Sun Moon & Stars Volume III Curse Of The Third-Eye

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"Alaapi!?" 

A young girl came rushing into the royal infirmary from the back door. She was panting, her clothes covered in blood, her face sweaty and her eyes wide in fear; she held a dagger in her right hand. 

"Chaarvi is bleeding! Come quickly," she shouted and rushed back. She didn't bother to wait and introduce herself or even spare a glance at the others standing along with Alaapi. 

She was in a hurry. 

Prajvedh's brief reunion with his friends Alaapi and Dhannishth with whom he was meeting after almost a decade was paused. 

He didn't get sufficient time to understand the situation that erupted inside the infirmary like cosmic chaos. Hastily following his friends Prajvedh too rushed through the dark corridor at the back of the infirmary and took a spiral staircase up towards a secluded tower. 

They were led by the scared girl who jumped up the stairs two at a time. She seemed to be about sixteen or eighteen but had the stamina of a well-built warrior. 

While he did guess the person, Chaarvi, whom the girl mentioned, held serious importance, the worried faces of Alaapi and Dhannishth suggested it was grim trouble.

"Laakhi, what happened?" Alaapi asked the girl.

"I do not know," Laakhi cried as they kept running, "We were practising our lessons when she fell on the floor and started shaking, then suddenly started to bleed." 

 She halted in front of an enormous iron door and kept looking at the frame panting. 

"Why would she bleed? Did any of her experiments go wrong?" Alaapi enquired.

"How ridiculous of you!" Laakhi threw an annoyed glare at Alaapi briefly turning then rested her hand on the huge knob, "You know she knows the measurements better than any of us." 

"Of course," Alaapi muttered and patiently stood, behind him, Prajvedh's heart jolted in intervals as the screams grew louder and sharper. He was confident that the screams were coming from the other side of the door.

Laakhi rubbed her face then took a breath and pushed open the door.

At once Prajvedh noticed another girl of their same age group also covered in blood staring at the wall and taking frightened steps back. As soon as Prajvedh followed the direction she was staring with horror Prajvedh's eyes widened. 

Another girl in white clothes was beating her head and scratching the wall violently with her fingernails. Then she threw her head back and shook before her body gave up.

She was about to hit the floor when Prajvedh rushed catching her quickly and crouched laying her gently on his lap. 

The orange hue of the setting sun that had touched her face highlighting her flawless beauty made Prajvedh's heart leap inside his chest.

He was looking beyond her sweat-covered face and frozen form. There was something so enigmatic about her that caught his eyes. His breath hitched and he gulped fighting hard to ignore the tightness he felt in his chest and focused on the blood that suddenly gushed out of her nostrils.

"I tried but she wasn't responding," Laakhi said as she started to weep coming to her side. "I couldn't stop her bleeding."

"Something was there! Feeding on her!" the other girl whispered while she trembled staring away with hollow eyes.

The girl Prajvedh was holding lay unconscious in his arms and when he looked at her feet he noticed a thick red liquid spilt on the spot she was standing seconds ago. Her white clothes were smeared from down below her waist and blood clots on her legs and hands were visible as well.