Meera suddenly remembered something terrifying.
When she entered the room earlier…
Ajay had immediately locked the bathroom door.
At the time, she thought nothing of it.
Now she understood.
Meera whispered:
— “There are cameras here?”
Ajay nodded once.
Then he walked to the television wall and removed a tiny black object hidden near the frame.
A camera.
Meera nearly collapsed.
Ajay crushed it beneath his shoe.
Then another.
Hidden inside a smoke detector.
Another behind a decorative lamp.
Meera backed away, horrified.
— “Oh my God…”
Ajay looked furious now.
Not at her.
At himself.
— “I booked this room because Sandeep recommended it.”
His voice cracked slightly.
— “I wanted proof.”
Meera stared at him.
Suddenly everything clicked together.
Ajay hadn’t invited her there for intimacy.
He had brought her because he believed she was being targeted.
And tonight…
he finally confirmed it.
Tears rolled down Meera’s face uncontrollably.
— “You should’ve told me…”
Ajay looked broken.
— “I know.”
Another silence.
Then suddenly—
BZZZZT.
Ajay’s phone vibrated again.
Both of them looked down simultaneously.
A new message from Sandeep.
“Did she cry yet?”
Meera felt pure terror flood her body.
Ajay’s face turned ice cold.
Another message appeared immediately after:
“Send me the first clip before midnight.”
Meera stopped breathing.
Ajay slowly locked the phone screen.
Then he said something that changed everything.
— “I think he’s watching us live right now.”
Meera instinctively looked around the room in panic.
Ajay grabbed the suitcase immediately.
— “We need to leave.”
“Now?”
— “Right now.”
He moved quickly toward the door.
But the moment he opened it slightly…
he froze.
Meera’s heart nearly stopped.
Someone was standing outside.
Not hotel staff.
Not security.
A tall man in a black jacket.
And in his hand…
was a phone already recording.
The stranger slowly smiled.
Then spoke just four chilling words:
— “Mr. Sandeep says hello.”
Part 3 Meera’s heart pounded against her chest like a wild drum
Part 3
Meera’s heart pounded against her chest like a wild drum, each beat echoing louder than the next. The man standing outside the hotel room was no stranger; she could feel it in the air—this was no ordinary moment. The cold metal of the camera in his hand reflected the dim light, its lens trained directly at her and Ajay. The sensation of being watched, of being targeted, crashed into her with the force of a tidal wave.
Ajay froze. His back to her, his body stiffened like a statue as he studied the man outside. Meera could feel the terror swelling inside her, her throat tightening with panic. The door was barely open, just enough for the man to stand in the narrow hallway, smiling in a way that sent a chill down her spine. The camera he held wasn’t just an innocent piece of technology. No, it was an instrument of control. Of surveillance. Of power.
For a brief moment, the room felt small. The walls pressed in around her, the reality of the situation sinking in with each breath she drew. The air was heavy, thick with the weight of what was happening. It was like a nightmare come alive. The horror that had already been unfolding now had a face—one that wasn’t just unfamiliar, but unsettling. Ajay was no longer the calm, kind man she had trusted for so long. He was someone different. And now, he was trying to protect her from a threat that had been lurking in the shadows.
“Ajay,” Meera whispered, barely able to get the words out. “Who is he?”
Ajay didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he took a deep breath, as if bracing himself for the worst. The tension in the room was unbearable. She could see the hesitation in his eyes, a flicker of something she hadn’t seen before—something like fear. But it wasn’t just for himself. It was for her.
The man outside shifted, his silhouette visible through the sliver of the open door. His posture was relaxed, but his eyes were calculating. It was the look of someone who knew they held all the cards, and they were enjoying every moment of it. Meera’s skin crawled as she watched him. There was no mistaking it now: she was a pawn in a game she had never agreed to play.
Finally, Ajay spoke, his voice steady, but his eyes sharp with urgency. “We need to get out of here, Meera. Now.”
The words barely registered in her mind. Everything was moving too fast. Too much was happening all at once. She wanted to scream, to run, to do anything to escape this nightmare, but her legs felt like lead. She couldn’t move. The terror had rooted her in place, paralyzing her in a way that made no sense. She thought she knew Ajay—she had trusted him with so much of her life, but now, she wasn’t sure who he really was. How could she have been so wrong?
“Meera, please,” Ajay’s voice cracked as he reached out to her, his hand trembling slightly. “We don’t have time. They’re going to come for us if we don’t leave now.”
It took everything inside her to tear her gaze away from the man outside. The fear in Ajay’s eyes was real. He wasn’t lying. But that didn’t change the fact that nothing about this situation made sense. She had been lured here, brought into a world of secrets, lies, and manipulations she couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
“Where are we going?” Meera finally managed to ask, her voice hoarse, barely more than a whisper.
