Listen this :Some people disappear. Others leave pieces of themselves behind, waiting to be found."
Ahaan sat under a twisted tree in the Whisper Realm, staring down at the glowing book in his lap. His hands were still shaking from the train ride. The sounds, the whispers, the shadows — they wouldn't leave his mind.
He kept thinking about the last line written in the book:
"Don't trust the man in the coat."
But that didn't make sense.
That man — mysterious, cold, creepy as he was — had guided him through every case so far. Without him, Ahaan would still be stuck in the haunted mirror... or lost forever inside the train.
Could he really be lying?
The fog curled around him like smoke. Everything here always felt like it was watching. Listening.
He glanced around.
The man in the coat wasn't here.
That should have made him feel safer.
It didn't.
A sudden chill ran through the air.
The book flipped its page on its own. Again.
A new case glowed faintly on the paper:
CASE THREE: Echoes of the Librarian
Location: Whisper Realm Archive
Status: Incomplete
Subject: Hari Prasad, Missing Since 1985
Warning: Only the brave hear the echoes.
Ahaan frowned.
He had heard that name before.
Hari Prasad.
The missing librarian from the old Jasranpur library — the one who had vanished without a trace. The same library Ahaan had broken into on the night this entire journey began.
Was this case about him?
The man in the coat had never mentioned it before. And yet, the book clearly wanted Ahaan to dig deeper.
He stood up.
As soon as his feet touched the path again, the fog shifted, parting like curtains. A new trail appeared, glowing faintly blue under his feet. Ahaan followed it, cautiously.
After a few minutes, the trail led him to something strange: a tall, old stone door standing in the middle of the fog. No walls. Just a door.
Carved into it were the words:
"Whisper Archive – Entry Restricted"
Ahaan reached for the handle.
Cold. Icy cold.
He pushed.
The door creaked open.
Inside, he saw rows and rows of floating shelves, each filled with glowing books. They hovered in mid-air, slowly spinning, whispering.
Yes — whispering.
Hundreds of tiny voices echoed softly in the room. Some cried. Some whispered names. Some begged for help.
Ahaan walked in, heart pounding.
The door slammed shut behind him.
BANG!
He spun around — but there was no handle on the inside.
No way back.
"Of course," he muttered. "Nothing's ever easy."
He walked deeper into the Archive.
Books floated past him. Some opened and flipped pages on their own. Others snapped shut like jaws. The room felt alive.
Ahaan spotted a section marked "Disappeared: Librarians."
One book glowed brighter than the rest.
He reached for it.
As soon as he touched it, the lights dimmed.
The whispers stopped.
The book opened with a shiver and showed a single page:
Name: Hari Prasad
Job: Librarian, Keeper of Forbidden Stories
Last Seen: July 1985
Final Message: "I found something I shouldn't have. If you're reading this, get out."
Then suddenly — his face appeared.
A black-and-white photo of Hari. He looked like a kind, older man with round glasses, messy hair, and tired eyes.
Ahaan stared at it.
"What did you find, Hari?"
A loud creak echoed behind him.
Ahaan turned.
The man in the coat stood there — out of nowhere — inside the Archive.
"You shouldn't be here yet," the man said, voice lower than usual.
Ahaan stepped back, hiding the book behind his back. "Why not?"
"This case is locked for a reason," he said. "You've done well so far. Don't ruin your path by digging where you don't belong."
Ahaan's stomach turned.
This was the first time the man sounded… nervous.
"I think I do belong here," Ahaan replied, voice firmer than he expected. "This is where it all started."
The man didn't answer.
He only looked at Ahaan. And for the first time, Ahaan noticed something.
The man's shadow didn't match his body.
It twitched. Moved differently. Almost like… it wasn't a shadow at all.
Ahaan slowly pulled out the book and held it open.
The page changed again.
CONFIRMED: Hari Prasad tried to destroy the Book of Vanishing. Failed.
Theory: The Book attached itself to someone else.
Suspect: The man in the coat.
Ahaan's eyes widened. "You—"
But before he could speak, the lights in the Archive went black.
The whispers exploded into screams.
Ahaan dropped the book.
All he could hear were voices shouting:
"He's not your guide!"
"He's the first who failed!"
"RUN!"
Ahaan bolted.
He ran through rows of spinning books, ducking under flying pages, dodging glowing hands reaching out from shelves.
Behind him, he heard footsteps.
Heavy.
Slow.
The man in the coat.
"You've seen too much," the voice said behind him. "It's not your story to read."
Ahaan reached the stone door and slammed his hands against it.
Still no handle.
No escape.
But then — a whisper:
"Say his name. The real name."
Ahaan racked his brain.
What was it?
Hari Prasad?
No — that was the librarian.
Then it clicked.
The book had called him something.
The one who failed.
He screamed the name:
"THE LOST ONE!"
The door exploded open, flinging Ahaan backward into the fog outside.
He landed hard on the ground, coughing.
The Archive was gone.
No door.
No man.
Only the fog.
And the book in his hands.
Its cover now burned with glowing letters:
"You are now being hunted."
Wait this is not end