CHAPTER 1 — THE NOTE ON THE TABLE
The house was too quiet.
Aarav pushed open the door, kicked off his shoes, and found the note waiting on the dining table—his mother's handwriting, rushed but neat:
"Business trip extended. Will be back next week. Malini will take care of you."
He read it twice.He wasn't a little kid, but the emptiness of the house always crawled under his skin when she was gone.
Malini, the housemaid, stepped out from the kitchen. Her expression was the same as always—flat, unreadable, almost too calm.
"Your mother left earlier than planned," she said. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."
Aarav nodded. She never smiled. She never frowned. She moved like a shadow that had learned to walk.
He went upstairs, dropped his bag, and collapsed onto his bed.
Tomorrow would be normal. School, friends, home. Repeat.
He didn't know how literal that "repeat" would become.
CHAPTER 2 — DAY ONE
The next morning was ordinary in every possible way.
Same bus stop.
Same boring assembly.
Same chemistry class where Rishi threw paper balls at girls.
Same cafeteria smell: oil, sweat, and disappointment.
When he returned home, Malini served dinner silently. She watched him eat—not lovingly, just… observing.
"You sleep early today," she said.
"You're not my mom," he muttered, but she didn't react.
He went upstairs at 10:30.
At 12:17 AM, a faint creak woke him.Footsteps outside his door.Slow. Deliberate.
He got up, opened the door—
Nothing.
He shrugged it off and went back to sleep.
He didn't wake up again.
Not alive, at least.
CHAPTER 3 — DAY TWO (THE FIRST LOOP)
Aarav gasped awake.
Birds chirping.Sunlight stabbing through curtains.An alarm ringing beside him.
6:30 AM.
He sat up, confused.
He could have sworn he didn't set an alarm.
He walked downstairs and froze.
The note was on the table.Again.
Malini walked out of the kitchen.Again.
"Your mother left earlier than planned. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."
Word for word.
Aarav stared at her. "You… already said that."
She blinked once. Slowly.
"Did I? You must be imagining things."
The day repeated exactly.The same teacher tripped in the hallway.The same argument in class.The same message from his mother.The same dinner.
At night, he stayed awake.
At 12:17 AM, footsteps again.
He held his breath.
A shadow passed under the door crack.
He reached for his phone—but something cold touched his neck.
A sharp pain.Darkness.
CHAPTER 4 — DAY THREE
He woke up with a scream.
Same sunlight.Same alarm.Same note.
He felt his neck. No wound.
But the memory of pain was real enough to make him tremble.
This wasn't a dream.
The day was looping.
When he went to school, he shouted random things mid-class just to break the pattern—
But everything corrected itself like the world was on rails.
By night, he was terrified.He pushed his study table against the bedroom door.
At 12:17 AM, the door handle moved anyway.
The table slid aside, as if shoved by enormous force.
He tried to run but something grabbed him from behind—
Another death.
Another reset.
CHAPTER 5 — INSANITY BEGINS
Aarav tried everything in the next loops.
Loop 4:
Didn't go to school → the day resets after night
Loop 5:
Didn't eat dinner → the day resets after night
Loop 6:
Tried to leave the city → the bus always broke down.
By loop 11, Aarav was talking to himself.By loop 15, he stopped feeling fear.By loop 20, he stopped caring about living.
He had enough.
He jumped off the building after school but he woke up again.
He then realized that he wakes up only after death...
He only had one question.....
Who was killing him?
And why?
CHAPTER 6 — THE FIRST CLUE
During loop 23, after dinner, he noticed something strange.
Malini threw something in the trash, fast.
He waited until she left.Checked the bin.
A small, nearly empty vial.
Ketamine. Surgical grade.
His heart punched his ribs.
Why did a housemaid have a medical anesthetic?
And why was it labeled with—
"Property of G.R. Memorial Hospital."
His mother once mentioned that his uncle—her brother—worked there.
Aarav's blood ran cold.
CHAPTER 7 — THE PHONE CALL
In loop 25, he quietly stole Malini's phone.
There was one message thread not deleted:
"I want it done. Before she returns. Payment after confirmation."
Sender: Uncle Gaurav.
Another message:
"I need the boy gone. The inheritance should come to me, not him."
His hands shook.
His uncle wanted his mother's property.But his mother wasn't dead—yet.
Killing him might give his uncle legal control.Or push his mother emotionally into giving in.
This wasn't random.
It was planned.
And Malini wasn't just following orders—she enjoyed it.
He saw a deleted-video folder, partially recoverable:
Night vision footage of Malini entering his roomwith a thin wire.A calm, practiced motion.No hesitation.No emotion.
Aarav felt sick.
CHAPTER 8 — THE LAST LOOP
By loop 30, Aarav wasn't scared anymore.
He was angry.
He had died too many times.He had felt the wire around his neck, the knife in his ribs, the poison in his food.He had begged, fought, screamed — but she kept killing him.
Tonight, it would end.
He pretended like every other loop.Ate his dinner.Went to his room.Turned off the lights.
Except this time, he didn't hide.
He waited behind the door, gripping a metal rod he pulled from his study table.
At exactly 12:17 AM, the door creaked open.
Malini walked in with her usual tools — a thin garrote wire and gloves.
She whispered, "I know you're awake."
Aarav stepped out behind her.
"No," he said. "You know I'm done."
She turned just as he swung the rod.
It connected with her jaw.She didn't fall — she smiled.
"You think you can stop me? I've killed you twenty-nine times."
"And I remember every single one."
She lunged with the wire, catching his arm — burning pain shot through him — but he rammed his shoulder into her and they crashed onto the floor.
She was strong. Too strong for someone her age.She punched him, slammed his head into the floor.
"You should've stayed dead," she hissed.
"You should've never touched me."
He grabbed a shard of glass from the broken lamp beside the bed and slashed her arm.
She staggered.
For the first time, she looked human — not unstoppable, not calm — just vulnerable.
Aarav didn't hesitate.
He tackled her, pinned her down, and slammed the rod into her skull.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
Her body twitched, then stopped moving.
Blood pooled under her head.
Aarav kept breathing hard until he was sure —she was dead.
And then—
The ground shook.
Lights flickered.
The room dissolved like dust in water.
The loop was breaking.
CHAPTER 9 — ESCAPE FROM THE LOOP
Aarav woke up.
No sunlight.No alarm.No note on the table.
His heart raced.
He ran downstairs.
Malini wasn't in the kitchen.
No breakfast on the stove.
No footsteps in the hall.
The house was empty — peacefully empty.
He checked the trash.
No vial.
Checked the door.
No wire.
Checked the phone.
No messages from his uncle.
The loop had ended.
He killed her, and the universe accepted it.
CHAPTER 10 — THE AFTERMATH
His mother returned two hours later, smiling, pulling her suitcase.
"Aarav! I'm back."
He hugged her so tightly she couldn't breathe.
"What happened?" she asked softly.
He didn't tell her everything.Just enough.
"Where's Malini? Did she leave early?"
"She's not coming back."
His mom didn't argue — she never liked Malini much anyway.
EPILOGUE — A NEW THREAT
Days passed.
No loops.No deaths.Life was normal again.
Until one evening, an envelope arrived.
No sender name.
Inside was a single sheet:
"You killed my employee.That means you know too much.We are not done."
Signed:
— Gaurav
Aarav's uncle.
The man behind the contract to kill him.
Aarav stared at the message, heart pounding.
He had defeated the maid.
But now the real enemy was coming.
And this time, Aarav wasn't dying again.
He was going to fight.