Chapter 53 #2
Harinarayan stood near the window with his hands clasped behind his back, his face unusually serious, as though he had already begun putting together pieces of a puzzle that everyone else was still struggling to understand.
The moment Rudra entered, every pair of eyes turned toward him.Rudra slowly walked toward them and sat down, remaining silent for a few moments as he gathered his thoughts before finally looking directly at Harinarayan.
"Yug ko sab yaad hai," he said quietly.
Harinarayan's expression immediately became attentive, and he stepped slightly closer.
"Sab kuch?"
Rudra nodded slowly, his fingers tightening unconsciously against his own knee as the memory returned.
"Haan, usse possession ke waqt jo kuch bhi hua, uska sab yaad hai, aur sabse darawani baat ye hai ki usne kaha ki woh apne body ke andar hote hue bhi apne body ko control nahi kar paa raha tha; usse sab kuch dikh raha tha, sabki awaazein sunai de rahi thi,
lekin woh apne haath ya apni body ko rok nahi paa raha tha."
Aariv's face immediately became pale, and Veeransh instinctively tightened his hold around his hand.
Harinarayan remained silent for a moment before asking, "Usne aur kya bataya?"
Rudra took a slow breath and looked around the room before answering.
"Usne kaha ki jab uska control chala gaya tha, tab woh ek ajeeb si jagah par tha, jahan har taraf darkness thi aur usse do alag awaazein sunai de rahi thi; ek awaaz baar-baar Aariv ko uske paas laane ki baat kar rahi thi, aur kisi Randhir ke baare me bol rahi thi ,
jabki doosri awaaz usse rok rahi thi aur keh rahi thi ki usse Aariv tak pahunchne nahi dena hai."
The room fell completely silent.Harinarayan's expression changed. His eyes lowered for a moment, and when he finally spoke, his voice was much quieter than before.
"Vo dusri aatma... Rani Kalyani Devi ki hai."
Rajnath, who had been listening with a tense expression, suddenly looked at him as though he had heard something impossible.
"Kalyani Devi?" he repeated, his voice trembling slightly. "Y... ye to..."
Harinarayan slowly turned toward him and nodded."Haan, wahi Kalyani Devi."
Rajnath stared at him in disbelief while Shanti looked between the two men, clearly trying to understand why the name had affected him so strongly.
"Lekin Kalyani Devi to..." Rajnath began, but Harinarayan quietly interrupted him.
"Main jaanta hoon tum kya kehna chahte ho, aur isi wajah se maine bhi itne din tak is possibility ko accept nahi kiya tha, lekin Yug ne jo bataya hai, uske baad ab mere paas is baat ko nazarandaaz karne ki koi wajah nahi hai."
He paused before continuing, his expression becoming increasingly grave.
"Wahi Kalyani Devi hain jo apne Aaryan ki raksha kar rahi hain."
Rajnath's face changed immediately.
"Aaryan"...
The name escaped him almost involuntarily, but Harinarayan did not answer his question and instead looked toward Aariv, whose expression had become increasingly confused.
"Abhi ye sab jaanne ka samay nahi hai," Harinarayan said firmly. "Humein sabse pehle ye samajhna hoga ki jo doosri shakti hai use kaise khatm kare"
Veeransh, who had been listening silently until then, immediately leaned forward, his expression becoming impatient.
"To phir nikaliye na koi rasta, kyunki hum aur kitna wait karenge? Yug ke saath jo hua uske baad bhi agar hum bas baith kar agle attack ka intezar karte rahe to kisi din shayad humare paas kuch karne ka mauka hi na bache."
Harinarayan looked at him for a long moment before finally answering, "Humein us kamre ko kholna hoga."
The words seemed to change the entire atmosphere of the room.Shanti immediately shook her head, her fear returning to her eyes as she remembered everything Harinarayan had previously warned them about.
"Lekin aapne hi to kaha tha ki us kamre ko kholna hum sabke liye khatarnak ho sakta hai, aur aapne humein us darwaze se door rehne ko kaha tha."
"Haan," Harinarayan replied calmly, "maine kaha tha, aur main aaj bhi maanta hoon ki woh kamra bina taiyari ke kholna khatarnak hoga, lekin ab humare paas pehle jaisa
Kuchh nahi hai, kyunki jo cheez humse chhupai gayi hai uska jawab shayad usi kamre ke andar hai."
Rudra looked at him carefully."Yug ne bhi us kamre ke baare mein kuch kaha tha."
Harinarayan immediately turned toward him.
