IS IT SAFE HERE?

Neha came out, hugged Jiya and started sobbing. "Where's Kartik? I am scared. I wanna go home."

"Calm down. We need to go out and find Kartik. But first of all we need to get out of here."

"That grandpa can help us."

"What help? We have to go out on our own. Didn't you see I wasn't able to go out. As if there's something invisible there. I tried twice but failed to get out."

"He said he will be preparing food for us."

"Don't be stupid Neha. It's not a safe place. We need to go as soon as possible."

"But that grandpa....."

"Neha please. Think to get out of here. We can't stay here. Didn't you see Kartik was with us when we saw this house. But then he suddenly disappeared. There's something wrong with this place. Stop trusting people so easily. Don't be a fool."

"Yes I'm a fool. I believed you and came here and now we are stuck in this place."

"Okay. I am sorry. Now stop complaining. It's not gonna help us in anyway. We....."

Jiya and Neha were arguing when they heard a voice from behind. "I asked the maid to prepare snacks. First eat something then let's talk about your problem."

Jiya turned around in full alert mode. "Who are you? Stay away from us."

The old man was calm and he replied unhurriedly, "I am friend. I can help you."

Jiya didn't buy that. She wasn't convinced by him. Her brother vanished outside this house or may be after coming in the house. How can she trust this old man in front of her.

The old man continued to persuade them to believe that he was a good man "I know you are afraid but.... Okay first of all tell me what are you doing in this area. It's not a safe place. Why are you kids here?"

"Let us go." Jiya demanded.

"Where will you go? Do you know where to go?"

Jiya didn't know what to say. Neha asked the old man for help from behind. "Grandpa, help us please."

"I want to. But your friend don't trust me."

"Okay. I trust you now." Jiya said to the old man. "Tell us how to get out of here. Why I wasn't able to get out of here before? And where's my brother?" Jiya had a lot of questions to ask.

"There's a shield around this place to stop intruders." Seeing Jiya's expression he continued to explain further. "What you are thinking is right. I a not a normal human either. But you can be safe over here."

"How did we enter if there's a shield?" Jiya wasn't convinced with the old man to stay here. She wanted to go out and find his brother.

"I saw you from this room so I allowed you to enter." The old man said.

"Then where's my brother you would have saw that too, right?" Jiya asked the old man.

"I saw you three. But only you two crossed the shield."

"Then where's my brother? You would have seen what happened to him."

"There's a lot of unusual things in this area. You don't know anything."

"Then tell me." Jiya yelled. Her patience has run out.

"I can help you to find her."

"Okay." Jiya finally agreed.

The old man sighed. It was good that he didn't lose his calm when he said "I can help you to find her." It's good that she didn't paid attention to what he said. She wasn't attentive that he said to find 'her' and not 'him'.

The old man asked the girls to come down. There were snacks on the tea table. He asked them to eat. Jiya refused. She asked him instead, "Tell me, where will I find my brother?"

The old man replied, "You don't need to find him."

"What? What do you mean?" Jiya was agitated.

"What I mean is that I will help you. It's dangerous for you to go out. What if something happens to you? So, you stay here and I will help you."

Jiya thought about it but wasn't comfortable to just sit around. She needed to find her brother himself.

The old man said to himself internally, "So stubborn and.... troublesome." and sighed.

Jiya was about to say that she wants to find her brother herself but before she could utter even a single word her world blacked out. She couldn't see anything, there was only darkness. She lost all her senses.