(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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Gujarat Girls' School...
Inside the Cafeteria...
The thick wooden door swung open.
Rows of trembling students stood scattered like broken dolls,
Their eyes wide, wet with tears—
But their hands gripped sharpened forks, shattered glass, and jagged desk legs.
They were crying and whispering through clenched teeth,
"Please… help us…"
—Even as their bodies twisted unnaturally, jerking in unison at some unseen command.
The sight made even the most stoic officers freeze.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Inadu's eyes darkened,
Veins lightly surfacing around them.
She leaned close to Jojo,
Her voice sharp and quiet as a blade,
"It's not voodoo, Jojo. This… this is black magic—Kalajadu. A rare one. The cruel kind that locks the soul inside the body while someone command becomes your gospel."
Jojo's jaw tightened.
"...."
"So they can see what they're doing… but can't stop it."
Inadu nodded.
Nod~
"They're prisoners in their own flesh."
Caroline's throat tightened as she took in the terrified faces of the girls.
One of them—
A small girl barely twelve—
Was crying silently while her hand pressed a broken bottle against her own throat, held back only by sheer will.
Caroline stepped forward instinctively, but Jojo raised a hand, halting her.
"Don't..."
Atharva exhaled shakily and stepped toward the center of the room.
Sigh~
The parents behind the police barricade called out desperately,
Some shouting their daughters' names, others begging for mercy.
Atharva faced them and the inspector, his voice calm but heavy with guilt.
"Listen to me. The one your daughters are calling for—Pradhap—I know where he is."
The inspector looked at him sharply.
"You know? Then why didn't you—"
Atharva cut him off.
"Because if I tell them where he is now… more people will die. That man is no man anymore. He's the reason this curse was born."
The ground trembled faintly, the ceiling fans rattling.
The air turned colder.
The students all stopped trembling—
Then turned their heads slowly toward Atharva in unison.
Their voices fused, forming one deep,
Hollow tone that made even Jojo's flames flicker.
"Where… is… PRAAAADHAAAP…"
"Where… is… PRAAAADHAAAP…"
"Where… is… PRAAAADHAAAP…"
Atharva's breath hitched.
The sound alone seemed to press into his bones.
Jojo took a step forward, the faint scent of sulfur spreading around him.
His voice rumbled low.
"Whoever's behind this—he's listening. We're not giving him what he wants."
One of the girls—
Her eyes bleeding black tears—
Spoke with a voice not her own.
"Where… is… PRAAAADHAAAP…"
Caroline's eyes darted to Jojo, alarm flashing.
"..."
Athrava continued,
"If all the girls were under control, then the one controlling them must be nearby."
Hearing that, Jojo didn't say a word.
"...."
He calmly walked over to a table,
Picked up a water jar, and started drinking from it.
Everyone's eyes followed him, wondering what he was doing —
"...."
"...."
"...."
Except Inadu, who knew exactly how sharp Jojo's sense for sin could be.
When the inspector started to step forward,
Caroline raised a hand to stop him, frowning in confusion.
Frown~
"...."
Before anyone could react,
Jojo suddenly hurled the jar toward the dustbin.
CRACK! SHATTER!!!
The glass shattered —
And the girls, even against their will,
Twitched and staggered violently,
As if something had jolted their minds.
Jojo glanced at Inadu and gave a small nod.
Nod~
"...."
She responded by raising her palm and clenching her fist.
Instantly, the dustbin exploded outward,
BOOM!
Revealing a fat man crouched inside, struggling to breathe.
The fat man's eyes widened in terror as he stared at Inadu.
"You... you're the same as us!"
He gasped.
Inadu sneered, her voice cold with disdain.
Sneer~
"We're not even in the same book."
Before the man could respond,
Jojo stepped forward.
His hand shot out, gripping the man by the neck and hoisting him off the ground with effortless strength.
"...."
The fat man kicked and flailed,
His face turning red as Jojo dragged him toward the exit.
