Darkness swallowed the underground lab.
Total, suffocating, inky darkness.
But it wasn't just the absence of light—it was wrong. The kind of black that crawled under the skin and whispered things no one wanted to hear.
Veer's instincts kicked in. He dropped low, dragging Rudra's unconscious body behind a counter. The gunshot had been clean—shoulder, not fatal—but Rudra was out cold. Veer pressed his hand to the bleeding wound, cursing under his breath.
"Rudra's hit," he hissed
zayan's voice came from behind a pillar. "I see her."
Karan's voice crackled faintly in the comms. "Lights just died up here too. The kids are scared. What the hell's going on down there?"
Veer looked around. Shapes moved in the dark—not footsteps, not breathing. Just movement. Slithering, crawling, alive.
"Reva," he muttered, eyes straining to find her.
A soft, lilting voice echoed through the darkness.
"You boys came here to save someone. But maybe it's not the children you're here to rescue."
"Maybe... it's yourselves."
Veer gritted his teeth. "I'm gonna find you, and I'm gonna bury you in this hellhole."
Another laugh. It came from behind him—then to the left—then in front. She was moving through the darkness like a shadow with no body, no weight.
Then—a flicker of light.
Karan, upstairs, must have forced emergency power back online. Red backup lights buzzed weakly to life, casting the lab in a hellish glow.
And there she was.
Madam Reva.
Her long black dress shimmered like oil. Her hair fell in waves around her face, and her eyes—those endless black holes—bore into them.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" she said softly, walking past the lab tables like she owned them. "This place gave me power. Gave me control."
Zayan stepped forward, gun raised. "You drugged those kids. Fed them hallucinogens. Paralyzed their minds."
"And gave them peace," she snapped, her calm cracking for a moment. "They were broken when they arrived. Traumatized. Forgotten. I simply gave them a world where they could smile again."
"You turned them into puppets," Veer growled. "You made us see things. You made me see her."
Reva tilted her head. "Ah. Avni."
Veer froze.
"You miss her so much it bleeds out of you," Reva murmured, stepping closer. "Your pain made it easy to infiltrate your mind."
Behind her, Dr. Varma had begun pulling open drawers—glass vials, notes, syringes. Veer's eyes snapped to him.
"Whatever he's doing," zayan said, "stop him. Now."
Veer moved, kicking over a stool and sending the vials crashing to the floor. Chemicals spilled, releasing a sharp, acrid odor.
Varma cursed. "You idiot. That batch took three years to stabilize!"
"Three years of playing god on innocent children," Veer snarled. "You don't get to be angry."
Reva hissed. "You still don't understand. We weren't torturing them. We were preparing them. For a world that's already cruel. We made them stronger."
Zayan stepped in front of her. "You locked them in cages."
Her voice dropped, low and venomous. "Because that's what the world would've done anyway. We just taught them how to survive it."
Before Zayan could fire, she attacked.
She moved fast—too fast for someone in heels—lunging at zayanwith a syringe. He dodged, but the needle grazed his skin. Immediately, he stumbled back, breath hitching, pupils dilating.
"Zayan!" Veer grabbed him, pulling him to the side. "What did you give him?!"
Reva smiled. "Truth."
Zayan blinked rapidly. Sweat beaded on his forehead. "She's… she's in my head. I see... I see blood. My brother—"
"Don't listen to her," Veer shouted. "She's using the drug!"
Zayan's voice crackled again. "Veer! We've got company. There's an armed group surrounding the orphanage—backup for Reva and Varma."
Veer cursed. "We're out of time."
He turned to Dr. Varma, who was backing away toward a wall panel. "You've been using a combination of mind-altering chemicals and sensory manipulation, haven't you?"
Varma sneered. "Would you rather we use bullets?"
"I'd rather you rot," Veer muttered—and shot him in the leg. Varma crumpled, screaming.
Reva screamed too—not in fear, but rage. Her nails became claws as she charged toward Veer, and for the first time, he saw it—not supernatural power.
Insanity.
She was human.
Just driven mad by control.
He let her come close. Then, at the last second, ducked and slammed the butt of his gun into her spine. She collapsed.
Veer turned to Zayan, who was still blinking through the drug's effects. "You okay?"
Zayan gave a weak nod. "She tried to twist memories. But I remembered… it wasn't real."
"She's done," Veer said. "Let's end this."
They secured Reva and Varma. Karan came down with two kids in his arms, face grim. "Their heart rates are unstable. Some of them may not make it."
"They will," Veer whispered. "They have to."
And as he glanced over his shoulder, watching the black-eyed woman unconscious on the floor, something inside him cracked.
She made him see Avni.
But that wasn't Avni.
That was poison.
And the real Avni—wherever she was—he'd find her.
But first, he had to make sure this house of nightmares never breathed again.