THE GHOST?
At once when night fell, Draupadi had completed her chores. She sighed as she lightened the earthen lamp. Arjun was busy that night which meant she was all by herself for the next few hours. The chamber was dimly lit owing to the little number of burning lamps.
The moon that night was beautiful. It adorned a rich hue like a rose's desire. It had bathed himself in blood. It peeked from the clouds and gave them a touch of its shade. The white clouds glowed pink and danced and swirled about the moon in a whirlpool. They were close but not close enough. As if the burning flame of the moon would burn them, but then there was one cloud, decked with shining stars, that dared to approach it in hope of warmth. It twirled and twisted around the moon, sprinkling fairydust all over. They pirouetted like drunk, dizzy girls in the melody of nature creating a lissome dance of insanity and elegance.
Draupadi placed the candle in her hand back on the dressing table, and that was when she noticed a strange door connected right next to the chamber's main door. She frowned, she had been In the palace of Indraprastha for quite a while but never did she notice the door. She walked out of the chamber, and to the mysterious large door.
She walked down the aisle connected to the chamber. She had never seen this place before. The aisle was like a small bridge, the water under it was dark and mysterious as the amount of light was limited. Her anklet clinked as she placed her foot on the bridge, and all of a sudden thousands of snakes started moving in the water. All of the snakes were whiter than the moon, and their eyes were like the gems of the Goddess of Forest. Their green eyes twinkled with each second they breathe. They slithered restlessly in the small space, opening their jaws wide, which showed their long fangs which were sharper than razors.
Draupadi being a well-trained warrior, did not flinch. And much to her surprise, the snakes did not even attempt to escape the place or to come near her. Draupadi placed her second foot, the silver anklet adorning her foot glowed a bit before all the snakes disappeared and the water went calm as ever. Draupadi breathed a sigh of relief, as the problem of snakes was now gone, she could finally notice her surroundings.
It was as if she had been teleported to a new place all together.
She was in an open space. And the narrow bridge she stood on was the only thing connecting the two masses of land. One end of the bridge connected to the palace from when Draupadi had just entered where as the other one was connected to another closed door, which was her destination. There were pillars coming out from the water, such that the upper base of the pillar was above the surface of water in a way than one can keep something on it.
Draupadi walked further and as she was in the center of the bridge, the door behind her closed. She glanced back at the place when she had came from- The door was closed and half of the bridge had vanished leaving her no other option than keep on walking. The rocked bridge under her feet kept on vanishing with each step she took making Draupadi suspicious.
The unkown is always scary but Draupadi was curious for knowing about it. Curiosity kills the cat, but for her it was a game she had to win.
How could it be possible for this bridge to remain intact without one of its ends? She wondered. She turned back, now her back was facing the mysterious door. She placed one of her feet on the place where the bridge had been present before it disappeared. She was cautious about her step and careful enough not to fall into the water. As soon as she lowered her foot to the level of the bridge, she felt something hard under her foot.
"I got it!" She whispered to herself. The Palace of Indraprastha was known for its magic. The bridge behind her had not vanished but instead it had became invisible to her eyes. There was so much security given to the mysterious door, but not even one guard was present.
After putting all the pieces of the puzzle in place, Draupadi was sure that the place she was in, was supposed to be secretive, and the security provided was indicating about the trouble she was going to find behind the closed door.
Draupadi was now determined to know the secret behind the closed door. She turned back to the closed mysterious door, and paced towards it. By the time she had reached the door, the bridge had completely disappeared.
She looked back at the waters- enigmatic, and dark and oh! So deep- for a minute before turning her attention towards the door.
The door was made of black diamond, one of the hardest naturally occurring substances on Earth. Carvings of huge snake-like figures covered the giant door. The carving in the center of the door was of a woman, but not an ordinary one. Her hair was replaced by venomous snakes, her eyes were represented by red rubies, and a tiara was placed on her head. The tiara had a green gem in the center of it, and it was glowing despite all the odds of snakes that covered the woman's head.
Draupadi lifted her hand and brought it closer to the green gem. As if the gem could feel Draupadi's touch it started glowing even more brightly.
"Krishnaa," A ghostly voice called out for Draupadi. It was nothing more than a soft whisper of a dying women, as if she wa-
Draupadi immediately pulled away her hand and jumped back in shock. Her heart started beating faster. She looked around the place.
Silence.
There was no one around.
Not even a dried leaf, or a bee, or an insect.
Even the sky had went darker than usual. The twinkling starts were gone and there was nothing but darkness. Pitch black darkness.
Anxiety buzzed through her veins. Her brain conjuring images. The pillars suddenly caught dust, skulls littering around. She gasped. Skull, blood, limp pieces of flesh. She gagged. Her brain spinning. The fear of unknown running in her veins. Skull, blood, bones-
The air whooshed out of her lungs. The large door creaked. Someone was banging it from the other side.
The night was dark, Too dark.
Draupadi had read about this in books she considered to be fictional. There was no way she could escape. By crossing the bridge she had pledged the unfathomable spirit to free it from the cage; she had pledged to abide the spirit and be its slave.
Draupadi was now in trouble, but she was not scared. She lifted her hand again, bringing it closer to the green gem.
"Do Not." Someone whispered.
Draupadi jerked away. Her wild eyes searching around the concealed darkness. "Hello?" she yelled, "Is someone there?"
I can see you, from behind,
You can hear me, in your mind.
Run as fast so you can go,
Time will catch you before you know.
Shit. Everything was getting worse. No one to see. Everything faded. Voices whispering louder. An unrevealed force driving her. She lifted her hand. The closer her hand got to the gem, the brighter it glowed. And as her hand was about to the gem-
Tick-Tock-Tick.
***
BOOM!
Oh, how I looovvveee cliffhanger!
Ok, this was literally the chapter that I could NOT wait to update. I had this drafted out since April, I guess, but I never felt satisfactory enough.
Cause I wanted to give you the CHIILLLSSS, not the good ones, and nvm but I think that I am still not able to put in correctly, but anyway because I could not wait any longer I present before you this chapterrrr!!!
LET THE SHOW BEGIN!
Do vote and comment! Stay tuned!
~ Ariana <3
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𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 || ArDi ||
Fanfiction"𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜." She was the Princess of Panchala, the most beautiful one ever born. She was the north star in the sky new moon, the one, shining so bright that other li...
