Chapter 13 — The Siege
By the time night fell, Bhangarh Fort had ceased to feel like stone and mortar.
It had become a living prison.
A labyrinth of shadow and whisper.
A place where the walls watched, and the air itself seemed to breathe.
Arjun and Ananya were the last to stand.
Kabir was gone. Sid was gone. Riya and Dev… vanished without trace.
Now there was only the two of them — and the fort.
---
The Barricade
They made camp inside the central chamber of the eastern ruins — a space Arjun later came to call The Heart.
The chamber was massive, carved with unnatural precision. Ancient symbols glowed faint gold beneath layers of soot and dust.
The air here hummed softly, vibrating in tune with the faint chanting that had never stopped since their arrival.
Arjun gathered wood, stone, and metal — whatever they could use to barricade the entrances.
Ananya sat in a corner, eyes glowing faint gold, her lips moving in whispers no one could hear.
She had not spoken in hours.
> "Why are we stopping here?" Arjun asked quietly.
"Because we have nowhere left to run," she whispered back, her voice trembling slightly.
"The fort doesn't let you leave. It waits. It watches."
The barricades were crude, but they held. For now.
---
The First Night
Night fell in a silence so deep it pressed on their ears.
The chanting grew louder, deeper, as though the fort itself were calling something forth.
The air grew thick. Every breath tasted of rust and decay.
Ananya stood suddenly.
> "It's time."
Arjun looked up sharply.
> "Time for what?"
She didn't answer. Her body moved unnaturally, her head tilted at an impossible angle.
She walked toward one of the barricades and placed her hand on it.
The wood shuddered beneath her touch.
A soft breath of air, cold as death, escaped from the walls.
Then she turned to Arjun.
> "They are coming."
The chanting became deafening.
It was inside their heads now. Not in the air, but inside their minds.
The walls around them pulsed as though alive.
---
The Siege Begins
Around midnight, the first attack came.
A low rumble echoed through the fort.
The barricades shook violently.
Shadows pooled at every entrance, shifting into grotesque shapes.
They moved toward them.
Ananya whispered softly:
> "They are the lost. The bound. They want release."
The air vibrated with chanting.
The walls bled shadow.
Figures began to form — human shapes, but twisted, broken. Faces hollowed, their mouths open in silent screams.
They pressed forward against the barricades.
Arjun fired blindly, each shot swallowed by the darkness.
The shadows advanced with unnatural speed. They did not sound footsteps — only whispers.
Whispers of names.
> "Arjun… Arjun… Arjun…"
Kabir's voice echoed suddenly — though Kabir was gone.
> "Don't trust her."
Arjun spun to see Ananya staring at him, eyes glowing gold.
> "He chooses," she whispered. "And tonight… you will see."
---
The Collapse of Sanity
The siege lasted hours.
Arjun fired until his rifle clicked empty.
The shadows pressed against them with impossible strength.
The chanting rose into a roar inside their minds.
Arjun could no longer tell where he was.
The chamber seemed to stretch, corridors folding in on themselves.
Figures moved in impossible ways, whispering his name in languages he did not know.
Ananya began to speak in a voice that was not hers.
> "Bind the soul… call the bride… the seal is broken…"
Her body convulsed violently. Her face twisted into something inhuman.
Arjun tried to grab her.
She shoved him away.
> "It is too late."
The walls themselves groaned. The barricades shattered.
---
The Aftermath
When the siege ended, the chamber was silent.
The shadows were gone. The chanting had stopped.
But the air was heavy with something darker — something that would never leave them.
Ananya lay still, her golden eyes closed.
Arjun could hear her whisper softly to herself:
> "One remains. The bride calls."
Arjun knew what she meant.
The fort was feeding.
It was waiting.
And the end was coming.
He sat in the wreckage of their barricade, clutching his rifle, staring into the darkness.
The fort breathed around him.
The whispering began again.
> "Arjun… Arjun…"
---
End of Chapter 13