Bengaluru is a city that never fully sleeps. Except for the distant rumble of a truck on some road and the occasional barking of dogs, a deep silence had settled over the neighborhood.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAPldkivOuLL
In her room, Shravya was in a deep sleep. Dim streetlight filtered through the gaps in the window curtains, casting strange shadows on the floor. The digital clock on the bedside table glowed in red numerals: 3:23.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAVrjNBHUR0C
Suddenly, Shravya woke up. But this was no ordinary waking.
85Please respect copyright.PENANANQJ2ENRdcT
Her eyelids were still closed. Yet her mind had snapped into full wakefulness in an instant — so completely that she could clearly hear the whirring of the ceiling fan and the tick-tick of the wall clock. "Wake up, Shravya," she commanded herself.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAmN8LJJoqeR
But... her body had turned to stone!
85Please respect copyright.PENANAPodiDx3Afi
She tried to wiggle her fingers — they wouldn't move. She tried to lift her legs — there was no strength. As if someone had tightly bound her entire body with rope, or draped her in a lead blanket — an overwhelming heaviness! Even breathing was difficult.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA1DD1YiYj2a
A cold wave of dread ran down her spine. In the dim darkness, in the corner of the room... it seemed as if someone was standing there.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA4fubvRJSm3
A dark figure. Human? Shadow? Impossible to tell. But she felt certain it was staring directly at her. And then — whispers began in the air near her ear. Indistinct voices... an incomprehensible language... buzzing rapidly right beside her ears.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAWt9qUt8bTk
Shravya's heart was pounding so hard it seemed ready to leap from her chest. She tried to open her mouth to scream. But her voice was trapped in her throat. Her tongue wouldn't move.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAm9tvhbEegO
"No... this isn't real... get up... get up!" she struggled within herself.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA5dgqIecmrZ
Gathering every ounce of mental and physical strength, she tried to move only the little finger of her right hand. First attempt — failed. Second attempt — failed. Third attempt... success! The moment her little finger twitched... the lead blanket vanished.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAYwTXxq5Uh3
She turned to her right. Breathing deeply, drenched in sweat, Shravya sat up in bed. That invisible chain had broken. She immediately pressed the switch beside her. The room flooded with light.
85Please respect copyright.PENANArH8NH3DBix
She looked at the corner. No one was there. Only the clothes-drying stand and the coat hanging on it. The whispers had vanished too.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAR95j9VZ97z
Bringing her heartbeat under control, the medical student within her was now awake.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAvE7590OJRM
"This is not a ghost. This is only 'Sleep Paralysis,'" she said aloud to herself. "My mind was awake, but my muscles were still in REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement sleep). That dark figure, those whispers... all hallucinations created by my own mind."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAguqULQ1VwV
Drinking a glass of water, she pulled out her secret notebook from the bedside drawer. With trembling hands, she wrote:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAp5LB1TaRBc
Date: October 12
85Please respect copyright.PENANAd7sbdGya5X
Time: 3:23 AM
85Please respect copyright.PENANAuSDRtWci8A
Incident: Sleep Paralysis.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA0NUYurlJXI
Description: Hypnagogic hallucinations. This is a completely medically explainable event. No reason to be afraid.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA4h0Mob8ltl
She closed the notebook. Reassuring herself that she had conquered fear with logic, she switched off the light and pulled her blanket back. But those whispered sounds still drifted through her mind.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAno6tA4kU5M
The Next Day — In Class
85Please respect copyright.PENANAlFQ76wKuPY
The next morning, the darkness and terrifying experiences of the night had melted away in the harsh light of day. Shravya was sitting as always in her medical college classroom. Pen in hand, notebook open before her.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAsbOKIxfAXM
It was the Neurology class. Professor Shastri walked in with a grave expression and wrote the day's topic in large letters on the board: "Sleep Disorders."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAyqv3F9CeZo
Shravya sat up straight with interest. The professor continued:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAfaVCPm554d
