Eternal Hunt

The Unreadable Journal

Shreya received a call from Preeti's mom. Aadi instantly became alert because the color completely drained from Shreya's face as she listened. She nervously revealed that Preeti was still missing. The police had found some torn pieces of her clothes in the jungle, but absolutely no other evidence. The police suspected that someone had intentionally destroyed the clues.

Aadi, who was already aware of the gravity of the situation, said in a serious tone, "This is not the first time."

Shreya acknowledged this under the shadow of fear, "Yes."

Aadi continued, "This Saachi jungle is very old. It holds some very deep secrets."

"Yes, but we have to find her," Shreya insisted. "Can you suggest a way?"

Aadi replied, "Why do you think I can help you, or that I have a way?"

"Because you seem very silent, calm, and focused," Shreya explained. "Maybe your mind works better in these situations."

Aadi leaned in. "The problems of the present always stem from the past."

"Meaning?" Shreya asked.

"Meaning, we have to look for the history of this town," Aadi said.

"Where can we find all this?" Shreya asked.

Just then, Piya chimed in, "The town's library."

"What will we find there?" Shreya asked her.

Piya replied, "Books, newspapers, and records that are at least 200 years old."

Shreya was stunned. "How the f**k do you know all this?"

Kartik remarked, "You look mischievous, but this knowledge..."

Piya laughed, "Hahaha, very funny. Now you will buy a sweet for me for this information."

"Of course," Kartik said with a smile.

After this, with a new plan in mind, the four of them left the canteen and headed for the town library.

The four of them arrived at the library and started searching through books, magazines, and old newspapers. Piya and Kartik wandered off to search separately, while Shreya and Aadi stayed together.

Shreya and Aadi were intently looking for clues. Meanwhile, Piya and Kartik got their romantic moment. Piya really liked Kartik. As they were looking for books, they got very close, and Kartik gave her a gentle kiss.

Elsewhere, Shreya found news about missing people on the front pages of the old newspapers. At the same time, Aadi was searching when he suddenly found a leather-bound book. The book looked quite old and unique, with a premium finish and pocket A5-sized pages. As soon as he opened the book, there was something strange written inside that Aadi couldn't read. Shreya looked at the book too. They used Google Translator, but the language detection failed! Both were amazed—what kind of language was this that couldn't even be detected on Google Translate? Looking at the text, it seemed like it was written in points or steps. It looked more like someone's personal diary, but they couldn't understand a single thing from it.

After searching for half an hour, they thought they should head home. Aadi agreed. Then, the two of them set off to find their friends.

As soon as Aadi and Shreya reached the last row of the library, they saw Kartik and Piya incredibly close to each other, getting deeply physical. Seeing Aadi and Shreya suddenly appear, Kartik and Piya snapped back to reality. They were deeply embarrassed and quickly started fixing their clothes. Aadi watched this with absolutely no expression on his face, but Shreya felt very shy seeing her friend in such a compromising situation.

Shreya and Aadi stepped outside to give them some space. Piya and Kartik quickly finished getting dressed.

Standing outside, Aadi asked, "Does Namah know you?"

Shreya denied it, "No, but he seems like a good person."

Aadi didn't show any emotion.

"Why, what happened?" Shreya asked.

"Don't you find something strange about him?" Aadi questioned.

"What's strange?" Shreya asked in surprise.

Just then, Piya and Kartik came outside, and the four of them got ready to return to their respective homes. Today was the first time such an intense romance had sparked between Piya and Kartik; both were completely lost in each other. Piya was very happy, and so was Kartik.

All four headed toward their homes. In the midst of all this, Aadi secretly kept that mysterious journal with him to investigate further.

Meanwhile, on their way home, Aadi and Shreya exchanged numbers for the first time. On the other hand, Kartik and Piya's first s****l encounter had been quite spontaneous; they themselves were shocked by it, but they both enjoyed it.

Shreya finally reached home and later went out for a walk in a park near her house. For a long time, she kept thinking about Aadi. She was also remembering those romantic glimpses from her dream. Suddenly, the weather took a turn. Shreya was all alone in the park, and it instantly started raining.

Just then, Namah suddenly appeared in that very park. Shreya was quite shocked—this was her society's park, and Namah didn't even have a vehicle with him, so how did he get here?

She asked in surprise, "Namah, how are you here?"

Namah replied calmly, "I was just passing by when it suddenly started raining, so I had to stop."

"Okay, okay," Shreya said.

"What are you doing here?" Namah asked.

"Just walking," Shreya replied. "And by the way, very good speech that day."

"Thanks," Namah said.

"So what is your line of work?" Shreya asked.

"Family business," Namah answered briefly.

"Okay," Shreya noted.

Namah's hair was wet from the rain, and he was looking quite attractive. Shreya noticed this, but there were no romantic thoughts or vibes coming from Namah toward her.

Shreya asked, "You have been living here for a long time, right?"

"Yeah, centuries," Namah said.

"What?" Shreya asked, stunned.

Namah quickly covered it up, "I mean... for a long time. My family used to live right here before."

Shreya asked directly, "So what do you think happened to the people who disappeared in the last few years? Where did they go?"

Namah became completely calm for a moment, yet he didn't let any stress show on his face. "What people?"

"Haven't you heard? People have gone missing," Shreya explained anxiously. "Those who disappeared in the past few years—there’s been no news of them, no evidence, no bodies. Just recently, my friend disappeared the exact same way."

"So do you think something bad happened to them?" Namah asked.

"I don't know about that, but not even finding the bodies of the people... is a little strange, isn't it?" Shreya pointed out.

"You are pursuing journalism with a lot of interest. That's very good," Namah said.

"Yes, but we haven't found any solid evidence. And I think those people are already dead," Shreya said.

"Who knows, maybe an animal attacked them," Namah suggested.

"Animals don't clean up the evidence," Shreya countered.

Just then, a message arrived on Shreya's phone, bringing their heated conversation to a halt. The message was from Aadi. Namah noticed the screen and immediately asked, "Boyfriend?"

"Oh no, he is my friend's friend's boss," Shreya replied.

"Okay, quite a distant relationship," Namah noted.

"Yeah, he is also investigating this situation just like me," Shreya casually revealed.

Namah immediately became alert and asked, "What did you say the boss's name was?"

"Aadi. He's a wildlife photographer."

A strange expression crossed Namah's eyes. "Okay, I should get going."

Shreya tried to stop him, "It's raining heavily right now."

"Yes, don't worry, I am not going to disappear," Namah said with a strange smile. Saying this, Namah walked away right into the rain.

After he left, Shreya messaged Aadi and told him how Namah had met her in the park today. She relayed every single detail to Aadi. Hearing this, Aadi was fully ready and alert. He felt an inner thrill knowing that Namah had finally found out about him. The game had now begun.