The Abandoned Storehouse

Eager's thoughts wandered here and there before focusing again on the search.

He thought for a moment before knocking the door of one of the houses in the vicinity. No answer came. He knocked again. Then, listened..... Nothing. Nobody answered the knock. He couldn't hear any sound from the house. He looked at the building again. He noticed that the building looked more like a store house, in tatters. An abandoned store house in middle of such an active place seemed strange.

He had actually thought of asking the neighbours about the exact location where they appeared. But this...seemed strange. Right next to a busy market place stays an abandoned storehouse. Something was off. He decided to check out.

Jaden was thinking where Eager went when he saw Eager walking towards him. Jaden hadn't spotted Eager for some time. So he decided to ask Eager where he was. But before Jaden could ask anything, Eager asked him some questions as if in a rapid fire round.

One after the other, the questions came without giving Jaden even a second to think of the answer.

"Do you know who owns that store house?"

"Where does he live?"

"Why is nobody answering the door?"

"Is that place abandoned?"

"Yes? Why?"

"Why isn't it used for anything?""

Six questions were shot at him at such a pace that he couldn't think clearly. Jaden felt slightly dizzy and numb. When the dizziness lifted, he saw Eager looking at him with great expectation. Jaden hadn't even understood what he was talking about.

"Eager, can you tell me slowly what you were talking about?"

Eager had lost his mind for a while in the excitement. Now he regretted asking these many questions at a time. "Do you see that rundown storehouse thereinyour East?" Eager pointed to the storehouse while asking.

"Yeah, I do. So?"

"Who owns that place? I tried knocking the door and nobody answered."

"That must be abandoned or something. Why? Are you interested in buying that?"

"Can you not ask me jokes atleast while my life is at stake?" Eager threw Jaden a glare. "I don't understand why that place is abandoned. This is busy bazaar and anybody could make huge profits if he were to buy that place. But then...why didn't someone do that? Another possibility is the existence of too many heirs. But now, the rules changed. All rights and properties goes to the first son. So that can't be that case either. Then why?"

"I actually do not know about that place either. Do you think the gate is in that place?"

"It can be. It can be anywhere in Depcod." Eager frowned before saying, "if it exists...."

"You are the one who gave that monster this idea. Now, there is nothing to frown about."

"Don't cry if I die. I had no surety of what I was saying. Who thought, that monster would actually take it seriously? It was just a question which I answered as usual. Never did I think this would be such a big trouble."

"Your brain is sharp. Except when you are angry," Jaden smiled sadly before saying, "a sharp brain can also be a curse at times."

Eager didn't reply.

Jaden then asked, "do you plan to buy that place and set up a business?"

"I will have to see whether I will live to see my business."

"Alright! No more joking! We can go and ask around about that place. The natives should know whats in there."

Eager was not happy. He wouldn't be happy until he found a gate. It's not that he was afraid of death. If he was, he would never enroll in the army. But...his mother and sister were living on his income. They had no one else to look after them. They only have him. He should provide them with food atleast. If he died while working in the army, still his mother and sister could live upon his pension. But he was killed for a punishment, his family would get nothing.

Jaden and Eager went around and knocked the door of a house. That was a house but merely looked like one. Poverty had taken over that house completely.

A woman open the door. She looked at Eager and Jaden with a suspicious eyes and did not dare to open the door completely. The army did not have such a good status among the people. So Eager and Jaden ignored the look.

The woman looked almost twenty five years old. Her face was tanned. She wasn't beautiful but still was striking. Her long yellow skirt was faded with too much washing. Her blouse didn't fit her well either. She almost hid behind the door and gathered the courage to ask.

"What do you want? Baba is not back yet."

Eager and Jaden did not bother to give an introduction. They asked her the matter immediately. "We came to ask about that storehouse near your home. Whose is that place?"

Her face suddenly turned pale. She looked as if she was afraid of something. She slightly peeked inside the house to see whether anyone was coming. Seeing thst nobody was watching her, she stepped out and slowly closed the door.

She talked in a very low voice as if the people inside the house was not supposed to hear. She smiled at them gently and spoke.

"Nobody speaks about that storehouse here. I'm not allowed to speak about it either. Nobody who goes into that storehouse comes back."

Eager and Jaden was shocked to hear that. Jaden asked. "What happened there? Is it because of any accident? Did anyone get murdered?"

"I don't the whole thing either. It happened a long time ago. Even before I was born. I heard if from my Nana. It used to be a normal storehouse too. People used to work there. One day nobody returned after work. Their relatives went to check out. They didn't return either. Since then, anyone who has gone in there, never returned. Some say it's a spirit. Some ay that the placd is haunted by its last owner's ghost."

Eager felt scared. At the same time he felt slightly happy. He thought he got a lead.

"Why did you say this to us?"

"Just like that. I have always been curious about that place."

The woman stopped talking for a while. She started thinking something and asked out of thd blue. "Why did you ask everyone to leave the bazaar?"

"We looking for something." Jaden replied without revealing anything.

"Oh! Well why you both leave the army? I mean, you seem like good people."

Both Jaden and Eager were surprised. "Not all people in the army are bad." They took leave from the girl and walked towards the bazaar to gather the soldiers.