In early 2022, a 24-year-old woman named Ishita moved to Mumbai to start her new job at a digital marketing firm. Like most first-timers in the city, she was juggling between long commutes, rising rent prices, and adjusting to life in a chaotic metro.
Eventually, she found a decent 2BHK flat in Andheri East. The place was semi-furnished and came with a roommate — a quiet girl named Rhea, who apparently worked night shifts at a call center. They didn’t talk much, but Ishita felt a strange comfort in knowing someone else was around in the unfamiliar city.
The Perfect Roommate… Almost Too Perfect
Rhea mostly stayed out of sight, which suited Ishita just fine. On most mornings, she’d spot Rhea in the mirror brushing her hair or scribbling notes on sticky pads left on the fridge. Sometimes they exchanged quick words — about groceries, the weather, or why the WiFi sucked.
But over the weeks, Ishita began noticing something odd.
She never actually saw Rhea enter or leave the apartment.
No sound of keys. No shoes by the door. No used dishes. Just… occasional glimpses. It didn’t bother her at first. Maybe their timings were just off. Rhea worked night shifts, after all.
Then came the courier incident.
The First Red Flag
One evening, a delivery guy arrived with a package addressed to Rhea. Ishita offered to take it on her behalf.
The courier paused. “But… you just told me you’re the only one living here,” he said, confused. “Didn’t you call 10 minutes ago?”
She hadn’t.
Shaken, Ishita went down to ask the building’s security guard about her flatmate.
“Madam,” he said, frowning, “you’ve been living alone since you moved in. We have no record of anyone else entering that flat.” Her laughter was hollow — nervous. Maybe the guard was mistaken. Maybe Rhea always came in while she was asleep.But the doubts had started growing.
CCTV Footage That Shouldn’t Exist
To put her fears to rest, Ishita requested her landlord to share the internal CCTV footage from the flat’s living room. After some back-and-forth, he agreed and sent her a few clips.
What she saw on the footage chilled her to the bone.
In every video, Ishita was alone.
She was seen talking… to empty air.
Laughing… with no one.
Placing sticky notes on the fridge… by herself.
Not once — in any of the footage — did Rhea appear.
A Bag in the Loft — And The Real Twist
Ishita was advised to speak to a therapist, who initially suspected sleep deprivation, hallucinations, or stress-induced dissociation.
She packed her bags in silence, preparing to move out. But just before leaving, she opened the overhead storage loft for a final sweep. Inside was an old duffel bag. It contained a faded ID card with a cracked photo.
Name: Rhea Sharma
Call Center Executive, DreamTel Communications.
Employee since: 2014.
Last updated: 2016.
As she stared at the card, her heartbeat quickened. A quick Google search revealed that Rhea Sharma had died in an elevator accident in the same building. In the same wing. In the very flat Ishita had rented.
They say the dead don’t haunt places. They haunt memories. But sometimes, just sometimes, they find someone new to remember them.
But Was She Ever Alone?
Ishita never returned to that flat.
She changed cities, changed jobs — even stopped using sticky notes altogether. But every now and then, when she catches her own reflection late at night or hears a whisper in an empty room, she wonders…
Was Rhea ever really gone?
Or had she simply found someone who could see her?
Because some roommates move out.
And some… never leave.
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