On Sunday morning, krunal found the letter wedged beneath his apartment door, perfectly aligned as if someone had measured the distance with care. The envelope was old yellowed at the edges, rough to the touch yet completely dry despite the heavy rain tha had soacked the hallway overnight. There was no stamp. No return address.
Only his name.
Krunal
Written in neat , deliberate handwriting he hadn't seen in years.
Inside the envelope was a single sheet of Peper. No flods . No creases. Just one sentence, centered like a vedict:
" you have seven days. Come bavk to the house."
His chest tightened.
The house.
The memory hit him all at once the abandoned mansion at the edge of ranven hill, half swallowed by forest, avoided by locals , whispered about only after dark. It was the place where summer afternoons turned into secrets... and where his childhood friend maya vanished without a trace.
Everyone said she ran away.
The police closed the case.
The town moved on.
Krunal never did.
His hands trembled as he turned the peper over. Nothing. But when he held it closer to the light , he noticed faint impression as if other words had once been written and then erased. One mark stood out near the corner: a small symbol carved deep enough to leave a dent.
A circle.
With seven short lines crossing it.
That evening, the sky darkened unnaturally fast. The streetlights flickered as krunal sat on his bed, staring at the letter. His phone buzzed no signal. His watch, which hadn't worked in months, suddenly began ticking. At exactly 7:00 PM, it stopped.
Krunal opened his old storage box and pulled out a faded photograph: two children standing in front of the house, smilling. He was holding the camera.
Maya was holding the door key .
By midnight,sleep was impossible. The letter lat on the table, heavier than paper should be. Finally, with a slow breath, krunal packed a small bag, folded the letter carefully, and slipped it into his pocket.
As he stepped outside, the wind carried a whisper from nowhere:
"Six days left."
The door closed behind him on its own.