Realization

"Why this place feels familiar, as if I have been here?" Jai thought to himself but didn't report it, as he first wants to recall where he has seen this place. 

They continued to search the rooms to find clues and/or tools to help them exit this place.

***************

Second group, led by Miss Neeti- their english teacher, a woman in her early twenties standing at the height of 1.71 m with light brown hair and dark eyes, average looks but sharp features and wearing a red saree and black low heels, her waist long hairs untied and curly at the ends- when entered the hallway, didn't find any rooms till the end of it, only similar murals they had seen earlier on both sides of the hallway covered in dust. When they reached the end of the hallway, they found a stone gate made of a black rock, robust, 3 m in height, 2 m in width and filled with silver lines, upon closer inspection and with the help of flashlight they discovered that those silver lines are miniature symbols and pattern carved in the stone and filled with silver metal. They also discovered that despite being abandoned for a long time there was not even a speck of dust as if someone cleaned it every day. The gate was a fine piece of craftsmanship, it was smooth to touch, if someone was blindfolded and not told that it was made of stone they would mistake it for glass.

As they found nothing else but a closed gate, they tried to open it but try as they might they could not open it. There were no handles attached to the gate so they can only push it with all their might but to no avail.

"Haah...haa... Should we return back and wait for others, or should we continue trying to open the gate?" Yug- an 18-year-old boy standing at the height of 1.83 m with average looks, dark hair and dark eyes, wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans and black shoes- asked while huffing and panting, sweat on his face. The group turn towards Miss Neeti to hear her reply.

Yug joined Miss Neeti's group to look after Tanya, his cousin.

 After thinking for a while Miss Neeti replied, "I think we should head back as there is nothing else to search here and we can't open the gate. Others might have found a key or something to open the gate." She tried to appear calm, but worry can be seen on her face.

Everyone nodded and turned to go back from where they came from.

*************

Third group, led by Mr. Kumar- their physics teacher, a man in his early forties standing at the height of 1.7 m with average looks, dark hair and dark eyes, a neatly trimmed moustache and beard, wearing a khaki shirt, black pants and brown shoes; he has a receding hairline, his hairs greying at the sides, wrinkles around his eyes and had a pot belly- when entered the hallway, they too didn't find any room on their way to the end of hallway where also resides a stone gate, except it was 5 m tall and 3 m in width and was even more majestic, while even more of those symbols and patterns filled its surface making it look like a piece of art. 

After their futile attempts to open the gate, they too returned. 

 ************

When the second group arrived back, they found that no one has returned. A few moments later after their arrival third group returned as well.

As both groups approached each other Miss Neeti asked with some expectation not noticing their distressed expression,

"Found anything?"

"No, just a huge stone gate at the end of the hallway which we can't open." Mr. Kumar replied.

Surprised, Miss Neeti asked about the gate and shared her group's experience. 

".... The only difference between both the gates is their size and amount of those patterns." Miss Neeti said after their discussion. 

After a brief silence Neha- an 18-year-old girl, shy and petite, standing at the height of 1.59 m with a cute face, dirty brown hair and dark eyes, wearing light blue jeans, a red full sleeve top and white shoes; her hair tied in a ponytail- sheepishly asked, "S-should we search the last place, or should we wait for others?" 

 Mr. Kumar replied after a thought and looking at Miss Neeti, "I think we should wait; 15 minutes are almost up, they may be coming back at any moment now." To which Miss Neeti just nodded.

************

It took them almost 20 minutes to search all the rooms. They were reporting what they discovered while returning, as instructed by Mr. Mehra, when unexpectedly they all froze as they felt that indescribable feeling again, this time only for a split second. After it was over they didn't ask just looked at each other realizing they all felt it. This time they felt as if their senses have become a little sharper. 

***********

While waiting for the last group to arrive, they felt it too.

