Chapter 1 – The Arrival
The car slowed as the family reached the old iron gates.
Rust had eaten away at the metal, but the lock hung open—as if someone had been waiting.
Inside the car sat Rajeev (the father), his wife Meera, their teenage son Arjun, little daughter Anya, and Rajeev’s aged mother, Savitri.
They had come here unwillingly, to their ancestral house that had been abandoned for decades.
“Why did it have to be this house?” Arjun muttered, staring at the looming mansion. The windows looked like eyes, hollow and unblinking.
Savitri crossed herself with trembling fingers. “This land holds old stories… but blood ties can never be escaped.”
The family carried their bags inside. The air was heavy, colder than the outside, and dust floated like silent ash. The wooden floor creaked beneath every step.
That night, after settling in, they tried to laugh, talk, and eat together. Rajeev tried to hold the family’s spirit together.
But every shadow stretched too far.
Every silence rang too loud.
And every clock ticked just a little too slow.
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The First Omen
At midnight, Arjun stood before the bathroom mirror, brushing his teeth.
But the mirror fogged up… though the air was cold, not warm.
And then—
In the mist, another face appeared. A woman’s face. Pale. Hollow eyes. Lips curled in a frozen scream.
Arjun spun around. Nobody was there.
The mirror dripped as if tears ran down its glass.
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End of Chapter 1
⚠️ Author’s Note for Chapter 1:
Never ignore the mirror. Sometimes, what you see isn’t a reflection—
…it’s a warning.
