BOUNDED BY FATE

DEVIPURAM PALACE

The car entered the Devipuram village by eight in the evening. Nik drove for another thirty minutes to the other end of the village in the direction of the palace "Even the way to the palace is scarier".

Karthik rolled his eyes "Dumbo it is night! Ofcourse it would be scarier because it's dark".

Theera blinked her eyes open as she saw darkness around and looked at Nik who gulped as if he was scared "Have we reached?"

"Almost!" Karthik replied as Nik honked the horn making the huge gates open and Nik drove inside making Theera down the glass and looked out.

The four of them got out and stood before the palace "This is where we are staying?"

"We're here to purchase this palace and turn it into a hotel" Nik said.

"Wow! This place is amazing" Theera grinned as a woman in her fifties walked to them holding a huge carrier with a man behind her.

"Ayya! I'm Maniamma. I'll do the cooking and cleaning for you. That's my son Madan! He's the gardener for the palace. The palace is completely cleaned and we bought food for you. If you come in we'll show you to your rooms and serve you dinner before taking our leave" Maniamma politely introduced herself and her son.

"Leave? You'll not stay back?" Theera asked.

"Uhh....no one will dare to stay here at night madam" Madan replied.

"You're saying as if this is a chandramukhi's house" Theera chuckled.

"It is more dangerous than chandramukhi's house madam" Maniamma seriously said making Nik gulp.

"Alright! Give me the keys. Let's see if there's a real chandramukhi or kanchana in there" Theera forwarded her hand making Madan and Maniamma look at each other before dropping the keys in her hand.

Everyone walked towards the front doors and Theera unlocked the huge doors pushing them with force since they are heavy. The doors opened to a huge living room with so many couches making Nik and Karthik amazed "Wow! This will make us three times richer than we already are".

"This is where Raja Darbar was held during the King's time" Maniamma said as they walked inside.

Once Theera took a step she started shaking startling everyone and immediately Nik took a step back as Theera opened her eyes looking at Nik like she is about to kill him "How dare you step into my house? I'll kill you all" and charged at him making him scream as everyone widened their eyes.

"Ahh" Nik screamed as Theera held his throat while Karthik rushed to stop her but immediately stopped when Theera laughed out loud moving away from Nik who slowed his screaming.

"Oh my god! You should have seen your face" Theera held her stomach laughing continuously making everyone sigh as Dhruv ignored them shaking his head walking inside looking around the interiors.

Nik tapped the middle of his chest breathing heavily "You gave me a heart attack mad girl" making Theera control her laugh.

"I'm just training you for future purposes Nik. What if really the ghost comes and your heart stops?" Theera asked making Nik look at Karthik to help him.

"She has point you know" Karthik took Theera's side.

"This is no joke madam. You don't know about this palace. It's really dangerous and many died trying to purchase it" Madan tried explaining not to play any tricks here.

"Ayyo! There's no such thing as ghosts here. It's all a stupid story created by some people. If there's really a ghost then why didn't it do anything to the workers or cleaners here? You and your silly stories" Theera walked into the middle of the huge living room and did a round grinning "See this palace! It speaks with us with every detailing in the interiors. It's so beautiful and you're calling it a haunted place".

Dhruv started walking towards a door making Maniamma rush "Ayya! I'll show your room".

"There's no need for that. I know my room" Dhruv walked away making them frown.

"How did the boss..." Nik trailed off.

"The ghost told him" Theera looked at Nik making him widen his eyes.

"I sent him the palace pictures idiot" Karthik rolled his eyes and followed Maniamma along with Theera while Madan went to kitchen.

Maniamma took the lift to the third floor and walked at least five minutes until they reached a room door "See if you like this room madam".

Theera opened the door and shook her head "Is there no better room other than this?"

"You don't like it?" Nik asked making her shrug "Then I'll take this room" and went inside shutting the door on their faces.

After showing Karthik his room Maniamma walked to a huge door "This used to be a princess room" and opened the door.

"This is mine" Theera walked inside making Maniamma sigh.

"Please freshen up and come for dinner Amma" Maniamma left her closing the door behind her.

Dhruv came out of the shower and changed into night wear before walking to the huge balcony looking out at the whole village which is sleeping peacefully as the air picked up. He walked out of his room and then downstairs for dinner.