muttered, aggressively wiggling the release button. He braced himself and gave it one final, hard tug until it finally snapped free.

By the time he got out of the car and checked his phone, it was already 7:44 PM.

They only had three minutes. Sathya looked over the roof of the car, expecting to see Tara standing there waiting for him, but she wasn’t. He looked down the dark path toward the trees and the water, but she had completely disappeared.

Sathya walked over toward the structural frame of that small, house-like setup nearby. He looked around, looking for Tara, but she still wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

As he stood there searching, his phone screen ticked over to 7:46 PM.

Suddenly, a string of fairy lights flickered on, cutting through the darkness. Balloons began floating up into the evening air, and he noticed a bunch of photos hanging from a thread pinned along the wall. Every single one of them was a picture of him and Rithika.

Before he could even process it, Rithika appeared out of nowhere. She ran straight toward him and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“Don’t leave for a minute,” she whispered against him.

She glanced down at the time, and right as the clock ticked exactly to 7:47 PM, she looked back up at him. “This exact moment is when I came into your life. This is everything to me.” She pulled her head back just a little bit, looking into his eyes. “I love you. Love you, love you, love you, for life.” and kissed him

Right then, Tara and Varun suddenly stepped out from the shadows, smiling and clapping for them.

Rithika stepped back a bit, looking into his eyes. “It’s our seven years together,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. “We have gone through so much. It was tough, but we stayed together whatever happened, how bad it was, whatever the situation. You decided to live for me.”

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “So on this day, March 7, 2024... I... I...” Tears started rolling down her cheeks. “I wanna give you three things. One... I... I owe you myself.”

Sathya felt the tears welling up in his own eyes out of pure love. He stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. Watching them, Tara felt happy tears stinging her eyes too, and even Varun couldn’t help but smile at the scene.

Rithika pulled back slightly, wiping her face. “Second thing,” she continued, turning around.

Sathya froze. Standing right there behind her was Isha.

A wave of pure shock hit him, and he completely broke down into heavy tears. This was the first time he was seeing his sister since they had completely broken contact after a massive, bitter argument.

Feeling a mix of lingering hurt, anger, and overwhelming happiness, he walked straight over to her and fell to his knees, clutching her legs. “Why did you come back?” he cried out. “Am I... am I really that important to you?”

Isha was crying hard now too. Sathya looked up at her through his tears. “I am sorry. Please, just don’t leave me again.”

She gently pulled him back up to his feet, reached out, and kissed him on the forehead. “The only person I have in my life is you, Annaya,” she said softly.

They threw their arms around each other, holding on tight.

Tara wiped a stray tear from her cheek and smiled, trying to break the emotional heaviness of the reunion. “Okay, wait. What about the third one?” she asked, looking between them.

Rithika let out a breathless laugh, her eyes still bright with tears as she looked straight at Sathya.

“Since my love has always wanted to go to Madagascar,” Rithika said, her voice full of excitement, “I booked twelve tickets. It includes every single one of our cousins.”

The announcement hit them like a surge of pure adrenaline. The heavy, emotional atmosphere instantly shattered, replaced by a wave of shock and pure excitement. Tara gasped, Varun let out a sudden laugh, and they all started talking over each other, completely thrilled by the massive surprise.

Madagascar

A Secluded Hut

Deep in the wilderness of Madagascar, the night was pitch-black. Inside a small mud hut, a man sat crouched over a crackling fire, the orange embers casting deep shadows across his weathered face.

He didn’t need a phone to know. Somehow, the moment those twelve cousins in Mumbai celebrated their upcoming trip, he felt it. He knew exactly what they had decided.

He stared into the dancing flames, a heavy weight sinking into his chest. He looked like someone who had spent his entire life carrying a burden—a savior who knew the ancient history of what happened, and who desperately wanted to save them from what was coming. They had a debt to pay. A dark give-and-take with the entity that bound them.

The man leaned closer to the fire, whispering to himself in the quiet hut. “The curse can never be in anyone’s favor.”

Suddenly, he stiffened. He noticed something strange. A sudden, chilling vibration cut through the air—a heavy, familiar warning creeping across his skin.

Mumbai

Later That Night — Rithika’s House

The celebration was over. The house was quiet, save for the faint hum of the air conditioner.

Rithika stepped out of the bathroom, drying her damp hair with a towel after a quick bath. She walked over to her dressing table, smiling faintly as she remembered the joy on Sathya’s face.

She reached down, sliding open her top drawer to grab a hair clip.

But her hand froze in mid-air.

Resting right there on top of her everyday things was a strange piece of blank, pitch-black paper.

The color drained from her face. She hadn’t put it there. The suffocating chill hit the bedroom instantly, making the air freeze in her lungs. She didn’t look surprised; she looked terrified. The realization dropped like a lead weight—she wasn’t a bystander. She was already stuck deep inside the jaws of the curse.

Madagascar

The Hut

Back in the distant hut, the savior looked up through a small gap in the thatched roof, his eyes scanning the night sky. The air grew heavier by the second.

The man whispered into the dark, his voice trembling with a grim, final certainty.

“The stars are gonna fall soon. Make a wish.”

And............

The Bane Retreat: Hell of 2003

Episode 1: Changing Winds

To be continued....