"Students, it is fascinating how the brain responds when sleep stages are disrupted. One of the important conditions in this is — Sleep Paralysis."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAbR2DGKp0C9
At hearing that word, Shravya's skin prickled for a moment. What a coincidence! The very thing she had experienced just last night was now being taught by the professor.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA2cLQMz6d41
The professor explained: "In this condition, the patient's mind is awake, but the body has not regained muscular control (Muscle Atonia). The patient feels an immense weight on the chest. Moreover, the brain's fear center — the 'Amygdala' — works in overdrive, causing the sensation that strangers or dark figures are present in the room."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAqJoWKvqrtq
Hearing these words, Shravya let out a long sigh of relief. A great sense of calm washed over her.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAXXx11mW3DE
"Yes, this is what happened last night," she thought to herself. "That dark figure, those whispers... none of it was real. Just a confusion of my brain's neurotransmitters."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAZhN12QUwFg
85Please respect copyright.PENANANwxLtVDTK7
85Please respect copyright.PENANA6iYnPPvu12
Several days later, that evening the college library maintained its customary silence. With exams approaching, the library was packed. Nothing was audible except the smell of old books and the hum of ceiling fans.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAW3KXGlOS0g
Shravya sat in a corner of a table, immersed in her large Anatomy book. Her concentration was so deep that the world around her had ceased to exist.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA85EZI4n6UA
Suddenly... the atmosphere seemed to shift.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAUrmnkMszBr
Very close to her ear, at the back of her neck — a touch of warm breath. Immediately, a deep male voice resonated in her ear. It was not indistinct. It was as if someone was standing right beside her, urgently, commandingly, saying something.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA1lMvEg2jHA
Shravya snapped her head up.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAiuadGLEmk9
What she saw could have stopped her heart.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAoKzGWzRTlG
A little distance away, between two bookshelves, stood a man. He was certainly not a student of this college. He wore old-fashioned traditional clothing — a white dhoti and shawl. There was a deep gravity on his face.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAZqSVaYixNC
But the most terrifying thing was... he did not look like a man of flesh and blood!
85Please respect copyright.PENANAfr4ekNq0dK
He was translucent. Like a reflection in water, or thin smoke. The row of books behind him was faintly visible through his body.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAhC4Dt3OcyF
Though hundreds of people were in the library, that figure was staring unblinkingly, directly at Shravya.
85Please respect copyright.PENANABsbeW9Dsmg
"This can't be... I'm exhausted from studying..." she thought, rubbing her eyes hard. She opened them again. The figure was still there! It seemed to take one step toward her.
85Please respect copyright.PENANANIpcrxandF
"Hey, Shravya!"
85Please respect copyright.PENANAKK35m2SemY
Suddenly someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Shravya startled, half-rising from her chair. She turned — it was her classmate Sneha.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA7Yn8xIe08W
"What's wrong?" Sneha asked, alarmed.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAQ72A7Mj6E0
Shravya immediately looked back. But... between those shelves there was no one now. The translucent man had dissolved into thin air. Only empty space remained.
85Please respect copyright.PENANApywseLSZeW
Sneha looked at her strangely. "What happened? Why are you staring at that empty space like you've seen a ghost? There's no one there."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAwrIb79umoi
Shravya felt her mouth go dry. "Oh... nothing. I was just thinking," she stammered in reply. But her hands were still trembling.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA2d7rW0uMgR
85Please respect copyright.PENANAhSQWqoSHA1
85Please respect copyright.PENANAwLK0z2VbaP
Stepping out of the library's air-conditioned atmosphere, Shravya sank onto the concrete steps outside. Though a cool evening breeze was blowing, sweat beaded on her forehead.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAnuFS2BU8DX
Her logical mind was now a nest of confusion. "What happened that night can be accepted as 'Sleep Paralysis' — it had a scientific cause. But now?" she questioned herself. "I wasn't sleeping. I was wide awake. There were people around me, there was light. Yet how did that figure appear only to me?"
