The rain returned by morning, harder now, striking the Haveli's tiled roof like a warning drum. The garden was flooded, the scent of earth and betrayal wafting through open arches.
Riaan stood at the window, the photo of Nikhil still in his hand.
He didn't believe in reincarnation.
But he believed in Devika's eyes when she said it.
And that scared him more than anything.
---
A commotion stirred near the main gates.
He walked down just in time to see the rusted doors swing open — and Meher step inside, soaked, shivering, eyes hollow.
Behind her was a man in uniform.
Sub-Inspector Raghav Suri.
Thirtyish. Straight back. Sharp eyes.
He scanned the Haveli like he'd read about it in a file long ago.
"I'm looking into a missing person's case," he said. "Dated July, 1999."
Riaan's stomach sank.
Devika appeared behind him, calm as ever.
"You mean my husband," she said. "There's nothing new there, officer."
Raghav smiled politely, but didn't drop the gaze.
"This isn't about the minister," he said. "This is about the photographer who disappeared from this Haveli before your husband."
Silence fell like glass shattering.
Riaan turned slowly.
"There was another one?" he asked.
Devika's lips curved into a smile that wasn't a smile.
"So many men pass through these halls," she said. "Sometimes their names don't stay."
Meher clutched the edge of the marble column, her eyes on Riaan.
She knew something.
She had always known.
---
Later that night, Riaan found her in the garden, her dupatta wrapped tightly around her shoulders. The wind was colder now. The silence thicker.
"You were gone," he said.
"I had to get out," she whispered. "She doesn't like when I talk to you."
"Why?"
"Because you remind her of what she lost. Or what she killed."
He stared at her. The moonlight shimmered on her wet lashes.
"Did she kill him?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied, then stepped closer. "But I know she'll destroy you, like she did the others."
He reached out and touched her hand.
And she let him.
No fear. No resistance.
Just quiet surrender.
"I need to know the truth," he said.
"Then don't look at her," Meher whispered, her breath trembling. "Look under her."
"What?"
"Her room. Beneath the floorboards. The old music chamber. No one goes there."
"Why?"
"Because someone never left."
---
That night, a scream echoed through the Haveli.
Not loud.
Just sharp.
Like a secret tearing open.
Riaan rushed down the marble stairs.
Blood.
One drop. Then another.
Trailing up the steps… toward Devika's wing.
The Haveli wasn't haunted.
It was alive.
And now, it was hungry.