No matter how hard he tried to speak,
No sound came out —
His throat was locked tight in Jojo's grip.
Without his voice, his control over the girls broke.
They stood frozen, like lifeless dolls, their blank eyes staring into nothingness.
"...."
"...."
"...."
As Jojo dragged the culprit toward the door,
The police inspector quickly stepped forward, blocking his path.
"Wait! We'll handle this,"
The officer said firmly.
"He's under arrest."
Jojo raised an eyebrow,
"...."
His burning eyes flicking toward the inspector —
But before he could speak,
Atharva's voice broke through the tension.
"No!!!... I know who he's asking for,"
Atharva said grimly, his tone sharp enough to silence the room.
"...."
Everyone turned toward him as he continued, his expression shadowed by old pain.
"Sixteen years ago… Pratap came to my home who I met before at a Hotel. My daughter were taken — not kidnapped, but controlled,"
He said, his voice trembling.
"She smiled, laughed, ate… but her eyes—"
He paused, his jaw tightening.
"Her eyes were empty. Like dolls."
He looked at the fat man trembling in Jojo's grasp.
"I found Pratap later. wanted to do a human sacrifice my daughter along with many more teen girls."
A heavy silence filled the cafeteria —
Even the possessed girls seemed to sense the weight of his words.
Caroline lowered her gaze,
Feeling the pain behind his calm exterior,
While Inadu clenched her fist,
She knew what is like to be controlled by someone."
Atharva's voice grew heavier as he went on,
His eyes distant —
Trapped between rage and regret.
"To save my daughter,"
He continued,
"I did what no father should ever have to do."
He turned toward Jojo, then to the others —
"...."
His words slicing through the tense air.
"When I found Pratap, I realized the curse was spreading through sound — through his words. So I took his tongue,"
He said flatly.
"Cut it out… before he could finish the chant that would've taken her hearing forever."
Gasps rippled through the parents nearby.
Even the police officers froze.
"...."
"But it was too late,"
Atharva added quietly.
"To save her from the curse I damaged her ear drums through screw driver. She hasn't heard a single sound since that night."
He took a trembling breath before continuing,
His tone hardening again.
"I kept him alive. Down in my basement. Fed him rats, spoiled meat, whatever filth I could find. I made him feel the rot he'd spread."
Atharva's eyes flicked toward the fat man still struggling in Jojo's grip.
"For sixteen years, I searched for a cure. Every ritual, every hospital, every scripture I found about black magic. Nothing worked. My daughter still sits in her bed, staring blankly— trapped between silence and madness. with a frozen smile plastered on her face."
The room fell utterly still.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Caroline's throat tightened as she whispered,
"My God…"
While Inadu's expression turned grim, sensing the sadness from her face.
Jojo, silent all this while, lowered the fat man to the floor and looked directly into Atharva's eyes.
"Sixteen years,"
He said quietly.
"You chained the curse instead of breaking it."
Hearing Atharva's story, something clicked in Jojo's mind.
"...."
He froze for a moment —
The details, the curse, the imprisoned man —
It all felt eerily familiar.
'This… this was just like that film,'
He thought.
'Saitan. But this world… it's different. This isn't Ajay Devgn standing before me. This is something real.'
He drew in a slow breath,
Pushing that thought aside for now.
Reality and fiction blurred too often in his path —
But right now, the old man's pain was real.
Jojo exhaled a deep sigh and looked straight at Atharva.
Sigh~
"We can cure your daughter,"
He said calmly.
The words struck like lightning.
"...."
Atharva's eyes widened, his breath catching mid-sentence.
"You… what did you say?"
He asked, his voice trembling —
Half disbelief, half desperate hope.
"...."
Jojo's gaze didn't waver.
"There's a way to break the binding curse."
Atharva clenched his fists, trembling.
Caroline watched him carefully, while Inadu give him pity look.
"She's been trapped for sixteen years,"
Atharva said, voice breaking.
"If you're lying—"
"I don't lie,"
Jojo cut him off gently, his tone firm but not unkind.
