The Writing
“If you take my name aloud correctly, you will get a chance to meet me, and I will keep you with me forever.”
This line was carved into the wall of an old school classroom.
Two seventh-grade girls were found dead near the wall. They were lying pale and lifeless. One girl had fallen on her face, while the other was lying on her back. Their mouths were slightly open, with their tongues caught between their teeth.
They had spoken a name.
And something had happened to them.
Everyone was confused and silent about the incident.
The gate of this old school was always closed, and no one had entered it for the last 25 years. But every time you saw the old school, it was always clean.
The police arrived at the scene and examined every aspect of the situation. They looked for every small detail.
Police Inspector Atul checked the girls’ fingers and lips to see if they had been smoking or eating something before they died.
The constables were asked to check the area around the school for anything that could have been used to make the girls unconscious.
The principal arrived at the scene and told Atul not to stay there for a long time because paranormal activities had been seen there in the evening.
Atul looked at him.
“I don’t listen to this nonsense. Let us do our work. And can you tell us about these girls? Why were they here during class?”
The principal remained silent.
He didn’t know what to say.
Finally, he said, “I will check with the teacher and let you know.”
Atul turned towards one of the constables.
“Go with him. Listen to what he asks the teacher and report everything to me.”
The constable followed the principal.
Atul continued examining the classroom.
He found cigarette butts and two empty whisky bottles.
“Pick these up,” Atul told another constable. “Give them to the forensic team when they arrive.”
Atul walked further into the classroom.
The girls’ bodies were still lying there.
He kept a handkerchief over his nose because of the dust and spiderwebs covering the room.
While examining the walls, Atul noticed something strange.
There were many carvings on the walls.
Each one was written in a different script.
Atul took photographs of them.
Then he continued searching the classroom.
He found a deck of cards lying on a table.
After some time, Atul came outside and asked the constables what they had found around the school.
One constable had found clothes hanging on the second floor.
They appeared to belong to a man.
Another constable had found a magazine on the stairs.
It was from a recent month.
Atul looked towards the old school building.
Someone was living there.
Yet the whole neighbourhood believed that the school was haunted.
The principal returned.
“Sir, the girls might have come here during the long break.”
Atul immediately looked at him.
“How can you be so sure about that? And when does the long break start?”
The principal tried to remember.
“It starts at 11:40.”
“And when does it end?”
The principal looked towards the teachers.
One of them quietly showed him the time with a hand gesture.
Atul noticed it.
The principal said, “12 p.m.”
Atul stared at him.
“You don’t even know when your students have their lunch break, yet you called the police at four o’clock.”
The principal looked down and stood still.
Atul continued.
“Never mind. Tell me what you did when you realised that the girls had not returned to class.”
The principal called the teacher who had been taking the class after the long break.
The teacher approached them, worry written across his face. He kept wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
Atul looked at him.
“Tell me what happened.”
The teacher started speaking.
“I saw that four or five students had not come to class, so I waited for five minutes. Then two students came—”
“Come to the point,” Atul interrupted, irritated by the long explanation.
The teacher swallowed nervously.
“I waited for some time because…”
“Why did you wait?” Atul interrupted again. “You have to be vigilant. These are teenagers. You have to look for them.”
The teacher was shaking.
“Because these two are dance students. They always stay in the dance room. There is a function on Saturday, so I thought they might be there.”
“So when did you find out they were not in the dance room?”
The teacher wiped his face.
“When the dance teacher came and asked for the girls, I realised they were missing. So I sent two monitors to search for them.”
“And when they came back empty-handed?” Atul asked. “You continued your lecture, right? You didn’t tell anyone else about their disappearance?”
“No, sir,” the teacher immediately replied. “I told the vice-principal.”
“Well done,” Atul said coldly. “But why didn’t you tell her earlier? They might have started looking for the girls sooner.”
“Sir, these students always try to bunk classes. That’s why we wait until it becomes important before calling the vice-principal.”
A forensic team arrived at the classroom and started collecting footprints, fingerprints, and other evidence from the scene.
Atul watched them for a moment.
Then he turned towards the principal.
“Where were you when all this happened?”
