Whispers Beneath the Backwaters - Alive in the Dark - Part 12

 Narayanan’s scream echoed again.

Raw.

Terrified.

“OPEN THE DOOR!”

Arjun ran.

He climbed the underground steps two at a time, lantern shaking wildly in his hand. Devika carried Meenu close behind him while Kuttappan struggled to keep up.

The house upstairs had changed.

Wind roared through the corridors though every window remained shut. Family portraits hung crookedly now.

Some had fallen.

Others were scratched beyond recognition.

The jasmine smell had become unbearable.

And from the upper floor came desperate banging.

“ARJUN!”

His father’s voice.

Alive.

Arjun rushed toward the locked room.

The corridor lights flickered violently.

As he reached the door, something wet touched his foot.

He looked down.

Fresh blood slowly leaked from beneath the room.

Devika gasped softly.

“Please don’t open it…”

Narayanan screamed again.

“She’s here! Don’t let her—”

THUD.

Something slammed against the inside wall hard enough to shake the entire corridor.

Arjun pushed the door open.

The smell nearly made him collapse.

Rot.

Medicine.

Urine.

Old blood.

The room looked worse than before.

The corpse in the wheelchair was gone.

And chained to the far corner of the room—

An old man.

Barely alive.

Thin as bone.

Long grey beard.

Eyes sunken deep into darkness.

Narayanan Menon.

Arjun’s father.

Real.

Breathing.

Narayanan began crying the moment he saw him.

“She came back…”

Arjun rushed forward in shock.

“How are you alive? Whose body was that?!”

The old man shook violently.

“Hers…”

Before he could continue, Meenu suddenly pointed toward the ceiling.

“She’s crawling.”

Everyone looked up.

Something moved above them.

Slowly.

Across the wooden ceiling beams.

A woman crawling upside down like a spider.

Wet hair hanging downward.

Eyes fixed on Narayanan.

Madhavi.

Narayanan screamed hysterically.

“She wants me!”

The spirit’s mouth stretched unnaturally wide.

“You buried me alive…”

Devika covered Meenu’s eyes immediately.

Arjun froze.

“What?”

Madhavi’s voice filled the room from every direction.

“You chose HER over me…”

Narayanan began sobbing uncontrollably.

“I was scared…”

“You locked me upstairs while she took the children!”

The walls started bleeding slowly.

Dark red liquid running down old wood.

Arjun backed away in horror.

His father whispered weakly—

“I never meant to kill her…”

The room became ice cold.

Madhavi dropped from the ceiling with a sickening crack.

Her feet bent backward as she stood between Narayanan and the door.

Hair covering her face.

Water dripping from her white saree.

“She heard the children beneath the house,” Madhavi whispered.

“She tried to save them.”

Narayanan shook violently.

“Ammini poisoned your mind!”

At the mention of her name, every lamp in the room exploded.

Darkness.

Then another woman’s voice emerged softly from behind Arjun.

“She lies poorly, Narayanan.”

A pale blue light appeared near the doorway.

Ammini stood there smiling faintly.

But this time…

Her eyes were completely black.

And behind her stood dozens of children.