Legacy of the Forgotten - OS - Page 2

Is there another part?

Closure na sahi, at leats she got some guidance and hope to fix things!

Yes, there's another part . Will post it

Originally posted by: So-So

Yes, there's another part . Will post it

Please post it over here

The Search Begins

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.

Yay thank you!!!

reserved

more words

Will post the last part too

Originally posted by: So-So

Will post the last part too

You keep ending on a cliffhanger...last part bhi post karo

Originally posted by: heavenlybliss

You keep ending on a cliffhanger...last part bhi post karo

I'll post it in a moment

Happy reading!

Last Part

Breaking the Curse

Asha, Vikram, and Meera huddled around the ancient manuscript, its pages crackling with age and dark energy. As they deciphered the text, they realized the ritual to break Kalratri's curse would require immense courage and sacrifice.

"We must perform the ritual at midnight," Vikram explained, his voice grave. "When Kalratri's power is at its peak."

The air grew thick with tension as the clock struck midnight. Shadows danced at the edges of their vision, and the whispers that had haunted Asha for the last days rose to a deafening crescendo.

The wind howled around the house as she again stood before the door to the basement. The house was filled with foreboding, and the whispers and laughter behind the walls did not stop, insistent, as if the basement itself was calling her back. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she gripped the leather-bound manuscript they found in the hidden room, a relic containing the counter-ritual that could sever her family’s ties to Kalratri.

She wasn’t alone this time. Meera and Vikram stood by her side.

“We are with you! Meera put her hand on her shoulder reassuringly! Are you ready?”

Asha nodded resolutely. Vikram glanced at Asha as he approached the door. Vikram carried a satchel filled with items for the ritual: candles, herbs, and a small brass bowl.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked.

“If we don’t end this now, it will haunt me forever, and perhaps others too.”

With a deep breath, Asha took the brass key and pushed it into the keyhole. With a screeching sound, it turned in the lock and she pushed open the creaking door to the basement. The familiar cold air blew in her face and the oppressive darkness seemed alive, pressing against them like a physical force.

The three descended down the staircase silently, retracing Asha’s steps, their torches firmly in hand. Asha remembered her first horrifying encounters and shuddered. The whispers grew louder with every step, and grotesque shapes flickered at the edges of their vision. Asha clutched the manuscript tightly, focusing on her steps to keep herself grounded.

When they reached the chamber at the bottom of the stairs, Asha froze. The room seemed even more malevolent than before. The walls pulsed with a dark energy that made her skin crawl, and shadows writhed like living things. The stone altar in the centre of the room stained dark and the chains swayed lightly in the thick air.

“This is it?” Vikram whispered fearful.

“Welcome again, child!” the old-faced figure emerged from a corner. “You brought guests!” it rasped. “Then let’s begin our feast now.” Other figures emerged from the darkness and made their way to the trio.

"Now, Asha!" Meera shouted The creatures hissed angrily when the light hit them.

Asha opened the manuscript to the marked page and began reading aloud in a trembling voice. The words were in an ancient language she didn’t understand, but as she spoke them, she felt a strange power coursing through her, a light pushing back against the darkness.

Her voice growing stronger with each syllable. The mark on her arm burned white-hot, and she felt a tugging sensation as if something were being torn from her very soul. As the ritual progressed, the air in the chamber grew heavier. The whispers turned into screams, and a deep rumble shook the room. Suddenly, a figure began to materialize above the altar, a towering shadow with glowing red eyes that burned like embers.

Kalratri!

Its voice boomed through the chamber, shaking Asha to her core. “You dare to defy me? You are bound by blood! Your family is mine!”

But Vikram and Meera were ready! They chanted protective incantations, creating a barrier of light that held the demon at bay. Asha continued the ritual, her words now a defiant shout against the darkness.

Asha faltered for a moment, but Vikram placed a steadying hand on her shoulder.

“Keep going!” he urged.

Summoning every ounce of courage she had left, Asha continued reciting the incantation. The entity roared in fury as beams of light began to emanate from the altar, piercing through its shadowy form.

“You cannot break what has been forged in blood!” Kalratri bellowed.

But Asha wasn’t listening anymore. She reached into Vikram’s satchel and pulled out the herbs he had prepared earlier. With a cry of defiance, she hurled it onto the altar.

With a final, thunderous word, Asha completed the ritual. A blinding light erupted from the manuscript, engulfing Kalratri.

The effect was immediate and explosive. The entity shrieked as its form began to dissolve into smoke, its red eyes flickering like dying embers. The demon writhed and howled, its form dissolving into nothingness.

“No!” it roared one last time

The haveli shook violently, and for a moment, it seemed as if the very fabric of reality might tear apart. But Asha stood firm at her place, drawing strength from her allies and the generations of her family who had suffered under this curse.

The silence that followed was deafening. For a moment, Asha, Meera and Vikram simply stood there, staring at the now empty chamber. The oppressive energy that had filled the room was gone. Even the walls seemed still and lifeless.

“It’s over,” Meera said softly.

Asha looked down at her arm where the mark had been spreading. To her astonishment, it was fading! Shrinking back into nothingness until only smooth skin remained. Tears welled up in her eyes as relief washed over her like a tidal wave. She sank to her knees, overwhelmed by emotion.

“You did it!” Vikram said with a small smile as he helped her to her feet.

In the days that followed, Asha felt like she was waking from a long nightmare. The whispers were gone, and for the first time, in the haveli she felt truly free! Free from fear, free from guilt over her family’s dark past.

She visited Vikram and Meera at their university, to thank them for their help and found them poring over their books.

“The haveli is just an empty shell now,” she told them when they asked about its fate. “Without Kalratri, it holds no power.”

“What are you going to do with the haveli?” Meera asked.

“I will sell it and donate the proceeds to a charity. This is a way to make amends for my ancestors’ sins.”

“That's a good idea. The curse is broken and this way it will do some good.” Vikram replied.

Her desicion felt like closing a chapter not just for herself but for all those who had suffered because of Kalratri’s curse.

Months later, Asha stood near the place, where once stood her aunt’s haveli. It had been demolished. In its place was an open field where wildflowers were beginning to bloom.

She took a deep breath of fresh air and smiled. A real smile this time.

Her ordeal had changed her forever. She would never forget what she had seen or endured in that cursed house. But it had also taught her something important: that even in the face of unimaginable darkness, there is always hope and always light waiting to be found.

As she turned to leave, a gentle breeze rustled through the flowers behind her, carrying with it no whispers but silence! A peaceful silence that promised new beginnings.

And for Asha, that was enough.

Its very rare for a horror story to give a satisfying ending, but this one feels so justified and complete. You are a great writer.