THE MYSTERIOUS FRAGMENTS

CHAPTER 3: THE DEADLY ESCAPE

The three of them were horrified to see the closet shaking vigorously and from inside they could hear the screams of someone shouting. Nobody was ready to go near the closet and open it until they decided that we all should go and open it together. As they were engrossed in thought, the sound stopped coming, a deadly silence took over their minds, and the basement dipped into darkness. Rohan went ahead followed by Smith and Rahul. Slowly Rohan opened the cupboard, once again there were clothes and the locker was open. Rohan didn't believe his eyes because he had shut the locker the last time he came here, but now it was open. In a fraction of second, two hands all burnt over emerged from the locker and took hold of Rohan's neck. Smith and Rahul were trying to pull him back but in vain. The hands were trying to pull him inside the locker but then and there a strong wind blew and Rohan was freed from the hands but because of the sudden event he fainted. Rahul ran over to Rohan trying to wake him up. Smith was standing at the closet and was trying to find some clues. He noticed that there was cloth with blood sprinkled on it and this was the same napkin that the servant Somu possessed. This was the most important clue. He tucked the cloth into his shirt and went to help Rohan. They both lifted Rohan and brought him to his room. Rahul sprinkled some water and he slowly opened his eyes. Rohan embraced Smith and began to cry bitterly. They both calmed him down and slept him. They both came back to their room. Smith told Rahul about the cloth and he was not able to believe his ears. Rahul asked why he didn't tell Rohan about all this. Smith said that he didn't want to burden Rohan with this new problem when he was in this depressed state. Rahul agreed but still, they both couldn't figure out from where that strong wind blew from because they were in the basement and there were no windows. The door from which they came was closed a little bit, so there was no chance of the wind coming from there. Smith said that we shouldn't stress ourselves much and we need complete rest first to go to the roots of this mystery. They slipped into a deep slumber. They all met the next morning for breakfast. Nobody wanted to discuss last night's incident and that to before Somu who was serving them their breakfast. After breakfast, Smith took Somu to the side and explained something. Rahul and Smith said to Rohan that they were going outside to explore something and that he hadn't recovered from the incident last night and needed some rest. They both got ready to go outside. Rohan came to the door and Rahul whispered in his ears, ' KEEP A WATCH ON SOMU'. Smith said that they will be back by evening. Rohan was completely dismayed about why Rahul had said this. Anyway, he came back to his room and rested for some time. Rahul and Smith had gone to enquire about Somu from the locals. Some of the locals said that Somu was an orphan and worked in the pandit's house. It seemed that Rohan's grandfather was a well-known pandit. Then they got some shocking news that Somu first used to be a robber and that the Pandit taught him the values and principles of god and he came back to the way of life serving his guru. One said that some people used to give him the task of robbing in exchange for money. Somu brought him his lunch in the house, and Rohan noticed a cut on his right hand. Rohan asked about it and Somu said that his hand got a little burnt while cooking and he quickly went away. Rohan didn't say anything because the last night, the hands that emerged from the locker had the same cut that Somu had got on his right hand. He became suspicious. On the other hand, Smith and Rahul were completely shocked about this. They both knew that there was something fishy going on here. It was six when they came back to their home. They went straight to their rooms before going to Rohan, they both booked the flight tickets to Hampi for next week. They went to Rohan's room and found him seated beside his laptop. Smith enquired about his health. Rohan said that he was fine now and also said that he saw something unusual. Rahul quickly closed the door and Rohan blurted out all his findings. Rahul and Smith were dumbfounded to hear this. They also told Rohan about their information. Rohan was stunned to hear this. Rahul asked, ' What are we going to do next? Smith said on a serious note that when we reach Hampi from there we would get most of the clues. They told Rohan that they were going to Hampi next week. Rohan wanted to end all this fast and he was looking very sad. He just prayed to god that this would end fast. They embraced each other and said that they would end this mystery together and that god would protect us. Come what may we would not leave each other.....