Pamela's POV

I and Ashis ran downstairs to find Ann, Pihu, and Rita. The dark house felt really creepy. What happened here? I wondered, feeling anxious. It was already dark outside moreover there was a killer in loose. Honestly, I was really scared, and I wanted to run away from here but saving the lives of my friends was much more important. Gathering my courage I followed Ashis through the dismal hallways of the house. We both checked the library and other rooms downstairs but found nothing. Then we headed towards the basement. 

"It's too dark!" Ashis said looking at me, his voice was a little nervous as he held the door open. The rough concrete stairs faded into an uncanny darkness. I gulped hard and walked down the stairs leading the way. It was freezing down in the basement. We looked around in the utter darkness, our flashlights enlightening the shadowy room but there was nothing at all. Only old furniture covered in a thick layer of dust. 

"Pam! Ashish!" We heard the frightened scream of Sam, as he hurried down the stairs.

Immediately we ran out of the basement to find Sam, his face looking pale and perturbed. Sid followed him carrying unconscious Ann in his arms. He looked distraught, his eyes held pain, he looked completely broken, tormented to his core.

"What happened to her?" Ashis asked completely shocked as we hurried towards them. Ann was bleeding and she had already turned pale. 

"I don't know, but she is bleeding and a lot of blood has been lost already. We gotta take her to the hospital now or else she won't make it!" Sam said, his voice quivering in fear, anticipating the worst. Unconsciously he folded his hands as if in prayer and touch his lips with the tips of his fingers fidgeting in nervousness.

"Sid! SID!" I called, almost shaking him," He looked up at me, his face looking so lost, "We need to take her to the hospital now!" I spoke, but I doubt he heard anything, my words were mere echoes to his ears, he was completely lost, fear of losing someone close to him crippled him, making him unable to think or do anything. He held her tightly in his arms, breathing heavily in utter fear. 

"Ashis, can you drive?" I asked.

"Yes!"  

"Take the car at Ann's house and drive her to the hospital, NOW!" I instructed. He nodded at once and went to the cupboard beside their door where all the keys were kept. 

"Sid go with him!" I spoke," don't worry everything is gonna be okay..." I said placing a hand on his shoulder trying to console him. I knew he was in love with her but he never really realized his feeling clearly. But now I know he understood his actual feeling for her, and his fear of losing her made him completed devastated.

"She will be okay!" Sam spoke as he helped Sid in putting Ann in the backseat of the car, trying to give him courage.  

"Take her to the hospital as fast as possible! I and Pam, we are gonna check for Pihu!! She must be here too!!" he said, his voice was tensed yet he tried his best to hold on to his courage. Ashis nodded as he ignited the car. He reversed the car and turned towards the mountain road when I stopped them. 

"Ashis please take Shallow with you he is too scared to be in here!" I said and handed over Shallow to him. He was whimpering, his ears were flattened, his tail tucked between his hind legs. Ashish took Shallow and placed him in the seat next to him, Sid was in the backseat holding Ann and they headed off to the hospital. 

Soon their headlights disappeared amidst the woods, the sound of their retreating tire against the moist graveled soil slowly faded away leaving us in an eerie silence engulfed in sinister darkness.  

"Have you called the cops yet?" Sam asked, his voice worried.

"Yes I did," I replied as I checked the time, "It's been a while already why aren't they here yet?" I asked as we walked back inside. Rita and Pihu were still nowhere to be found.

"I think I should call again!" I suggested.

"Yeah!" Sam replied not giving much attention to my words rather focusing on finding Pihu. We looked through the room, the basement, everywhere but there was no sign of her or Rita.

"Where is she?" Sam said almost breaking down, his voice choking, he was trying hard not to cry as he sat down at the base of the huge staircase, covering his face with his hand. 

"Sam!" I exclaimed. I have never seen him this broken before," she is alright! We are gonna find her!" I said lifting his head as I sat beside him. It was the first time ever I saw tears in Sam's eyes. 

"You crying!" Seeing him this way, made me really sad, "hey! It's okay, she will be fine... we will find her!" I said wiping away his tears.

