It was 11:55 pm, close to midnight. It was a night in early May, but it was still freezing. Maybe I was the only one who felt this way because I was the only one who felt this way because I was only in pajamas and a thin shirt. I could hear the winds blowing aggressively and the rustling of the trees was getting noisier and louder by the second, as if they were anxious and were warning us of the danger that lies ahead, with its jaws wide open.
Tonight, there was moon in the sky to lead us if we lost our way. It was a cold, windy and dark night.

I could hear the continuous croaking of the frogs somewhere in the wild, followed by the occasional hoot of an owl. But strangely, the hoot didn't sound like it invariably used to, it sounded distinct - more high-pitched, like a shriek. As if the owl itself was chary of whatever or whomever it had seen and taken up the task of warning the others on its shoulders.

I was petrified. The chilling wind, the utter darkness and the distinctive sounds of the trees and the animals sent shudders down my spine. Thick beads of sweat coated my face and neck and my hands went all clammy even when it was so incredibly chilly outside. My hair that was tied into a messy bun, now came loose, decorating my back with a long, curly black curtain. I could neither remember nor comprehend the reason why we came here anymore.

"Shreya, I- I don't think we should stay here anymore. Let's go."

I told my best friend, who was trying her best to cover herself up behind me.

"You are right. Let's- let's leave this place."

She responded, equally scared.

But little did we know that it wouldn't be such a cakewalk. Once you are trapped in the callous depths of abyss, there is a very small way to come out; once you enter that dark, abysmal chasm, it will be nearly impossible to save yourself.

As soon as I turned to walk towards the elevator, my hand that was gripping the wall tightly for support, felt a little off. I felt something wet on my hand, and I completely freaked out.

"Huh? Oh...Sh-Shreya... What is this? Why does my hand feel wet and... sticky?"

"What? What are you talking about Huma? It must be sweat."

She tried to reassure me but I wasn't able to believe her at that time.

"No Shreya, you don't understand. My hands have been sweaty all this while but I have never felt like this. This feeling, its different. Like something is sticking here."

I said, urgency and panic heavily lacing my tone.

"But how do we know what is it? We don't even have a torch."

"Get out your phone and switch on the flashlight. We will be able to see it then."

"Oh yeah, why didn't we think of that before."
Shreya said before she took out her phone and switched on the flashlight.

As soon as she directed the light on my hand on the wall, a loud gasps escaped from both of our mouths. The wetness was fiery red colour, thick and seemed to be freshly smeared to decorate the wall in a gore fashion - it was someone's blood.

"Huma, I'm scared."

Shreya cried out as I breathed through my mouth heavily.

"Oh my God. I can't believe this is happening to us. But, what about this blood? Whose could it be?"

I asked this question, mostly to myself since there was nobody who could answer that question for me.

"Do you- do you want to check? Should we go around and see what's going on here?"
Shreya suggested.

Bad, bad, very bad thing to do. My mind kept flashing gigantic red lights at me, to stop, even at this point and run back to where we came from. But my curiosity was getting the best of me and even though I wouldn't ever admit it if I was fully conscious, I was kinda liking the thrill of everything. I always lowkey liked the thrill that came from exploring sketchy places and being in such situations, but for some reason, I hid this side from everyone, even my best friend.

"I think we should? What if someone hurt himself and is lying somewhere but has nobody around to help him?"

After convincing ourselves like that, we started our journey back to where we were going before. But like idiots, we only kept the flashlight on the wall, and saw all the hand prints, but didn't see what was on the ground. After following the handprints blindly, we reached a small door. It seemed to be a storage room situated at the end of the corridor.

"I think we should go inside and check?"
I told Shreya.

"But, but why would someone who got injured and clearly left still be inside? Unless, there's not just one person?"

Shreya was being practical again but I just wanted to see what lied beyond that door.

"That's exactly what we came to see here. Let's not backtrack at the last moment and just keep going. Okay?"

"Mhmm,"
She replied, clearly distracted by the chaos around her.

The night seemed to have grown more cold and winds were making much louder noises and didn't stop even for a minute. I had never thought I would get to see such windy weather in this area. But strangely, I wasn't as cold as before - maybe the thrill and anticipation had warmed me up.

As we opened the door, we were met with darkness, again. It was going to be hard to find whatever we were trying to find because it was a really small and suffocating room. As we stepped inside, we could make out the silhouettes of the furniture that crammed the small room. It also smelled strange in here - something like rust, like it hadn't been cleaned in days.

But the moment, we took another step inside the room, the open door behind us closed by itself. It got closed so hard that the sound of it slamming shattered all my confidence away.

"O-oh my! What the hell happened?"
I shouted.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no. We are going to die."
Shreya was now shaking like a leaf with fear.

We tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge. No matter how much we shook it and shouted at the one who closed it to open it again, it was of no avail. We were trapped. And there was no way out.

As I started to look for a decent place to sit down, I saw an old sofa pushed against the small window on the other side of the room. Without waiting for Shreya to show me the way with her phone, I straightway walked towards it. Little did I know that that small path would become the turning point in my life.

As I was only three steps closer to the sofa, I tripped on something and fell to the ground. I felt like I was going to die the minute my face and body touches the ground but that didn't happen. Instead, I fell on a soft mattress. It felt really soft, until I felt that familiar wetness again. But this time, I felt it in my abdomen. It was much more than before and I couldn't speak. I was trying to pray to God and ask Him to teleport me to some other place but alas! I was still stuck where I was.

I was so terrified but I had to find out what it was underneath me. I had to know. And so I looked down. As soon as I did that, I saw a man with his eyes wide open, blood rushing from his eyes as well as his stomach as he lay lifelessly under me.

And then I screamed,
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

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So guys, welcome to my third book!!!!!

I know, I know that you all must be confused right now but don't worry, I'm not giving up on The Fire Unleashed, and neither am I putting it on hold.

I have decided to post chapters from both books simultaneously because I couldn't decide which book to write first and I was really excited to share both the stories with you guys.

Anyways, please enjoy this little sneak peak from my very first Mystery book, something which is not included in the Fire & Ice series. Other chapters will also be coming soon. Please vote and comment on this. Thank you for reading my books. Love you❤