Chapter 14
The soft orange rays of evening were spilling inside the guest room when Aariv’s lashes fluttered. His body still felt heavy, mind tangled between dreams and fragments of last night. Slowly, he sat up from the couch, rubbing his eyes.
His gaze drifted to Yug, who was perched on the edge of the bed, scrolling through his phone, expression tense, lips pressed in a thin line as though he was looking for something.
“Yug…” Aariv’s voice cracked, hoarse from long sleep.
Yug’s head snapped up. His face immediately softened, relief washing over his features. “Aaru! Tu uth gaya. Chal, jaldi se muh dho le. Ridha di aayi thi bulane, par tu so raha tha. Vo intezaar kar rahi hain.”
Aariv only nodded faintly. His limbs felt stiff, but he stood up and walked to the washroom.
Inside, the washroom smelled faintly of sandalwood soap and cold marble. Aariv turned on the tap, leaned forward, and splashed water on his tired face. Droplets trickled down his chin. He braced his palms against the basin and lifted his head.
The mirror reflected his pale face, damp hair clinging to his temples.
But then his breath froze.
Behind him, in the reflection, stood a dark shadow.
Tall, faceless, the edges shifting like smoke.
It wasn’t moving, just looming there too close, too real.
Aariv’s eyes widened, his chest tightening.
He spun around
There is Nothing. Just the empty washroom.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears.
He blinked rapidly, staring at the mirror again.
The shadow was gone. Only his frightened self stared back at him.
He gripped the edge of the basin tightly, whispering to himself, voice trembling, “Kahi tu pagal to nahi ho raha, Aariv? Ye… ye sab kya ho raha hai jabse yaha aaya hu…”
A knock startled him so badly that he nearly slipped.
“Aaru? Tu thik hai na?” Yug’s concerned voice came from the other side.
Aariv squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his breath to calm. “Aa… haan, mai thik hu. Aa raha hu bas.”
He quickly wiped his face with the towel, not daring to look at the mirror again, and stepped outside.
Yug was waiting with that same look of protective worry.
Aariv forced a small smile, hiding the terror still coiled inside him.
He didn’t tell him anything about the shadow.
What if it was just stress, just exhaustion?
He didn’t want Yug to worry more than he already did.
“Chal,” Yug said simply, slipping his phone into his pocket.
“Hm,” Aariv murmured, his voice almost lost. He followed Yug out of the room, but his mind was still in that mirror.
Still replaying the shape that wasn’t supposed to be there.
And deep down, some part of him knew this wasn’t just stress.
..........
They went into the living room where shanti and ridha were talking.
They saw yug and aariv.
Shanti: are beta uth gye tum? Aao yha baitho(she indicated towards the sofa in front of him.
Both aariv and yug sat.
Ridha: dekho aaru mera bhai bohot pagal hai . Bahar se sakht dikhta hai pr andar se bilkul naram dil hai. Tumse dur isiliye rehna chahta kyunki dar hai use.
Aariv lifted his head
"Darr?"
The living room suddenly felt heavier, as if the very walls leaned closer to listen. Aariv’s breath hitched, his mind still half trapped in the shadow he had seen in the mirror minutes ago. Now this?
He looked at Ridha, her calm eyes flickering with a sadness that spoke of something ancient, something carried like a wound through generations.
Shanti placed a gentle hand on his knee, her touch warm, but her words were colder than the evening breeze slipping through the windows.
“Beta, hum tumhe kisi dhokhe mein nahi rakhna chahte. Sach yeh hai… ki humare pariwar pe ek shrap hai.”
A silence so thick followed that even the ticking clock on the wall seemed to halt.
Yug frowned, shifting forward as though trying to shake off the weight of those words.
“Shrap???” His voice was louder than he intended, echoing faintly in the dimly lit room.
Ridha’s lips curved into a small, melancholic smile. Her gaze dropped to her clasped hands, but her voice was steady, laced with an eerie calm.
“Haan… ek shrap. Jisne humare khandaan ka pura itihaas hi badal diya.”
Aariv’s heartbeat pounded in his ears, his eyes darting between them, searching desperately for answers.
But before he could speak, the lights flickered once…
twice… and then steadied, as though even electricity trembled at the truth about unfolding.
And then… silence again.
........
.....
The living room grew unnaturally still, the silence weighing heavy after Ridha’s words.
Aariv’s fingers gripped his kurta tightly, as if holding onto reality.
Yug shifted uneasily beside him, his sharp eyes fixed on Ridha and Shanti, unwilling to let the word shrap slip away without explanation.
Ridha inhaled deeply, her gaze distant, as though she were looking not at Aariv and Yug but through them into another time, another century.
“Ye sab shuru hua tha…” her voice lowered, almost a whisper, “un dinon mein jab hamare purvaj iss haveli ke malik the. Ek samay tha jab yeh khandaan sirf taaqat aur izzat ke liye jaana jaata tha… par izzat ke saath paap bhi jama hote gaye.”
Shanti closed her eyes briefly, a sigh escaping her lips. “Tumhe lagta hoga, Aariv beta, ki yeh sabh andhvishwas hai. Lekin jo hamare saath hua hai, voh sirf kahani nahi hai.”
The room darkened slightly as clouds covered the late evening sun. Shadows stretched along the walls. Aariv’s breath caught when, just for a flicker, the shadow behind Ridha didn’t quite match her movements.
Ridha: humare ghar pe shrap hai ki agar humare khandaan ke bade bete ki shaadi agar 27 saal se pehle nhi hui to uski mrityu ho jaegi. Bohot logo ko kho chuke hain hum ,ab aur nhi hota
Shanti: aur ye sab sir sirf tumse hi khtm ho sakta hai beta.
