Chapter 3: The Name Beneath the Floor

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April 11, 2024

12:05 AM

I didn’t sleep.

I couldn’t.

That other diary—mine, but not mine—was still open on the table.

The last page kept bleeding ink, as if someone was still writing.

As if the pages were alive.

And the date scrawled on the top…

Today.

"Aaj kuch hoga."

The words scratched themselves into my head.

Something will happen today.

But I don’t know if I’ll survive it.

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1:11 AM

The tooth I found yesterday?

It’s gone.

I placed it on the dresser before I lay down.

But when I woke up, it was missing.

There’s dirt where it was.

And a single word, smeared in something dark:

“Dig.”

I don’t want to.

But my hands…

They’re itching.

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1:33 AM

I found the spade.

It was already waiting by the front door.

Mitti se ganda.

As if I had already used it.

Maybe I have.

Maybe I keep doing this.

Over and over again.

There’s a patch of floorboards near the kitchen.

It’s softer.

Older.

When I knock on it, it sounds hollow.

I think that’s where I’m supposed to dig.

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2:00 AM

I pried up the boards.

They didn’t scream.

But I did.

Beneath them?

Red cloth.

Tied like a bundle.

And inside…

Bones.

Small.

Child-sized.

Each one wrapped with a strip of paper.

With writing I can’t read.

Mujhe pata nahi kiski haddi hai.

But when I touched the skull…

I remembered the lullaby.

Maa used to sing it when I was a kid.

Or maybe…

Someone else did.

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3:15 AM

The bones are clean.

Too clean.

And the skull has carvings on it.

Symbols.

Like the ones in the diary.

I copied them down, hoping they’d make sense later.

But there’s something worse.

Under the skull was a photo.

Another old black-and-white picture.

Of me.

Standing by this house.

Only…

My eyes were burned out.

And written beneath in blood-red ink:

“She comes back when you forget.”

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4:00 AM

Maa came back.

She didn’t knock.

She stood at the threshold again, barefoot, whispering,

"Riya, wapas chal. Please."

Her hands were red.

I thought it was sindoor at first.

But when she reached for me, I smelled it.

Blood.

Fresh.

"Tune kya khoda?" she asked.

I told her everything.

She slapped me so hard I saw stars.

"Kaha tha na—mat uthana!"

Her voice cracked like the floorboards.

I think she’s scared.

But I think she’s hiding something too.

I asked her whose bones they were.

She whispered,

"Teri."

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4:45 AM

I’m writing from the bedroom.

Maa is burning incense in the kitchen.

Chanting something.

It doesn’t sound like a prayer.

It sounds…

Older.

I hear scratching inside the walls.

I think Maa hears it too.

She’s crying as she chants.

I’m not sure if it’s helping.

But I know I can’t leave.

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6:00 AM

Maa finished.

The house smells like smoke and old flowers.

But it’s quiet.

Too quiet.

She told me I need to remember everything before sundown.

Or I’ll forget myself forever.

"Unhone tujhe phir bula liya hai."

I asked her who they are.

She said,

"Jinhe hum bhool gaye the."

The Forgotten Ones.

Spirits of the nameless, those buried and erased.

And I’m one of them.

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7:00 AM

Maa left again.

She said she’ll come back at dusk.

But I don’t think she’ll make it.

Something’s watching her.

I saw it in the reflection.

Long fingers resting on her shoulder.

But when I looked directly—

Nothing was there.

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8:00 AM

I read the old diary again.

The one from the wall.

April 11th.

That’s today.

It says:

"You will wake up in her skin."

"You will dig your grave."

"And you will call her name."

But I don’t know the name.

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9:15 AM

The mirror is bleeding.

Crimson droplets running like tears.

I touched it.

And it whispered:

“Saanvi.”

Is that her name?

Mine?

I don’t remember.

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10:00 AM

I found more bones.

Buried under the bed this time.

Tiny ribs.

Wrist bones.

And a necklace I wore when I was five.

But I wasn’t supposed to be here when I was five.

Maa said we moved when I was six.

Someone’s lying.

Maybe me.

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11:45 AM

I found an old newspaper.

Tucked inside the second diary.

“Child Found Dead In Flat 13B.”

A girl.

Six years old.

No name.

No family came to claim her.

The photo…

She’s wearing the same dress Maa stitched for me.

My birthday dress.

But I never had a sixth birthday.

Did I?

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12:30 PM

I think I’m Saanvi.

But I also think I’m Riya.

And maybe I’ve been both.

Maybe I still am.

The diary says I have to choose.

Before sunset.

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1:00 PM

Maa called.

Her voice was faint.

Like she was far away.

"Bol Saanvi, tu ya Riya?"

I didn’t answer.

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2:00 PM

The room is colder.

Shadows move when I blink.

And the chanting starts again, though no one’s here.

I hear the scraping under the floor.

Like nails.

Digging.

I’m afraid it’s me.

Again.

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3:30 PM

I’m sitting by the mirror.

Watching her.

She smiles.

She mouths something.

"Come back."

But I never left, did I?

I’ve been here.

Under the floor.

Behind the walls.

Waiting.

For me.

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4:45 PM

Maa’s voice.

Outside the door.

Begging me to leave.

"Saanvi! Riya! Please!"

But the lock’s gone.

The door’s not opening.

And the walls…

They’re closing in.

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5:30 PM

There’s a name carved into the wood of the house.

Hidden behind the wardrobe.

Saanvi Riya Sen.

One name.

One person.

Me.

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6:00 PM

Sunset.

It’s time.

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End of Chapter 3

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