Chapter 3: Beyond the Storm
Aryan didn't waste a single second. The creaking sound of the cupboard door opening echoed behind him, but he didn't make the mistake of looking back. He rushed straight for the window.
A heavy curtain hung over it. He yanked it aside and tried to undo the latch. The latch was old and jammed tight with rust.
From the floor behind him, the sound of footsteps became audible... Thump... thump... thump...
Someone was moving toward him—slowly, but with heavy steps.
"Open up, damn it!" Aryan screamed in terror.
He threw his whole weight against it with his shoulder. Crack! The latch snapped, and the window swung outward with a violent gust of wind.
Cold pellets of rain hit his face like bullets.
"Thank God!" he thought, climbing onto the sill to jump.
It was a drop of about 15 feet. Below lay wet mud and grass. He might break a leg jumping, but it was far better than staying in this room.
He was just about to jump when a massive bolt of lightning cracked across the sky. In that momentary flash of light, the sight in the garden below made Aryan's blood run cold.
Lying in the mud below... was Ramu Kaka's corpse.
His body was twisted at an unnatural angle, his eyes were glazed over, and his skin had turned blue. It looked as if he had been dead for days.
Aryan's mind went numb.
"If Ramu Kaka is lying dead down there... then who gave me the key at the gate? Who let me in?"
A wave of terror coursed through his entire body. He hadn't even recovered from the shock when he felt fingers, cold as ice, on his neck.
Someone had grabbed him from behind.
A heavy, rasping voice spoke right into his ear, accompanied by the stench of decay:
"I told you, didn't I... I was waiting for you."
What happened next?