Chapter 2: The Things We Bury

April 10, 2024

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12:01 AM

They say memory is a funny thing.

Somewhere in the back of your mind, it waits.

Quiet.

Still.

Until it’s ready to swallow you whole.

I thought this diary would keep me sane.

Lekin lagta hai, ab main apne hi lafzon se darne lagi hoon.

Last night…

I saw myself.

But it wasn’t a mirror.

I was standing in the kitchen, filling water from the matka, and when I turned—

She was there.

Standing.

Smiling.

Wearing the same white kurti I lost when I was sixteen.

The one Maa never found, and I swore someone stole.

Her eyes…

Woh meri nahi thi.

They were deeper. Darker.

Like a well I could fall into.

And I think, for a second, I did.

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2:03 AM

The key is still here.

I found it yesterday—under the floorboard near the bed.

Rusty, iron, but warm.

Zameen ke neeche dhool mein padi cheez garam kaise ho sakti hai?

I tried unlocking everything I could find.

But when I touched it to the mirror…

Something shifted.

Mujhe laga, I imagined it.

But the crack is there.

Tiny, running along the bottom like a vein.

It wasn’t there before.

I would’ve noticed.

I would’ve known.

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3:15 AM

I heard humming again.

A tune I can’t place.

Soft, almost loving.

It’s coming from behind the wall.

Or under the floor.

Ya phir mere dimaag mein baj raha hai.

I can’t tell anymore.

I called Priya.

She told me I’m losing it.

“Sleep,” she said.

But sleep doesn’t come here.

Not in this house.

And not to me.

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4:00 AM

I woke up gasping.

I don’t remember falling asleep.

But there was something pressed against my neck.

Like fingers.

Cold.

Bruising.

I ran to the mirror.

Aur wahan…

I saw marks.

Red, round, like fingerprints.

But they’re fading fast.

And I’m not sure they were ever really there.

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5:30 AM

There’s an old photo on my table now.

It wasn’t there last night.

Black and white.

A little girl standing in front of this house.

My house.

But the girl’s face…

Scratched out.

Lines dug into the paper like someone clawed it.

Her hair is in braids.

Like mine when I was a child.

And the dress—

Maa stitched that dress for my sixth birthday.

But I never had a sixth birthday.

Did I?

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6:45 AM

Maa called again.

Finally.

I picked up on the first ring.

I asked her about the house.

About this flat—13B.

She went silent.

And then she whispered,

"Riya, wahan mat reh. Maine tujhe wahan se le aya tha."

I told her I don’t remember.

She cried.

She said I wasn’t supposed to.

"Humne sab kuch mita diya tha."

What did they erase?

What did I forget?

And why is it coming back now?

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7:11 AM

There’s something under my nails.

Black.

Sticky.

Mujhe nahi pata kya hai.

But I woke up with it.

As if I was digging.

In dirt.

Or worse.

My hands ache.

And there’s soil on my sheets.

I didn’t go outside last night.

I didn’t.

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8:00 AM

I opened the mirror.

It sounds crazy.

But the key worked.

I pressed it to the crack and turned.

And the glass melted.

It became soft.

Like water.

I put my hand through.

And it was cold.

So cold it burned.

But on the other side…

I felt something.

Flesh.

Fingers.

They grabbed me.

Tight.

And whispered my name.

"Riya."

But it wasn’t my voice.

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9:15 AM

The doorbell rang.

Maa is here.

Her eyes are swollen from crying.

She looks smaller.

Older.

Broken.

She didn’t step inside.

Just stood at the threshold.

"Main tujhe lene ayi hoon."

I told her I’m not leaving.

I need answers.

She shook her head.

"Tujhe yaad nahi hai, na?"

I asked her what happened here.

Why I keep seeing myself.

She said something that made my blood freeze.

"Tu mar chuki thi."

I laughed.

She didn’t.

"Unhone tujhe le liya tha. Aur main tujhe wapas nahi laa paayi."

Who are they?

Maa won’t say.

But her hands were shaking so bad, she dropped her mangalsutra.

And when I picked it up—

There was blood on her fingers.

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10:00 AM

She’s gone.

Maa left.

She begged me to come with her.

I said no.

I had to stay.

I need to know.

Who I am.

What happened.

And why I don’t remember.

The mirror is quiet.

For now.

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11:45 AM

I’m tired.

So tired.

But I’m afraid to sleep.

Because when I sleep…

She dreams me.

And I wake up somewhere else.

I think it’s happening again.

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12:01 PM

I woke up in the storage room.

On the floor.

Dirt under my nails.

Again.

And in my hand?

A tooth.

Small.

White.

Child’s tooth.

Not mine.

I checked.

I think…

I think I buried someone.

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1:30 PM

There’s a diary.

Not this one.

Another.

Old.

Leather-bound.

I found it in the wall.

Behind a loose brick.

It’s mine.

My handwriting.

But I never wrote it.

At least, I don’t remember writing it.

The first page says:

"If you’re reading this, you’ve come back too early."

And the last page?

It’s dated tomorrow.

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2:45 PM

It’s getting harder to breathe.

The air feels thick.

Like I’m underwater.

Sounds are muffled.

Even my thoughts feel slow.

Like I’m sinking.

But when I look in the mirror—

She’s fine.

Breathing.

Smiling.

And waving.

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4:00 PM

The walls are bleeding.

Thin red lines creeping down the plaster.

Slow.

Silent.

The house is crying.

For me.

Or for her.

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5:30 PM

I lit a diya.

Maa said to do it.

But the flame flickered blue.

And the reflection laughed.

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7:00 PM

Maa called again.

I didn’t answer.

I think I’m past saving.

But if you find this diary…

Remember:

Don’t look in the mirror too long.

She’s waiting.

And she remembers everything I forgot.

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End of Chapter 2

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