THE GIRL IN ROOM 17

When twenty-two-year-old Apoorva inherits an abandoned hotel from a grandmother she barely remembers, she believes her life is finally about to change.

But the hotel holds a terrifying secret.

Room 17 has been locked for twenty years. No one is allowed inside, and the mysterious caretaker, Nedumaran, refuses to explain why.

On Apoorva's first night there, the telephone rings at exactly 2:17 a.m.

A trembling voice whispers, "Apoorva, if you're hearing this, it means they've found you."

Then the line goes dead.

The next morning, Apoorva discovers a photograph hidden beneath her bedroom floorboards. It shows five children standing outside the hotel.

Four faces have been crossed out.

The fifth face is hers.

But Apoorva has never been to this hotel before.

Or at least, that's what she's been told.

As she searches for the truth, she discovers that her grandmother Raj Kumari's death may not have been an accident—and someone is willing to kill to keep Room 17 locked forever.

With the help of Tiger Nagendra, a mysterious former police officer who knows more about her past than he admits, Apoorva begins uncovering a secret that could destroy everything she believes about her family.

Who is the girl in Room 17? And why does everyone seem to know Apoorva except Apoorva herself?

Main Characters

- Apoorva, 22: An intelligent but emotionally guarded young woman determined to uncover the truth about her family.

- Tiger Nagendra, 28: A mysterious former police officer who knows more about Apoorva's past than he admits.

- Nedumaran, 65: The hotel's caretaker, who becomes frightened whenever someone mentions Room 17.

- Raj Kumari: Apoorva's grandmother, who died under suspicious circumstances and left behind disturbing photographs.

- The Unknown Caller: A mysterious voice that phones Apoorva at 2:17 a.m.

- The Stranger in the Grey Suit: A man who delivers the key that leads Apoorva to the hotel.

- The Child in the Darkness: A mysterious voice that seems to know Apoorva.

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Chapter 1: The Call at 2:17

The first time Apoorva heard the voice, she thought someone had made a mistake.

The second time, she knew it was meant for her.

And by the third time, she wished she had never answered the phone.

It began on a Thursday evening, when a stranger in a grey suit knocked on her apartment door and handed her a small envelope.

"Are you Apoorva?" he asked.

She frowned. "Who's asking?"

He ignored the question and held out the envelope.

"Your grandmother left you something."

Apoorva stared at him.

"My grandmother has been dead for fifteen years."

The stranger's expression didn't change.

"Then someone has been lying to you."

Before she could demand an explanation, he turned and walked down the corridor.

Apoorva hurried after him, but by the time she reached the staircase, he had disappeared.

Inside the envelope was a brass key, a photograph of an old hotel, and a handwritten note.

Come to Blackwood Hotel before midnight.

Come alone.

And whatever you do, never open Room 17.

At the bottom of the note was a signature.

Raj Kumari.

Her grandmother's name.

Apoorva spent the next three hours searching online for Blackwood Hotel. She found almost nothing. One old newspaper article described a fire that had occurred there twenty years earlier. Another mentioned the disappearance of five children.

The article ended with a sentence that made her stomach tighten.

Authorities closed the investigation after the hotel owner refused to cooperate.

The owner was Raj Kumari.

At 10:43 p.m., Apoorva arrived at Blackwood Hotel.

The building stood beyond a narrow road surrounded by black trees. Its windows were dark, its paint peeling, and its iron gates hung open as if someone had been expecting her.

Rain slid down Apoorva's coat as she approached the entrance.

The front door opened before she touched it.

An elderly caretaker stood inside, holding a lantern.

"You shouldn't have come," Nedumaran whispered.

"Are you Nedumaran?"

The caretaker's eyes moved to the brass key in Apoorva's hand.

Then all the colour drained from their face.

"Where did you get that?"

"My grandmother left it to me."

Nedumaran took a step backward.

"That's impossible."

"Why?"

Nedumaran looked over Apoorva's shoulder, toward the empty road.

"Because your grandmother took that key to her grave."

A cold silence settled between them.

Then, from somewhere deep inside the hotel, a telephone began to ring.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Nedumaran gripped Apoorva's wrist.

"Listen to me carefully," the caretaker said. "If that telephone rings again tonight, do not answer it."

