Aryan & Ratan's Private Conversation – Later That Night
The air outside the cathedral was cold.
Silent.
The kind of silence that came after something big—like the eye of a storm, waiting.
Ratan had asked me to meet him alone. No Aarohi. No Reyza. No shadows. Just us.
I wasn't sure what I expected… but not this. Not him leaning against the black Rolls Royce in a three-piece suit, lighting a cigar like he wasn't the man who'd knocked his daughter unconscious hours ago.
I walked up to him, fists clenched.
"You hit her," I said.
He exhaled smoke and didn't look at me. "I had to."
"No, you didn't."
He finally turned. "And you'd know, would you? After knowing her for what—two months?"
"Long enough to know she didn't deserve that."
Ratan took a slow step toward me. "She doesn't deserve any of this. But life doesn't hand out what we deserve—it hands out what we're meant to survive."
"I get that she's not just Aarohi," I said, voice shaking. "I get she has other sides. I even get that she's not safe sometimes. But damn it—there are other ways to handle it."
"Tell me, Aryan," he said, suddenly very quiet, "have you ever woken up to your daughter trying to drown herself in the bathtub because she thought she was punishing 'the real one' inside her?"
My mouth opened—and closed.
"No?" he asked. "Then don't tell me about 'other ways.' I've tried every way."
He took another step.
"Therapy. Clinics. Holistic crap. Isolation. Company. You name it. Nothing works for long. They keep coming back. They get stronger. Reyza used to only take over for five minutes. Now it's hours."
He looked off into the darkness.
"She carves names into the walls. Names I don't know. Once, I found her bleeding, laughing. Said 'Zarah likes the red.'"
I felt like I couldn't breathe.
He looked at me again—this time, with less fire. More… fatigue.
"You think I'm cold," he said. "But I'm exhausted. I'm fighting wars you can't see. Every day."
I stepped forward.
"I want to help."
"You think love is enough?" he asked, voice rising. "You think loving her will fix this?"
"I don't know," I said honestly. "But I do know that leaving her alone will break her. And I won't let that happen."
He went silent.
The streetlight above us flickered once.
Twice.
Then he sighed. "You don't even know what you're walking into."
"Then tell me," I said. "Tell me everything."
He stared at me for a long time.
Then, slowly, he looked down the road. "There's something I didn't tell you before. Something not even Aarohi knows."
I felt my chest tighten.
"What?"
He dropped the cigar. Crushed it beneath his heel.
"She doesn't just have six personalities, Aryan."
"…What are you saying?"
"She has seven." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And the last one… has a name no one's dared speak aloud in this house for years."
He looked me dead in the eyes.
"Because when she comes out… people get hurt."
Aryan & Ratan – Continued
I took a step back.
"Seventh?" I repeated, my voice barely more than a breath. "You said she had six—Reyza, Zarah, Kiara… who's the seventh?"
Ratan didn't speak at first. He just looked up at the sky, jaw tight, as if the very name might drag the storm back down on us.
Then finally… he spoke.
"She calls herself Vayira."
The name sent a chill up my spine.
"There's a reason we don't let her come out," he continued, his voice strained. "Reyza? She's reckless. Zarah is manipulative. Kiara is emotionless. The others… have their demons. But Vayira?"
He paused.
"She doesn't feel anything. No remorse. No empathy. Not even hatred. Just… hunger. For chaos. For destruction."
He looked me straight in the eyes.
"She's tried to kill me before, Aryan."
My fists clenched. "What… what do you mean?"
"I don't mean with words. I don't mean with rage. I mean I woke up once with her standing over me with a knife. Cold. Smiling. Whispering about how peaceful it would be when it was all over."
I swallowed hard.
"She was locked away for two years. We thought we had her gone for good… but recently…" His voice dropped. "She's been scratching at the walls again."
Aryan's POV:
My heart was racing, like I'd just been thrown into the deep end of something I didn't even understand.
"But Aarohi… she doesn't know?" I asked.
"She knows something's missing," Ratan replied. "She just doesn't know what. Every time Vayira takes over, her memory blacks out completely. It's not like Reyza or the others. It's complete possession. And every time she returns, she's left with blood on her hands and no idea why."
I looked down, the weight of everything crashing over me.
"I want to help her," I said again. Firmer this time. "Even if I have to face Vayira myself."
Ratan stared at me for a long time, as if trying to measure whether I was foolish… or brave.
"Then you need to know this," he said quietly. "The last time Vayira came out… someone died."
The words struck like lightning.
"Who?" I asked.
But he didn't answer.
He just turned, opened the car door, and got in.
Before shutting it, he looked back at me once.
"If she ever says 'I am Vayira' in front of you… run."
The car drove off, leaving me alone in the cold, with that cursed name echoing in my head.
Vayira.
And the terrifying thought that maybe… I wouldn't run.
Not even if I should.