"You know Pam, it's true we do always fight in class, but, today, when I saw her empty desk, I realized how badly I miss her. How badly I miss her scolding me and quarreling with me," He said, his voice trembling, as he looked down at the ground, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to roll down his cheeks. A soft sob escaped his lips, "I even told her, that she really irritates me, but you know I was just goofing around with her!" He spoke, as he looked up, his eyes held a pleading gaze, "but in true honesty, I...I-"

"You truly do like her, isn't it?" I asked, cutting him off in between, as I placed my hand on his shoulder with a smile. He nodded in positive, his lips were trembling. 

"Pam, will I ever see her smile at me again? If she comes back, I would never say her that she is irritating, I will tell her how much I like her, I will listen to her, I will stop being lazy...I...I-"

"Shh!" I pulled him in a hug, trying to calm him down, "She will come back, you will see her again and you will be able to tell her how you feel about her!" I spoke, consoling him, while he cried on my shoulder unable to control his overwhelming emotions. 

"Everything will be okay..." I spoke, rubbing his back. I could feel his fast-beating heart slowly calming down. 

"Thanks, Pam!" he whispered to which I smiled.    

Suddenly the sound of someone pacing in an armchair startled us. We pulled apart immediately and looked in the direction of the sound amidst the shadowy darkness. An eerie sensation washed over us. We looked at each other, our confusion evident in our eyes. A moment ago when we checked, there was no one, not a single person except us here then who is pacing in the armchair? I asked myself fear creeping inside my heart.

We followed the sound and found ourselves standing in front of the library of the house. The door was slightly open. We looked at each other. Our eyebrows frowning in confusion. Even in that freezing coldness, I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead. Sam pushed open the door making an ominous creaking sound. Our flashlights cutting through the darkness, reflecting on the objects around us. As we stood there a faint melancholy yet beautiful piano tune lingered in the air, coming from somewhere far. The sinister and somber tune was enough to make our blood ran cold. 

"Now who is playing a god damn piano?" Sam asked perplexed and scared. It seemed that the tune was coming from upstairs, most probably from the attic. 

"You know Sam we better get out of here!" I spoke, my voice shaking out of fear as I grabbed the corner of his hoodie, slightly pulling him. 

"But what about Pihu and Rita?" he asked although it was evident from his voice that he was scared, yet he turned to enter the library. I followed behind him.

By now the sound of someone pacing in the armchair was more prominent and amplified, indicating that we were getting close to it. The wooden floor underneath it was creaking. Sam followed the direction of the sound with his flashlight revealing an armchair with a small broken and creepy old doll sitting in it, its eyes were black and the armchair was pacing back a forth on its own. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up with the baleful sight. But as Sam moved his hand a bit a huge antique mirror got illuminated in the darkness. Strangely it was situated facing the armchair. As the lights from our phone enlightened it, our eyes widen in fear, on the spotless mirror it reflected the armchair pacing back and forth but with a beautiful and young girl sitting there with the worn-out doll on her lap. Her long hair was braided and she was wearing a bedgown.

The girl in the mirror slowly turned her face towards us, looked at us with her extraordinary bright blue eyes, and at once everything went dark. We both gasped and screamed in fear, almost tripping over and falling as we tried to run away with our dear lives. I was about to run outside the house when amidst the disturbing darkness of the house someone caught my hand. I froze in terror and turned my head to meet whose ever was holding me. Her touch was cold and skinny. Her nails almost digging into my skin as she held my hand with all her strength.

"Pam! Where are you?" I heard Sam, shouting and calling me when he couldn't see me behind him. His voice was petrified, trembling with fear and adrenaline, "What are you doing Pam? Come on let's just get out of here!" 

Amidst the foul darkness, those extraordinarily blue eyes looked at me and I heard a faint whisper, "Save them! Free us!", her cold voice send a chill down my spine while she let go of my hand. My trembling legs gave up and I was about to fall when Sam caught me. 

"What the hell were you doing ?" He asked, he was panicked as he helped me to stand.

"Th...there..!" I tried to speak, breathing heavily as I pointed back at the house. I could feel my heart beating fast against my ribcage. My head started to hurt.

"What?" Sam asked, glancing over to where I was pointing, "You okay?" he asked, his voice was full of concern. 

"Ye...yeah!" I replied.

"Let's get out of here then!" Sam spoke and pulled me with him. I had no idea where we were running to in this darkness, but I kept on following him, my heart trembling with fear, the sound of snapping twigs underneath our feet, and our heavy breathing accompanied us. Grass and weed sliding against our feet as we ran. 