Ajay didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he glanced at his phone, which had been vibrating incessantly since the moment the man appeared outside the door. Meera’s mind raced, trying to connect the dots, but it was like trying to solve a puzzle with half the pieces missing. She had thought Ajay was different. But now, everything about him seemed… calculated. She didn’t know who he was anymore.
“I don’t know,” Ajay said, running a hand through his hair, frustration and fear radiating from him. “But I know we can’t stay here.”
The knock on the door came again, harder this time. The stranger outside wasn’t going away. The sound was like a hammer, each knock breaking through the silence, driving the reality of their situation deeper into her bones. Meera’s breath hitched, her chest tightening with each sound that echoed through the hotel room.
“Ajay,” she whispered again, her voice trembling. “Who is he?”
Ajay didn’t answer. Instead, he moved to the suitcase on the bed, grabbing it with quick, practiced movements. The urgency in his actions mirrored the panic rising inside her. She felt a rising tide of dread clawing at her, an overwhelming sense of doom that pressed against her chest like a vice. But what could she do? She had no choice. She had to trust him. For now.
Meera’s heart raced as she watched him pack the suitcase, throwing in items she didn’t even recognize. His hands moved so fast that it was almost as if he had done this before. But then again, she had no idea what Ajay had been doing when she wasn’t around. There were too many unanswered questions now, too many things she should have seen but hadn’t.
Suddenly, the man outside spoke again, his voice smooth and unnervingly calm. “You’re out of time, Ajay,” he said, the words chilling in their finality. “Let her come out. You wouldn’t want things to get messy.”
The sound of his voice made Meera’s blood run cold. This wasn’t just a threat. This wasn’t just a simple message. This was a warning. A very clear warning that they were running out of time.
Ajay turned to her then, his eyes meeting hers with an intensity that sent a shiver down her spine. “We have to move,” he said, his voice low, but urgent. “Right now.”
Meera didn’t question him. She couldn’t. The moment he opened the door again, the man outside would surely pounce. It was clear now that they had been trapped in this hotel room from the very start. Ajay had brought her here for a reason, but it wasn’t what she had thought. It wasn’t for a romantic evening. It wasn’t for the intimacy she had expected. It was for something else entirely. Something far more sinister.
Ajay’s phone buzzed again, the screen lighting up with another message from Sandeep. His eyes hardened as he read the message, his expression darkening.
“They know where we are,” Ajay muttered, his voice filled with disbelief. “They’ve been watching us this entire time.”
Meera’s stomach twisted. “Who are they?”
Ajay didn’t answer, but his eyes flickered to the door again. The knock came once more, louder this time. Meera froze. There was no more time.
Ajay grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door, his movements swift and determined. “Stay close,” he whispered, his voice full of urgency. “No matter what happens, don’t make a sound.”
They reached the door, but as Ajay reached for the handle, he froze. His expression shifted, and a sense of dread filled the air. Someone was standing outside.
Meera’s heart stopped. Her breath caught in her throat.
The tall man in the black jacket stood outside the door, his phone already recording. His smile was cold, calculating, as he slowly spoke.
“Mr. Sandeep says hello.”
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
The words “Mr. Sandeep says hello” echoed in Meera’s mind like a constant, terrifying hum, drowning out the rest of the world. Her heart pounded harder in her chest, almost deafening her. Her throat was dry, her legs trembling beneath her. The man outside the door was not just a stranger now; he was a symbol of everything she had feared. The trap had been set, and there was no escape. She was caught in the middle of a nightmare.
Ajay stood motionless in front of her, his eyes wide with shock, but also with a sharp focus. He didn’t make a sound, but the tension in his body told Meera everything. He knew. He had known something like this could happen, and yet, they were still here, still trapped in this hotel room.
The man outside smiled wider, his teeth flashing in the dim hallway light. It was a predatory smile—one that made Meera’s stomach churn. He wasn’t just here for them; he was here to send a message. He knew they were cornered. He knew they had nowhere to run.
“Do you think you can outrun him, Ajay?” the man called out, his voice smooth, mocking even. “Do you think running away now will save you both? It’s too late for that. You should’ve stayed quiet, just like the others.”
Meera couldn’t look away from the door. The man’s presence seemed to fill the room, suffocating her. Her mind raced. This was real. This wasn’t just some twisted game. She was in danger. They both were. And there was no one coming to save them. No one but the man in front of her—Ajay. And right now, he was the only person she could trust, even if her heart was torn apart by everything she had just learned.
