The air around the ruins was thick with dust and despair. Gauri and Vihaan knelt beside the sunken ground where moments ago their home had stood, tears streaming down their faces. Vihaan's sobs broke the stillness as his mind replayed every memory — his mother Veena's gentle smile, Dadi's laughter echoing through the halls, Yug's playful teasing, Raani's innocent voice, Sharda's wisdom, Charvi's cheer, and even Shyom's stern yet caring words.
Every face flashed before his eyes, every sound now replaced by silence.
Gauri held his hand tightly, her own heart shattering as she recalled the same faces, the same warmth — now lost beneath the earth.
The mansion that once stood as the symbol of their family's love had vanished without a trace, as though the ground itself had swallowed it whole.
Behind them, Veer knelt too — a picture of grief. His voice cracked as he murmured, "They're gone… all of them…" He bowed his head, shoulders trembling. To anyone watching, he was the perfect image of mourning.
But behind the mask of tears, a different storm brewed.
Hidden by his bent posture, his lips curved faintly into a smile — a cold, secret smirk that never reached his eyes.
His gaze lifted subtly toward the sky, where the crimson crescent moon still hung, glowing like a wound in the heavens.
"So beautiful… and so cruel," he whispered under his breath.
He knew the truth — the mansion had not been destroyed, only buried alive beneath the cursed moon's power. The spell had worked perfectly.
Summoning the crescent had been simple; a few ancient words and blood to seal the pact. But destroying it? That was a task that even the gods hesitated to attempt.
"The crescent of blood," he thought darkly, eyes narrowing at its eerie light. "It is easy to call upon… but once it descends, only a power greater than the curse itself can undo it."
His smirk deepened as his eyes flicked toward Gauri and Vihaan, both lost in their grief.
"If it remains much longer," he thought, "the air within that buried mansion will thin. Slowly… painfully… they will all suffocate before these two even realize it."
Veer let a few more fake sobs escape his lips before wiping his tears dramatically. He turned back toward Gauri and Vihaan, voice trembling with false sympathy.
"I tried to save them," he said brokenly, "but the earth just… swallowed them before my eyes."
Gauri fell to her knees, clutching the soil in anguish, and Vihaan could no longer hold back — he cried out, the sound echoing through the empty fields.
Veer lowered his gaze, concealing his sinister delight as a faint wind stirred the dust around them, carrying the whisper of his unspoken thought.
"Cry as much as you want… for your tears will soon join the soil that holds them."
The crimson moon pulsed once in the sky — like a heartbeat of darkness — sealing its grip tighter around the sunken mansion below.
Vihaan's tear-streaked face lifted suddenly, his gaze narrowing on the crimson crescent that hung menacingly above the ruins. The air around it shimmered faintly, pulsating with dark energy that seemed to connect the sky and the earth below like invisible chains.
His instincts stirred. There was something unnatural about the stillness, something that made the soil beneath his knees hum faintly. He pressed his palm to the ground — and the moment he did, his expression changed.
"Gauri…" he whispered, eyes widening. "It's the moon. The energy flowing from that crescent — it's what's pulling the mansion underground!"
Gauri turned to him, startled. "The moon?"
"Yes," Vihaan said, rising to his feet, his voice trembling but resolute. "It's not just light. It's a curse — a living force binding the mansion below. If we destroy the moon, the connection will break. The mansion will rise again!"
For a heartbeat, Gauri stared at him, hope flickering through her despair. Her tears glimmered in the red light as she clutched his hand tightly.
"Then we still have time," she breathed. "We can still save them, Vihaan."
Vihaan nodded firmly, wiping his tears away. "Yes. We'll destroy it — no matter how powerful it is."
As they stood together, determination blazing in their eyes, the cursed crescent pulsed again — as though mocking their resolve.
---
Scene: The Sinking Heart
Meanwhile, inside the sunken mansion, the air had grown unbearably heavy.
Every breath came slower, thicker — as if the walls themselves were closing in.
The family gathered in the living room, their faces pale under the weak glow of Yug's flashlight. Sweat trickled down their temples; the air felt hot, stifling.
Dadi sank slowly into a chair, clutching her chest. "It's… it's getting hard to breathe," she murmured faintly.
Veena rushed to her side, fanning her with a piece of cloth, while Urvashi supported Dadi's back. "Ma, please don't talk. Just take slow breaths," Veena said, trying to mask her panic.
Sharda turned toward Raani, her tone firm despite the fear in her eyes. "Raani, go upstairs — fetch Dadi's medicine box and the small solar fan from the prayer room. Hurry!"
"Yes, Bade Ma," Raani said quickly.
Charvi stepped forward immediately. "I'll go with her," she said, glancing toward the dim staircase. "The lights are weak — it's too dark for her to go alone."
"Be careful, both of you," Yug called after them as the two girls hurried up the creaking steps, their flashlight beams slicing through the thick, dusty air.
Below, the rest of the family stayed close, the faint sound of shifting earth echoing beneath their feet.
No one dared to say it aloud — but in their hearts, they all felt it:
The air was growing thinner.
And somewhere above, the cursed moon gleamed brighter, feeding off their struggle — unaware that Vihaan and Gauri had already begun to fight back.
To be continued…