The Haunted Fortress of Bhangarh: Book 1

22. Not the truth

The first rays of the sun fell on his face, and the chirping of the birds alerted him. It took him a few moments to come out of the somnolence after the peaceful sleep he just had. Devoid of nightmares but full of a basket of pink roses in full bloom. The amaranthine hue on Chitra's cheeks floated in front of his vision through the night, and he had no moments when he jerked out of his slumber due to a ghastly scene or sheer agony flitting through his body. In fact, he was at peace after a long time, and when his eyelids fluttered open, calmness washed over him because of the blue sky above him. Random clouds flew in front of his eyes while the green leaves of the trees swayed with every breath of air.

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he sat up. Letting out a yawn and stretching his limbs, he glimpsed around himself. His friends were fast asleep underneath the thick wad of blankets spread over them while the fire had died, the charred logs lying on the floor with smoke emanating from them. Ishita was breathing evenly by his side with a small pout discernible on his lips while Ranvir was stirring on her other side. He chuckled when she moaned with her eyes shut and rolled over. He couldn't comprehend why he had never noticed her before. She was cuteness personified and enchanting beyond measure.

He raked his eyes around the circle, and he could see Surbhi's curly hair peeking from under the blanket, Siya's arms protruding out from under the throw, Ayush breathing evenly, and Aman snoring lightly. However, Shravani was nowhere to be seen. Panic did arise in his heart because her bag was still there, but she wasn't. He removed the blanket from over him and sprang upright, glimpsing here and there to catch a glimpse of the bushy hair peeking out of some corner of the ruins, but upon not seeing her anywhere nearby, he jumped into action.

"Shravani?" He gulped and rushed up to the temple to peek inside. "Shravani?" His voice echoed off the empty sanctum, and he veered to sprint towards the main metal gates to the citadel. He could see Aman's SUV parked a few feet away, but she wasn't inside the vehicle either. "Fuck!" he muttered under his breath. Raising his voice, he screamed, "Shravani, where the hell are you?"

"Rudra?"

Her unsteady and unsure voice filled his ears from behind him, and he let out a sigh of relief. Swerving, he came across her. Slightly out of breath and perspiring, with a frown on her features, but appeared her normal, beautiful self nonetheless. He jogged towards her and held her by the shoulders. "Are you okay? Where were you?"

She smiled. "I woke up early and was getting bored. Just went around for a walk around the ruins."

He let out a puff of air. "You talk about the presence of ghosts all the time, and this is apparently a haunted place. Can you imagine what I went through when I didn't find you here? I thought... thought..."

She snickered and wrapped her arms around his waist, hiding her face in his chest. "You thought a ghost took me away."

He clicked his tongue and ran his hand over the length of her hair. "You okay?"

She beamed. "Never been better."

***

The clique gathered their belongings and left the spot once the gatekeeper came back. Paying the man a handsome amount, they crawled inside the vehicle and headed towards a resort on the further end of the town to freshen up before starting for Delhi. Throughout the ride to the resort seven kilometers away, Shravani felt culpable. The group of friends seemed incredible and a bunch of nice people who only wanted to enjoy the trip outside the city, but she knew she was betraying all of them. Earlier, she had no sense of attachment towards any of them, but the more she got to know them better, the more the guilt was surfacing inside her heart. She was deceiving them for her own selfish motives, and the comfort she experienced in their vicinity was causing her to feel restive. This kind of warmth had eluded her for years, and she felt blameworthy to the extent that self-hatred reared inside her mind. Terrible times were about to come for each and every one of them, and she was instrumental in being the harbinger of doom and setting a plan in motion that could potentially turn their lives upside down.