The cold air in the doctor's office was making Aryan restless. The doctor was making some strange marks on a piece of paper on his desk. He looked at Aryan with a sideways glance, as if he could see right through his soul.
So, Aryan," the doctor's voice was low,
what kind of problems are you having?
Aryan glanced nervously at the office door and leaned towards the doctor. "Doctor, please... save me. My parents want to kill me. They're just waiting for the right opportunity.
The doctor jotted something down in his diary and then asked, "And at school? Is there anyone there you trust?
A faint smile appeared on Aryan's face.
Yes, Kavya. She's from India. She's very sweet, she talks to me very nicely. She's the only one in this whole world I want to be with, because everyone else just wants to destroy me.
The doctor took a deep breath and asked some more questions that Aryan didn't understand. After a while, Aryan was sent out.
The atmosphere at home was heavy. Aryan went to his room, but his mind was in the hall downstairs. Mom and Dad were talking alone. Dad had a report from the doctor in his hand.
What did the doctor say?" Mom asked, trembling.
Dad looked at the report and said in a heavy voice, "The doctor says that Aryan's illness is now taking a dangerous turn. He's developing a mental condition called Seven Souls. This means he will see seven different personalities within a single person. It's only the beginning, so he's only seeing two forms right now—one that sounds very sweet to him (Kavya) and one that feels like his death (us).
Dad continued, "Only two symptoms have appeared so far; the other five are still hidden. As the disease
progresses, she will start seeing seven different enemies or friends in a single face. She won't even understand who she's talking to.
Mom was stunned to hear this. Upstairs in his room, Aryan was listening to all of this with his ear pressed against the door. He felt dizzy upon hearing the word "seven." He felt as if the walls of his room were staring at him.
He couldn't understand where he would go if Kavya also turned out to be one of those
seven faces." Right now, she seemed sweet to him, but what if she changed her face the next moment?
Aryan switched off the light out of fear, but in the darkness, he felt seven pairs of eyes moving towards him.