Chapter 12 — Shadow's Grasp
The night air in Bhangarh Fort was not cold.
It was wrong.
Heavy. Pressing.
Filled with a low, living hum that seemed to breathe with them.
By this point, no one trusted anyone.
They moved in silence, eyes darting toward shadows.
Even the stone beneath their feet seemed to shift.
---
The Fracture Widens
Morning came like a weight on their shoulders.
The eastern ruins still echoed with the Binding Chant. Ananya was silent, her golden eyes fixed inward. Kabir sharpened his blade without speaking. Arjun carried his recorder like a weapon.
Sid and Riya were gone. The camp was hollowed.
The remaining three could feel it — something creeping closer.
Arjun broke the silence.
> "We can't stop this. We can only survive it."
Kabir spat.
> "Survive? We're already dead."
Ananya whispered:
> "It touches the living. It touches the mind. We are all infected."
The chanting rose again — deep and rolling, as if coming from beneath the fort itself.
---
Possession Spreads
By noon, hallucinations became impossible to ignore.
Kabir swore the fort was moving.
An unseen presence brushed past him in the hallways.
He kept hearing his own voice whispering his name when no one was around.
Arjun began to hear voices in his recorder even when it was switched off.
The voices were calling his name… softly, pleading.
Ananya stopped speaking entirely. She simply followed the walls, touching them with her bare hands.
She whispered under her breath:
> "They want me. Soon… I will be theirs."
---
The Attack
That night, they were camped near the fort's central chamber when the shadows attacked.
It began as a soft whispering, then became a wave of sound that rattled their minds.
The fire sputtered and died. Darkness filled the ruins.
A wall collapsed inwards without warning, revealing figures made of shadow.
They moved unnaturally, their shapes flickering between human and something else.
They reached for Kabir.
Kabir screamed and fired his rifle, but bullets passed through them like air.
The shadows swarmed him.
His scream ended in a gurgle.
When the shadows vanished, Kabir was gone.
Only his knife lay on the stone floor.
---
The Hollowing
Arjun pulled Ananya away, but the air had changed.
The walls themselves seemed to breathe and move.
A low chanting rose again — not from anywhere, but inside their own minds.
Sid's camera was found lying near the camp. The lens was cracked, but the memory card still held something.
On it was one single clip — a flickering image of Riya, her face twisted in terror, whispering:
> "He's coming."
Ananya's body convulsed violently.
She collapsed to her knees.
Her voice was layered with others.
> "He calls… and I answer."
Her eyes glowed gold brighter than ever.
Arjun grabbed her shoulders.
> "Ananya! Fight it!"
She smiled.
> "It's too late for me."
And then she fell silent.
---
The Aftermath
By morning, the camp was worse than hollowed — it was broken.
They were two.
Arjun and Ananya.
The fort's walls pulsed softly, like a living heart.
The chanting was constant now.
And Arjun knew the truth.
Whatever was coming… it would not wait.
---
End of Chapter 12