🏡 Inside the Pratap Singh Mansion
Soft afternoon light streamed into the living room, where Susheela sat cross-legged on the floor, swinging a tiny toy in front of Kiaan, who laughed adorably and tried to grab it with his chubby hands.
"Arre, my little shaitaan," Susheela chuckled, "you have drained all my energy today."
Kiaan clapped… and the toy floated an inch on its own.
Susheela blinked, confused.
"Kiaan… did you—?"
DING-DONG!
The doorbell echoed through the silent mansion.
Susheela frowned and called out automatically:
"Geetaaa? Someone's at the door!"
Silence.
She called again.
"Radhikaaa? Please check!"
More silence.
Then she remembered—
"Oh haaan… it's their day off today."
With a sigh, she stood up, brushing her saree, and carried Kiaan with her toward the front door.
As soon as she opened it—
A sweet, soft voice greeted her.
"Namaste, didi."
A young girl—barely in her early twenties—stood outside.
Wearing a bright yellow saree, hair neatly braided, eyes big and warm as if she stepped out of a social service poster.
"I'm Urvi," the girl said sweetly.
"I was passing through the area and suddenly felt very thirsty… could you give me some water, please?"
Her tone was innocent.
Her smile gentle.
Her posture humble.
Susheela's maternal heart melted instantly.
"Arre beta, of course! Come inside," she said warmly.
"You look exhausted. Sit, I'll bring water."
Urvi stepped inside gracefully, her anklets making the softest chime.
But at the exact same moment—
Kiaan giggled.
Not normal giggling.
A mischievous, knowing giggle.
As if he recognized her.
Susheela paused.
"Beta?" she murmured, confused by Kiaan's odd smile.
She turned to walk toward the kitchen—
And froze.
Her eyes dropped to Urvi's feet.
Forward-facing toes…
But heels pointing the wrong direction.
Reversed.
Impossible.
Daayan.
Susheela's breath stuck in her throat.
"You—your feet…" she whispered, terror shivering down her spine.
Urvi's sweet smile stayed intact… but her eyes sharpened like a blade.
"Oh Susheela didi," she whispered softly,
"you noticed too quickly."
Before Susheela could scream—
Urvi raised one finger.
Her eyes glowed a deep burning orange.
"Soo jaa…"
Her hypnotic voice stretched like a spell.
Susheela's pupils dilated… her knees weakened… and she collapsed onto the floor with a soft thud.
Kiaan watched her fall—still giggling.
Urvi crouched slightly and whispered to him with a disturbingly affectionate tone:
"You knew who I was… didn't you, little one?"
Kiaan giggled louder and clapped.
As if welcoming her.
Urvi smirked darkly.
"Well then," she said softly, "let's not keep my sisters waiting."
She snapped her fingers.
The front door blew open without touching—
And Ratri and Nishi appeared like shadows slipping into the light.
All three stepped inside the mansion, closing the door behind them.
The Tri-Kaalishini had entered.
And Kiaan…
still smiling with supernatural mischief…
looked at them as if he had been expecting this moment all along.
Silence.
That was the first thing Urvi noticed.
A silence so thick… it felt like the mansion itself was holding its breath.
Urvi stepped over Susheela's unconscious body with an almost delicate grace, her reversed feet clicking lightly on the polished marble of the main hall. Her eyes, dark and hungry, drifted toward the little bundle sitting on the floor among scattered toys.
Kiaan.
The divine-warlock hybrid child the entire supernatural world whispered about.
He was simply… smiling at his toy car.
Urvi folded her hands behind her back, tilting her head in an eerie, calculated sweetness.
"Kiaan…" she murmured softly, her voice dripping like honey laced with venom.
"…we've come a very long way to meet you, little one."
Kiaan looked up.
Blink.
Then the corners of his mouth curled—
—and he clapped.
A soft, delighted clap.
As if she was an entertainer and he was her audience.
Urvi's smile twitched.
She turned slightly, her voice a slow hiss.
"Ratri. Bring me the child. Now."
Ratri's lips curved into a wicked grin.
And then, slowly… agonizingly slowly… her skin began to shift.
Veins darkened beneath her flesh.
Her eyes bled red.
Her fangs emerged inch by cruel inch.
Her hair lifted in weightless tendrils of black smoke.
She didn't walk.
She hovered—
gliding forward without a sound,
a living nightmare drifting toward an innocent toddler.
Kiaan stared at her.
Wide-eyed.
Confused.
Not scared—just trying to understand why this "aunty" suddenly looked like a monster from his picture books.
Ratri leaned down, moving with the quiet patience of a predator savoring its kill.
"Come here… little divine one…" she whispered.
Her clawed hand reached closer… closer…
A breath apart—
Kiaan blinked.
Then hiccuped.
A tiny, soft, baby hiccup.
Ratri froze.
Another hiccup shook his tiny chest.
And then—
He inhaled.
Everything in the hall stilled—
the curtains,
the dropped toys,
even the shadows.
And—
WHO O O O O S H H !!
A spiral of air burst from Kiaan's tiny mouth—slow at first, like a breeze…
then sharper…
stronger…
until it swirled into a powerful vortex glowing with specks of celestial light.
It struck Ratri like divine cannon fire.
"AAAHH!"
She was thrown across the hall—
twisting, flipping, slamming into the wall.
Cracks spidered across the marble beneath her impact.
Her nails scraped desperately as she tried to regain balance.
Urvi's eyes widened—slow, dawning horror spreading across her face.
"What… was that…?"
Nishi staggered back, her runes flickering violently, her voice trembling.
"That wasn't daiv shakti…
That wasn't serpent shakti…
That was celestial breath—
pure Tridev-blessed light…
mixed with warlock force."
Ratri snarled, trembling with fury.
"That… BABY… just threw me across the room!"
Kiaan blinked again.
Then giggled—
softly at first…
then louder…
He clapped both hands like he'd done something amazing at a school play.
"Ba!!" he squealed proudly.
Urvi.
Ratri.
Nishi.
The deadly Tri-Kaalishini—
creatures feared by entire realms—
all took a silent, involuntary step back.
For the first time…
they felt fear.
Of a nine-month-old.