"There was a scooter in the garage!" Sam spoke, panting for air. 

"Yeah!" I replied as I recalled the red scooter we saw in Ann's garage when Ashis took out the car. We reached the detached, distant garage of their house. Pulling the shutter up we saw the scooter. We got up on it and drove out as fast as we could. 

The woods around us looked haunting, we drove on through the barely visible black trail of the unpaved mountain road snaking through the undergrowth of the tall trees, the moon peeking through the lattice of the rustling leaves. The harsh wind brushed against us.

Free us? What did she mean by that? Who was she? Is she trapped in there? How? Why? And who did she mean by 'them'? Did she mean Ann, her sister, Pihu, and Rita? What is going on in here?  I asked myself, holding on to Sam, my mind flooded with questions. I glanced back, the mansion was engulfed in an eerie fog, standing amidst the spine-chilling woods. 

The headlight of the scooter was the only light that illuminated the road ahead of us. Sam drove quite fast, the woods passed us in a blur. He was agitated and afraid, traveling through the unsettling thick foliage, forming an arch-like over us. It was so dark around. All of a sudden a girl appeared out of nowhere in front of our scooter. 

"What the-" Sam exclaimed as he tried to save the girl, completely imbalanced the scooter straight away went and collided with the trees and we fell over hard on the ground.

"Sam!!!" I screamed. 

"You alright Pam?" He asked while getting up. 

"Yeah, I am fine!" I replied sitting up. I flinched in pain as he helped me to stand up. Our whole dress was coved with dirt and there were scratches on our hands and face. 

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, concerned. 

"No, I am fine. You?"

"I am okay!" he replied, but I notice he was limping a bit. We looked over at the road, there was no one there.  

"Who was that?" Sam asked while we both tried to lift the scooter. The path at my feet carpeted with fallen leaves and mosses fades as it leads into the darkness of the woods. Cold wind slipping through the leaves made us shiver, creating an uncanny ambiance around us. 

"No idea! Let's get out of here Sam, it's too creepy!" I spoke almost begging him. 

"Yeah, you are right Pam! This place seriously gives me the creeps!" He replied, beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He was afraid, yet he tried his best to mask his worries. 

As I was about to sit on the scooter something like a bracelet caught my attention, shimmering in the darkness fallen among the brown leaves, reflecting the light from the scooter's tail light. Immediately I got down from the bike and picked up the bracelet from the ground. 

"Look Sam isn't it Pihu's?" I said looking closely at the bracelet. She loved wearing different kinds of bracelets. I remember her showing me the new bracelet she brought with a beautiful lavender color stone.

"Yeah, it's her's!" Sam replied looking at me with hope in his eyes. We were both thrilled in the hopes of finding Pihu.  

We looked around a bit with the flashlight of Sam's phone. The soil was moist, amidst the fallen leaves we found a trail like someone has been being dragged through here. We looked at each other. Both worried, afraid yet desperate to find our missing friend.

"Do you wanna follow the trail?" I asked Sam. 

"I want to but I think that will be idiotic! Your phone is already out of battery and my phone only has about 13% charge left. If my phone runs out of battery too, we will be left in utter darkness in this vast forest," he said as we looked ahead, our eyes following the trail which disappeared into the sinister blackness, the bushes and the tall trees stood brooding over us like a specter of iniquity.

"Moreover, there could be a killer around, or someone with a seriously sinister mind. What if he or she finds us? It's already too dark, we won't be able to do much. We should first inform the police." He replied looking thoughtful, unexpectedly calm. 

"That will be better!" I replied and we got up on the scooter and drove off trying to call the police.

"Is this where you find the bracelet?" The police officer, Mr. Dutta asked us. We nodded in positive while we showed them the place and the trail.  

"Okay! Let's go!" He replied while making the police dogs smell the bracelet. They lead us through the thick woods, cold, dewy leaves slid across our skin, as we followed them. Their loud barks echoed through the eerie silent forest. We all stuck together, the mist around us made it difficult to see causing us to trip on bumpy roots. Honestly, I was terrified, I had no idea what was going on, but something told me it was much more than a work of a sinister mind. Holding on to the little courage left in me I went on, I have to, we have to find and save Pihu and Rita. I bet Sam was thinking the same. He looked afraid yet so determined. 

