Chap 1 - The hot summer afternoon

"The blue building has caught fire!!".. "family is trapped inside", "help!!", "the witches are here".. "run!!!"

The whole village was running around trying to grab whatever they could and get out of there. Everybody seemed indecisive – should they help the people inside and put out the fire, or run as far away as their feet could take them.

It was a hot summer afternoon; Sivakami was walking fast, irritated after a heated argument with the vegetable vendor for quoting such unfair numbers. She kept mumbling about how vendors have become so unfair and scolding her daughter for crying over cotton candy! She was also cursing the time her provisions had to run out – the hottest day ever!

As she crossed the marketplace, she saw people running here and there and shouting "fire." Within a blink of an eye, there was a huge crowd running towards the marketplace. She quickly caught a firm grip on her daughter's hand and was trying to figure out what was happening.

Her neighbor came running to her and shouted in panic, " blue building - fire... RUN!!"

"Rudraaaa...." Sivakami yelled, and a sudden push from a villager got her toppling over to the ground. The bright shining Sun was the last thing she saw before losing consciousness.

---

"We will get back to you with a better story Sir! Sorry about this," saying this, Kira quickly cut the call to find a fuming Sada walking in. "JD rejected the script again didn't he?" said Sada furiously. "Urghh... can we just stop thinking about that and cursing him? Let's just look for a better one?" Kira was not ready to take in another session of Sada cursing JD for not appreciating her stories.

Dejected, Sada quietly grabbed a chair and settled down. "Did you get a call from that creepy woman after that day? She was telling you about someplace she wanted you to see?" asked Kira handing Sada a cup of coffee. "Oh.. that woman! Yea, she did call back. She wants us to take a look at that place. It seems like a really nice place for restoration. Tarini wanted some old ruined building for her art gallery right, I think she'll like this place," said Sada. Kira was happy that her plan to distract Sada worked. If there was something that interested both of them other than writing and art, it was site restoration and long expensive lunches with Tarini! "Awesome!! Grab your helmet, let's go check this place out. I'll buy you lunch!" said Kira trying to get Sada out of her room.

It was a very hot afternoon, almost like the hottest summer afternoon Kochi had experienced in a while.

"You haddd to get me out in this heat, didn't you?" asked Sada to Kira, who was already frustrated because of the traffic. "Don't you play the card on me, I was trying to get you out of that JD hell hole!" yelled Kira.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally reached the entrance of the Jew Street.

Jew Street has always been known for its markets; you can find almost anything and everything within the small and cramped gallis. Another attraction were the art galleries and antique stores.

"Drive slow, it should be somewhere around here...... Ahh!! there... stop stop!" shouted Sada, pointing to the old building in excitement. Kira jammed the breaks, and their red Vespa hit a stop. "Dude you gotta stop with the sudden bursts of excitement, doin me a heart attack man!" said Kira, adjusting her helmet to get a better look at the building and trying to see what got Sada sooo excited.

"Isn't this amazing? Look at the condition of the walls. The windows look really old. Look at the construction, the entrance is in the first floor," said Sada squeaking in excitement.

"Yeah... it looks pretty beaten! Tarini will go crazy seeing this." smirked Kira.

"I'll go click some pics, we can discuss with Tarini regarding the legal stuff needed to get this opened up. You coming?" asked Sada. " You start, lemme find some place with a little shade to park. I'll join you." said Kira, getting back on her Vespa.

Sada nodded in agreement and set out to explore the site. It was a tall structure, the most attractive part was the entrance being elevated to the first floor. There was a long set of stairs leading to the entrance that was concealed from sight when looked at from the street. Even after all these years, the stairs looked pretty sturdy. There were windows on the right side of the stairs overlooking the street; it was covered with a dark, dusty green sheet. Sada tried to get a better look inside but could not reach the windows. She quickly climbed to the nearest step and aimed her camera as high as she could to get a better shot of the insides of the building through the windows. Frustrated that she couldn't see the picture very clearly because of the glaring sun, Sada climbed the rest of the stairs and reached the door.

It was a very old, hefty wooden door. Upon a second look, Sada noticed what looked like a small rectangular cavity on one side of the door. She tried pushing the doors open, but it felt like it was locked from the inside. Sada slowly bent towards the cavity to take a better look at the inside of the building when her phone rang. It was Tarini. She answered the call with excitement and filled Tarini in with all the specs of the building. After noting down a few angles that Tarini wanted of the building, Sada got off the call. She took another look at the rectangular cavity, brushed aside the urge to break into the building, and reached for her camera to click pictures. She turned around to get a view of the street from the building and the wooden doors, windows, and the stairs. Just as she was about to get off, she heard what sounded like footsteps from within the building. Both shocked and a little curious, she was about to take a closer look through the cavity when she heard a loud bang on the door that almost got her to lose her balance. Sada, trying to compose herself and brush off bizarre thoughts, tried to make sense of what just happened. Just as she was about to get closer to the door again, there was another loud bang on the door, this time very loud and clear. The sound was reverberating through the insides of the building and shook Sada off her senses. "Sadaaa.... dude!! What are you doing?" Kira yelled from the street. After a second call, Sada got back to her senses and turned to find Kira looking at her confused. She was still on her Vespa. "There is some rally that is gonna happen, the other streets are blocked, let's get out before the traffic gets crazy," shouted Kira. Sada quickly composed herself, grabbed her camera, rushed down the stairs, clicked a last couple of pictures, and got on the scooter, and they drove off.

---

"What a day!! I'm soo dead man, the heat, traffic and that stupid JD to start it all off!" mumbled Kira as she and Sada were walking towards their flat. "I agree a very long day. I'm just gonna quickly send the pics to Tarini and let's order some good food and watch a movie!" said Sada turning to Kira, who was already on her phone trying to order their favorite food.

The following morning was a late start. Sada woke up, turned on her laptop, and found messages from Tarini from the previous day -

"Gosh Sada.. this place looks amazinggg.. I'm gonna go check this out the first thing in the morning. I'll meet you girls for lunch, you pick a place this time!"

Smiling at the message, Sada scrolled up to take a better look at the pictures she sent Tarini in a daze the previous night.

Sada's hands froze. She couldn't believe what she just saw. She zoomed in as much as she could, over and over again. It was something that she saw from the picture of the windows she took. They were on the first floor, right next to the door. Through a small gap through the window, Sada saw what she had a tough time digesting – There was NO FLOOR!

How did she hear the footsteps? Where did the loud bang come from? How could someone get to the first floor when the floor was all gone!? Sooo many questions flooded her. The first thing she could get herself to do was to call her professor. Sada frantically called again and again but got no response.

Her professor, Dr. Tarini Rudragosh... who was heading to the same building – The Blue Building.

to be continued...