Rudra continued, "Usne kaha ki jo jagah usne darkness mein dekhi thi, woh usse kisi purane kamre jaisi lag rahi thi, aur usne mujhe ye bhi bataya ki usne pehle bhi kai baar us darwaze ki taraf dekha tha, jaise usse bina samjhe bhi us jagah se koi connection mehsoos hota ho;
main pehle sochta tha ki shayad woh sirf curious hai, lekin ab mujhe lagta hai ki Yug ka us kamre ke saath bhi koi connection hai."
Harinarayan slowly nodded."Isi liye humein us kamre ko dekhna hoga."
Aariv, who had remained quiet until then, suddenly looked toward the corridor leading toward the locked room, and something about the way his eyes remained fixed there made Veeransh immediately notice that something was bothering him.
Aariv slowly touched the mark on his wrist before speaking."Mujhe bhi..."
Everyone looked toward him.Aariv hesitated for a moment, as though he himself was unsure how to explain what he had been feeling.
"Mujhe bhi aisa hi lag raha hai ki koi baar-baar mujhse us darwaze ko khulwana chahta hai," he finally admitted in a low voice.
"Jab bhi main us corridor ke paas jaata hoon, mujhe ajeeb sa pressure feel hota hai, jaise koi mujhe andar bula raha ho, aur kabhi-kabhi to mujhe aisa lagta hai jaise main us jagah ko pehle se jaanta hoon, jaise maine us kamre ko dekha ho, bas yaad nahi aa raha ki kab."
Veeransh immediately tightened his hold around Aariv's hand. "Tum us kamre ke paas nahi jaoge."
Aariv looked at him softly."Veer..."
"Nahi," Veeransh repeated, his voice firm but protective rather than angry. "Agar us kamre mein kuch hai jo tumhe bula raha hai, to main tumhe uske paas akela to bilkul nahi jaane dunga."
Harinarayan watched the exchange before slowly speaking again."Aariv ko shayad jaana pade."
Veeransh's expression immediately hardened."Kyun?"
Harinarayan looked toward Aariv's wrist.
"Kyuki mujhe lagta hai ki us darwaze ka sambandh Aariv se hai, aur jab tak hum ye nahi samjhenge, tab tak hum sirf attacks ko rokne ki koshish karte rahenge, unki wajah ko nahi."
Aariv stared at the mark on his wrist, his heart beginning to beat faster as a strange warmth slowly spread beneath his skin.
Rudra noticed.
"Mujhe lagta hai humare paas ab choice nahi hai," he said quietly. "Yug ke saath jo hua, bhabhi ke visions, aur baar-baar us locked room ka saamne aana... ye sab ek doosre se connected hai."
Harinarayan nodded.
"Lekin hum bina taiyari ke us darwaze ko nahi kholenge."
Shanti looked at him anxiously.
"To phir kya karna hoga?"
Harinarayan took a slow breath before answering.
"Sabse pehle mujhe suraksha ke liye puja karni hogi, kyunki agar meri ashanka sahi hai aur us kamre ke andar wahi cheez hai jiska humein darr hai, to darwaza kholne ke baad jo bhi hoga uske liye humein taiyar rehna padega."
Veeransh looked toward the corridor.
"Kitna samay lagega?"
"Shaam tak main saari taiyari kar lunga," Harinarayan replied. "Uske baad hum sab milkar us kamre ke saamne jayenge, lekin ek baat yaad rakhiye, koi bhi bina meri permission ke us darwaze ko touch nahi karega."
Everyone nodded slowly. For a few moments, nobody spoke.
The room had become so quiet that the faint ticking of the old clock on the wall could be heard clearly.
Then from somewhere deep inside the haveli a faint metallic sound echoed through the corridor.
Everyone turned toward it.It sounded like something heavy had moved against an old wooden surface.
Aariv's hand immediately went to his wrist. The mark was burning again and he inhaled sharply.
Veeransh looked at him.
"Aariv?"
Aariv did not answer.His eyes remained fixed on the dark corridor because this time, beneath the fear and confusion, he could feel something else.
It felt almost like someone was waiting and calling.
And then, so quietly that he wondered for a moment whether he had imagined it, a whisper seemed to pass beside his ear. "Aao..."
Aariv's eyes widened and bis breath caught.Veeransh immediately noticed his expression and moved closer.
"Kya hua?"
Aariv slowly turned toward him, but before he could answer, the whisper came again, faint and distant yet unmistakably clear."Aariv..."
He stared toward the corridor.The locked room was still several walls away yet somehow he knew exactly where the voice had come from behind that door.
And for the first time, Aariv understood that whatever was waiting inside the locked room was no longer simply trying to frighten him.It was waiting for him to come.