Please humari madad karo. Veer aur tumse se jo
Baccha hoga uske baad ye sab khtm ho jaega hamesha hamesha ke liye.
Ye shrap humare khandaan se khtm ho jaega beta, sab kuchh thik ho jayega.
(Tears gathered in her eyes while saying this)
Yug’s throat went dry. “aap log kehna kya chahte ho? Ye sab , ye shrap purvaj ye sab.. ye sab kya keh rhe hain aap log”
Ridha’s eyes lifted to meet his, dark and heavy.
“Woh shrap abhi tak khatam nahi hua, Yug. Har peedhi mein, ek aisa bacha paida hota hai jo… us andhere ko kheench leta hai. Uske aas paas ajeeb cheezein hoti hain. Haveli apni rooh dikhati hai. Aur sabse khatarnaak baat… woh bacha akela mehsoos karta hai, chahe uske aas paas kitne bhi log kyun na ho.aur is baar vo baccha Veeransh hai”
Aariv felt his stomach twist. His hand trembled unconsciously as he remembered the shadow in the washroom mirror, black and faceless, standing just behind him.
Aariv: V... Veeransh
Ridha: haan veer , bachpan se sab sehta aa rha hai , vo nhi chahta ki tum involve ho isliye khud se dur kr rha hai tumhe.
The words struck him like a thunderclap.
For a moment, everything went silent. Even Yug was stunned into stillness.
Then, as if mocking their fear, the chandelier above swayed lightly though there was no wind. The lights flickered again, bathing their faces in pulses of shadow and gold.
Aariv’s breath came ragged, his chest tightening as he whispered hoarsely, “Main?… k...kyun main?vo kisi aur se bhi shaadi karte to bhi sb s..shi hota n”
Ridha’s gaze softened, but her voice was firm. “Iska jawab to sirf Pandit ji ya Khud veer ji de sakta hai”
The clock struck five. Its sound echoed unnaturally loud.
And in that very instant, Aariv felt it again behind him, in the corner of the room.
A stillness. A shadow thicker than the dark.
Watching him intensely.
........
The clock on the living room wall ticked too loudly, each second sounding like a warning.
Outside, the sky had turned a strange shade of grey even though it was only early evening.
The storm in the clouds mirrored the one inside the haveli.
Yug’s fingers were trembling as he caught Aariv’s wrist tightly, his voice breaking with urgency.
“Aaru… hum yahan ab ek pal bhi nahi rukenge.” His grip tightened as if he could drag him away from the house and its shadowed walls. “Tu chal mere saath. Abhi. Isi waqt.”
Aariv blinked at him, his lashes heavy from sleep and tears. For a few seconds he only stared, silent, like he was listening to something far away.
“Aaru tu sun raha hai na mai kya keh rha hu?” Yug’s voice rose, sharp with desperation.
“Tu kisi aur ka paap dhone ke liye nahi paida hua hai. Already tune kitna kuchh jhela hai… you don’t have to anymore.
Mai tujhe ye nhi karne dunga , hum yha se dur chale jaenge aur humari documentary bhi complete ho gyi hai aaru. Chal. Abhi ke abhi.”
Aariv’s lips parted, but his voice came out soft, trembling, like a fragile candle flame. “Apne… p...pati ko dukh mein kaise chhod sakta hu, Yug?”
Yug’s eyes widened. “Are you mad? Kaunsa pati? Tujhe khud se door kar rahe hai woh, tu samajh raha hai? he doesn't want you to get involved in this curse,do you understand?” His tone cracked, something almost like a sob hidden behind his anger.
Aariv gently removed his wrist from Yug’s grip. His gaze lowered, but his spine straightened with quiet stubbornness. “Sab samajh raha hu, Yug. Par main yahan se wapas nahi jaunga, mai nhi Jaa sakta yug , mai jee nhi paunga yug, kaise jee paunga yug unko taklif me yun chhod kar?”
He turned, and with slow steps walked toward Shanti, who had been standing near the sofa, her face pale and wet with tears. Her hands trembled when Aariv reached for them, cupping them softly as if to calm her instead.
“Maa… aap” Aariv’s voice was steadier now, though it still quivered with emotion, “aap chinta mat kijiye. Main kahin nahi jaunga inko chhod ke. I promise. Whatever it is…” his throat tightened but he forced the words out, “…I will survive. With him. And for him.”
Shanti’s lips parted, a choked sound leaving her. Before she could speak she pulled Aariv into her arms, hugging him tightly as if he were her own son. Her tears soaked into his shoulder.
Yug stood frozen where he was. For a moment his eyes went to the windows, to the way the curtains shivered though the glass was closed.
Shanti whispered brokenly against Aariv’s ear, “Beta… tum samajh nahi rhe ho… is ghar ka raaz is khandaan ka andhera bohot ghana hai beta… itne saal ho gye Mujhe yha shaadi karke aaye huye aaj tak mujhe hi puri baat nhi pata hai.” Her voice cracked, the rest of the sentence dying as if she didn’t dare say it aloud.
Aariv clutched her back, whispering, “Main samajh raha hu, Maa. Par main akela nahi hu. Aap sab log hai mere sath .”
The lights flickered once and then twice.
A faint sound like footsteps echoed down the empty corridor behind them.
Yug’s jaw clenched, every instinct told him to grab Aariv and run and never come back to this city again.
But he didn’t. He only watched the two figures hugging in the middle of the dim living room, feeling the weight of something far larger than any of them pressing down on the house.
The clock ticked.
The shadow on the far wall stretched longer, darker.
And somewhere, deep in the haveli, a door they hadn’t opened yet creaked softly as if in answer.
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Guys chapter kaisa laga comment karke jarur batana . I see in this story there are very less comments and votes. Is this story boring or not interesting? Tell me I will try to improve it. But I am trying my best right now.
Thank you so much all of you????