Chapter 24 The Noose of Doubt
The dim lamp in Aarav's room did not just illuminate the stacks of books. It also lit up the heavy loaded silence hanging between them. Dust particles floated in the air like invisible threads of tension weaving through the room.
Nayan sat curled into one corner of the sofa. His fingers moved restlessly across his phone screen but his eyes were stuck on the darkness outside the window. Karishma's name kept appearing on the screen over and over but his thumb went cold every time before it could touch the call button.
Aarav sat at the desk. The book titled The Secret of Kalprant lay open beneath his palm but his eyes were not on the words. They were fixed on a thin layer of dust gathered along the edge of the pages. His breathing was slow but the muscles of his jaw were clenched so tight that a faint twitch flickered across his cheek.
Then a shadow slid across the window glass. Both of them looked up.
A sharp gust of wind came from nowhere. The lamp's flame shuddered throwing swaying shadows across the walls. Outside the window right in the middle of the darkness two faint golden embers flickered. Like some night predator had just woken up.
Not the door. The window opened.
Kiyan was inside. Without a sound. His clothes were stained with forest dampness and wet earth. His black hair was tangled a few strands clinging to the pale skin of his neck where a slow pulse beat beneath the surface. But his eyes. They were still golden yes. But their sharpness was gone. What remained was a deep bone deep exhaustion. As if he had been carrying the weight of a journey that had lasted centuries.
Aarav stood up slowly. The leg of his chair scraped sharply against the floor. You are here. It was not surprise in his voice. Only a cautious recognition.
Kiyan did not answer. He glanced toward the door then back at the window as if tracing the path he had taken to get here. His chest filled with a deep slightly rasping breath.
There is movement around Aagya Sangathan (the Aagya organization) Kiyan finally said. His voice was dry as ash and just as heavy. The night insects are crawling out again. Their vehicles. The same black coats. They are planning something big. Preparing.
Nayan shot up from the sofa. His phone slipped from his hand and bounced onto the cushion. It is not just Aagya Sangathan Kiyan. His voice was trembling. His hands were reaching for something invisible in the air as if trying to hold an unseen weight. I think the poison is seeping in right here. Among us. Someone is listening to the enemy's breathing.
Aarav turned his head slowly. His gaze settled on Nayan first then drifted to Kiyan's face. The temperature in the room dropped.
Kiyan Aarav said. He weighed each word like it was made of glass. I know this will hurt your heart. But the doubt. It is no longer just a cloud. It is touching the ground now.
Kiyan's eyelids flickered. His hands which had been resting loose until now slowly began curling into fists.
Nishi Ma Aarav continued. A painful softness crept into his voice. Your mother's old secrets. Maybe all the dust still has not settled on them. And Karishma. He paused and dragged in a difficult breath. Her behavior. It keeps shifting. Like something is peering out from behind her eyes. A shadow. The shadow of a Chhayagrasini (a witch like entity who drains age and life force).
An explosion happened. Without a sound.
Kiyan's eyes suddenly blazed like molten gold. The air around him went still. The dust particles froze midair. Aarav. His voice dropped into a growl. There were centuries of pain and fury echoing inside it. Watch your tongue.
He stepped forward. The wooden floor groaned beneath his foot.
My mother has suffered. She has burned in fire. She has been cut by blades. And you. You doubt her. Kiyan's head tilted slightly downward. His gaze bored into Aarav like that of a wounded animal. Just because there is Chhayagrasini blood running through her veins. Just because her eyes are not ordinary like yours.
No Kiyan. Aarav shouted. The mask of his calm shattered. He slammed his hand on the desk. The book flew into the air and landed far across the room. Not because of that. Because the evidence that keeps piling up points directly toward her. We have to find the truth. Otherwise.
Otherwise what. Kiyan's growl deepened. We will all be killed. Like you. Like a Devanshik (a divinely blessed one who wields divine power) who is afraid of everything.
Enough. Nayan's hand shot up between them. A weak trembling barrier. His face had gone pale but there was a desperate resolve burning in his eyes. Stop this anger. If the three of us do not work together to find the truth the enemy will destroy us one by one. Kiyan. Please. His voice cracked. Just once. Help us. Only because we are your friends. Or at least we were.
Kiyan looked at Nayan. The fire in his blazing eyes began to die down slowly. A cold aching recognition took its place. His fists opened. He dragged in a long rasping breath as if swallowing the storm inside him.
Fine he whispered. His voice sounded hollow and empty now. I will stand with you. But only so I can prove my mother innocent. Nothing more.
Aarav clenched his fist. His nails dug into his palm. He nodded. Let us go.
The darkness of the night wrapped around them like a black cloak. They moved like three shadows through the empty streets of the city heading toward the old abandoned records wing of Aagya Sangathan. The air smelled of dampness and rotting paper.
This part of the building was falling apart. The windows were caked with dust. The doors were chained shut with rusted locks. Kiyan raised a hand without a sound and the chains broke apart in the air. The iron pieces clattered softly to the floor.
