Chapter 1
I was twelve when I met the boy in the hospital.
He never spoke.
He only smiled.
And that smile still follows me.
Hi, I am Suraj, and now I live in Kolkata.
But this is not where I grew up.
Shegaon—a small town in eastern Karnataka—is where my childhood belongs.
There is an interesting… yet confusing story from that time.
I was around 12–13 years old when it happened.
May,1993
That summer was hotter than usual.
While other kids were enjoying their summer vacations, I spent three and a half weeks in a hospital. I had fallen from my bicycle so badly that my right leg was punctured.
Pain became my routine.
In the hospital ward, there was one more patient in my room.
The room was divided into two halves by a thin curtain. I could never see him properly—only when the curtain moved slightly, or when the wind blew through the window.
He had some mysterious illness.
Doctors made him cover his body almost all the time.
Day and night.
Whenever he noticed me looking at him, he didn’t speak.
He just
...
Smiled......
A smile that stayed with me.
Later, I asked my doctor about the boy—his disease, his strange behavior.
The doctor said there was nothing serious.
“Even when he cries in pain,” the doctor told me,
“we can’t help him.”
I asked why.
The doctor paused.
Then said quietly—
“
He is a type of maniac
.”
One night..........
I woke up to a heart-chilling sound.
It was the sound of the boy crying in pain.
Again.
My heart started racing. I got out of bed and slowly moved toward the curtain.
The room was dark.
Moonlight slipped in through the window.
There, in the darkness, the boy had fallen from his bed.
He was crying… trembling.
As I moved closer, something felt wrong.
Even today, thinking about it gives me chills.
I could see his hand clearly in the dark.
It had holes all over it.
My breath caught in my throat.
Then he looked at me.
That same creepy smile spread across his face.
For the first time, he spoke to me.
Just two words.
“
You Saw
"
To be continued…