"I deal with truth — even when it burns."
Meanwhile, the fat man's expression shifted from fear to sheer rage the moment he heard Atharva's confession —
"...."
That Pratap, his uncle and teacher, had been mutilated and imprisoned for sixteen years.
His eyes widened, bloodshot with hatred, muscles straining against Jojo's grip as if the fury itself might break his restraints.
He gurgled something —
No sound coming out —
But his glare said everything.
'He wanted Atharva dead.'
Jojo didn't flinch.
"...."
He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a black card edged in silver,
And handed it to the inspector beside him.
The man took it, frowning as he read aloud the letters embossed across its surface.
Frown~
"...."
D.M.C — Devil May Cry.
Jojo's voice was calm, composed, yet carried that quiet authority that silenced everyone around him.
"We're part of a private organization,"
He said, his tone clipped and professional.
"We specialize in neutralizing supernatural threats. You can call it… advanced containment."
The inspector looked up, still unsure, his thumb tracing the metallic logo.
"And what are you saying we should do with him?"
He asked, nodding toward the fat man,
Nod~
Who was now growling behind clenched teeth.
Jojo's eyes turned cold.
"If the curse is to be broken,"
He lied smoothly,
"the caster must die."
For a heartbeat, silence ruled the cafeteria.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The officers, parents, and even Atharva froze.
Then, from the floor where he was pinned,
The fat man's eyes went wide —
Bulging, almost trembling.
"...."He tried to shout, but no words came out —
Only guttural noises and muffled gasps.
His struggle grew frantic, desperate, like a cornered animal sensing its own end.
He could clearly see the guy who was holding him want's him to dead.
Inadu shot Jojo a look —
She knew that tone.
He was lying.
But Jojo just gave a silly smile.
Then, he turned to the inspector waiting for his answer.
The inspector hesitated for a few seconds,
"...."
Torn between protocol and the chaos unraveling before him.
Then, without another word,
He turned and stepped aside,
Clutching his walkie-talkie.
His voice was low and tense as he spoke to his higher-ups.
Everyone in the cafeteria watched silently as he relayed Jojo's explanation —
That the only way to free the girls was to eliminate the caster.
There was a long pause on the line…
"...."
Then the faint crackle of a voice came through,
"…Proceed with the encounter."
The inspector froze for half a breath, his jaw tightening.
"...."
Then he turned around, face set like stone.
He reached for his service pistol and approached the fat man,
Who was still restrained in Jojo's grasp.
Caroline rised her eye brow.
She started, but before she could finish,
BANG!
The gunshot echoed through the cafeteria.
The bullet struck clean through the fat man's forehead.
His body jerked once, then went limp in Jojo's hand before collapsing to the ground.
THUD.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then—
One by one—
The possessed girls gasped sharply, their blank, terrified eyes suddenly clearing as if a heavy veil had been lifted.
They looked around, trembling, confused,
Some breaking into sobs,
Others calling for their parents.
The crowd erupted into cries of relief and disbelief.
Mothers rushed forward, embracing their daughters, weeping.
Officers stumbled back, exhaling, their guns still raised in shock.
Jojo stood still, expression unreadable,
The smoke from the gun drifting past his shoulder.
He looked down at the body and muttered quietly,
"…It's over."
Inadu glanced at Jojo and whispered, her tone dry but curious.
"You lied to them, didn't you?"
Jojo's lips curved into a faint smirk.
Smirk~
"Maybe,"
He said.
"But it worked."
Atharva stood nearby, silent.
"...."
For the first time in sixteen years, the weight in his chest began to ease.
The sun had begun to sink low,
Spilling a dim orange hue across the Gujarat countryside.
Dust swirled behind Atharva's old Ambassador car as it rumbled along the uneven road,
Leading the way.
Jojo followed close behind in the black jeep,
His hand resting casually on the steering wheel while Inadu sat beside him,
Her eyes scanning the road ahead.