The darkness inside was even deeper. Aarav lifted his wrist. The mark of the Aadisrashta Chakra (divine discus of the creator) began to glow with a faint blue white light illuminating a ten foot circle around them. In that light the floating dust particles looked like they were dancing.
The room was filled with massive wooden cabinets. Numbers were written across them. 1700. 1750. 1800. The air reeked of decaying paper.
1765 Aarav whispered. The very year it all began.
Nayan tried to shove a large wooden crate aside but it did not even budge. Kiyan stepped forward. He placed his hand on the crate. A faint golden warmth radiated from his fingers. The wood groaned. The crate slid aside on its own revealing a small iron cabinet behind it.
The cabinet had a complex old lock. Aarav stretched his hand toward it. The Aadisrashta Chakra on his wrist blazed and a soft white beam of light struck the lock. It cracked open with a loud snap.
Inside the cabinet lay a thick diary bound in leather. The words Chief Minister Vijayram were engraved on it in gold.
Aarav pulled the diary out. The moment he turned the pages the scent of old ink filled the air. Nayan switched on his phone's flashlight and all three heads came together.
The pages were written in an old language. Aarav read slowly.
The Chhayagrasini was not born merely for revenge. She was created to hide a power. The Golden Dagger is the only path. It can either end her or make her immortal. Her essence. The core of her soul. It can be imprisoned within the dagger.
Nayan's breath caught. He pulled out an old folded paper from inside the diary. When he opened it a family tree chart spread before them. Karishma's bloodline. At the very top circled in deep red ink was a single name. Virbhadra. That very Tamomayi (dark practitioner).
Nayan's hands began to tremble. He held the paper out to Aarav without a single word.
Aarav looked at it. There was no surprise in his eyes. Only bitter confirmation. He lifted his head and looked toward Kiyan who was still staring at one particular page of the diary.
That page was decorated with an illustration. An old hand drawn picture. A brutal attack. Soldiers. Fire. And at the center a gleaming golden dagger. The dagger was buried in the chest of a strange deformed figure.
Aarav flipped further through the diary. His finger stopped on a line. He read it aloud without thinking. His voice was flat and unaware.
Look Kiyan. It is written here. If the power of a Chhayagrasini ever spirals out of control the Golden Dagger is the only remedy. Maybe that is why. That day. My father.
The sentence never finished.
Kiyan's entire body went rigid in an instant. The air around him seemed to freeze. The dust particles stopped midair. The diary slipped from Aarav's hand and hit the floor.
Kiyan lifted his head slowly. His eyes were blazing now like molten gold. A glare that could scorch the soul of whoever looked into them. His lips moved but no sound came out.
Then with lightning speed he lunged forward. He grabbed Aarav by the collar and slammed him hard against the wall. Aarav's head cracked against the stone. A dull echoing thud spread through the air.
A wisp of golden heat leaked from Kiyan's hand and coiled around Aarav's throat. The skin there turned red and began to smoke.
Kiyan. Nayan's scream echoed through the room. Have you gone insane. Let him go.
But Kiyan was beyond hearing. His gaze was drilling straight into Aarav's eyes searching their depths as if some answer was hidden there. A deep animal growl rumbled from his throat.
Evidence Kiyan said. Every word was soaked in poison. You keep talking about evidence Aarav. You have an answer for every question do you not.
He pressed Aarav harder against the wall. Aarav's breathing began to choke. His hands tried to grab Kiyan's wrists but they were like iron shackles.
Tell me one thing Aarav. Kiyan's voice was submerged in a dangerous calm now. And speak the truth. Otherwise today I will forget that you were ever my friend.
Aarav groaned in pain. Tears welled up in his eyes. What do you want to ask.
Kiyan's face drew even closer. His golden eyes reflected Aarav's own terrified face.
Why did you use that Golden Dagger on my mother. Kiyan's voice was trembling now. Not from anger. From a deep unbearable pain. When you knew she was wounded. When you knew I was right there. Why did you side with your father that day. Was it your conspiracy all along. Or did you always want to kill her.
The silence in the room deepened. Only the sound of Aarav's choking breaths and the distant drip of water from some pipe. Tears spilled down Aarav's cheeks but no words came from his lips. No answer.
Nayan stood frozen where he was. His breathing had stopped. The crack between his two friends was now widening into a bottomless chasm of black water.
Kiyan released Aarav with one final sharp shove and stepped back. Aarav slid down the wall and collapsed to the floor coughing clutching at his own throat.
Kiyan looked at him. For a single moment something flickered in his eyes alongside the fury. An astonishing pain.
Nayan sat down slowly beside Aarav. He tried to say something but the words would not come.
Aarav buried his face in his hands. Behind him on the floor the diary lay open. That page. The illustration of the Golden Dagger. It faced upward. A silent witness.
Was Aarav really part of that attack. Or was someone else holding the Golden Dagger that day. Someone who looked exactly like Aarav. The truth would be revealed in the next chapter.
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