The flickering lantern outside their window cast dancing shadows across the walls of the room. Shehnaaz tossed and turned, unable to sleep despite the comfort of the plush bed and the exhaustion of the day. Her earlier sense of unease returned as the quiet of the haveli pressed in on her.

Sidharth lay beside her, deep in slumber, his chest rising and falling steadily. She turned toward him, finding comfort in the sight of his peaceful face. "Kuch nahi hai ye sab meri overthinking hai bass" she muttered under her breath, trying to silence the doubts creeping into her mind.

But then she heard it again, a faint, rhythmic tapping.

Her breath caught, and she sat up slowly, careful not to wake Sidharth. The sound was not loud, but it was distinct, like someone footsteps pacing across the stone floor. It seemed to come from the corridor just outside their room.

She wrapped her shawl tightly around her shoulders and moved toward the door, every step tentative. As she opened it a crack, the hallway was bathed in dim light from the lanterns, but it was eerily empty.

"Kaun hai?" she called out softly, her voice trembling. "Naina tum ho kya?"

No reply. The tapping stopped.

Her grip tightened on the edge of the door. For a moment, she debated waking Sidharth, but then she shook her head. "Kya karu dekhu kya ek baar bahar jakar?" she whispered to herself.

She stepped into the hallway, the cold stone floor chilling her bare feet. The haveli, which had felt so warm and inviting earlier, now seemed vast and empty, its silence broken only by the occasional creak of old wood.

As she walked toward the direction of the sound, she passed a series of ancestral portraits hanging on the walls. The eyes of the figures seemed to follow her, their painted gazes unblinking and heavy. Shehnaaz shivered and averted her eyes.

Ahead, she noticed a door slightly ajar, its hinges creaking faintly as though recently disturbed. It was not one of the family members room , it looked older and unused. She hesitated, her instincts screaming at her to turn back, but curiosity pulled her forward.

As she reached for the door, a sudden gust of wind swept through the corridor, extinguishing the lanterns. Darkness engulfed her.

"Yeh... hawa kaha se aa rahi hai?" she whispered, clutching her shawl tighter.

The tapping resumed, louder now, echoing through the hallway.

She spun around, her heart racing. "Kaun hai?"

No answer.

Gathering her courage, Shehnaaz pushed the door open fully. The room beyond was empty, but the air felt heavy, suffocating. Dust swirled in the faint moonlight streaming through a high, cracked window. There was nothing unusual about the space... it was just a storage room filled with old furniture and covered in cobwebs.

But as she stepped inside, the air grew colder, and a faint whisper brushed past her ears.

"SHEHNAAZ"

She froze, her blood turning to ice. The voice was faint, almost indistinct, but it was there.

Her eyes darted around the room, but there was no one. She backed away, her breathing shallow, and nearly stumbled over a wooden chest. Grabbing the doorframe for support, she turned and ran back to her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Sidharth stirred at the noise, sitting up groggily. "Kya hua, Shehnaaz? Tum theek ho?"

Shehnaaz leaned against the door, trying to steady her breathing. "Kuch nahi... bas ek ajeeb awaaz sunayi di thi"

Sidharth frowned, rubbing his eyes. "Awaaz? Kaisi awaaz?"

"Pata nahi... shayad kuch bhi nahi tha. Mujhe laga ki..." She trailed off, not wanting to sound paranoid.

Sidharth reached for her hand, pulling her to sit beside him on the bed. "Yaha ka atmosphere different hai, Shehnaaz. Shayad tum tired ho aur overthink kar rahi ho, baaki main check karke aata hu"

She hold his hand slowly, though her heart refused to calm. "Nahi tum yahi raho mere pass"

Sidharth wrapped his arms around her, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Main hoon na? Yahi hu tumhare pass hmm so jaao tum"

His warmth reassured her, and for the moment, she allowed herself to believe that it had all been her imagination.
She laid on the bed, Sidharth patted her head and she sleep in no time feeling the warmth of his love.

_______________________

The next morning, Shehnaaz woke up to sunlight streaming through the windows. Sidharth was already up, standing by the window and looking out at the courtyard below.

"Good morning" she said, yawning.

He turned to her with a smile. "Good morning. Tum theek ho? Kal raat kaafi disturbed lag rahi thi"

"Main theek hoon" she replied, though she did not feel entirely convinced.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. It was Sunita, Sidharth's Kaki

"Beta, breakfast ke liye sab wait kar rahe hain" she said warmly.

"Ji, aunty. Hum abhi aate hain" Shehnaaz replied, forcing a smile.

As they sat for breakfast, the cheerful chatter of the family helped ease Shehnaaz's unease. Naina kept sharing stories about the village, while Rajveer Sidharth's Kaka spoke about the history of the haveli.

"Yeh haveli humare purkho ka ghar hai" Rajveer said, his tone proud. "Lekin iski kuch kahaniyan hain jo log sunana pasand nahi karte"

"Jaise ki?" Shehnaaz asked, curiosity piqued.

Rajveer exchanged a glance with Sunita before replying. "Bas purane zamane ki baatein. Kahi kahi kahaniya hoti hain jo unhi deewaron ke beech rehni chahiye jaha woh shuru hoti hain"

Shehnaaz frowned but did not press further.

"Acha ek baat puchu?" She hesitated before talking to him.

"Haan beta pucho na" Rajveer nodded.

"Yaha third floor par ek room hai wo band kiu hai? I mean kal jab main haveli ghum rahi thi to maine dekha wo zanziro se band hai kiu?" She asked out of curiosity.

