Ding Dong

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Chapter 1: The Sound Before Silence

The call came in at 9:17 PM.

“Unresponsive person. Possible death.”

Officer Raghav arrived ten minutes later.

The apartment building stood quiet—too quiet for something that had just happened.

No crowd.

No noise.

Just stillness.

He walked up the stairs slowly, each step echoing louder than it should.

Outside the door, a woman stood trembling.

Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

“You called?” Raghav asked.

She nodded quickly.

“Yes… I live next door.”

“What happened?”

Her lips parted, but no words came out at first.

Then, finally—

“I heard it.”

Raghav frowned.

“Heard what?”

She swallowed.

“The ding dong.”

He glanced at the door.

“The doorbell?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t know… it sounded like one. But… it felt wrong.”

Raghav didn’t respond.

People said strange things when they were scared.

“Did you see anyone enter or leave?”

“No,” she whispered. “That’s the problem.”

Raghav turned to the constable.

“Open it.”

The door was unlocked.

It creaked as it opened slowly.

Inside—

everything looked normal.

Too normal.

The lights were on.

A chair slightly pulled out.

A glass of water on the table.

Nothing broken.

Nothing disturbed.

Except—

A man lay on the floor.

Still.

Eyes open.

Staring at the ceiling.

Raghav stepped closer.

No blood.

No wounds.

No sign of struggle.

Just a face frozen in confusion.

Like he had seen something impossible in his final moment.

The constable checked his pulse.

“Sir… he’s gone.”

Raghav didn’t reply.

His eyes were fixed on the room.

Something about it felt… incomplete.

Like a moment was missing.

Like something had happened—

and then erased itself.

He turned back to the woman.

“You’re sure you only heard a sound?”

She nodded.

Tears filled her eyes.

“It was clear… like someone pressed a bell.”

Silence filled the hallway.

Raghav looked once more at the body.

Then at the door.

Then back at the empty room.

And for a brief second—

he thought he heard it too.

Soft.

Faint.

Right behind him.

Ding… dong.

He turned sharply.

Nothing.

No one.

Only the echo of a sound that shouldn’t be there.

Raghav felt something cold settle in his chest.

Not fear.

Not yet.

But something close to it.

A feeling that this case…

was not going to follow any rules he understood.

89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPqYKF8E01F
89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRin2kQHrpU

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