Caroline, seated in the back, stayed quiet —
Her gaze flicking between Jojo's reflection in the rearview mirror and the worn car ahead of them.
None of them spoke much during the drive.
The atmosphere was thick —
Not with tension, but with unease.
Finally, after nearly an hour,
Atharva slowed his car before a rusted iron gate.
The gate creaked open with a protesting groan as he stepped out and waved for them to follow.
Creak~
Jojo drove in, the jeep's tires crunching over gravel.
Ahead stood an old colonial-style house,
Its paint long faded, vines crawling across the walls like veins.
The windows were dimly lit —
And the faint smell of something old and metallic lingered in the air.
Atharva parked his car and motioned for them to come in.
Jojo and the others stepped out.
"Looks good,"
Caroline muttered under her breath, wrinkling her nose.
Atharva ignored the comment and walked straight to the front door,
Unlocking it with a heavy key. As the door swung open, the air inside felt colder — stagnant.
Jojo's eyes narrowed slightly.
"...."
He could feel —
Trace of suffering and rage buried deep beneath the house.
Inadu's gaze flicked toward the floor.
"There's something below,"
She murmured.
Atharva froze mid-step but said nothing.
He simply turned toward them and said,
"You'll see soon enough."
Jojo exchanged a look with Caroline before following the old man deeper inside.
The faint echo of their footsteps filled the house —
Leading them toward the secret that had been festering here for sixteen long years.
The basement reeked of decay and rust.
Chains clinked faintly as Jojo descended the narrow steps,
The dim bulb above flickering weakly.
The air was thick —
Heavy with the stench of old blood and rot.
At the center of the room sat Pratap.
His frail body was bound by corroded iron chains, his skin marked by years of neglect.
His tongue was gone, his eyes sunken but burning with hatred.
He glared at Jojo —
"...."
A look that could have pierced stone.
Jojo stopped in front of him, studying the man in silence.
For a brief moment,
Their eyes met —
One filled with quiet understanding, the other with hollow rage.
Jojo sighed softly.
Sigh~
'Sixteen years of torment. No wonder he became a monster.'
He clenched his fist,
And his eyes flickered faintly with hellfire.
A spark of orange light illuminated the cellar.
Then, without roaring flames or dramatic fury,
Jojo exhaled a single, steady breath —
A concentrated flicker of hell fire.
It wasn't rage or punishment.
It was release.
The red-orange flame danced gently across Pratap's chest.
The man screamed —
Not in pain, but in fury,
His last burst of hatred echoing through the stone walls before his body turned still.
The fire died, leaving only silence.
"...."
Jojo closed his eyes for a second, murmuring under his breath,
"May your soul get your peace in hell."
Upstairs, Atharva had already rushed to his daughter's room, his heart pounding wildly.
He slammed the door open —
Only to see her still sitting in the same position,
Lifeless and smiling, eyes glazed like glass.
"No…"
His voice cracked.
"No, it can't be…"
Jojo, Caroline, and Inadu appeared at the doorway.
The old man dropped to his knees beside his daughter,
Tears streaming down his weathered face.
"I did everything… sixteen years… and still…"
Inadu slowly stepped forward, her expression soft.
"Move aside,"
She whispered.
Atharva looked at her in confusion but obeyed.
Inadu knelt beside the girl and placed her palm over the girl's forehead.
Her eyes shimmered.
With a subtle motion of her fingers,
Black smoke began to rise from the girl's body,
Twisting and screeching before evaporating into thin air.
The air lightened —
A strange calmness sweeping through the room.
Then, like a dam breaking, the girl gasped —
Her body trembling violently.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she began to sob uncontrollably, clutching her father's arms.
"Papa… papa… it hurts…"
Atharva wrapped his arms around her, crying openly now.
"It's over, my child. You're free. You're free…"
Jojo turned away quietly, giving them space.
Jojo's gaze lingered on the trembling father and daughter.
"Sometimes,"
He said softly,
"the right thing still hurts."
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Thanks for reading the chapter!
Please give a review and power stone!!!