Aarav walked down the endless hallway, each step echoing like a drumbeat in the dark. The sound should have made him feel less alone, but instead it made his skin crawl. Because sometimes, after his foot hit the ground… he heard another echo. A second step.
Like someone was walking with him.
He froze, holding his breath. The hallway stretched in both directions, black and endless. There was no one. Nothing. But when he took another step, he swore he heard it again.
Step.
Step.
He wasn't alone.
The walls around him pulsed, veins of black spreading like roots through rotten wood. Every now and then, shadows crawled across them, twisting into shapes he almost recognized—faces. Pale, hollow-eyed faces, their mouths wide open in screams that made no sound.
Aarav's chest tightened. His voice shook as he whispered to himself, "This isn't real… this can't be real."
But even his own voice didn't sound right anymore. It carried an echo, as if two people spoke at once—him, and something inside him.
Then, he saw it.
Far down the hallway, something broke the endless stretch of darkness. A door.
It stood alone, old and broken. Its wooden surface was cracked, covered with deep scratches like something had clawed at it. Two rusted iron handles gleamed faintly, and the frame around it looked too sharp, too clean, as if the hallway itself wanted to spit the door out.
Yet it glowed. A faint, sickly light leaked out from its edges, as if it were calling him.
The whispers in his head grew louder, changing from random words to commands.
"…Open it…"
"…You must…"
"…Your answers are waiting…"
Each step toward the door felt heavier, as if the floor was dragging at his legs. His heartbeat echoed in his skull. When he reached out, his palm brushed against the iron handle—and he saw his reflection flicker in the metal.
It was him. But smiling. Wide. Too wide.
Aarav's throat went dry. His hand trembled, but something stronger than fear pushed him forward. He wrapped his fingers around the cold iron and pulled.
The door creaked open with a scream that rattled through the hallway. The darkness beyond was not like the darkness behind him—it was thicker, alive, pressing forward as if it wanted to swallow him whole.
And then, something stepped out.
At first, it looked human. A boy. His age. Same hair, same face. Aarav's heart stopped. It was him.
But this Aarav's skin was pale, his veins black and visible, crawling like worms under his flesh. His eyes were solid black, endless pits. And his smile… it cut across his face like it didn't belong there.
The other Aarav tilted his head, moving exactly the way Aarav had a moment earlier. His voice came out calm, but layered with the same whispers Aarav had been hearing since the beginning.
"You shouldn't have opened it."
The door slammed shut behind Aarav with a thunderous bang. The sound echoed down the endless hallway, shaking the walls. He spun around, but there was no handle anymore. No way back.
Only him.
And the other Aarav.