NIHAR ( HILL OF DEAD )

12-1

(12)

𝘈 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘴,
𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.
𝘈 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥.
𝘈 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭.
"When I saw her by the river, the sun rays reflected on her skin, more than it reflected from the
water that was flowing through the gaps between her fingers. Seeing her completely detached
from her surroundings made me wonder if she was admiring the water more or if the water
considered itself to be lucky enough to touch her.
She was beautiful. Her face reminded me of the most pious of devotees. A calm setting sun
blended with the clouds that surrounded it like an endless field of chrysanthemum. She looked
as if she could make love fall in love with herself.
And at that moment, I knew I had sinned. Because I loved her, I loved life more. To the point that
it was inconceivable.
But I had sinned, over and over again, for her. It was the only truth that brought me to my 
ruin. "
.
.
The Bhavan was built on the topmost hill of the village. Its architecture was an inspiration of the Renaissance period, mixed with Greek architectural methodologies.
The entrance was a metal gate which was now rusted. The area was surrounded by coastal
redwood trees which also served as a major resource of the village.
Later on, it was prohibited to use the trees for any purpose.
As one entered The Bhavan through the main entrance door, the first to come in
notice was the great hall and the two big staircases towards both ends of the room that ran
up to the other floor.
The great hall consisted of the Twelve statues of God which stood on the two sides of the hall.
The most peculiar aspect of The Bhavan was the room that was located at the end of the hall.
In the initial days, it was a room for the storage of armor and weapons. After The Bhavan was made
to be a guest house, it even stored clothes for try-on during various events.
As the years passed, the great structure eventually lost its shine. It was less crowded, the
laughter had died and so did the happiness that bounded the village together. The only remains were
the twelve statues.
One might mistake the room to be smaller but it was as large as all the other rooms. As The
Bhavan lacked the element of life, the atmosphere in and around it became more eerie and
tense.
Once the rituals began taking place in The Bhavan, the white-washed walls were stained with
the 'red' of the innocents. Despite their screams not being able to escape, the pillars held the
tales that remained unheard forever. The remains were not just ashes, but the hurt, the betrayal that each one was forced to be a part of. Forced to pay the price of someone else's greed.

God's love story was on the lips of everyone. The lovers were preached, worshipped, and adored.
But like most other love stories, it had to come to an end.
.
.
A fight broke out in Nihar.
Due to this fight, the whole village was fragmented into 12 pieces.
Each one of the fragments held a different belief.
The god who once was sent from heaven to bless the people now faced a turmoil of emotions.
All 12 different pieces were something that he had sworn to protect but now they no longer
belonged to him and were against each other.
The villagers of 12 different places demanded the god to stay with them and make them
prosperous but the god, who is too kind, wasn't able to take anyone's side.
Instead, he offered the villagers to cut him and take each piece of his body with them as a charm
which would protect them.
"Ears, Eyes, Nose, Tongue, Trunk, Limbs, The Heart"
All these held their values, which were as follows
They hold values
The limbs were the working foundation
Ears were the messengers
Eyes were the seekers
Tongue were people who take influential steps
The nose was which differed
The trunk was the main working unit
and The Heart was the functional unit of every component
The God who was once worshipped was cut into pieces.
Seeing this blasphemy, heaven roared in anger.
Heaven turned the god's parts into something more cursed and evil. The 12 fragments, now
slaughtered the innocent, stole their peace and their sleep of nights.
Due to this, the population of Nihar decreased.
The remaining of them had united to fight the 'Cursed Twelve'.
They all prayed to heaven to spare them mercy.
The heaven which bestowed the god upon them spoke,
" The god who once protected you is hunting you all. If you want to live, seal them off"
The seal was the sacrificial ritual.
12 people were burned alive and with their ashes. The 'Cursed Twelve' was sealed away.
But the ashes of the sacrificed weren't enough to hold them back. Hence, with every passing
year, they held a sacrificial ritual where the 12 selected people were sacrificed for the Cursed
Twelve to remain sealed.
During the process of sealing, the woman who was loved deeply by God was held hostage.
She was beaten, burnt, frozen, and tortured to the point that even hell wouldn't forgive her.
She was made to serve her body no matter the time, place, or person, in the same place
where she had once met the one she'd dreamt forever with, the Baru river of Nihar.
Regardless of the Cursed Twelve being the most evil of entities, it still had a heart, and the heart
belonged to the God who had once promised the woman to protect till the last drop of blood in his body dried up. So he did. The Cursed Twelve surrendered, fragment by fragment in front of
the whole village, which was later sealed in the river, along with the fragments they had cut from
the body of the once beautiful woman who was nothing but helpless till her very last breath.
It was not just her who had lost their life, it was the purity, the innocence, and their love that ended with
their ruin.
But, as there are always two stages of a play, two sides of a coin, there were two parts of
their story too. And that is how the clouds of ruin gathered around the village and waited to bring
a real rain of blood upon Nihar.
" 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴.. 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘤 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵. "
𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘈𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘩𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥
" 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵... "
𝘕𝘪𝘵𝘺𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘳
𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦
𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰
𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦.
𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦
𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱.
" 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺? 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯? 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 2020
𝘯𝘰𝘸"
𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.
" 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘥?"
𝘕𝘪𝘵𝘺𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥
" 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴? 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵
𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦."
𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦.
" 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘥 ?"
𝘛𝘢𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦
" 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.. 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘺 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘦𝘥
𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘰."
𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢 𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴
" 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨-"
𝘕𝘪𝘵𝘺𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢'𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵
" 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶! 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘥! 𝘍𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭
𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴"
𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳
𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺.
𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘢𝘥𝘺𝘢..
" 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳
𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵
𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦."
𝘐 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 realize 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.