The Haunted Fortress of Bhangarh: Book 1

60. The curse on Bhangarh

Poring over the scores of books sprawled in front of him, Rudra tried to remember every definition, every formula in Quantum Mechanics. However, five minutes after he was done perusing a particular chapter, he completely forgot the details and had to recommence from the beginning all over again. He had been at it since that evening as he prepared for the final examinations, but the amount of progress he made was next to null. A lot of formulae and numerical blocked his mind, which was already a jumble of information of the yore and the paranormal. Hence, it was befitting that Science didn't make much sense to him.

Groaning at the strange thought crossing his mind, he flicked the highlighter away and slumped his head over the open book. Tapping his feet against the cold floor, he mumbled the few random things he could recollect from the chapter. However, the revision needed to be halted as his phone rang with an incoming call from his best friend.

With a grin on his face, he picked the call up but was unable to say anything as Ranvir spoke up first.

"Dude! I miss Janki."

Rudra chortled at the despondency in his friend's tone. "I miss her too, bro. We all do."

"She was such a sweetheart. Gave us her notes to study even though we wasted our semesters doing nothing. Such a generous and kind friend we had."

Rudra took a deep breath. "And lost."

Ranvir clicked his tongue. "Done studying for the day?"

Rudra shut his books. "Not even close."

"Same, bruh! Same."

Both chuckled at that.

"Do you want to study together? I will call Ayush too. At my place?" Ranvir said.

Rudra hummed as he rose up from his desk and stretched his limbs. "Text me the time tomorrow. Gonna hit the bed now."

Ranvir hummed as well. "Gn."

Rudra shook his head in amusement. "So lazy, dude! You can utter the words. Won't cause you any harm."

"Yeah, whatever!"

Laughing at Ranvir, Rudra bade him good night, disconnected the call, and slipped under the duvet. He had just spent an entire day studying and using his brain cells to the point of exhaustion. Hence, as soon as the lights were off and his head hit the pillow, he drifted off to sleep.

Breathing evenly, with no creases on his forehead, no outside sounds to trouble him.

Until he heard the faint voice of someone he knew from an eternity ago.

"Do you understand, soldiers?"

Raghuveer, along with the five other commanders and ten soldiers, nodded their heads. Receiving instructions from Prince Surya in the middle of the night was surreal. Surprising it was when the crowned prince called the fifteen soldiers to his palace past sundown to announce his decision regarding the magician who sat atop the hill. Surya was certain the man was indulging in unspeakable activities and had also lured Princess Kalavati into his trap. Hence, the man needed to be caught red-handed, but all of them needed to be discreet to ensure Bhairon Singh wouldn't get the chance to escape.

The prince and the soldiers remained hidden behind a bunch of bushes in front of the main palace complex, watching the exit with their hawk-like eyes, awaiting some movement from the princess's side. And much to their jubilance, the princess did descend the steps with a black shawl covering her face and her lithe form. If she thought no one saw her leave, she was grossly mistaken, for quite a few people were following her as she crossed the dark lanes to arrive at the bottom of the hill.