The air felt different. It wasn't just the weather—it was something more subtle, an unspoken shift between them. The bond that had been formed in Shimla wasn't something they could just forget. It lingered like an unfinished chapter, and each one of them knew it.
The group had already decided. The girls would return to Shimla after finals. They weren't sure what they were looking for exactly, but Lydia's message, her unfinished story, was still haunting them. The diary. The truth behind the ghost. They had to know.
Prajwal sat in the library, flipping through her textbooks, but her mind kept drifting back to that letter they had found. Lydia's ghost had shown them a part of her life that no one could have imagined. There was something deeper at play—something that needed to be uncovered.
She heard footsteps behind her. Swara was approaching, her expression serious.
"Prajwal, are you thinking about it too?" Swara asked, settling down beside her.
"About Lydia? Yeah. I can't let it go. There's so much we don't know."
Swara nodded. "I've been reading up on Shimla's history. There were stories of an old mansion that no one dared to go near. It was supposedly built on land with a dark past. Lydia… maybe she was trying to protect us from something."
"But why us? Why did she choose us?" Prajwal murmured, still staring at the pages of her book without really seeing them.
Swara leaned forward. "Maybe it's because we were willing to listen. To believe. We saw her, even when no one else would."
Just then, Akshada, Apurva, and Swarali joined them. They had been making their own plans in silence for the last few days, but now it was time to take action.
"We've decided," Apurva said, looking around at the others. "We'll go to Shimla after the exams. It's not just about the diary—it's about understanding Lydia's life, her death… everything she left behind."
"But we'll need to be careful," Swarali added. "Last time, we barely got out of there in one piece."
"We'll go prepared," Prajwal said firmly, standing up. She had always been the one to lead, but this time, her voice held a tone of certainty. "We need to finish this story. For Lydia. For ourselves."
---
Later that week, the countdown to finals began. The girls buried themselves in books and assignments, but the mystery of the haunted hotel and the promise of returning to Shimla was never far from their minds. They exchanged texts, whispers, and plans late into the night, each one growing more anxious but also more excited.
Finally, the last exam was over. Their hearts raced as they gathered in front of the college gates. There was no turning back now. It was time to find the diary and uncover the truth behind Lydia's past.
As they boarded the bus bound for Shimla, the air felt thick with anticipation. The journey felt different now—less about the ghost and more about the story they had to tell. They knew it wouldn't be easy, but they were ready to face whatever came their way.
---