"Why not?"

Nedumaran looked directly into her eyes.

"Because the last person who answered it disappeared twenty years ago."

The ringing stopped.

Apoorva pulled her wrist free.

"I want to see Room 17."

Nedumaran shook their head violently.

"No."

"Then tell me what's inside."

For several seconds, the caretaker said nothing.

Finally, Nedumaran leaned closer and whispered, "Nothing is inside that room anymore."

Apoorva felt a chill crawl up her spine.

"What does that mean?"

"It means whatever was in there has been walking around this hotel for twenty years."

Suddenly, every light in the hallway went out.

Apoorva heard a door slam upstairs.

Then footsteps.

Slow, deliberate footsteps approaching the staircase.

Nedumaran extinguished the lantern.

"Don't move," the caretaker whispered.

The footsteps stopped directly above them.

A floorboard creaked.

Then a child's voice drifted down from the darkness.

"Apoorva?"

Her heart slammed against her ribs.

The voice spoke again.

"You took so long to come back."

Apoorva couldn't breathe.

She had never heard that voice before.

Yet somehow, impossibly, she recognised it.

It was her own voice.

A telephone rang in the darkness.

This time, it was right behind her.

Apoorva turned.

An old black telephone sat on a narrow table where there had been nothing a moment earlier.

Its receiver lifted slowly.

A woman's voice emerged from the line.

"Apoorva, listen to me. You have less than an hour."

"Who is this?"

The woman began to cry.

"I'm the reason you're still alive."

Apoorva gripped the telephone.

"Tell me your name!"

The answer came in a whisper.

"Raj Kumari."

Apoorva's grandmother had been dead for fifteen years.

And the woman on the telephone was about to tell her who had killed her.

End of Chapter 1

---

Chapter 2: The Photograph

Apoorva stood frozen, the telephone pressed against her ear.

"Raj Kumari?" she whispered. "How is this possible?"

For several seconds, there was nothing but static.

Then the voice returned.

"Listen carefully. You must find Tiger Nagendra. Do not trust Nedumaran. And whatever happens, do not open Room 17."

Apoorva's fingers tightened around the receiver.

"Why? What's in that room?"

A sharp sound crackled through the line.

Then Raj Kumari whispered five words that made Apoorva's blood run cold.

"One of them is still alive."

"Who? Who is still alive?"

A loud bang echoed somewhere inside the hotel.

The telephone went dead.

Apoorva slowly lowered the receiver.

Behind her, Nedumaran stood at the end of the hallway.

"Who were you talking to?" the caretaker asked.

Apoorva swallowed.

"No one."

Nedumaran's expression hardened.

"Don't lie to me."

Before Apoorva could respond, a man's voice came from the entrance.

"She's telling the truth about one thing."

Both of them turned.

A tall man stood in the doorway, rain dripping from his dark jacket. He had tired eyes, a small scar above his eyebrow, and the unsettling calm of someone who had seen too much.

Apoorva recognised him from an old newspaper photograph she had found online.

Tiger Nagendra.

The former police officer who had investigated the disappearance of the five children twenty years earlier.

"What are you doing here?" Nedumaran demanded.

Tiger ignored the caretaker and looked directly at Apoorva.

"Your grandmother told me you'd come."

Apoorva stepped toward him.

"You knew Raj Kumari?"

"I knew her."

"Then tell me how she just called me on that telephone."

For the first time, Tiger's expression changed.

He looked at the old black telephone.

Then he looked at Nedumaran.

"Because," he said quietly, "that telephone shouldn't be connected to anything."

Apoorva felt the floor shift beneath her feet.

"What does that mean?"

Tiger reached into his jacket and pulled out a faded photograph.

It showed five children standing outside Blackwood Hotel.

The same photograph Apoorva had read about in the newspaper.

But this version was different.

The faces had not been crossed out.

Tiger pointed to the little girl standing in the centre.

"Do you recognise her?"

Apoorva stared at the photograph.

The girl had dark eyes, a small scar above her left eyebrow, and a silver bracelet around her wrist.

Apoorva instinctively touched her own wrist.

The same bracelet rested against her skin.

Her breath caught.

"That's impossible."

Tiger's voice dropped to a whisper.

