Shivni was starting to get afraid. Nivitha had walked into the dark tunnel about half an hour ago and still hadn't returned. All of their other friends were waiting near the entrance for her but they did not dare to tell the teacher. She took a deep breath and turned to her friends.
"Don't you think Nivitha should have come back by now?" she asked.
Gopal nodded. " I don't think it is safe...who knows whether anything or anyone kidnapped her?"
"You really think someone lives in there? But who would?" asked Devaprabha.
"Demons....sorcerers....witches....fairies...who knows?" said Dhruv with dramatic expressions.
"Should we go and look for her?" asked Sathvik.
"Let's wait for a few more minutes... we would know if some danger is there." said Elvira who spoke for the first time.

Meanwhile, Nivitha walked deeper and deeper into the tunnel. It was dark and quiet.   She had lost her sense of time and distance. She walked slowly trying to check her surroundings. Suddenly, a small breeze blew towards her. Nivitha yelped and stopped. She held her breath, a bit afraid. She tried to walk but was not able to as the wind was stronger around her. It was as if she was in the middle of a cyclone, standing in its eye. There was lesser pressure in the place where she was standing, but if she took a single step ahead, there would be more pressure in her position. As she listened closely, she heard footsteps coming her way. She wanted to light a torch and see the person but didn't want to reveal herself. After waiting for a while, her patience got better of her and she cleared her throat.
"Whoever goes there would you please be kind enough to reveal yourself?" She asked as politely as she could. After all, she didn't want to offend the stranger. Who knows what he was capable of. She heard a small chuckle. Suddenly, a torch was lit and she could see the surrounding very clearly. She was indeed inside a structure that seemed to be ancient but was clean. She could only see walls and nothing else. The walls were decorated with some writing and small pieces of firewood laid near her. The wind was still blowing but it did not put out the light. Then she saw the stranger. It was a young girl about her age or a bit elder. She wore an ancient lehenga and was covered in modern ornaments. She held a lantern in her hand and was looking at Nivitha curiously.
"I live nearby. My name is Avani and I am with my Grandfather and sister. You seem familiar but I am sure I have never seen you here. Who are you?" she asked.
"I am Nivitha and no, I have never travelled in this path before. I had come with my friends and had lost my way. But now that I think about it, you are familiar. But I don't remember where I have seen you. Can you take me to your family? Perhaps they would be able to help us."
The other girl, Avani, nodded and beckoned Nivitha, walking forward. To her surprise, the wind ceased to blow on the path they walked.

After waiting for long, Nivitha's friends were really worried and had run into the tunnel. That had happened 3 hours ago. They were half the path Nivitha had travelled and were running at a quick speed.

What none of them realized was that the time was different inside the tunnel. As they went deeper and deeper, the time went slower and slower. In other words, according to Nivitha, she had travelled for 8 hours but according to her friends she had travelled for 4 hours and they had travelled for 2 hours. But to those who were outside the tunnel, Nivitha was gone for just 1 hour and the others were gone for half an hour.

After some time, Nivitha's friends almost got near her. She was talking to an old man. There was also another girl, who had introduced herself as Avani, and another boy next to her. There was another man who was also old sitting nearby and there was an old woman next to him. Next to her, there was also a middle-aged man and a woman. They seemed like 2 families and all of them wore ancient clothes. Then, as they reached up to her, Nivitha started walked further at a greater speed. They all walked swiftly for over an hour when they reached a big room. It looked like something straight out of a storybook. There was a big picture that resembled one from Mahabharat times in a wall of the room and many objects were kept next to it.

Nivitha went around looking at each object carefully. A beautiful ancient box was what attracted her the most. She opened them to find a small flute that was beautifully decorated and a small ancient paper next to it. She slowly blew into the pipe curiously and then kept it back. Then she took the paper and read from it. It was in the Hindi alphabets but the words weren't familiar. It was Sanskrit, she realized. So, she read it thrice trying to make sense of it. As she almost finished the third time, her friends had reached near her.
"Nivitha Didi, stop! Don't do it. We aren't supposed to touch anything!" shouted Dhriti. But it was too late. The damage was done. Suddenly the wind started blowing harder and harder. The whole room started to vibrate. The objects were all moving and the floor started to rumble. Suddenly a bright flash of light appeared from the picture. The light grew and started to swirl; the larger it became, the faster it spun. Soon the picture became bigger and bigger and the room became smaller and smaller. All of them jolted against their will. There was a swirling vortex coming from the picture and it was pulling them inside.
"Run!" Sathvik screamed and they all ran to the opposite end. But it was of no use. The strength of the vortex was too strong. It was as if they were pulled into a cyclone. They were spinning and spinning and spinning and they were pulled at different speeds. They had tried to hold each other but failed. The spinning reached the maximum and then everything went still. The screams of the children echoed for some time and then it stopped. The room was as it was before. But the children were nowhere to be found. They were sucked into the picture! And in fact, the picture was a time portal!

That is the end of the 7th chapter. The children were sucked into a time portal! What do you think will happen next? Who do you think were the stranger and her family? Please type in the comments. Did you like this chapter? I had forgotten to tell you that I will update the 4th chapter later as I am unable to open it. Will try to update the next chapter soon. Thank you! Bye!