Chapter 3: The Red Mirror

Where was Priya?

Darkness—total, suffocating darkness. She felt as though she had been dumped into the heart of a primal forest, blindfolded, surrounded by unseen beasts. She stretched her hands out, clawing at the empty air, her voice cracking as she whispered for her parents. No one answered.

In the distance, a decrepit door stood slightly ajar, spilling a sickly, flickering light into the void. She stumbled toward it, pulled by a morbid curiosity she couldn’t control, and pushed it open.

The moment she looked inside, her soul shattered. It was a bathroom—the tiles stained in gruesome, dark patterns. A figure stood in the center, drenched in blood, hands plunged into something wet and visceral.

Priya tried to run, but her limbs were petrified, rooted to the floor by terror. She wanted to scream, but her throat had constricted into a dry knot. As the figure straightened, the sound of his heavy, wet breathing filled the room. He moved slowly to a bathtub in the corner. Behind the porcelain rim, a hand dangled—limp, pale, and soaked in crimson.

A faint, trembling voice rose from the tub. "Please… let me go. I’ll never tell anyone. My mother is waiting for me at home… I don’t even know how long I’ve been here. I’ve done everything you asked. Please, just this once… have mercy!"

Priya’s heart wept for the girl, but the man didn't flinch. He leaned over the edge of the tub, his shadow engulfing the girl’s pathetic, blood-streaked face. He didn't speak. He simply raised his massive hands and began to strike, over and over, until the girl's face was nothing more than a ruin of bone and meat.

Priya jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat, her skin splattered with phantom blood. She gasped, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She sat huddled in the dark, trembling violently, too terrified to even step out of her bedroom. Who was he? Why did he come to me in my sleep? It felt so real… I don't remember his face, and I don’t want to.

"Priya? Priya, honey, you’re going to be late!" Raji’s voice came from the hallway.

When Raji entered, she found her daughter curled into a ball, shaking. "Priya! What happened? Why are you covered in sweat?"

"Mom… it was horrible. There was a girl… he didn't spare her. He’s going to come for me next!"

"It was just a nightmare, dear," Raji soothed, though her brow furrowed. "Who is going to kill you? It’s not real."

"I saw him, Mom! I saw his face!"

"Where?"

"I… I…" The image slipped away like smoke. "I don’t remember."

"Because he doesn't exist," Raji said firmly. "Now, get up. You're becoming just as dramatic as I was at your age. I used to dream of riding every single ride at the exhibition, and look where that got me."

Priya pulled herself together, though the dread lingered. "What about Karthi, Mom? You remember him?"

Raji sighed. "The boy who likes you? What about him?"

Priya hesitated, then poured it all out. The shopping trip with Vaani and Rekha, the feeling of being watched, the argument at the mall where Karthi had been caught smoking and causing a scene with security.

"He’s watching me, Mom," Priya whispered. "Vaani says he’s stalking me. She says he’s trying to isolate me from my friends. But I just think he’s… he’s just insecure."

"Insecurity doesn't make a boy hide in the shadows, Priya," Raji warned.

Later that day, the tension between Priya and her friends was palpable. After the mall incident, the air had grown thick with unspoken resentment. When they finally found Karthi in the parking lot, Vaani let Priya walk over alone.

"Karthi," Priya whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. "I know you came here for me. I’m sorry I ruined everything."

Karthi looked at her, his face a mask of cold, agonizing rejection. "You really think I care about your apologies? Go ahead, have fun with your friends. You’ve made it clear I’m second place."

"That’s not true!"

"Just go, Priya!" He shoved her away, not physically, but with the cruelty of his words.

As she walked back to her friends, she ran into her father, Suri, who insisted on driving them home. The ride was suffocatingly silent. When they finally reached their street, Karthi was still there, lurking in the shadows of the parking area, watching.

As Priya climbed the stairs to her house, she collided with someone and stumbled.

"I—I’m so sorry! I didn't mean to!" A gravelly, nervous voice spoke. It was Karthi. He held out a plastic bag. "I… I brought you what you asked for. Mutton."

Priya was stunned. "Karthi? You really brought it?"

"I wanted to," he stammered, blushing deeply. "Don't tell your mom. Just… enjoy it." He turned and fled before she could say another word, but he didn't leave the street. He hid in the darkness, staring up at her window. Priya… you’re mine.

The present hung over the house like a guillotine.

Raji watched her daughter with a newfound, sharp suspicion. "So, the neighbor boy brought you meat? And you told me your father bought it?"

Priya scrambled toward the bathroom. "I don't have time for this, Mom! I have class!"

She locked the door, but her laughter was hollow. She didn't know that this would be the last piece of normalcy she would ever know.

Four days later, the exhibition of her nightmares would become the reality of the college massacre. The corridors would run red, and as the lights flickered and died, a killer would stalk the halls. Malini, Priya’s sister, would be huddled in a corner, clutching her mouth to stifle her sobs.

The killer’s footsteps would draw closer, rhythmic and steady. And then, he would begin to whistle—a cheerful, haunting melody: the theme song from Astro Boy.

In the dark, Malini would realize that the nightmare hadn't just come for Priya. It had come for them all.