"No, Apoorva. What's impossible is that you survived."

She looked up sharply.

"Survived what?"

Before Tiger could answer, a loud metallic bang echoed from upstairs.

Then came three slow knocks.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

They were coming from the direction of Room 17.

Nedumaran began to tremble.

Tiger folded the photograph and slipped it into his pocket.

"We have to leave. Now."

Apoorva didn't move.

"Not without answers."

Tiger stared at her for a long moment.

Then he said something that made the entire hotel seem to grow colder.

"Twenty years ago, five children entered Room 17."

He glanced toward the dark staircase.

"Only four came out."

Another knock sounded from upstairs.

This time, a child's voice followed.

"That's not true, Tiger."

Tiger went completely still.

The voice laughed softly.

"You're the one who locked the door."

End of Chapter 2

---

Chapter 3: The Man Who Lied

For the first time since Apoorva had met him, Tiger Nagendra looked afraid.

Not surprised.

Not confused.

Afraid.

"Who is that?" Apoorva whispered.

Tiger didn't answer.

The child's voice came again from upstairs.

"Tiger, why don't you tell her what happened to me?"

Nedumaran backed away from the staircase.

"Don't listen," the caretaker whispered. "It knows how to imitate people."

Apoorva turned toward Nedumaran.

"What does that mean?"

"Twenty years ago, this hotel was different," Nedumaran replied. "People came here for holidays. Families filled the rooms. Children ran through the corridors. Nobody was afraid of Room 17."

"Then what happened?" Apoorva asked.

Nedumaran looked at Tiger.

"Ask him."

Tiger clenched his jaw.

"I was a young officer when the children disappeared. I was told there had been an accident. The hotel owner wanted everything kept quiet."

"Raj Kumari?"

He nodded.

"But the evidence never made sense. Five children entered the hotel that night. Four were found outside after the fire. The fifth was never recovered."

Apoorva's hands began to shake.

"Who was the fifth child?"

Tiger looked at her.

"You."

The word struck her like a physical blow.

"No. That's impossible. I'm twenty-two. This happened twenty years ago."

"Exactly," Tiger said. "You were only two years old when it happened."

Apoorva stepped backward.

"Why don't I remember any of this?"

"Because someone made sure you wouldn't."

A loud crash came from upstairs.

The three of them looked toward the staircase.

At the far end of the upper corridor stood a little girl in a white dress. Her hair hung across her face, and her bare feet were stained with dirt.

Apoorva couldn't move.

The girl slowly lifted her head.

She had Apoorva's eyes.

Her nose.

Her mouth.

She looked exactly like Apoorva as a child.

The girl smiled.

"You finally came back."

Apoorva's throat tightened.

"Who are you?"

The girl pointed toward Room 17.

"Open the door, and I'll tell you."

Tiger grabbed Apoorva's arm.

"Don't listen to her."

The girl tilted her head.

"He's lying again."

Tiger pulled Apoorva away from the staircase.

"Get out of this hotel. Now!"

But Apoorva shook her head.

"No. I've spent my entire life being told what to believe. I'm done."

She pulled the brass key from her pocket.

Nedumaran gasped.

"Where did you get that?"

"My grandmother gave it to me."

"That key doesn't open Room 17," Nedumaran whispered.

Apoorva stared at the caretaker.

"Then what does it open?"

Nedumaran's eyes filled with tears.

"The room where we kept the truth."

Before anyone could move, the little girl disappeared.

The hallway fell silent.

Then a door at the end of the corridor clicked open.

Behind it was a narrow staircase descending into darkness.

Tiger stared at the opening.

"I thought this place had been sealed."

Apoorva raised the lantern.

"What's down there?"

Nedumaran closed their eyes.

"Everything Raj Kumari tried to bury."

Apoorva stepped toward the staircase.

From somewhere below, a telephone began to ring.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then Raj Kumari's voice drifted up from the darkness.

"Apoorva, if you come down here, you'll learn why I had to let you die."

Apoorva froze.

Tiger whispered, "Don't go down there."

But she had already taken the first step.

Because now she understood one thing.

The mystery wasn't about who had died in Room 17.

It was about why everyone had spent twenty years pretending that Apoorva had.

End of Chapter 3