Wiping the surface of the mirror a man took a good look at his reflection. Dark circles, hollowed cheeks stained with dried tears.

"God, you are a mess." Jason tried to smile but couldn't bring himself to do it.

13th August, born on the month some called the cursed month. On a date with the numbers which was considered unlucky by everyone.

Jason didn't believe in superstitions but despite all odds his life would always unravel in the worst possible way on his birthday.

Day before his long-distance girlfriend called to dump him not for another guy but for wanting freedom. The day of his birthday he got a call from his part-time job telling him he was fired for not showing up once.

If I was a game character my luck would be in the negative.

While contemplating his bad luck Jason heard the doorbell ring bringing him back to reality. Shaking his head he went to open the door.

Creaking came from the door as it opened but Jason didn't see any visitor waiting. Scratching his head Jason took a step outside only to be greeted by a cold empty corridor.

The building doesn't have any kids who would pull dumb pranks so late in the evening. Just when he was about to close the door, he noticed there was something on the floor. A white envelope with his name on it.

Without thinking he picked it up. It was a wonder who would write him a letter when they could have just sent a text.

Jason opened the envelope and a key fell out, followed by a letter. Looking at the unexpected 'surprise' his confusion only grew. Why did I get a shiver just now?

Curiosity made a man jittery. Grabbing the letter he started to read.

"Congratulations, lucky player!

You have been officially chosen for the game of inheritance left by the keeper!

All you have to do is complete a 7-day stay and you stand to win a 2BHK flat all to your name with no hidden costs or taxes involved.

You can reach the room of challenge at Varosha complex before midnight today."

Flipping the letter around Jason laughed, "These lazy scammers are trying to revive some old school scam or something? There's not even a solid address or a number."

Regardless of his disbelief, his gaze still fell on the fallen key. Then he took a glance at the shitty condition of his third rate rental and a sigh left his mouth. It wouldn't hurt to take a look, right?

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Few hours later Jason was on the mattress gogling the vague location. To his surprise he got a hit. His phone screen showed a very basic blogspot site named 'The Complex Of Misfortune'

Jason found the whole thing amusing yet as he read, the slight smile on his face turned to a frown.

Varosha complex, overshadowed by tall buildings, always in perpetual darkness. The eyeball on cake? The entrance of the building faces a graveyard across the road. Most priests have labeled the place as beyond cursed.

A picture showed an old newspaper clipping detailing the murders of a few graverobbers. And the culprit was never found!

Similarly the building itself wasn't free of having a darker history either. Having more than a few suicides and murder cases. Thankfully, all those culprits were in custody.

Coming to recent news, the building had big lavish rooms with unbelievably low rent yet no brave tenant had been able to stay for more than a few days.

Lucky few people who have stayed there reported having gone through some supernatural experiences. Others have straight up landed into asylums.

By that point Jason had sweat running down his forehead. If all this information was true then it was more likely he got this letter from a serial killer than a scammer.

"Jesus Christ, I haven't even hurt a fly in my life why the fuck am I being targeted by a maniac." Jason stood up ready to head to the police station. With the letter and key in hand, Jason left the rental.

As soon as he left the gate Jason saw a vacant cab near the building gates. In a hurry he entered the cab with his head buried in his phone. "Drop me at the police station, thanks."

The cab moved. After a while of reading up the blog in his seat, Jason finally lifted his head up to look out the window. Huh, weird.

Looking out the window Jason had his brows tense. The night was young yet there wasn't much traffic which was weird given the city roads were always busy this time.

Even weirder he knew the city well enough to find his way around from anywhere. So imagine his surprise when he couldn't tell what road he was on.

"Uh, brother this isn't the route to the station, is it?" Jason voiced his concern but got no reply.

Just had to run into a silent type today, "Boss. If you don't know the way then you can drop me off here."

Again, the driver gave no reply but unlike before the vehicle sped up. Jason felt his scalp go numb, Just what was up with this guy?

Feeling that there was something seriously wrong. Jason grabbed the driver's shoulder and was surprised when he felt a chill run up from his palm to his shoulder.

What the hell is going on? When he saw the cab speeding up again he gritted his teeth and shook the driver hard. "Brother slow the fuck down. You trying to k…"

He heard a thud as the driver's head rolled down to the side and hit the passenger seat. With wide eyes Jason's gaze went from the cleanly severed neck to the half-rotten, fully-dead face staring at him from the passenger seat.

Gray pupils glared straight at his soul, the decayed flesh around the jaw moved, "Welcome to Varosha complex."

Before Jason could even make sense of what he had just heard the cab went hurling straight towards some walls.

And in his last moments all he thought was, Fuck this birthday

Crash