NARRATOR'S P.O.V

An ordinary day in the town of Shivalaya. A small town located in the Himalayas. A town which has a prolonged history of warfare and conflicts. The town was patently one of the most stunning town of India. Yet it still was not so prominent, corresponding to the further momentous towns perhaps because of the orthodox and reclusive people residing there. Whatsoever it may be, but the town was exceptionally enchanting. Big Mountains, torrents and not to mention the dense forests that bordered the town.

Though it was an ordinary day for all yet there was something bizzare occurring inside the bijou of the Jaiswals. There were only two members residing in the Jaiswal residence and the pair were in their early 60s. Kedar Jaiswal and Nalini Jaiswal were their denominations. Kedar Jaiswal a jolly, chivalrous and a wise man, retired General of the Indian Army. A punctual gentleman who is on no account in a haste, howbeit presently he is leaving his house hastily. Nalini Jaiswal, wife of Kedar Jaiswal is also seen pacing here and there impatiently.

A car halts close to the paling of the garden. Mrs Jaiswal sprints towards the fence gate to unlatch it. The back door of the car opens and an outstandingly beauteous girl who appears no more than 18 comes out, she sprinted towards Mrs Jaiswal and embraces her tightly.
"Granny I missed you so much. " she said still hugging her beloved granny. Mrs Jaiswal smiled and kissed her forehead. After all she had seen her granddaughter after 6 long months.
"Look how much my little girl has grown up. " Mrs Jaiswal said hugging her sweet little granddaughter.
"Yes granny I am a big girl now. Last week I turned 18." she replied in her mellifluous voice. Mrs Jaiswal chuckled.
"Than I presume that from today you wouldn't want to munch on the cookies which I baked after all you are now all grown up. " she remarked teasingly. The little girl puffed out her cheeks. She was a huge fanatic of cookies and her granny was a star cookie maker. She was not at all ready to give up on cookies.
"No I'll eat it. You are my granny and you will feed me the cookies. " she said childishly to which her granny guffawed. She had still not changed much.

Meantime a 40 year old man is seen hefting up a massive trunk. He was perspiring even though the weather was moderately gratifying. Perhaps because he had been lifting up the boxes from quite a while. He trudged towards Mrs Jaiswal.
"Hey Mom. How are you. " he said wiping the sweat from his face.
"I am fine my son. It appears as if you are absolutely knackered. " she said anxiously as she drew out her hanky and began wiping the sweat from his forehead. The little girl giggled. She had never seen her granny like this, she has invariably seen her rebuking her father and even her grandpa. If there is any person who does not receives a scolding from her granny is her. She cannot recollect when her granny spoke to her by raising her voice last time. Perhaps because she was her only grand daughter. Not only her granny everyone in her house cherished and coddled her. She was the only child of her parents, which make her the only granddaughter of her grandparents too as they had only one son and that was her father.

She was contented arriving here would be an understatement, she was literally elated coming here. She on all occasions desired to come to her grandparents abode. She was merely 3 years old when she came here last time, even though she kept on meeting her grandparents as her father would frequently escort them to her home. She was really close to her grandparents. It was her father's occupation which had brought her to her grandparents little paradise. He got transferred here and now she is going to live here. She happily gazed around herself, the mountains took her breath away. They were just so enchanting. She always fancied secluded zones and this place was precisely what she dreamt of. The town didn't had plenty dwellings, surprisingly her grandparents house had only four houses near them and that too far away from each other. The whole town was covered with long grasses, meadows, turfs and the dense jungle of the Himalayas were bordering the town. She giggled. This place was a paradise.

She was gazing around when her eyes abruptly landed on a very bizarre structure. A Castle???? She had seen quite a few castles in her life as her father used to take her to Rajasthan for vacation. The castles in Rajasthan were dissimilar from this castle. This castle was black and it was glorious. She couldn't believe, she had seen so many castles in her life but no castle was so preserved as this one. It seemed like still someone is taking care of it. The castle was proudly reposing on the peak of the hill. The hill was not so elevated, one could comfortably reach there. She didn't realise why but she was frightened of this castle, the castle seemed evil and sinful. After all who paints a castle black.
"Heyyyyyy. " her thoughts were abruptly disrupted with a high pitched voice. She turned back to find two girls who look almost identical, standing near her. They both were wearing matching apparel and even their hairstyle were alike, both had made two ponnies on their head. She mentally giggled. She found them really cute.
"Hii. " she replied hesitantly.
"Remember us. " the twins said in unison with a huge smile plastered on their faces.
"Umm no. " she said nervously. She seriously didn't recognise them. The twins pouted.
"We used to play together when you were younger maybe 3-4 years old and we were 9 years old. " they said sadly. She felt bad for forgetting them but then she was just 3 years old, how can you remember what you did when you were 3 years old.
"I'm sorry I was quite younger maybe that's why I don't remember you. " she explained. The twins smiled. They were happy after all they made a new pal.
"Umm I have to go my mom is cooking lunch for me. Why don't you come to my house tomorrow we can get to know each other well." she proposed. The twins nodded. She waved her newly made friends goodbye and sauntered to her house.

