The next night, Satya and Saanvi stood outside the palace walls once again. The air was thick with tension, the weight of history pressing down on them. The locked chambers of the old wing awaited, holding the answers they desperately sought.
"This feels different tonight," Saanvi murmured, rubbing her arms.
Satya nodded. "It's as if the palace knows we're coming."
They slipped through a side entrance, moving cautiously down the dark corridors. Their footsteps were barely audible against the cold stone floor. Saanvi led the way, her fingers tracing the walls, feeling for something familiar—anything that could unlock the past.
Then, she stopped.
"There," she whispered, pointing to a door at the far end of the corridor. It was unlike the others—carved with intricate patterns, faded with age.
Satya pushed against it, but it didn't budge. "Locked."
Saanvi knelt beside it, running her fingers over the engravings. Her breath caught. "I know this door."
Satya crouched beside her. "From before?"
Saanvi nodded slowly. "I used to come here. This wasn't just any room… This was his room."
A chill ran through Satya. "Veer's?"
Saanvi's hands trembled. "Yes."
The realization sent their minds spinning. If this was Veer's chamber, then the truth was right behind this door.
Satya examined the lock. It was ancient, rusted over time. "We need something to break it."
Saanvi stood. "Wait here." She disappeared down the hall, leaving Satya alone with the door.
As he waited, he felt it again—that strange, haunting presence. The air grew heavier, and a faint whisper slithered through the silence.
"Turn back."
Satya's breath hitched. He spun around, but no one was there.
He swallowed hard. "No. Not this time."
Moments later, Saanvi returned with a rusted iron rod she had found among the ruins. Together, they wedged it against the lock and pushed. With a sharp creak, the rusted mechanism gave way, and the door groaned open.
What lay beyond made their blood run cold.
A desk covered in dust. A broken easel with a half-finished sketch. A window, its glass shattered long ago.
And on the floor, a faded bloodstain.
Saanvi stepped inside, her heart pounding. "This was where he—" She stopped, her voice catching.
Satya knelt, running his fingers over the aged wood. "Something happened here. But the story didn't end in this room."
They exchanged a glance, both knowing—this was only the beginning.
Behind them, the door creaked shut on its own.
The past was no longer just a memory.
It was waking up.