The four of them stood beside their car on the quiet road, the evening breeze ruffling their hair as the adrenaline from the morgue still lingered. They had taken off their disguises, the tension from the hospital replaced by determination.
Kiara clenched her fists, anger simmering beneath her calm exterior. "Aishwarya played such a disgusting game… tying Yuvaan into all this. I wish there was some way we could just locate her."
Varun shook his head with a small smirk. "Chutki, you really need to get some training from Dad and me. I mean… we are Reeva hunters, and you're still figuring out the basics."
Kiara raised an eyebrow. "Clueless about what? And besides, I only discovered I'm from a witch-hunting family a few weeks ago. Give me some credit."
Mishka chimed in, teasingly. "Varun's right though. There are techniques you need to learn if you want to survive in this world."
Varun's expression turned serious again. "There is another device we might be able to use to track Aishwarya."
Kiara's eyes lit up with curiosity. "Really? What is it?"
Mishka held up a small vial filled with sparkling dust. "The Reeva tracking dust. It's like… a GPS for magical beings. Sprinkle it, and it can trace the location of the person it's attuned to."
Kiara's mouth dropped open. "Wow… a magical GPS that can track someone immediately? That's insane."
Varun nodded. "Yes, but there's a catch. We need something that belongs to Aishwarya to attune it."
Angad groaned. "Then we have to go to her apartment… but it caught fire. Her stuff must have been destroyed."
Kiara's gaze sharpened, determination replacing doubt. "We might still find something. Anything she left behind could work. We just have to look carefully."
The four exchanged glances, a silent agreement passing among them. The hunt was far from over, and the night was only beginning.
The four of them reached Aishwarya's burnt apartment. Yellow police tape fluttered in the evening breeze, the words Do Not Cross stark against the building's charred exterior.
Kiara glanced at the tape, frowning. "If we get caught here, it's over. How do we even get inside?"
Mishka smirked, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Relax. I'll handle it."
With a subtle gesture of her hand, Mishka's daayan powers flowed unseen, erasing any trace of them from the CCTV footage and surveillance cameras. The world outside recorded nothing, as if they had never arrived.
Varun leaned against the doorframe, whispering, "Nice trick. Let's make it quick."
The four entered cautiously. The apartment smelled of smoke and charred wood, ashes floating in the dim light filtering through the broken windows. They began combing through the debris carefully.
Angad crouched beside a partially burnt cabinet and his eyes caught a glint. "Hey… over here," he whispered. He held up a half-burnt earring, singed but still intact.
Kiara's eyes widened. "That could work for the tracking dust. This belonged to her, right?"
Varun nodded. "Perfect. We can use this to locate her now."
Mishka carefully collected the earring, her fingers brushing away the ashes. "Let's get out of here before anyone notices anything unusual," she said.
The four quietly exited the apartment, leaving the burnt chaos behind, their minds focused on the next step.
The evening traffic hummed quietly through the city streets. Riddhi, driving cautiously, suddenly slammed on the brakes, narrowly missing a figure crossing the road. Heart racing, she stepped out to check.
Standing before her was a mysterious woman—Betty, though Riddhi didn't know her name.
Before Riddhi could speak, Betty transformed. Bat-like wings unfurled from her back, her feet twisting into clawed shapes, eyes glinting with a supernatural glow.
Riddhi stumbled backward, fear gripping her. "W-who… what are you?"
Betty hummed softly, a hypnotic tune that seemed to seep directly into Riddhi's mind. Her voice, velvety and cold, whispered in Riddhi's ear: "Do as I command. You will obey me… without question."
Riddhi's eyes glazed over. "I… I will do as you have commanded," she murmured, trembling. She hurried back into her car, hands shaking as she started driving back to the Pratap Singh mansion.
Betty watched her leave, wings folding silently behind her. "Excellent," she murmured, a sly smile on her lips. "Taamsi… your plan is unfolding perfectly."
The four of them stood on the quiet road outside Aishwarya's burnt apartment, the city lights flickering faintly over the debris. Mishka held the half-burnt earring carefully. With a subtle wave of her hand, the metal softened and melted into a fine, sparkling dust.
She handed it to Varun, who expertly mixed it with the Reeva tracking dust. The mixture shimmered and swirled in the air, forming a thick, silver fog that seemed almost alive.
Kiara blinked in awe. "So… this will lead us straight to her?"
Varun nodded. "As long as it still carries her energy, yes. The fog will guide us."
Angad glanced around, half-expecting someone to notice them. "And no one will see us?"
Mishka smirked, her eyes glinting. "No one. Not a soul. The dust hides us from prying eyes."
The fog began moving slowly, hovering in the air and stretching toward the direction of the hidden trail. Without hesitation, the four got into the car, following the silent, glowing path as it twisted through the city streets, guiding them deeper into the heart of the unknown.
Kiara gripped the edge of her seat. "I hope we're not too late…"
Varun's gaze was steady. "We'll find her. We always do."
The fog shimmered ahead, winding like a living guide, and the car sped forward into the night, the hunt just beginning.