He jolts awake in a cold sweat. Arjun sits up on the edge of his bed, heart hammering. It's 2:17 AM, and from the dark below comes the hiss of static. The old shortwave radio he found is dead silent – but the noise persists. Whispers form in the crackle: at first indistinct, then clear as a ghostly echo. "Arjun…"
He throws off the quilt and slips into slippers. The hallway lamp is off; the house is pitch-black except for the moonlight slicing between curtains. Clutching his phone, Arjun flips on a flashlight and moves toward the basement door. Each creak of the wood beneath his feet sounds loud in the still air. Near the stairs down, the flashlight beam wavers.
In the stairs' shadow, something flickers. A single bulb in the basement ceiling snaps on without anyone touching a switch. Its dull yellow light reveals a gap in the floorboards. Arjun stops dead. Fear blooms in his chest. He never entered the basement at night…
His voice catches as he whispers, "Hello?" No answer comes – only the hum of electricity. The light's glow intensifies, bathing the concrete walls in sickly yellow. Arjun dials 100 on his phone but his hands tremble too much. As he edges forward, the bulb flickers again… and suddenly goes out. Darkness envelops him. Cliffhanger: A series of loud clicks sounds from below – the basement door is opening on its own.