85Please respect copyright.PENANAF5rYpRo99M
As the truth dawned on her that no science book held an answer to this, her fear grew.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAoVl1XVETgt
Just then, the phone in her bag began to vibrate. It broke her train of thought. She looked at the screen — 'Appa' was blinking on it.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAgj548ZlO5x
Normally she would have answered on the first ring. But today she could not find the courage to press the green button. The phone rang and cut itself off.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAeYBjutaozK
The next moment, a voice message arrived. With trembling fingers she played it. From the phone's speaker came her father's steady, confident voice:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAn0gUGiHIyp
"Shravya, not picking up? Must be deep in studying. Good. But remember, daughter — 'A healthy mind lives only in a healthy body.' Eat properly, sleep on time. Then the mind stays healthy and no unnecessary thoughts will come..."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAAKb1m87bNR
Hearing her father's words, tears filled Shravya's eyes.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA1O2MtkyzLm
She wanted to share all this with someone — especially her father. She wanted to cry out, "Appa, I'm frightened, I'm seeing strange figures."
85Please respect copyright.PENANALG8utKV8cJ
But... she did not. She switched the phone off and put it in her bag.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAHhK3HQcwU1
Because she knew — her father was a man of thoroughly scientific temperament. In his eyes, ghosts, souls, and supernatural forces were all "signs of a weak mind" or "superstition."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAZT2QZRsHJw
"If I tell him the truth, he might think I've gone mad" — this fear gripped her. And so, to preserve both the science she had believed in for years and her father's trust in her, she chose silence.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAoHWj0xXHVX
Though hundreds of people surrounded her in that vast college campus, Shravya felt utterly, completely alone.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA1teDtvFzLi
Steeling her mind, Shravya returned to her spot in the library. She had to study; exams were near. That was her stubbornness.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAZGA7BCODpO
But the situation had worsened.
85Please respect copyright.PENANASJvTOX9s2L
Those whispers... they simply wouldn't stop. What was once only a nighttime occurrence now relentlessly haunted her during the day. A buzzing sound, like a beehive's "Zzzz...", echoed inside and outside her ears simultaneously.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAvmzAZr7JZf
She covered her ears, but the noise didn't stop.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAR6LbE1N188
"Is this floating in the air? Or is it originating within the nerves of my own brain?" The confusion was pushing her to the brink of insanity.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAgZ7ZVRgB3p
Determined not to lose faith in her intellect, she pulled her thick 'Clinical Medicine' book toward her with trembling hands. She rapidly flipped the pages and found the chapter on "Differential Diagnosis of Auditory Hallucinations."
85Please respect copyright.PENANActIzDKwtJp
Her fingers traced down the list of illnesses:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAQ6p2q9EAR2
1. Schizophrenia - Mental disorder.
2. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy - Seizures caused by nerve issues in the brain.
3. Brain Tumor.
4. Severe Stress/Psychosis.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAMRUjzqup3v
Shravya began comparing her symptoms one by one with those terrifying diseases. With every line she read, her heartbeat quickened.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAVxlbLj6Jjj
"Am I going crazy? Or is a tumor growing in my brain?"
85Please respect copyright.PENANALuONVRfDDJ
The moment this thought struck, her hands shook so violently that her pen dropped onto the table with a 'clack'. People nearby turned to look. Shravya lowered her head, staring blankly at the text. Science was diagnosing the disease, but instead of offering a cure, it was only amplifying her fear.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA6kzEIsEdsk
85Please respect copyright.PENANAgBLOyspaf2
The clock showed 2:14 at night. Outside, the entire world had sunk into deep sleep. But in Shravya's room, the table lamp still burned. Its yellow light fell on the piles of thick books spread across the desk.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAoX4nVcjum3
The Neurology exam was the very next morning.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAZDPeWuwmdo
Shravya's eyes were burning. After eighteen consecutive hours of reading, her mind had gone numb. She pushed away the empty coffee mug and held the syllabus copy close to her eyes to read.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAroaLgxVWp2
A few final chapters still remained. As she turned the pages, strange and unpronounceable disease names appeared:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAqs99qo3bJ8
'Marchiafava-Bignami disease'
85Please respect copyright.PENANAG1rvYwNE8C
'Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML)'...
