Chapter 54 #2
Yug remained unconscious. Rudra leaned closer and pressed his lips against his hand.
His tears fell silently onto their joined hands.
Aariv watched them from Veeransh's arms, his own eyes filled with tears, while Veeransh kept one protective arm around him and continued staring at Yug with a tense expression.
Harinarayan slowly returned to his position before the ritual arrangement.
He looked at Yug for several seconds, then at Aariv. Then finally toward the corridor leading to the locked room.
His expression changed because he had understood something. The possession had not happened randomly. Yug had awakened only when the protection ritual began and before losing consciousness, he had said one thing. open the door.
Harinarayan slowly looked toward the dark corridor and nobody noticed that at that exact moment, Aariv's mark began to burn again and from somewhere beyond the corridor behind the locked door , came the faintest sound of a woman crying.
The chanting continued steadily through the living room as Harinarayan performed the protection ritual, his voice remaining calm and measured despite the tension that had settled over everyone after Yug's terrifying episode,
while the flames of the sacred fire flickered continuously and the smoke from the incense curled through the air in long, twisting streams.
Rudra remained seated beside Yug on the floor, refusing to move even an inch away from him, and his fingers stayed tightly interlocked with Yug's unconscious hand as though simply holding him was enough to reassure himself that Yug was still there,
while Veeransh kept Aariv close beside him and occasionally glanced toward the mark on his wrist with growing concern.
Aariv had been trying to concentrate on Harinarayan's chanting, but after several minutes he began feeling something strange beneath his skin, beginning as a faint warmth around the mysterious mark and gradually becoming an intense burning sensation that seemed to spread from his wrist through his
entire arm.
He lowered his eyes and stared at the symbol, his brows drawing together in confusion when he noticed that it had begun to glow faintly, almost as though it were responding to every word being spoken during the ritual.
"Veer mujhe kuchh hi rha hai..." Aariv whispered, his voice carrying just enough fear for Veeransh to immediately turn toward him.
"Kya hua, baby?" Veeransh asked, reaching for his hand.
Aariv tried to answer, but before he could explain anything, a sudden wave of dizziness swept over him so violently that the entire room seemed to tilt around him,
the faces of his family becoming blurred and distant while Harinarayan's voice slowly faded into a muffled echo that sounded as though it were coming from somewhere far beyond the walls of the haveli.
"Veer..."
This time Aariv barely managed to speak before his knees weakened.
Veeransh immediately caught him around the waist and pulled him against his chest.
"Aariv, look at me."
But Aariv could no longer hear him properly.
His eyes remained open, yet he was no longer seeing the living room.
The world around him slowly disappeared.
The warmth of Veeransh's arms vanished. The chanting disappeared.
Even the sound of his own breathing seemed to fade and when Aariv opened his eyes again, he was standing inside the room.
It was alive. The walls were clean and beautifully decorated, heavy curtains covered the windows, several oil lamps burned along the walls, and the furniture looked as though it had been placed there only moments ago,
but despite the beauty of the room there was something deeply disturbing about the atmosphere because the floor beneath Aariv's feet was stained with dark patches of blood.
Aariv slowly looked around, his heart beginning to pound as he tried to understand what he was seeing.
Then he heard it, a baby crying. The sound came from somewhere near the centre of the room, and when Aariv turned toward it, his breath caught in his throat because a young woman was standing beside an old wooden cradle while holding a small baby tightly against her chest.
Aariv didn't know how he knew her. He had never seen her like this before. Yet the moment his eyes fell upon her, something inside him recognized her.
It was Rani Kalyani.
She looked young, frightened, and completely different from the mysterious spirit Aariv had encountered in his earlier visions, because this woman looked like someone who was desperately trying to protect her child from something she could already feel approaching.
Kalyani kept glancing toward the doorway while holding the baby close against her chest, and every time the child cried, she gently whispered something to calm him, although her own hands were trembling so badly that it was obvious she was struggling to remain composed.
Aariv took one slow step toward her.
"maa..."
She didn't seem to hear him.
Then suddenly the door behind her moved.
Kalyani froze and the baby began crying louder. Aariv turned toward the doorway and saw the silhouette of another woman standing completely still in the darkness beyond it, her face hidden by the shadows while only the outline of her figure could be seen.
Aariv immediately felt a wave of fear move through him.
