Naina and Aarav stood frozen in the dark hallway, barely breathing. The voice coming from the room at the end of the corridor was clear now. It was definitely Mr. Khanna. The same calm, strict teacher who taught history every day as if nothing in the world ever bothered him. But the voice they were hearing now sounded different—nervous and rushed.
"…I told you already," Mr. Khanna said quietly into the phone. "They found the notebook."
Naina felt her heart beating loudly in her chest. She was afraid the sound alone might give them away.
Inside the room, Mr. Khanna continued speaking.
"Yes, I know what that means. If they start reading it, they might figure out what happened last year."
Aarav slowly looked at Naina, his eyes wide with shock.
Last year.
The same words they had heard before.
The same year Anika disappeared.
Mr. Khanna sighed heavily on the phone.
"No, the girl doesn't know everything yet," he said. "But she's asking questions."
Naina's stomach tightened.
The girl.
He was talking about her.
Before either of them could move, the wooden floor beneath Aarav's foot creaked loudly.
Both of them froze.
Inside the room, Mr. Khanna suddenly stopped talking.
For a few seconds there was complete silence.
Then they heard the sound of a chair moving.
"Hello?" Mr. Khanna called out.
His footsteps slowly moved toward the door.
Panic rushed through Naina.
"Hide," she whispered.
They quickly stepped back into the darkness of the hallway and ducked behind an old storage cabinet covered in dust.
The door at the end of the hallway slowly opened.
A dim yellow light spilled into the corridor.
Mr. Khanna stepped out, looking around carefully.
His eyes scanned the hallway.
For a moment it felt like he could hear their breathing.
Naina held her breath completely.
Mr. Khanna took a few slow steps into the hallway.
The sound of his shoes echoed through the empty building.
"Is someone there?" he asked.
No one answered.
After a few seconds, he walked a little further down the hallway, checking the broken windows and dark corners.
Naina's heart was pounding so hard she felt dizzy.
Finally, after a long moment, Mr. Khanna shook his head and walked back into the room.
The door closed again.
Only then did Naina and Aarav slowly breathe again.
"That was too close," Aarav whispered.
Naina nodded silently.
But something else was now clear.
Mr. Khanna was hiding something.
Something connected to Anika's disappearance.
Aarav carefully peeked around the cabinet toward the room again.
"We should leave," he whispered. "This is dangerous."
Naina looked down the hallway again.
The door was still closed.
But something on the floor caught her attention.
Near the door where Mr. Khanna had been standing, a piece of paper had fallen from his hand when he walked back inside.
Naina slowly moved forward and picked it up.
It was an old photograph.
The photo showed a group of students standing outside the same science building.
Naina immediately recognized one of them.
Anika.
She was standing in the center of the photo, smiling.
But that wasn't the shocking part.
Standing right beside her… was Mr. Khanna.
And written on the back of the photograph were three chilling words.
She wasn't supposed to know.
Naina's hands began to tremble.
Aarav looked at the photo and whispered nervously,
"Naina… what if Anika disappeared because she also found out something?"
Naina slowly looked back at the closed door where Mr. Khanna was inside.
Her mind was racing now.
Anika had discovered a secret.
And now…
Naina was discovering the same one.
But one terrifying question remained.
If Anika had disappeared after learning the truth…
What would happen to Naina now?