Apartment 13

Five best friends loved exploring abandoned and haunted places. Since childhood, they had watched ghost videos, read scary stories, and dreamed of visiting the most haunted locations in India.

One day, they heard about a mysterious abandoned apartment in Tamil Nadu. People said strange lights appeared there at night, whispers echoed through the empty rooms, and no one dared stay there for long.

Excited, the boys decided to visit it. But they had one big problem—they had no money. The cost of travel, food, and accommodation was far beyond what they could afford.

Instead of giving up, they made a promise:

"No matter how long it takes, one day we'll go there together."

Years passed. They worked hard, saved every extra rupee they could, and never forgot their dream.

After six years, they finally had enough money.

They traveled to Tamil Nadu and rented a small, old house near the haunted apartment. The landlord looked nervous as he handed them the keys.

"You can stay here," he said quietly, "but whatever you hear after midnight... don't go outside."

The boys laughed, thinking it was just another ghost story.

That night, at exactly 12:00 AM, a loud metallic sound shattered the silence.

CLANG... CLANG... CLANG...

The sound was coming from the direction of the haunted apartment.

Someone...

—or something—

was knocking.

The five friends—Ayan, Ankit, Rahul, Suraj, and Aryan—had finally reached their rented house after years of saving money for this adventure.

Ayan believed in God, but he never believed that ghosts existed. The other four friends didn't believe in either God or ghosts. They were convinced that every haunted story had a logical explanation.

After entering the house, they unpacked their bags. They placed their cameras, flashlights, power banks, snacks, and clothes in their rooms. Everyone was happy because their dream of exploring a haunted place had finally come true.

Rahul lay down on the bed, Aryan sat on the sofa, Suraj stretched his legs to relax, and Ayan started checking the cameras.

"I'll take a quick bath," Ankit said as he walked into the bathroom.

While taking a shower, Ankit accidentally looked through the small bathroom window. Across the road stood the old abandoned apartment.

For a brief second, he saw a young girl standing silently at one of the apartment's windows.

She wasn't moving.

She was just staring.

Ankit blinked in surprise.

When he looked again...

The girl had disappeared.

He shook his head and smiled.

"It was just my imagination," he whispered to himself.

A few minutes later, he finished his bath and came back into the living room.

"Come on, everyone! Let's play PUBG!" he said excitedly.

Within seconds, Ayan, Ankit, Rahul, and Aryan picked up their phones and started playing together.

Suraj wasn't interested.

"You guys play. I'll just watch some reels," he said as he relaxed on the sofa and scrolled through his phone.

Time passed quickly.

Soon, the clock showed 1:30 a.m.

Aryan yawned loudly.

"Guys, let's sleep now. We're all tired, and tomorrow we'll explore the apartment in daylight."

Everyone agreed and switched off their phones.

The room became completely silent.

Just as they were about to fall asleep...

"Aaaahhh...!"

A loud scream echoed from the direction of the haunted apartment.

All five friends suddenly sat up.

"What was that?" Rahul asked nervously.

They rushed to the window and looked toward the apartment.

Everything was dark.

There was no one outside.

No lights.

No movement.

"It's probably some animal," Ankit said, trying to stay calm.

The friends returned to their beds.

A few moments later...

"Aaaahhh...!"

The scream came again.

This time, it sounded even closer.

The five friends looked at each other in complete silence.

Without saying a word, they made a decision.

"We're going to find out where that sound is coming from."

They grabbed their cameras, flashlights, and mobile phones before quietly leaving the house.

A few minutes later, they stood in front of the old haunted apartment.

Its broken entrance looked darker than ever.

Taking a deep breath, Ayan pushed the main door open.

The five friends stepped inside.

BANG!

The main door slammed shut behind them on its own.

The sound echoed through the empty building.

The five friends froze.

Someone...

Or something...

had trapped them inside.

The heavy wooden door slammed shut behind the five friends with a deafening BANG!

Everyone jumped in fear.

Rahul quickly ran back and tried to pull the door open, but it wouldn't move.

"It's locked!" he shouted.

Suraj and Aryan pushed the door with all their strength, but it remained firmly shut.

For the first time that night, the five friends felt a strange fear creeping into their hearts.

Ayan took a deep breath.

"Stay calm," he said. "Let's not panic."

Gathering their courage, they switched on their flashlights and slowly walked deeper into the apartment.

The hallway was filled with dust. Broken furniture lay scattered across the floor, and thick spider webs covered the walls. Every step echoed through the silent building.

Then...

A soft melody floated through the darkness.

A piano...

The beautiful but haunting music seemed to be coming from a room at the end of the corridor.

The friends looked at each other.

"Did you hear that?" Aryan whispered.

Without saying another word, they slowly walked toward the sound.

As they reached the room, the piano music suddenly stopped.

Ayan carefully pushed the old wooden door open.

Creeeak...

Inside the room stood a grand black piano covered in dust.

No one was sitting in front of it.

Yet a few of its keys were still moving on their own.

The friends froze.

On the wall above the piano hung a large painting of a young woman dressed in a white gown.

Her face looked calm...

But her eyes seemed strangely alive, as if they were watching every movement.

Rahul pointed his flashlight at the painting.

"Why do I feel like she's staring at us?" he whispered.

No one answered.

The room felt colder with every passing second.

Ankit slowly took a step toward the piano.

Suddenly...

THUD!

A loud sound echoed from somewhere upstairs.

The five friends immediately turned around.

"What was that?" Suraj asked.

No one knew.

Fear had replaced all their excitement.

After looking around for a few more minutes, they decided they had seen enough for one night.

To their surprise, when they returned to the entrance, the main door slowly creaked open by itself.

Without wasting a second, the five friends rushed outside.

They finally managed to get out safely and hurried back to their rented house.

Back inside, everyone was exhausted.

"There was no one inside," Ayan said, trying to convince himself as much as his friends. "We're all tired. Let's just get some sleep."

The others nodded and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, bright sunlight filled the room.

Ayan suddenly stood up and began searching everywhere.

"My camera... Where's my camera?" he asked anxiously.

The others woke up and immediately started helping him search.

They looked under the beds, inside the bags, and around the living room.

But the camera was nowhere to be found.

Then Ankit stopped searching.

He looked at Ayan with a serious expression.

"I think..."

"...you left your camera inside Apartment 13."

The room fell silent.

The friends looked at each other.

To get the camera back...

They would have to enter the haunted apartment once again.