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Mumbai ke ek compact 1BHK flat mein Priya apni internship complete kar rahi thi. Digital marketing ka kaam tha, deadlines tight thi. Mostly ghar se kaam hota, laptop aur phone uske sabse bade tools the. Har dusra waqt ya to call par hota ya screenshot bhejne mein guzarta.
Ek Thursday raat, jab baarish ke karan wifi kabhi kabhi ruk ruk ke chal raha tha, Priya ne ek presentation banate waqt ek screenshot lena chaha WhatsApp group ka, jahaan se client ne creatives bheje the. Jaise hi usne screengrab liya, screen freeze hui — lekin image save ho gayi.
Next day morning jab Priya gallery mein presentation ke liye wo screenshot dhoond rahi thi, usne dekha ek extra image bhi save thi — bilkul vaise hi jaisi usne li thi, bas ek fark tha.
Us image mein WhatsApp screen ke upar ek aur chhoti si reflection thi. Screen pe likha hua tha ‘Screenshot taken’, par background mein, Priya ke dark phone screen ke peeche, ek aur chehra dikha. Bilkul vague, blurred sa. Gora sa chehra, moonh khula hua, aankhein seedha us camera mein. Pehle to laga ki iska reason light reflection ho sakta hai. Par usne jab zoom kiya, to uske kaan ke paas ek awaaz gunjti mehsoos hui, jaise koi fuskusake keh raha ho: “Dekh raha hoon.”
Priya ne shake karke phone band kiya. Apne room ki lights on karke mirror check kiya. Kuch nahi tha. Raat tak wo ghoomte huye dimaag se kaam karti rahi. Par jab next baar screenshot lena pada — ek email ka this time — wahi chehra phir se background mein tha, bas ab zyada clear.
Is baar uska sir thoda tilt mein tha, aur uska haath, jo pehle image mein nahi tha, is baar phone ke camera ki taraf badhta hua tha. Priya ghabra gayi. Usne wo image delete kar di, cache clean kiya. Par jab gallery kholi, ab wo image kisi album mein nahi thi. Sare folders blank dikh rahe the, sirf ek album tha: “Screenshoted by It.”
Album khulte hi ek slideshow start ho gaya. Usme purani random screenshots thi—lekin har ek mein us chehre ka presence gradually intense hota ja raha tha. Priya ke pichle 3 mahine ke screenshots—bank statements, memes, recipe snaps—sab mein wo chehra tha.
Us raat Priya ne phone switch off kiya. Par jab mirror ke paas se guzri, to usne apne reflection ke peechhe ek aur reflection dekha. Wahi chehra, bas is baar uski aankhon ke peechhe. Aur phir — mirror blink kar gaya. Koi cheez andar se uski aankhon mein ghus gayi jaise.
Agli subah tak Priya ka phone off hi raha. Jab finally charger lagake power on kiya, to phone auto-unlock hua bina uske touch kiye. Gallery khuli thi — aur naye screenshots dikh rahe the, jaise raat bhar kisi ne liye hon. Usme uske sone ka scene tha, ek jagah to camera uske zoomed face pe tha, jaise raat bhar koi uska phone use kar raha ho.
Usne phone lekar turant Girgaon ke tech service center me gaya. Wahan ek local technician, Arbaz, ne uska phone dekha aur bola: “Phone bilkul normal lag raha hai, par storage ka structure… ismein ek layer zyada hai.” Jab Arbaz ne phone ek diagnostic software se attach kiya, usmein ek folder unlock hua: /EyeLog.
Folder ke andar 100s of images the jo kisi ne Priya ke phone se nahi, balki uske aankhon se liye the. Har image aise angles se thi jahan phone nahi ho sakta — jaise bathroom ke beech, ya lift ke dark corners.
Arbaz ne shock se peeche hatti hui dekha: “Yeh phone log nahi khareedte…yeh khud logon ko chunta hai.” Aur bina kisi aur explanation ke shop close kara diya.
Priya ne phone ko building ke terrace se niche fek diya. Par jab wo ghar pahunchi, uske laptop pe ek naye folder ka pop-up dikh raha tha: /SharedFromAnotherDevice
Inside it: ek hi image baar-baar. Ek screenshot…uske room ka. But iss baar jo dikha wo sabse darawana tha — image mein wahi chehra Priya ke bed ke piche khada tha, par is baar phone Priya ke haath mein nahi, us chehre ke haath mein tha. Aur neeche likha tha:
“Ab main screenshot lunga. Tumhare dimaag ka.”
Tab se Priya underground hai. Koi trace nahi. Uske flat ka rent auto debit hota raha kuch mahine. Kabhi kabhi uski friends ko WhatsApp par uske number se screenshots aate — normal dikhte, par dhyan se dekho… to tumhe bhi lagne lagega koi tumhari screen ke andar se dekh raha hai.