The woman slowly stepped inside.
The moment she crossed the threshold, every oil lamp in the room flickered at once.
Kalyani immediately stepped backward, tightening her arms around the baby.
"jaao yha se..."
Her voice trembled in anger as she stared at the woman.
"Yahan mat aao."
The woman continued walking toward her.
Kalyani shook her head desperately.
"Tum ise nahi maar sakti, baccha hai ye."
The woman finally stopped. Her face remained hidden.
Then, after several seconds, she spoke in a voice that was so cold and strangely familiar that Aariv felt the hairs on his arms rise.
"Tum ise bacha nahi paogi, Kalyani, jaise iske maa ko nhi bacha paayi."
Aariv stared at her. There was something about that voice that frightened him more than the appearance itself, because somewhere deep inside his mind it felt familiar, as though he had heard it before during his earlier visions.
"kon ho tum?" Aariv asked, although he wasn't sure whether the woman could actually hear him.
The woman slowly turned her head toward him. For the first time, the darkness around her face began to fade. Aariv stepped backward.
His breathing became uneven.
"No..."
The woman's features slowly began becoming visible, but before Aariv could see her completely, his attention was suddenly drawn toward the floor beneath Kalyani.
The same symbol that had appeared on his wrist was carved into the stone.
The symbol began glowing. Aariv immediately grabbed his wrist.
The mark on his own skin began burning intensely.
Kalyani looked down at the symbol and then immediately looked toward the baby in her arms, her expression changing from fear to desperation.
"ise mai kuchh nhi hone dungi..."
She whispered something else, but Aariv couldn't hear the words.
The woman took another step forward.
Kalyani screamed.
"SAANVI!"
Aariv's eyes widened.
The name echoed through the entire room.
Saanvi and the woman stopped.
Slowly, she smiled and just as her face finally began emerging completely from the darkness the entire vision shattered.
"AARIV!"
Someone was calling him. Aariv gasped violently and suddenly found himself back in the living room, his body collapsing forward as Veeransh immediately caught him and pulled him tightly against his chest.
"Aariv!"
Veeransh's voice sounded frightened now as he held Aariv's face between his hands.
"Baby, look at me."
Aariv blinked several times before finally recognizing him.
His breathing was extremely heavy, and his fingers immediately grabbed the front of Veeransh's shirt as though he needed something solid to remind himself that he was back in reality.
Veeransh gently stroked his hair.
"I'm here, baby. You're safe."
Aariv looked around.
Harinarayan had stopped chanting.
Rudra was staring at him from beside Yug.
Shanti and Rajnath looked terrified.
For several seconds Aariv couldn't speak.
Then his eyes slowly moved toward Harinarayan.
"I saw..." His voice trembled."I saw a room."
Harinarayan's expression immediately became serious.
Aariv swallowed and continued.
"Baby... A baby"
Veeransh tightened his arm around him. "Tumne kya dekha?"
Aariv looked down at his wrist.
"Maine maa ko dekha... woh ek baby ko apni god mein liye hue thi, aur woh bohot g...gusse me thi."
He paused, struggling to organize the images still flashing through his mind.
"Phir s... sanvi aayi... woh darwaze par khadi thi, aur maa usse keh rahi thi ki woh baby ko usse nahi lene degi."
Rajnath's face became pale.
Harinarayan remained completely still. Aariv continued in a trembling voice.
"Floor par khoon tha... aur wahi symbol bhi tha jo mere wrist par hai."
Veeransh immediately looked at the mark.Aariv's breathing stopped for a moment as the memory of her silhouette returned.
Harinarayan slowly stepped closer.
"Usne kuch kaha tha?"
Aariv closed his eyes. For a few seconds he remained silent.
Then he whispered... " nhi."
Aariv opened his eyes.There was fear in them now.
"Saanvi."
The room fell completely silent. Even the fire that had been burning steadily seemed to crackle more loudly in the sudden stillness.
Rudra slowly looked toward Harinarayan. Harinarayan did not answer.
He simply stared at Aariv's wrist.
Harinarayan remained silent for several moments after hearing Aariv describe the vision, his eyes fixed upon the mark on Aariv's wrist as though the final piece of a puzzle had finally fallen into place.
The room was still heavy with the lingering energy of the ritual, and although everyone was frightened by what Aariv had seen, Harinarayan's expression now carried something different...