Arjun's POV :

"I came here with a girlfriend but now I'm single. My sister came here single but now she has a boyfriend! What a sick life man!" I grumbled to myself as I sat on a bench in front of the fountain at Walter's Residency with a soda glass in my hand. I couldn't believe I was sitting here like a madman, drinking after a break-up.

Ugh. When had I became so typical?

My life was seriously going to the dogs!

Only thing - it was soda instead of liquor in my hand.

Just another few months, before I got to my tequila shots!

"Arjun!", I heard the familiar chirpy voice of Pooja "Want some frankie? My treat!".

I looked up, "No thanks, Pooja", I said.

She came and sat down next to me devouring her frankie roll making no effort to wipe away some of the mayonnaise that had dripped out of the paper wrapping and stained her hand.

"Why do you look so pissed?" she asked "Come on. Get up. You can't let anything hold you back".

"Thanks Pooja but I already have a mom!" I said starting to get annoyed. Why were these ladies like this? Between my mom, Pooja and Ananya, a guy couldn't even enjoy being miserable.

I was thinking about Janvi. About Arav. My parents. And my messed up life. For the first time, I wondered whether the sensible and honourable thing to do would be to quit this competition and get a life. And then, think of some other means to earn the money.

                                       ~~~~~~

Roma had changed. She had looked much more robust when I had last seen her two weeks ago. Now she looked much more tired and worn out. I was nonplussed. Maybe she had other contracts and this competition was turning out to be a burden. But I didn't have much time to think on it.

We had our daily competition towards evening. It was not a very tough one but it lasted for a long time. By the time we all returned from the competition area, it was well past dinner time. We had a hasty dinner at the restaurant and rushed to our rooms.

The bathroom in my suite was hogged by Dulquer for too long so I grabbed my pyjamas and went to the men's bathroom on the end of the wing only to find my sister hovering outside it.

"He-llo? What is with you and men's bathrooms?", I exploded at Ananya, "Always lurking around here! Are you having trouble recognising your gender or what? Or were you making out with Kishan?"

"It's neither", said Ananya looking totally unabashed by my explosion, "Someone drew a picture here and I stopped to see what it was".

"What picture?" I asked impatiently.

"There", she pointed to the wall outside the bathroom. Two stick figures. Drawn in pink. A little child (I couldn't gauge if it was a boy or a girl) with an older woman. Was that supposed to be a grandmother or a mother? The child looked unhappy and there was a broken heart drawn on his chest to confirm it. The mother looked woebegone too. I couldn't make anything out if it.

I blinked and then turned back to Ananya suddenly, "Are you pranking me?" I asked.

"As if I have nothing else to do", she said haughtily. We looked around. There was nobody with us. No hotel staff. Nobody. But there were not much occupancy in our floor. Just two big suites used by the competition participants and three other suites, of which only one I knew was occupied at the moment. Roma and the organisers stayed in the second floor so there wasn't anybody else we knew there.

"It just seems to be a dumb drawing. Anybody could've done it. Go back to your room now", I said dismissively.

"Dumb drawing? This is so creepy Arjun!", Ananya squeaked "I'm not walking all the way back to my room alone! You go, change and come. I'll wait".

"For Godsake, Ananya your room is only thirty feet away!", I snapped.

"But I'm scared", Ananya said stubbornly.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine, stand here. Let me change and come".

"Wait, what if there is something dangerous inside?", she said grabbing my shoulder so suddenly that even I felt scared for a second.

I couldn't tell if my sister was genuinely frightened or making fun of me.

"You mean like a ghost?", I asked sarcastically "Good if there is one. Let it finish me up. Then I won't have to see your useless face everyday!".

Ananya pouted at me and tried to think of something to say. I took the opportunity to unlatch the bathroom door and run inside.

                                        ~~~~~~

"Stop behaving like a three year old Ananya!", I said irritably as we made our way back to the girls' suite and my sister was going on clinging to my arm.

Just as we neared the door there was a loud screech from the next door. My door. The boys' door.

The shout had seemed more like shock than pain. I immediately jumped to the door and kicked it open.

"What happened?" I asked barging in.