85Please respect copyright.PENANAa434Ets8Xu
"These are incredibly rare diseases that affect one in a million people. They haven't appeared in five years of past papers even once. Reading these now would waste time and they won't even register," she decided, closing the book aside.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAu38koeUSf9
"That's enough... I can't go on. Just 5 minutes... just five minutes with my eyes closed." And with that, she folded her arms on the table, rested her head, and closed her eyes.
85Please respect copyright.PENANASbcFpN6zYv
Shravya hadn't fully fallen asleep. She was in a strange, Liminal state — neither fully awake nor fully asleep. Her body rested, but her consciousness still floated.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAfQ3aLkuGau
Suddenly, a vibration began deep within her mind.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAvpt46ijHds
Piercing the silence, those same whispers returned. But this time there was no fear in them, no confusion. Instead — there was care.
85Please respect copyright.PENANADQPTHDe7nd
Before her closed eyes, the darkness parted and a brilliant light appeared.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAsHcOJc3LsV
The textbook she had just set aside, deciding not to read — its pages opened like a vision on the screen of her mind. The lines on those pages glowed with a dazzling radiance.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA6OkpynX3Cp
Among thousands of words, only three topics seemed highlighted as if with a marker:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAdSeAXjO3QA
1. Marchiafava-Bignami Disease
85Please respect copyright.PENANA593GHhQakZ
2. Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy – PML
85Please respect copyright.PENANAj6zxlq53U0
3. Abducens Nerve – False Localizing Sign
85Please respect copyright.PENANA0A4bITkddB
The invisible voice now commanded clearly in her ear:
85Please respect copyright.PENANA38JIONvhVY
"Trust us... read these..."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAJm5HJporYL
"Hah...!"
85Please respect copyright.PENANA1uxlrhZQGd
Shravya jolted awake, breath catching in her throat. Her heart was pounding like a train speeding at a hundred kilometers per hour. Beads of sweat covered her forehead and neck.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAXH0Q4AWanw
She looked at the clock. 2:47. She had closed her eyes only half an hour ago. But it felt as if ages had passed.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAckJptho2zQ
Her scientific mind immediately sprang to attention. "This is just a dream," she told herself firmly. "My brain is generating bad dreams from exam stress. Those three diseases aren't even important for the exam."
85Please respect copyright.PENANA2PYj1ZJOTv
But the moment her hands touched the book to close it... a strange electric current ran through her. Her inner voice (gut feeling) softly said: "No! Read it! Open that book!"
85Please respect copyright.PENANAJeLh63F9zb
An intense battle raged within her. On one side, years of logic and science. On the other, a supernatural belief she was experiencing for the very first time.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAH1GOWSXGP3
"Fine, just once... what if what I saw was true? Better to read now than regret later."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAhWWGNTR99N
With trembling hands she opened those pages again. Until 4:30 in the morning, setting everything else aside, she read those three topics — Marchiafava-Bignami, PML, Abducens Nerve — completely, without missing a single word.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAF4mZBGsPFj
Her logic had lost, her fear had won. Or perhaps... faith was being born.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAO59NOBjvRc
85Please respect copyright.PENANAYNjY9dgyZn
Morning, 7:00 AM.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAkga7BjIrzO
The early morning Bangalore sun shone over the college campus. But to Shravya, even that light was blinding. Her eyes were bloodshot. A mere three hours of sleep and a night-long internal war had drained her completely, both physically and mentally.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAgFvgiVB7RO
Her legs felt heavy as she walked from the hostel to the exam hall.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAwkfJNOC925
On the way, her classmates walked in groups, engrossed in last-minute discussions.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAy7GmxOMnl3
"Hey, did you read about 'Stroke'? That's definitely coming," one said.
