....
The same blue-golden light that was present when his eyes were closed was now there as they slowly opened.
Raghav got up with a slight moan, and the first thing he searched for was... the torch.
He knocked and hit it, but its light was gone, and now there was no other light in the room besides the blue-golden shimmering butterfly.
He gently placed the butterfly near his watch and saw the time in its faint glow, which appeared to be 8:35 when looked at in the mirror.
Due to the lack of even a drop of water for so long, there was little strength left in his body, and the gas created from not eating anything was pounding in his head—a separate problem altogether.
He didn't have the courage to even stand, and on top of that, the cold was bothering him, and the darkness in this room was a different issue.
Someone truly said that when trouble comes, it comes from all sides.
After resting for a while, he slowly stood up, supporting himself with something that felt like the shape of a shelf or cupboard.
The blue-golden creature came and sat on Raghav's shoulder, as if it were its favorite spot.
But slowly, Raghav felt some warmth, and when he paid attention, he found that the butterfly was glowing much brighter now.
A little too much....
No,
A lot too much...
One by one, the torches placed in front of his eyes, which were very old, ruined, and not in a condition to burn, suddenly burst into flames. The flames gradually began to spread all around the room, and the light in the room increased.
One, two, three, four...
All 13 torches blazed with fire.
Now Raghav didn't need to squint his eyes to see. Everything was clear, distinct. It appeared to be an old-time library...
... but without books.
The desire to know is very strong, and Raghav had it too.
Somehow, getting up, he wandered through the room like a shadow.
From here to there, and then back again;
from right to left, and then from front to back.
His searching eyes were delighted when he spotted a box. He somehow managed to steady himself and reached it, finding that the box was almost sunken into the floor...only the upper part was somewhat usable.
Well, Raghav didn't care about that because the opening mechanism was on the top part, and Raghav certainly didn't have the strength to pull the box out of the ground.
Raghav opened the box, and a second, smaller box came out, much smaller than the first...
So it was easy for Raghav to take it out, and he did.
The tiny creature sitting on Raghav's shoulder now flew onto his hands, shimmering just as before. There was a palm print on the box.
Raghav first tried to force it open, but the box was sturdy.
"Maybe... the palm print is the key..."
The thought was spinning in Raghav's mind that perhaps the owner of this mansion used to open this chest with his palm print, meaning...
...this box is quite valuable.
But were people's hands so small in that era?
He had heard that people from earlier times were quite large.
But this mark was small....
"Diamonds and jewels should definitely be inside..."
Raghav said, laughing at his own joke, although it wasn't entirely a joke.
Part of him hoped to find something valuable or useful.
The butterfly sitting on Raghav's hand began to flutter its blue-golden wings, and at the same time, a light bulb went off in Raghav's mind.
This palm print is almost the size of his hand; what's the harm in trying once?
And without thinking twice, he placed his hand on it....
....
....
Nothing happened.
Raghav sighed deeply, as if greatly disappointed. He had almost started wondering if he was a descendant of some old king or emperor.
"Now I'll have to break it."
Raghav pulled his hand back, and the butterfly flew back onto his shoulder. With a heavy groan, he struggled to stand, looking for something to help him break it.
"Creak!"
Suddenly, the sound of wood grating against wood was heard.
Raghav turned around and saw that the lid of the box was slowly opening.
Raghav's eyes widened as if he was looking at a treasure.
•°•°•°•°•
"It seems your son has taken a severe blow to the head. How can a car just vanish into thin air?"
The Sub-Inspector (Daroga Sahib), a man around 50 wearing a uniform, read the statement with narrowed eyes.
Adesh, wearing glasses and impeccably pressed clothes, looked no less than a high-ranking official.
Poor Ramlal, meanwhile, watched them both with troubled eyes. The Inspector, Amarender, picked up the photos from his desk and slid them toward Adesh.
"Look. Tire marks are clearly visible. The model has been sent for confirmation. But the boy says the car vanished before the collision. You tell me, sir, am I right or not?"
Adesh nodded in response; he knew no one would believe it, nor did he believe it himself. Amarender gently patted Ramlal's back and asked,
"Why, Ramlal! Didn't you get into trouble with anyone? Maybe they kidnapped Raghav because of that?"
"No, sir! There was no such dispute with anyone."
"Hmm!"
Just then, Head Constable Vinay, who was only around 30, had a possibility spinning in his mind, which eventually came out.
"Sir! Kidnapped for money?"
The Inspector shook his head so quickly in denial as if the idea itself was offensive.
"What, Vinay? If he was kidnapped, they would have called by now, wouldn't they?"
But Vinay didn't have only that possibility; he had a long list.
"Sir! It's not necessary that they call for money. Maybe to sell an important body part...."
Vinay's words dissolved into a whisper, seeing Ramlal's face, which had started to turn pale upon hearing him.
"What, Vinay! Try to think before you speak."
"Sorry, sir!"
Meanwhile, Adesh rubbed his forehead as if he were bored. He didn't try to hide his boredom and felt it was time for him to speak.