Kishan was standing near the dressing table looking at a teddy bear. Or should I say ex teddy bear? Because it was no longer a teddy bear. It was ripped apart gorily and all the stuffing had pulled out and strewn all over the place. The beady balls that had been it's eyes were rolling on the floor. The remains of the bear stood pathetically on the table. It was a gross sight. Even though, it was just a toy.

"Is everything okay?", I turned around to see Shilpa, Rubina, Oviya and Pooja. Rubina, carefully remembering to avoid eye contact with me.

"Sorry guys", Kishan told us sincerely, "I didn't mean to frighten you. I just came out of the bathroom and saw my teddy bear like this".

"You brought your teddy bear to this hotel?", Ananya asked. Kishan didn't answer.

I looked at the teddy bear once again. It looked like the work of a very naughty child or a mentally disturbed person.

"Arjun!", Ananya said frantically "This seriously has some connection with that drawing! I can tell you".

"Drawing? What drawing?" Raghav asked. I explained very briefly.

"That's it!", Rubina wailed more loudly than my sister, "This hotel is haunted!".

"Oh my God, yes", Shilpa said looking wide eyed "Have we learnt nothing from the movies? How many times have we seen ghosts haunting hotel rooms?"

"Has someone ever been murdered in this hotel?", Ananya asked.

"Girls enough", Raghav snapped "You and your senseless theories".

Shilpa scowled at her boyfriend, "Well do you have a better theory then?"

"Yes. Let's go down and ask for the CCTV footage", Raghav piped up.

"No", Dulquer said quickly "They won't believe us. They might easily think we're pranking them. There's only one other family on this floor other than us. Nobody else could've come here".

I raised my eyebrows at him. Why was he so quick to call off the idea?

Really Arjun? Are you trying to be a detective? So amateurish!

"Hey, what if it's other way round?" Pooja suggested "What if the hotel staff are pranking us? Only they have the suite keys apart from us".

"That's a thought", I said. I had to appreciate the fact that she was being pragmatic and real when everybody else was freaking out.

"So where is that drawing?", Oviya now asked, all businesslike.

"Just out there, near the men's bathroom", I said indicating the door. We all trooped out and gathered around the drawing.

"That does look a very unhappy picture", Raghav said.

"I know right", Kishan said peering at it, "I wonder what it indicates. Seems to have some deep meaning".

Dulquer snorted, "You all fussing over here for some stupid kid's drawing. I'll tell you what it could mean. Some kid must've asked his mom for something. My guess is a chocolate chip icecream. And she might not have got it for him. So he got really upset and his heart was broken. Hence the diagram. LHS is equal to RHS. What do you think guys?"

We all frowned at him simultaneously.

"Then explain the teddy bear", Oviya said.

Dulquer scowled at her, crossed his arms and leaned on the wall.

There were glass windows on the hallway outside the bathroom which was covered with drapes. Through this wing of the floor, we could see the beach on the backside of the hotel. I peered through the windows. It was dark, except for small lights coming from the few shops on the beachside that were still open. I couldn't make out the sea but could hear the mild sound of the waves if I listened hard.

Oviya had now started a search. She was now on fall fours crawling through the floor trying to find something. I looked at my sister and Pooja who were both standing quietly and frowned. I was puzzled. Why weren't these two showing a little more interest? Weren't they the ones who were so interested in some mystery guy not a month ago?

Wait..the mystery guy?

I suddenly had a very strong inclination that the mystery guy had a connection with all this. But nobody had seen him of late. In fact, nobody other than Ananya and Pooja had ever seemed to seen him at all. So I decided to wait and see, instead of suggesting it right then.

"Whichever guy did this, he should've done it before we came back the competition", Raghav said shrewdly.

"But who? There is hardly anybody else on this floor", I asked, "But if your theory is right then it's likely that he might be a hotel staff".

"Guys, are you sure it's a boy?", asked Oviya who was still crouched on the floor, half hidden behind the satin curtains. We all turned to look at her.

"Must be", Raghav said "This is the men's bathroom right?"

"Why do you ask that?" I questioned.

"Because I'd like to know which boy uses matte lipstick", she said holding up one in her hand.

A/N : Hey loves ❤️❤️ So we're back to the competition and into a next track. Hope you're liking it.

Wait for what comes next! ☺️

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