"You all felt it .... right?" There were several nods and 'yes', after it they all felt silent not knowing what to say. Fortunately, when the silence was almost too much to bear, the last group arrived. 

"Found anything?" Miss Neeti asked with hope.

Mr. Mehra first looked at her then towards Mr. Kumar and then shared what he and his group has found. The first room they had entered was what appeared to be a kitchen of dimensions 6 m x 5 m, while other rooms, all of same dimensions, are deemed as bedrooms due to presence of broken and decaying bed in each room. He also told them about the absence of insects and spiders* and mushrooms, while there were a few mushrooms in first few rooms, there was a complete absence of them in later rooms. After he finished, he asked about their founding's. After hearing of what they have found he first saw hope but was soon disappointed when he heard that they could not open the doors. Miss Neeti then told them that there could be a key or something similar with which they can open those doors. He wanted to reprimand her for her witless thinking, why would there be a key to a locked gate inside it, but stopped because he didn't want her and many of the children's last hope to be crushed and cause panic. 

After a few minutes of discussion, they went to explore the last area. There they found similar to what Mr. Mehra's group has found. They then returned, searched the hall they have arrived in through the portal; it was bigger than the rooms they searched around 20 m x 15 m in dimensions but still found nothing to open the gates. It started a panic among the group. They felt as if they will be trapped there for life and their family may not even know where they went missing. 

The adults started to pacify the teenagers; they calmed them down a little, enough to make sure they or one of them doesn't do something drastic. Although they have calmed down a little the anxiety was still present. 

They all took one of the chairs and sat down as they have nothing to do nor have an idea of what to do in this situation. They were all silent each having their own thoughts which they were keeping to themselves. This kept on for a few minutes. 

Dhruv who was sitting beside Jai spoke in a whisper to him, "You know Jai, when I first saw that portal and it sucked us in, I thought we will be welcomed by royalty of a kingdom like in all those stories, who summoned the heroes to help them survive the calamity and then they will say their cliche line..." He stops, looks Jai in eyes and spoke with a fake begging tone, "O' heroes from another world please save our world from the tyranny of the Demon King." He then laughs. Jai first smiled then joined him and started laughing as well. 

Although they were not laughing loudly, it could still be heard. Yug, who was near them, turn towards them furiously and shouted at them in anger, "Why are you both laughing?! Is there something to laugh about in our situation?!" Jai replied, turning around, "Oh so what are we supposed to do in this situation, huh?! You tell me! What should we do?! Cry like babies?!" 

"Stop it, you two." Before their verbal argument turned physical, Mr. Mehra stepped in stopping them. 

They both took a step back. While Yug went to sit beside his cousin, Jai went for a walk to cool off a bit. Dhruv followed him, while Mr. Mehra sent Aditya to keep an eye on them and call for them if anything happened without any hesitation. 

Jai went where Mr. Kumar has led his group. At first his steps were hurried, then he slowed down after knowing that Dhruv and Aditya were following him. He took a deep breath to calm himself and asked turning towards Aditya, "Why are you following us?" he pointed towards himself and Dhruv. 

Aditya replied honestly, "Mr. Mehra asked me to."

Jai didn't say anything, turned around and continued walking. 

Dhruv to make his mood better continued their conversation, "You know what else is cliche in those novels?"

"What is?" Jai asked. 

"When the protagonist of the novel comes across a situation that clearly states, 'no path forward', due to some dumb logic there is a solution lying right there in their toolbox or a powerful magic artifact who 'no one can wield' can be wielded by him easily or some similar bullshit."

"Yeah, but this is real life, and you are no Randy Meeks.**"

**********

While they were talking, they arrived in front of majestic gate. When Jai first saw the gate, he was in awe of its size and craftsmanship but then it hit him as to why he felt such familiarity with this place. 

Still stunned by his revelation he turns towards Dhruv and spoke, "Maybe you are Randy." 

*********

* Spiders are NOT insects they are arthropods.

** A character from the Scream franchise.