The Haunted Fortress of Bhangarh: Book 1

10. The rusted nail

Ishita perceived the apprehension and the befuddlement coursing through Rudra's veins, for he was perspiring profusely despite the chillness of the air, and his eyes were as wide as saucers while his lips quivered. However, she didn't have an answer to his question since she had no clue what he was talking about. "Which girl? What dream?"

He blinked a couple of times and wiped the sheen of moisture from his forehead. Swerving at his spot and staring straight out of the windshield, he shook his head. "Let's go. We need to pick up the others as well."

Aman and Ishita exchanged concerned glances with one another before shrugging their shoulders. He propelled the car ahead, and the rest of the journey to Siya's home was carried out in utter silence.

As the town hurtled passed them, they could see the city waking up once again. The pollution hung in the air, creating thick smog that descended from all sides. The shops were starting to open up, the hawkers were lining their impromptu shops along the curbside, and the passenger buses were already ferrying people around. But Rudra took no note of anything. He was still wondering about the fragrance that was calming his senses yet again. He had gotten the same aroma around both Shravani and Ishita, and he knew it belonged to the serpent-tattooed girl the warrior left crying on the ramparts. Everything was right in front of his eyes, but he couldn't believe a single thing, for all of it was too... unreal.

One by one, they picked up Siya, Surbhi, Ranvir, and Ayush before heading towards Shravani's neighborhood. Early in the morning, all of them but Rudra were in a jubilant mood, and conversations flew easily between the rest. But Rudra was lost in his own train of thoughts, befuddled with the turn of events. His mind was trying to conjure and establish a coherent and legitimate relationship between his dreams and the two girls in his life, but he was repeatedly drawing a blank. Once the car halted at the same intersection where Aman had dropped Shravani off the one time, Rudra's reverie broke.

"Call your girlfriend, bro," Aman said.

Siya glimpsed around, an excited glint shining in her eyes. "Where does Shravani live?"

Rudra was busy extracting his phone from his shirt's pocket, and hence Aman chose to respond with a shrug of his shoulders. "The night of Ishita's birthday party, I had dropped her off and even picked her up from this intersection itself," he said.

Rudra hummed, raking his eyes around the spot to locate the narrow lane his girlfriend lived in. Spotting it, he gestured towards the stretch of muddy road, disappearing from their line of vision as the route turned left. Nestled between a bus stand on one side and a thick growth of wilderness on the other, it was barely perceptible and was perhaps ignored even by the passersby who didn't even chance a single glance towards the lane.

Siya's nose scrunched up in disgust when she saw the dumpster lying close to the opening of the lane, garbage was spilling out of the overflowing container, plastic bags flying around to fall on the filthy and grimy floor. "The lane looks so desolate and... dirty. Are you sure she lives here? It does not seem to lead to any place worth living."

But her questions were answered then and there as Shravani ambled out of the lane with a bag slung on her arms, dodging the mass of garbage with effortless precision. She spotted the car and ran towards it with a wide grin on her face.

Ranvir pinched Siya's cheeks. "Not everyone is as rich as you, spoilt brat. Anyone can live anywhere."

Though Shravani crawled into the car with a huge grin on her face and began yapping incessantly about the ebullience she felt at the thought of the trip, Siya couldn't get rid of the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. She cast a final glance at the desolate stretch of the grimy lane visible to her eye before Aman pressed on the accelerator and the city began hurtling past them. But Siya had her concentration fixated on the fact that her sixth sense had begun warning her.