Chapter 6 — Fractured Minds
The air in Bhangarh had changed.
It was heavier, thicker, like breathing through wet cloth.
The ground beneath the fort seemed to hum softly, as if the earth itself remembered the events of the past night.
The camp was silent except for the sound of the dying fire.
Sid sat staring at his camera, eyes unfocused. Kabir leaned against a broken pillar, rifle resting loosely in his hands. Riya was writing feverishly in her journal. Ananya was nowhere to be seen.
Arjun stood apart from the group, staring into the shadows of the fort. He could still hear the chanting — faint, distant — drifting through the walls like a living thing.
> Four nights left, he thought.
And something is already breaking inside us.
---
Uneasy Dawn
When morning came, silence was replaced with tension.
No one spoke until Dev's absence was finally noted. Kabir had assumed he'd stayed in the tunnel to gather data, but Arjun remembered Dev's radio call — the one that ended in static and a thud.
> "We need to search the tunnel again," Arjun said quietly.
Kabir frowned. "For what? He's gone. We lost him. We need to focus on surviving."
Sid spoke for the first time that morning, voice tight.
> "That tunnel… it wasn't just a tunnel. I saw something on the footage last night. Moving shapes. Faces. Singing."
Riya paused her writing.
> "That chanting… it's not random. It has a pattern. It's a ritual."
Ananya stepped forward suddenly, her voice low and strange.
> "It's a binding chant. The seal weakens every night. By the fifth night… something will cross over."
Her words made the group fall silent. Even Kabir, the skeptic, looked unsettled.
---
The First Fracture
By noon, the group was exploring the ruins again. Kabir and Sid stayed in the south wing, Arjun and Riya went deeper into the central shrine, and Ananya wandered alone near the eastern corridor.
But something was changing. Sid kept looking over his shoulder. Kabir's jokes became sharper, edged with tension. Riya's voice grew quieter — hesitant — as if she feared speaking aloud.
At one point, Sid said softly:
> "Does anyone else hear that?"
The others stopped. There was nothing but wind. Yet Sid insisted he heard faint breathing — slow, deliberate.
Kabir rolled his eyes, but his hands tightened around his rifle.
> "You're stressed. That's all."
But Arjun knew better.
Something had followed them into the ruins.
---
The Hallucinations Begin
Night fell quickly. The team gathered near the temple courtyard to regroup. The air grew unnaturally cold. Lantern light danced across stone, but shadows seemed to gather in corners where the light never reached.
Sid's voice broke the silence.
> "I… I keep seeing it. When I close my eyes."
> "Seeing what?" Riya asked.
> "Faces. Faces in the walls. They're screaming… and calling my name."
Kabir snorted but looked uneasy.
> "Everyone's tired. It's the fort messing with us."
Arjun studied them all quietly. Fear was growing between them. Not fear of the curse — fear of each other.
That night, each of them reported dreams.
Riya dreamt of being in the murals, her body bound in stone.
Kabir dreamt of his own face in shadow, whispering threats in his voice.
Sid dreamt of Dev — screaming for help from somewhere beyond stone walls.
Only Ananya remained quiet. She wandered into the ruins alone at midnight, her bracelet bells faintly jingling without wind.
---
Signs of Possession
Arjun woke suddenly at 2:00 a.m. to find Ananya standing at the edge of camp, staring at him without blinking. Her breathing was unnaturally slow.
> "Arjun…" she said softly. "The walls are singing your name."
Her voice trembled but there was another tone beneath it — deeper, layered, something not human.
Arjun stepped forward.
> "Ananya, come back. It's not safe."
She didn't move. Her eyes glowed faintly gold.
> "They're waiting for you… they're waiting for us all."
Then she turned and vanished into the shadows of the fort.
---
The Night Ends in Unease
By dawn, no one had slept. They gathered silently, the weight of Dev's absence pressing heavily on them.
Sid's voice broke first:
> "We should leave."
Kabir shook his head.
> "We can't. We came for proof. And we're not leaving until we get it."
Riya spoke quietly:
> "Leaving won't matter. Whatever is here… it will follow us."
Arjun stood, gripping his recorder.
> "Ananya was right. The chanting is breaking the seal. We have four nights left before whatever is in here crosses over."
Kabir glared.
> "And you think staying is going to help?"
Arjun's voice hardened:
> "I know staying is our only chance. If we run, we'll be running into something worse."
The air felt heavier as they prepared for the day ahead. None of them spoke of the night's visions. But deep down… they all knew something was already inside them.
---
End of Chapter 6