The storeroom was silent, save for their quickened breaths. Dust motes danced in the dim light filtering through the wooden slats of a high window.
Satya clutched the sketchbook tighter. The feeling of being watched still prickled at his senses, like unseen eyes crawling over his skin. He glanced at Saanvi—she was pale, her fingers trembling slightly as she adjusted her shawl.
"We need to get out of here," Virendra said, voice low but firm. "Whoever was out there… they knew we'd find this place."
Professor Raghav exhaled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "The fact that someone was waiting for us means we're close to something they don't want uncovered."
Satya's mind raced. Who betrayed Veer? The answer lay somewhere in these pages. But what if the past wasn't the only thing hunting them?
A sudden clatter from outside the storeroom made them all freeze.
Footsteps. Slow. Measured.
They weren't alone.
Virendra motioned for them to stay quiet as he pressed himself against the door. The wooden panels vibrated slightly with each approaching step. Then… silence.
Satya's pulse hammered.
Whoever was outside wasn't moving.
Saanvi took a slow step backward, her breath shallow. "They're waiting," she whispered.
A chilling thought crept into Satya's mind. What if they aren't just after the book?
What if they were after them?
A soft scrape against the door.
Then, a voice. Low. Unfamiliar.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Satya's fingers curled into fists. "Who are you?" he demanded, forcing steadiness into his voice.
A pause. Then—
"I'm someone who remembers."
A slow, deliberate knock.
Then footsteps, retreating.
The tension in the room thickened, pressing down on them.
Satya exchanged a look with Virendra before cautiously pushing the door open. The corridor outside was empty—save for a single object left on the stone floor.
A rusted metal cuff.
Satya's breath caught. It was identical to the one in Veer's sketch—the shackles he had worn in his final days.
Saanvi swallowed hard. "Satya… this isn't just a warning."
Professor Raghav adjusted his glasses, his expression grim. "It's a message."
Virendra bent down, examining the cuff. "Whoever left this knows the story. And they want us to stop digging."
Satya looked down at the sketchbook in his hands. Veer had been betrayed—by someone close. But their search for the truth had just unearthed a new question.
Was Veer the only one they silenced?
Or was someone else still watching from the shadows, waiting for history to repeat itself?