Aarav aur Meera dheere-dheere us naye raaste me aage badhne lage. Surang bahut sankri thi aur har taraf se thandi hawa aa rahi thi. Torch ki roshni bas kuch kadam tak hi ja rahi thi.
Meera ne dheere se kaha,
"Yeh jagah mujhe bilkul sahi nahi lag rahi… lagta hai koi hume dekh raha hai."
Aarav ne chup rehne ka ishara kiya. Surang ki deewaron par purane aur ajeeb nishaan bane hue the, bilkul waise hi jaise us darwaze par bane the jise unhone khola tha.
Achanak unhe paani tapakne ki awaaz sunai di। "Tap… tap… tap…"
Surang ke end par ek chhota sa kamra dikhai diya. Kamre ke beech me ek purana lakdi ka box rakha tha.
Meera ne hairani se kaha,
"Yeh box yahan kaise aaya?"
Aarav dheere-dheere us box ke paas gaya. Usne box ka dhakkan khola।
Jaise hi dhakkan khula, andar se halki si neeli roshni nikalne lagi।
Box ke andar ek purani chaabi thi, jiske upar wahi symbols bane hue the।
Aarav ne chaabi uthai aur bola,
"Shayad yeh kisi aur darwaze ki chaabi hai…". Tabhi achanak surang zor se hilne lagi।
Deewaron se mitti girne lagi aur kamre ke kone se ek gehri aur daraavni awaaz sunai di—
"Tumne… meri chaabi chura li…"
Aarav aur Meera dono dar ke maare ek dusre ki taraf dekhne lage।
Surang ke andhere kone se ek badi si parchhai dheere-dheere bahar aa rahi thi…
Uski aankhen laal roshni me chamak rahi thi।
Meera ki awaaz kaanp gayi—
"Aarav… yeh kya hai?". Aarav ne chaabi zor se pakad li।
Usse samajh aa gaya tha —
Yeh chaabi shayad is mahal ka sabse bada raaz kholne wali hai…
Lekin kya wo us parchhai se bach paayenge?
(To be continued…)
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