"No way man, this time a long question on 'Epilepsy' is guaranteed," argued another.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAGQPWdOtuDI
Shravya remained silent. She had no words.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAgT4P8rywL9
Her friend Sneha came up beside her and asked, "Hey Shravya, looking dull? Did you pull an all-nighter? Covered everything?"
85Please respect copyright.PENANAyGfJtJHYuV
Shravya simply nodded. "Hmm..." was her only reply. She didn't have the courage to tell anyone about the bizarre topics she had studied last night. If she told them, they would laugh—that fear was on one side. The embarrassment if it all turned out to be false was on the other.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAJBc2eaRrfP
As she climbed the stairs to the exam hall, only one thought swirled in her mind:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAV5IOiiNEUK
"What if... just what if... the topics those voices mentioned actually appear in the question paper? What happens then?"
85Please respect copyright.PENANApmD6Y91D8d
She looked up at the sky.
Stepping through the exam room door, she took her seat at her designated desk. Her heartbeat accelerated once again.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAkjy6hivrc0
---
85Please respect copyright.PENANAOT39jjTk5U
There was pin-drop silence in the exam hall, broken only by the loud ticking of the clock.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAdLrLmvj2LJ
"Tring..."
85Please respect copyright.PENANAwVoommuu7U
Shravya flinched at the sound of the bell. The invigilators walked down the aisles, placing the question papers face down on everyone's desks. A stack of white papers lay before her.
85Please respect copyright.PENANA6vdjqyEHZg
Shravya's hands were ice cold. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAAkvwXeB7Ge
"It's just an exam... stay cool," she told herself. But her own words offered her no reassurance.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAY2BxOr3dQx
"You may look at the paper now," the invigilator signaled.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAlefJRgCDT1
A collective "rustle..." of turning paper echoed through the hall. Shravya, too, turned her question paper over with trembling fingers.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAeGdMoQaOvK
Her eyes scanned the first question. It was a general one. She felt slightly relieved.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAsePrQjxy4l
But, as her gaze drifted lower...
85Please respect copyright.PENANAxqKBgF5deb
Her breath suddenly hitched. It felt as though the whole world had paused for a second!
85Please respect copyright.PENANAVPzl8rhvCX
Her eyes remained glued, wide open in shock, staring at the words on the paper. No words came out of her mouth:
85Please respect copyright.PENANAYwwEuO3oqH
Question No. 2: Abducens nerve palsy - Explain the 'False localizing sign'.
Question No. 3: What are the clinical features of Marchiafava-Bignami disease?
Question No. 6: Write a short note on PML.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAFaOq1eAE3n
"Oh my God...!"
85Please respect copyright.PENANAKJEYLrcSsC
An exclamation slipped from Shravya's mouth unexpectedly. The people next to her turned to look, but she was completely oblivious.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAaXyKipb8lY
The vision she saw that night, those whispers, that early morning study session... it was all literally true! Those three topics were right in front of her eyes, in the form of the question paper.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAFvp9AyO9Lt
This couldn't possibly be a coincidence. Mathematically, it was impossible!
85Please respect copyright.PENANAhdDmgnEhNp
Her hair stood on end. All her years of scientific logic, her skepticism—everything was now thrown into question..!??!
85Please respect copyright.PENANAWrzWYlKiiV
Shravya slowly lifted her head, fixing her gaze on the empty space of the exam hall's ceiling...
85Please respect copyright.PENANAVb7XUJ75RB
From the depths of her core, that familiar voice resonated once more. But this time it wasn't in her ear; it felt like it came from the depths of her very soul.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAXoT1cuy9ys
"Will you believe now...?"
85Please respect copyright.PENANAHyq0FAGwwS
With a strange smile, she picked up her pen with a trembling hand.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAKhCPnZ2mwv
She prepared to write the answers. But she knew—this was not just an exam, it was merely the beginning of a new and mysterious journey.
85Please respect copyright.PENANAMfZ4wdsf4H
To be continued...
85Please respect copyright.PENANAPsUk0iRLo7
85Please respect copyright.PENANAmPuMgd5qsP