"Sub Inspector Sir! Nothing like that has happened to Raghav. Because my son, Nawal, was also there. If they wanted to take them, they would have taken both. We should stop talking nonsense; the main issue is that mansion. Everything will be clear if we go there."
Amarender nodded, picked up a blank page, and a pen nearby.
"That's true, but we need permission from the higher-ups. And the Deputy CM is also arriving tomorrow, so the SP Sir and DM Sir will both be busy. But we will try to get permission today. Okay?"
Amarender saw Ramlal's tearful face, stood up, and patted his shoulder.
"Raghav is like our own son. Don't worry. We will find him from anywhere."
Adesh nodded, and Ramlal did too. Giving answers to Sarla was becoming difficult day by day. Even little Ragini was very quiet and sad.
Still, Ramlal did not lose hope...
He had this much faith in his son that no matter the situation, Raghav never stops thinking with his mind; he would keep himself alive in any circumstance.
Still, a father's heart is just that. After so many years of service, he knew that this outside world is both very good and very bad.
The chick in the nest had just started strengthening its wings,
had just learned to fly,
when it immediately had to face a storm.
He could neither cry like Sarla nor be sad like Ragini. He had to shoulder the responsibility of being a man, the head of the small nest.
He had to bring the little bird stuck in the storm back to the nest somehow.
Because maybe that little bird might not survive the storm for too long....
•°•°•°•°•
"Thud!...
Thud!....
Thud!"
Raghav picked up and threw out all 11 books from the box, one after the other, not intentionally. He just didn't have much strength in his hands.
10 books had red silken cloth covers and some beautiful carved metals embedded on their corners.
And 1 book, which was larger than all the others, had a blue silken velvet cover and golden carved patterns on its corners.
They say one shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
Absolutely true.
The blue book, which looked very special, was completely blank. Not a single page had ink on it.
But the other 10 books contained some stories...
In Sanskrit.
It is natural that Sanskrit is a very old language, so it must have been prevalent at that time.
One thing Raghav couldn't understand was that these books were in perfect condition. No stains, not torn anywhere, completely new. As if they had just been placed there. But how?
The blue-golden creature flew and sat on one of those books, spreading and gathering its wings...
"Oh. What did you like in this one, Madam Butterfly!?"
He tried to joke, but his voice was pitiful right now, his condition was pitiful, he himself looked pitiful.
He slowly picked up the book, but his mind constantly craved something to eat; he was very hungry. His eyes occasionally went towards the butterfly....
"Don't worry, Madam Butterfly! I won't eat you."
He said, looking at the butterfly, which had gone into self-defense mode. Somehow, he stretched his cracked and dry lips into a smile and opened the book.
The Sanskrit was quite difficult, so he understood little, yet Sanskrit is the mother of Hindi. So, he could guess a little.
After focusing for a while, he realized it was a mystery story, but when the last page came, his eyebrows furrowed.
"What is this...? It's not complete?"
Just then, something faintly written on the last page suddenly began to darken.
"What... what is this?"
Raghav almost threw the book and staggered up, supporting himself against a distant shelf.
The blue-golden butterfly clung to Raghav's shoulder.
Meanwhile, the winds in the room suddenly intensified. Old debris and pebbles began to dance around the edges of the book, circling it.
The last words written in the book now slowly began to come out...
...Out of the book.
Those letters were growing bigger, bigger and bigger.
As if they would swallow the whole room.
Raghav tightly gripped a shelf with his hands.
But his hand was slipping.
He didn't have any strength left in his hands anyway.
All that was left was a desire to stay alive...
Raghav's troubles hadn't lessened when his ears were filled with thousands of whispers.
There was so much whispering that his mind felt like it would explode. He tightly gripped his ears, so tightly that his nails started digging into his skin.
As if a storm had arrived. Raghav couldn't see anything.
The air, filled with dust and pebbles, was very fast.
Very, very fast....
In which his feet were slipping.
Raghav screamed as loud as he could, but no sound came out of his throat.
He closed his eyes and put all the remaining strength in his body into holding on.
No use.
Meanwhile, the whispering in his head now seemed to be filled with the voices of almost ten thousand people.
The tiny butterfly clung to him as tightly as possible.
Raghav gripped some broken pillars so hard with his hands that the wound on his left arm reopened.
Now it hurt even more.
And his fingernails also started to hurt, dug tightly into the pillar. His body was being pulled towards those letters like a noodle.
There was absolutely no strength in his hand, and the pain became unbearable.
Raghav wanted to shriek...
He wanted to yell....
But...
With a very bright blue-golden light, everything went silent...
There was no shriek, no yelling.
The room was dark, just as it was before Raghav arrived.
A final whisper could still be heard somewhere far away,
『केवलं त्रयः दिवसाः अवशिष्टाः, अद्यापि 'ओजसूत्ररत्नस्य' कोऽपि चिह्नः नास्ति। किं भवन्तः एतत् 'ओजसूत्ररत्न' प्राप्नुयुः ?』(Sanskrit)
(『Only three days remain, and still there is no sign of the 'Ojasutra Gem'. Will you be able to obtain this 'Ojasutra Gem'?"』)
_________________________________________
To be continued...