 The dogs led us deeper into the wood, the ominous night made it even more fearful.

"No way!" We heard Mr. Dutta saying while gesturing us to stop. 

"What is the matter, Sir?" asked another police officer. 

"The tracks are leading us to the Manan forest and you know it's a restricted area!" He replied turning back at us. "Sorry kids I can't take you any further, Mr. Bora will take you back to the police station. You did good, we will find your friends, don't worry!" He spoke trying to assure us.

"But Sir! Our friend is in there and she needs help! She needs us, we can't just leave," Sam said requesting him to kindly take us ahead with them. I too supported him and requested the officer to let us go with them.

They finally agreed after a lot of begging and we all followed them into the Manan forest. There was no bridge here like the one we had by the treehouse, which connects to the Manan Forest, so we had to walk through the cold stream that divides the two forests. 

"Don't fall!" Mr. Bora spoke as he held Sam, who was about to slip and fall over. Although the stream was shallow, yet the water current was quite strong, and the rocks and boulders were really slippery. The water was freezing, it felt like thousands of needles pricking our skin as we walked through the leaping water, reaching the other side holding on to each other.     

The vegetation here was even denser. The path looked untrodden for many years. The dark forest reeked of age. There were many dead trees, overgrown with climbers and mosses. Its woody organic smell was from years of broken branches crashing to the forest's floor and rotting silently. Following the dogs, we reached a very creepy muddy road fencing a big lake.  

"This is the Dark waters!" Mr. Dutta said breaking the fearful silence. His voice sounded a little worried.  

"Dark waters! Isn't it where 44 kids were drowned in the year 1949!" Mr. Sen, another officer said. 

"What! Who could do something so horrible?" I asked completely puzzled. I have never heard about something so harrowing before.

"We don't know kid! The trail went cold. It's still a mystery. There was an orphanage in the town," he spoke, his face hid in the shadows under his police cap," you know the one which is closed now! Those kids were from that orphanage." He said while we continued our walk, the twigs were crunching under our feet. A shiver ran down my spine as I looked at the deep stagnant dark water of the lake. The edges of the lake were covered in thick bushes and rocks.

"It's so horrible! I have never heard of this before! " I replied faintly. A sensation of foreboding and dejection engulfed me.

Walking past the lake we reached a more deeper portion of the forest. It was almost enveloped with fog. A cold wind blew past us making us shiver. I pulled my jacket closer to my body to keep myself warm. A sudden sound of a solitary owl hooting amidst the darkness startled us. The rustling of the thick foliage of the forest with the wind accompanied us, making us feel at the edge, agitated. Without our flashlights, we would have been left in utter darkness, the moon's light never reaches the floor of this forest. 

Following the dogs, we reached an unpaved road carpeted with twigs and fallen leaves, there were fences on both its side. Although mostly broken and in a very dilapidated condition yet, we could understand this was once a path to somewhere.

"Isn't this path leads to the old cemetery which is closed for years now?" Mr. Dutta asked, making us all more scared than we already were. I and Sam exchanged a terrified look as we followed him. 

"Sir, isn't this place haunted?" Jihan asked, his voice quivered a bit, it was evident he was afraid. He was quite young in comparison to the rest of the police officers in the team. 

"I guess it is! At least that's what people say!" Mr. Dutta replied, his serious grave voice gave us goosebumps.

The dogs lead us inside the old cemetery. There were quite a lot of tombstones but none maintained. Some feel to the ground over grown with bushes, some covered in mosses, some were broken, only a very few tombstone were still in a recognizable condition. The two police dogs sniffed the ground and lead us to a very old tombstone where we found Pihu lying, unconscious, her dress soaked in her blood.

"Oh my god! Pihu!" Sam almost screamed as he saw her and ran to her.

"Oh! no!" the officers gasped in shock as they saw her, they immediately ran to her aid, checking for her pulse. She was too pale as a result of the heavy blood loss. 

"Sir! Her pulse is too low! We need to take her to the hospital immediately!" Jihan said to Mr. Dutta while Sam and Mr. Bora carried her. As we were leaving I turned around to find on whose tombstone Pihu was lying. The name on the tombstone was Rebecca Snow.

Hell everyone I hope you will like this chapter. Please do vote, comment, and share... Love u all !!

-Anusree