The corridor outside my room was brighter than it had any right to be.
Or maybe it was just my eyes.
Every fluorescent light above me glowed with layers I had never seen before—white, pale blue, and thin currents of golden static that seemed to hum in the air like threads of invisible electricity.
I ran.
The nurse called after me.
"Mr Rao! Your bandage—"
I didn't stop.
Ward 707.
That number had lived in my bones for eight years.
Every tile in this hallway knew the sound of my footsteps.
Every wall had heard my prayers.
But tonight, something was different.
The moment I turned the corner, the air changed.
Cold.
Not hospital-air-cold.
This cold was unnatural.
Sharp.
Like winter had slipped into the corridor and wrapped itself around my throat.
My breath came out in a faint mist.
The golden rings in my eyes pulsed.
And then I saw them.
Black threads.
No—chains.
Hundreds of them.
Thick, dark, smoke-like chains crawled through the air like living serpents, stretching from the ceiling, the walls, and even the floor itself.
Every one of them disappeared through the door of Ward 707.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
This was what I had seen from my room.
These chains were real.
At least… real to me.
I moved closer.
The closer I got, the stronger the pressure became.
My head throbbed.
The wound at the back of my skull pulsed painfully.
But I forced myself forward.
The pendant against my chest grew warm again.
Not burning like before.
This warmth felt… responsive.
As if it recognised, backwards, for eight, what lay beyond that door.
My hand trembled as I reached for the handle.
For a brief moment, fear froze me.
What if I were hallucinating?
What if the head injury had damaged something in my brain?
What if all of this—the eye, the voice, the chains—was nothing more than trauma?
Then I remembered my grandfather's words.
The accident was never an accident.
I pushed the door open.
The room was dark except for the soft blue glow of machines.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
The sound that had once comforted me now felt sinister.
The five beds stood exactly where they always had.
Father.
Mother.
Ananya.
Kavya.
Ishita.
All asleep.
All unmoving.
But now I could see the truth.
I staggered.
The chains weren't merely entering the room.
They were wrapped around them.
Each bed was surrounded by thick black cursed chains, coiling around wrists, necks, and chests like invisible shackles.
Dark mist seeped from the chains into their bodies.
My breath caught.
"No…"
I moved toward my father first.
The golden rings in my eyes brightened.
Suddenly, information flooded my mind.
Curse Type: Soul Suppression Seal
Grade: High-Tier Ancient Curse
Effect: Consciousness imprisonment / spiritual paralysis
Duration: indefinite
I stumbled backwards.
My father wasn't sleeping.
His soul was imprisoned.
Cold terror gripped my chest.
I turned toward Mother.
The same.
Then Ananya.
Kavya.
Ishita.
All five.
Every single one of them had been sealed.
This wasn't medicine.
This wasn't a coma.
This was a curse.
For eight years.
For eight years, they had been trapped.
Rage rose inside me like fire.
Who would do this?
Why?
My hands clenched into fists.
The pendant pulsed again.
This time, a faint voice whispered in my mind.
Focus.
I froze.
The voice wasn't external.
It came from within the eyes.
Or the pendant.
Or both.
I slowly exhaled.
The golden rings spun.
The black chains became clearer.
And then I saw something else.
Symbols.
Ancient characters carved into the chains themselves.
They glowed faintly in crimson.
I leant closer to the chain wrapped around Father's wrist.
The moment my fingers neared it—
pain.
A sharp sting shot through my hand.
I pulled back instantly.
A thin line of blood appeared across my fingertip.
The chain had cut me without touching me.
What kind of curse was this?
The information in my mind shifted again.
Warning: curse reacts to foreign spiritual interference
Recommended action: observe, do not break
I swallowed.
So the eyes were guiding me.
Slowly, carefully, I looked deeper.
The golden rings in my irises rotated faster.
The room darkened.
The curse chains began to glow brighter.
Then—
I saw it.
A mark.
On Father's neck.
Just beneath the collar of the hospital gown.
A black symbol shaped like a twisted serpent biting its own tail.
My breathing quickened.
I had never seen it before.
How had I missed it for eight years?
No.
I hadn't missed it.
I simply hadn't been able to see it.
Now the truth stood right in front of me.
Someone had cursed my entire family.
Someone powerful enough to seal five people's souls for nearly a decade.
The door behind me creaked.
I spun around.
"Bhaiya?"
Riya stood in the doorway.
My heart dropped.
She was still in her school uniform, backpack hanging from one shoulder, eyes wide with worry.
"You came here without telling me."
I forced myself to calm down.
"Riya, stay back."
She frowned.
"Why?"
Because the chains were moving.
The moment she stepped into the room, the curse chains trembled.
Then something impossible happened.
The black mist around the beds recoiled.
As if afraid.
My eyes widened.
Afraid… of her?
I looked at Riya.
And the world shifted.
For the first time, the golden rings focused on her.
Information surged through my mind.
Then stopped.
Blocked.
A seal.
A radiant golden seal was burnt beneath her skin, hidden in the centre of her chest.
For a brief moment, I saw it clearly—
a phoenix-shaped mark made of pure crimson-gold flame.
My breath caught.
Grandfather's voice echoed in my mind.
Protect Riya.
Her seal must never break.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
Her bloodline.
It was real.
And somehow, the curse feared it.
"Bhaiya?"
She stepped closer.
"No!"
My voice came out sharper than I intended.
She froze.
Her eyes widened.
I softened immediately.
"I'm sorry."
I walked toward her and gently took her shoulders.
"You must never come here alone again."
She looked confused.
"Did something happen?"
I looked past her toward the beds.
Toward the chains.
Toward the curse.
"Yes."
My voice turned cold.
"A lot has happened."
For eight years, I had lived like a blind man.
Believing doctors.
Believing fate.
Believing in tragedy.
But this wasn't a tragedy.
This was war.
A silent war fought in shadows I had never known existed.
And now—
I had finally opened my eyes.
I turned back toward my family.
The golden rings glowed brighter.
At the far end of the room, near the window, a shadow moved.
Tall.
Still.
Human-shaped.
I froze.
A figure cloaked in darkness stood there for a brief moment.
Its eyes glowed crimson.
Then it smiled.
A voice, cold as death, whispered through the room.
"So… the heir has awakened."
The lights flickered.
The shadow vanished.
My blood ran cold.
Someone was watching us.
And they already knew.