Sidharth family exchange glance before Sidharth laughed.

"Tum kabse detective ban gai?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Bhabhi sa waha na aatma ked hai" Naina said with a horrified expression.

"A...aatma?"

"Haan aatma jo saalo pehle us kamre me ked kar di thi isliye waha jaana mana hai tum bhi mat jaana" Rajveer said with stern expression. Sidharth burst into laughed looking at her scared face.

"Bss isliye madam aapko nahi bataya tha maine i know you're scared of ghost."

"Mujhe kaam ke liye der ho rahi hai main nikalta hu" Rajveer said and left from there.

As the family dispersed after breakfast, Shehnaaz stayed back in the courtyard, enjoying the breeze. She looked up at the haveli's windows, her eyes drawn to the eastern wing where she and Sidharth were staying.

One of the windows was slightly open, and for a fleeting second, she thought she saw a shadow pass behind it.

Her breath hitched. She blinked, but the window was now still, empty.

"Bhabhi sa" Naina's voice broke her trance.

She turned to see the Naina waving at her. "Main Mandir ja rahi hoon Aarav bhai ke saath. Aap chalengi?"

Shehnaaz hesitated, glancing back at the window, but then forced a smile. "Nahi, tum log jao. Main baad mein aaungi"

Naina nodded and skipped away.

Shehnaaz remained rooted to the spot, her gaze lingering on the haveli's shadowed walls. Something was not right, and she could feel it in her bones.

As the wind picked up, a faint melody reached her ears, as if someone was humming from afar. It was hauntingly familiar but distorted, like a tune played on an old, broken instrument.

Her heart raced. She knew she had to find answers before the whispers turned into something she could not  ignore.

"Naina ruko main bhi aai" she run towards Naina and Aarav.

"Chaliye bhabhi sa"

"Acha tum wo kuch aatma ka bata rahi thi mujhe bataogi please?" Shehnaaz asked although she was scared but she wanted to know about it.

"Bhabhi sa wese to koi uska naam bhi nahi leta lekin mandir me chal kar baat karte hai hum aapko batayenge" Aarav said, she nodded and they headed towards the temple.

___________________________

Shehnaaz, Naina and Aarav sat inside the temple.

"Ye haveli sirf itni purani nahi hai jitni dikhai deti hai. Iski diwaron ke peeche ek aisi kahani hai jo koi nahi sunana chahta. Ye kahani Yuvraaj..."

Just as she uttered the name, a sudden gust of wind tore through the temple. Shehnaaz's dupatta flew up, and she instinctively held it in place.

"Hawa kaise chalne lagi? Abhi to mausam theek tha",  Shehnaaz said, her voice laced with confusion.

Naina and Aarav froze, their face turned pale. She glanced around nervously, clutching her dupatta tightly. "Bhabhi sa, mujhe lagta hai ye baat hume nahi karni chahiye"

"Kya? Tum kya chhupa rahi ho, Naina?" Shehnaaz pressed, but Naina shook her head, her earlier resolve crumbling under the eerie shift in the atmosphere.

"Nahi... kuch nahi," Naina muttered quickly, standing up. "Chaliye hum ghar chalte hai."

"Are magar-" Shehnaaz try to stop her but she run awar from there.

_____________________________

Shehnaaz watched Naina walk away in haste, her steps hurried as though she were running from something unseen. Left alone, Shehnaaz could not ignore the strange timing of the wind. It felt deliberate, almost like a warning.

As she stood, her eyes wandered toward the haveli's eastern wing. The windows rattled against the gusts of wind, and for a brief moment, she thought she saw the faint flicker of a shadow near one of the locked doors.

Shaking her head, she dismissed it as her imagination. "Kya ho raha hai mujhe?" she whispered to herself, wrapping her arms around her body as the air grew colder.

When she rejoined the family inside the haveli, she noticed Naina sitting quietly in a corner, her face still pale. Something was weighing heavily on her, but no matter how much Shehnaaz tried, Naina avoided her questions for the rest of the day.

________________________

That night, Shehnaaz sat in her room, her mind swirling with questions. Who was Yuvraaj? What had Naina been about to tell her? And why had the wind started so suddenly, silencing the conversation?

She glanced at Sidharth, who was busy flipping through an old family album.

"Kya dekh rahe ho?" she asked, trying to distract herself.

"Bas kuch purani photos" he replied, smiling faintly. "Ye dekho ye main hu"

Shehnaaz smiled but could not shake the tension in her chest. As Sidharth turned the pages, she noticed a picture of an old man standing in front of the haveli. Something about his face felt familiar, but before she could ask, Sidharth flipped to the next page.

"Main abhi aati hu" she said suddenly, excusing herself.

Shehnaaz wandered into the corridor, her steps guided by a strange pull toward the eastern wing. The air felt colder as she approached the locked door. The door was closed with the chains and a trishul was hanging there. The corridor seems horrible.

The faint sound of jingling ghungroos reached her ears.

Her heart pounded as she whispered, "Ye awaaz kaha se aa rahi hai?"

But before she could investigate further, a loud thud echoed behind her. She turned sharply, only to see a vase lying shattered on the floor. The corridor was empty, yet the feeling of being watched was unmistakable.

"Chali jaao." She hear a faint whispered in her ear. Her blood turned cold and almost run towards her room untill she meet him. Her eyes got widened in fear.

____________________________

That is it for today.

Hope you all like it.

Thanks for reading.