the room-mate that wasn't

Two decades ago, when Whitefield in Bangalore was still a remote patch of dense greenery, far from the IT metropolis it is today, two young students—Sanjay and Reyansh—began their academic journey at an Engineering College, nestled deep in an almost-forgotten stretch of land.

The hostel stood like a lone outpost in the middle of nowhere—surrounded by forests, dimly lit streets, and an eerie silence after sunset. Public transport was rare, and by 8 PM, the area would descend into stillness. There were no nearby markets or coffee shops, just the soft hum of insects and the occasional flicker of hostel lights.

To shake off the growing loneliness, Sanjay and Reyansh often hung out with fellow hostel mates, chatting, walking on the terrace, or, once in a while, sharing a bottle of whisky smuggled in with the help of a friendly canteen worker. One such night, as six of them gathered with drinks and stories but the night stood apart.

It wasn’t just the drinks or the stories they told.

It was the room.

The very room they were gathered in had a strange history—it had remained locked for several years and had only been reopened that same year. Rumors surrounded its dark past, but no one really knew the full story. That night, six boys including Sanjay, Reyansh, and the canteen helper gathered in that long-abandoned room, eager to make the most of their “haunted” hangout spot.

As the drinks flowed, so did the stories. When the conversation turned to the supernatural, the canteen helper spoke in a lower voice: “Do you know this is the very room where a student was found dead in a mysterious way. The ones who were around then say that it wasn’t a natural death- there was something sinister at play.” 

The words sank in like cold water.

Despite their questions, the helper refused to share more. By 1:30 AM, the gathering ended. The others returned to their rooms. Only Sanjay and Reyansh remained.

Reyansh, unable to sleep, decided to step out for a terrace walk. Sanjay, unnerved by the story and slightly tipsy, locked the door from inside and fell into a restless sleep.

Around 2 AM, Sanjay woke up to a knock. He opened the door. Reyansh stood outside. Without much thought, Sanjay let him in and fell asleep again.

At 4:30 AM, he woke up to find Reyansh getting dressed.

“Where are you going so early?”

“Just a walk,” Reyansh replied, and left again.

At  5:30 AM, Sanjay got up for the day, showered, and opened the door—only  to find Reyansh fast asleep on the floor outside the room.

Baffled, he shook him awake.

“If you didn’t want to really walk at 4 .30AM, why step out and then sleep here?”

Reyansh looked at him with disbelief.

“What are you talking about? I  slept here after returning from the terrace. I knocked for a while and gave up. I slept here all night.”

Sanjay froze.

He remembered opening the door. He remembered someone entering.

He remembered sleeping beside someone.

So then—who was in the room with him?

Was he dreaming? But he had kicked the mat to one side after opening the door for Reyash to step in and the mat was lying on the side. 

Could it be that Reyansh was pulling a joke?  But he swore he was not and he did not look like he had just slept on the corridor some time back or was faking it. He was indeed in deep slumber when Sanjay woke him up. 

Till date, both men recall the incident the exact same way. Reyansh continues to  say it wasn’t a joke that he pulled on Sanjay and Sanjay continues  to wonder with dread-

Was it a ghost from the room’s dark past?

Or something older that never left?