Now It was exactly 12:00 a.m. when Ahaan heard the first ring.
He sat up in bed, heart racing.
DONG.
A deep, cold sound. Like metal hitting bone.
DONG.
Another.
It came from far away, but it echoed right through his walls. Right into his chest.
He looked at the candle. It was flickering blue. The book on his desk flew open and flipped to a glowing page:
CASE SIX:
"The Bell That Rings at Midnight"
They say it rings for those who were forgotten.
Once you hear it, you must answer it.
Or it will come looking for you.
Ahaan's throat went dry.
His phone screen cracked suddenly — showing one single word:
"DETENTION."
Within minutes, Ahaan was on his bike, riding toward the oldest part of town.
The bell kept ringing.
DONG… DONG… DONG…
Each ring felt heavier. Like it was pulling him in.
Finally, he reached the old Silverhill High School.
It had been shut down 10 years ago after a fire in the science lab. People said students never made it out.
The front gate was rusted. The building stood tall and broken, like a skeleton with shattered windows.
But the bell tower was whole.
And still ringing.
Ahaan pushed open the front door.
It groaned like it hadn't been touched in years.
Inside, the hallway was dark. Cold. Dust swirled in the air.
Then he saw it.
Footprints.
Wet ones.
Leading down the hall.
He followed them — slowly.
Locker doors began to creak open by themselves. Faint whispers floated in the air.
"He heard the bell…"
"He shouldn't have come…"
"They never leave…"
Suddenly, a locker slammed shut right beside him.
He jumped.
But kept walking.
At the end of the hall was a door labeled "DETENTION."
He pushed it open.
Inside were old desks… and students.
At least, they looked like students.
But their eyes were all black.
And their skin? Ash gray. Burned.
They all turned and stared at Ahaan.
Then they smiled.
"He's the new one," one whispered.
"He answered the bell," another said.
"Now he stays."
They rose from their desks.
Ahaan backed away — fast.
One grabbed his arm — ice cold.
"You hear it once. You can leave," it said. "You hear it twice, and you're marked. You hear it a third time..."
DONG.
The bell rang again.
Third time.
The windows shattered all at once.
The students screamed in unison and vanished.
Now, everything changed.
The walls turned black. The ceiling disappeared. He was no longer inside a school.
He was in a massive empty field, surrounded by fog.
And in the center stood the bell tower — tall, rotting, covered in vines.
The bell at the top rang again.
But this time, Ahaan saw it — a shadow figure standing inside the tower, pulling the rope.
It wasn't a person.
It was a creature made of smoke and sorrow. It had no face, just a cracked school badge hanging around its neck.
And when Ahaan looked closer — the badge had his name on it.
AHAAN - CLASS OF NEVER
He ran toward the tower.
The book in his hand began to glow red-hot. Pages flipped, revealing messages:
"To silence the bell, you must break the memory it rings for."
"Find what's forgotten. Make it remember."
But what was the memory?
Suddenly, the fog parted.
And he saw a girl standing near the tower steps.
She was maybe 14, wearing a burnt school uniform. Hair covering her face.
Ahaan slowly walked up to her.
"Who are you?" he asked.
She raised her head.
One eye was gone. Burned. The other was crying.
"My name is Anvi," she whispered. "I rang the bell."
She explained everything.
"I was the first one trapped," she said. "I started the fire in the science lab. Not on purpose. I was trying to get out of detention. I lit a small paper. It went too far. Too fast."
She looked up at the bell tower.
"No one came to save us. So our memories got stuck in the bell. Every time it rings, it tries to remind the world we existed."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"But now it rings to trap the living… so it can stay loud."
Ahaan opened the book.
"Then how do I free you?"
She looked at the tower.
"Climb it. Break the bell. But be careful… the bell doesn't like silence."
Ahaan ran up the rotting stairs inside the tower.
Each step groaned.
Below him, he could hear the students screaming again.
The ones from detention.
But now they were outside.
Calling his name.
Scratching the walls.
"You can't silence it!"
"We ARE the bell!"
"Let it RING!"
Ahaan reached the top.
The bell was huge. Black iron. Covered in names.
Names of forgotten students.
The rope dangled below, swaying on its own.
He took out a rock and slammed it against the bell.
CLANG.
It screamed.
The shadow inside the bell tower lunged toward him — mouth wide, full of smoke and flames.
Ahaan lit the candle.
Held the book up high.
Screamed, "YOU ARE REMEMBERED!"
The book burned bright.
The bell cracked down the center.
The shadow melted into ash.
And suddenly —
Silence.
Ahaan opened his eyes.
He was back in the school hallway.
The bell tower was gone.
The detention room was empty.
And the book had one new sentence written in gold:
"Sometimes, ghosts don't want revenge.
They just want to be remembered."
As Ahaan walked home, tired but awake, he passed a small flower stand.
The girl selling them had one eye — and a kind smile.
She handed him a white rose.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He smiled back.
She disappeared before he could say a word.
Too be continued...