She dragged a chair and took a seat near her granny. Her granny was chopping parsley on the chopping board. She curiously contemplated how her granny chop the parsley finely. Her granny smiled seeing her focused on the parsley being chopped. Meantime Kedar Jaiswal enters the house with a box of chocolates in his hands. He had already met his son outside as he was still moving the boxes inside the house. He was now really eager to meet his sweet little granddaughter. He had left his house in a haste in the forenoon to purchase chocolates for her, not to mention he had to search for the whole supermarket for her favorite chocolates. But he got them in the last. She saw him entering the house and than she sprinted to him. She hugged him tightly.
"Grandpa I missed you. " she said merrily. He chuckled and kissed her forehead.
"I missed you too my princess. " he said embracing her. How much he loved his granddaughter.
"Kedar you are late. " an angry voice bloomed around. They both looked at the source of the voice only to find Mrs Jaiswal standing there with her arms folded up to her chest. He gulped.
"I was buying chocolates for my princess. " he responded. She glared at him.
"Chocolates no way, you are going to spoil her teeth. " she said. The little girl knew she had to do something before her granny lays hold of the chocolate box and tosses it away. Her granny was very health conscious and never let her eat chocolates. So she took the box from her grandpa and dashed upstairs to her room before anyone could catch her. Her grandparents laughed. She still was there little girl.

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It was around 9:00 in the night when the jaiswal family were comfortably sitting in their drawing room talking about random stuff. They had already finished their dinner and were now happily chatting.
"I'll take you to the market tomorrow. You can buy whatever you want. " Kedar said with a grin to his granddaughter. She smiled. She still couldn't get the image of the castle out of her mind. She resolved to ask her grandparents to explore the castle.
"Grandpa can we go to the castle. " she asked politely. These words were ample for her grandparents to shudder in fright. They were aware that she will quer about the castle but still they were way very terrified to apprise her anything. Her granny despised that castle, every time she woke up in the morning she would pray for that castle to vanish. Even though she knew it would never happen.
"Not the castle my dear. " her grandpa told her politely. She pouted. Even though he didn't credited that cretinous tale to be true but still he pondered that it would be better if she doesn't go there. Besides he knew his wife surmised that story more than she trusted in anything. She will never let her even step inside the castle.
"But why. " she asked.

Her granny sighed. She thought it was better to tell her everything.
"Because a monster lives there. " she stated. The little girl instantly tensed up, she was always frightened of the monsters that were in the stories.
"Mom please you don't have to scare her. I can't understand why you still believe that stupid story. " her father said defending his daughter's wish to explore the castle.
"What story granny. " she asked poking her granny's shoulder lightly. She took a deep breath. For some fools for instance her son, it was just a story but she knew it wasn't. It was a curse, a curse that shall invariably endure as a curse. No one mustn't even think of breaking it. It was hexed for a reason and she wanted to tell that reason to her granddaughter, so as to ensure she never steps a foot inside that savage and unforgiving castle.
"Thousands of years ago our town was ruled by some creatures which were not human. The creatures which we now think as nothing but a myth. But they were real. They ruled us for centuries. Humans were still happy as the creatures were living in harmony with them. But one dark and unfortunate night a child was born in the middle of the forest. He was a werewolf. However he was not an average werewolf, he was gifted with some extraordinary powers by the gods. He was thought to save the humans and become their saviour and live in harmony and peace with them. But no one even had the idea that he was not at all what he seemed like. He was a monster. A cruel and unforgiving monster who took lives just for his pleasure. " she paused, she was always terrified of him, terrified of even thinking of him. But she decided to continue as the little girl was attentively listening to her.
"He was a crazy monster. He started killing humans and every creature he saw was coming in his way. His cruel and sadistic ways scared even the earth and the sky. He knew that one day the gods will try to kill him so he decided to worship the devil. He gave him innocent souls and the devil in turn gave him the potion to immortality. He will never die and will continue to cause havoc on the earth. He lived in that castle which you saw on the hill. The castle itself has seen more dead bodies than any graveyard. The Gods knew they had protect the mankind from this crazy beast, so they tricked him and cursed him to a deep sleep. Legends says he is still asleep in his castle. The Gods have hidden him in the castle so that no one can see him. No one knows how to break his curse. But my mother used to say there is something which is in the castle itself which can break his curse. But he should never wake up or else......." she was interrupted by her son.
"Enough for today Mom. Sharanya needs to sleep. We"ll continue this later." he said grabbing her daughter's hand.
"I know you don't believe in the curse. But trust me the legends are true. The castle is cursed and it should always remain this way. And I don't want my little girl to go even near that castle. " she said giving a warning.

Only if the little girl knew there was a monster asleep in his castle waiting to be free.