The Search Begins Matured

As Asha returned from Mr. Banerjee, she stood before the imposing facade of the haveli, its weathered stone walls looming ominously in the fading twilight. The whispers that had haunted her dreams now seemed to emanate from every shadowy corner of the structure. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what lay ahead and with steady steps she walked into the house.

In silence, she went into the kitchen and prepared a small meal. Her thoughts centred on the next day. What would it bring? Would they find the ancient manuscript? Mr Banerjee had contacted two scientist friends who had agreed to help with the search. She sighed. This curse had to be broken once and for all!

Next morning she heard a knock on the front door. The knock echoed dull in the big hall. She opened the door. A middle-aged man and woman stood in front of her. The allies Mr. Banerjee had insisted! Vikram, a local historian specializing in occult practices, and Meera, a practitioner of ancient mystical arts. Their presence brought little comfort to her as they walked through the entrance.

“Miss Chouhan?” Vikram asked?

“Yes! You must be Vikramji and Meeraji!”.

“We were very surprised as Mr. Banerjee contacted us on such a case, Miss Chouhan. We were shocked when we heard what had happened to you.” Meera replied. Vikram nodded in agreement.

“Come in and have a cup of chai then we can talk about our plan. And please call me Asha!”

They sat in the kitchen, leaning over the constructing plans of the haveli that Asha had found in her aunt’s study. There were no hints of hidden chambers or anything similar. Vikram took off his glasses and wiped his eyes.

„I have no idea, where we should start.” He looked at Meera.

“Mh, I guess, we should start in the study. Asha said, there are lots of bookshelves. Maybe there is a hidden room behind them that is not shown on the plans.”

“You’re right, Meeraji! This could be possible.” Asha shouted out and Vikram nodded.

"Remember," he said, his voice barely above a whisper, "Mr. Bannerjee told us, that the manuscript is said to be hidden within the very bones of this place. We must search every nook, every hidden passage."

Meera nodded gravely, her eyes scanning the plan on the table. "The haveli will resist us. It has tasted your fear, Asha. It will use that against all of us."

As if on cue, a gust of wind howled around the haveli, carrying with it the faint sound of unearthly laughter. Asha shuddered, the mark on her arm pulsing in response.

They began their search methodically, combing through dusty rooms filled with generations of forgotten belongings. Each creaking floorboard and rustling curtain set their nerves on edge. In what was once a grand ballroom, Asha's persisted a glint of something metallic behind an intricate carved adorned wooden pillar.

"There!" she exclaimed, her heart racing. But as she reached for it, the floor beneath her feet suddenly gave way.

Asha screamed as she plummeted, only to have Vikram grab her wrist at the last second. A faint laughter echoed from far away. As Vikram pulled her to safety, they all stared in shock at the gaping hole that had nearly claimed her.

"It's trying to separate us," Meera warned. "We must stay together. Let’s look in the study again! Maybe we've overlooked something!”

They went into the study and began to search everything again.

“Look! There seems to be something here!” shouted Meera excitedly. Asha and Vikram joined her and helped her to remove some old big foliants.

“A hidden mechanism!” The three looked at each other questioningly. Should they...

„Push it, Meeraji!” Asha whispered determined. Meera pushed the latch and with a loud creaking a small part of the shelf moved away. The narrow opening revealed a narrow corridor. Musty air hit them, and a faint whisper was heard.

“We should be careful!” Vikram`s voice was dull and he gulped. “I will go first, you two follow me!”

Without words they grabbed the torches, they brought with them and entered the opening.

Their way led them to a network of narrow corridors hidden behind the walls. Here, the whispers grew louder, more insistent. Shadows seemed to move of their own accord, always just at the edge of their vision. They wondered how the corridors in the house had been built undetected.

In one passage, they discovered a small niche filled with arcane symbols etched into every surface. Vikram's eyes widened with recognition. "These are protection wards," he explained. "Your ancestors were trying to contain something."

As he spoke, the symbols began to glow with an eerie glooming light. The walls trembled, and a deep, guttural growl echoed from somewhere below.

"We're getting close," Asha said, her voice a mixture of fear and determination.

Their path eventually led them to a circular chamber deep within the haveli's foundations. At its center stood a roughly hewn stone pedestal, empty save for a thin layer of dust.

"This is where it should be," Vikram said, frustration evident in his voice. "The manuscript…"

But Asha wasn't listening. Her gaze was fixed on the walls, where intricate murals depicted scenes of ritual and sacrifice. As she studied them, the mark on her arm burned with renewed intensity.

Suddenly, she understood. "It's not hidden," she whispered. "It's part of the haveli itself."

An invisible force pulled her to the wall. Acting on instinct, Asha pressed her marked arm against the central mural. The stone beneath her palm grew warm, then hot. With a grinding sound, a section of the wall slid away, revealing a small alcove. They gasped in surprise and fear.

There, nestled on a bed of crimson velvet, lay an ancient tome bound in what looked disturbingly like human skin.

As Asha reached for it, the whispers rose to a deafening crescendo. The room began to shake violently, dust and debris raining down around them.

"Quickly!" Meera shouted over the chaos. "We must leave now!"

Clutching the manuscript to her chest, Asha ran with her companions through the collapsing passages. The very haveli seemed to be tearing itself apart in its effort to stop them.

They burst out into the study just as the ground behind them caved in. Meera pushed the mechanism and the shelf slid creaking to its original place. Panting and covered in dust, they stared at the shelf.

"We did it!" Asha breathed, hardly daring to believe it.

But as she looked down at the manuscript in her arms, she knew their ordeal was far from over. The real battle, the ritual to break Kalratri's curse, was yet to come.

They heard a fiendish hiss from behind the walls ahead. A wounded beast awaiting its chance for revenge. And somewhere in the darkness, Kalratri watched, his hunger unabated.