Chapter 5: The Final Revelation

At eleven o’clock, exhausted, the three were fast asleep on the living room floor. Suman lay curled on Prasad’s chest, and Priya rested her head on his shoulder.

Prasad gazed at the ceiling, speaking softly. “Do you think Suman enjoyed the party?”

“He loved it. Look how happy he is.”

“I wish it could be like this every day.”

“Me too,” Priya sighed. “We got so caught up in our own work, we forgot to care for him.”

“I don’t even know his friends or what he likes. You’ve spent more time with him, at least.”

“Even less than Ruchi, sometimes. But we have to change. We both do.”

“I feel like I’ve missed out on so much,” Prasad confessed.

Priya squeezed his hand. “Don’t worry. We’ll change everything starting tomorrow.”

At 2:00 AM, Suman opened his eyes. He rose silently and walked to the kitchen for a drink of water. As he put the bottle down, the cap rolled onto the floor. He bent to retrieve it and saw it: a black liquid footprint on the tile.

He set the bottle down and began to follow the inky trail. The footprints led through the hall, straight to the main door.

Suman stopped. Luna was there, facing the door.

And outside the glass panel of the main door, stood Ruchi.

Her appearance was grotesquely wrong. Her eyes were completely black, leaking a viscous, dark fluid. Her skin seemed to melt like a candle, with black, sticky goo oozing through the surface.

Suman showed no fear, no emotion at all.

Slowly, unnervingly, Luna twisted her head around to look at Suman—an impossible angle for a normal dog. She was not a normal dog.

Suman’s skin began to weep the same black fluid. His feet, too, left black prints on the floor. He was no longer Suman. Ruchi was no longer Ruchi.

The two figures stood facing the dog, which was rapidly distorting. Luna’s mouth stretched open impossibly wide, revealing rows of monstrous teeth.

The large creature, still resembling Luna, lunged, its massive jaws clamping down and swallowing Suman’s upper body whole.

The Epilogue: A New Cycle

At 7:30 AM, Prasad was woken by Priya’s frantic screams. She was running around the living room, frantic and sweating.

Prasad stretched sleepily, then sat up. “What is it now? What did Suman do this time?”

Priya’s face was pale with terror. “Suman is missing!”

The last vestige of sleep vanished from Prasad’s mind. He rubbed his eyes. “What?” he asked, needing clarity, dread already settling in.

Priya’s panic intensified. “Suman is gone! Luna is gone too!”

Prasad calmed her, helping her onto the sofa. “Hold on. Don’t panic. Maybe he’s just hiding somewhere to avoid school. I’ll look.”

He began to search Suman’s room—the cupboards, the bathroom, all the usual hiding spots. As he searched, the doorbell rang. Priya, shaking violently, stumbled to the door.

Standing outside was an elderly woman next to a parked auto-rickshaw. Priya’s hopes plummeted. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Is Ruchi here?” the old woman asked.

“Ruchi isn’t here.”

“I am Ruchi’s mother.”

“Oh.” Priya was stunned. “But Ruchi told us you were in the hospital?”

“I admitted Ruchi to the hospital a week ago, and then she vanished.”

“But… Ruchi comes and goes every day. She said she was coming from the hospital.”

“No, dear. She has not returned home. May I wait inside?”

Priya stepped forward and immediately slipped. Looking down, she saw the sticky black liquid again, right outside her door. Confused, she let Ruchi’s mother in, then quietly pulled Prasad aside, pointing a trembling finger at the ominous black puddle on the doorstep.

Prasad recognized it instantly. The panic hit him anew. The black footprints faced outward, leading straight into the dense forest.

“I’m going after him,” Prasad declared, his voice tight with fear, and he plunged into the trees. Priya, confused and scared, followed close behind.

The auto driver watched them go. Why are they walking into the jungle?

Prasad pushed through thick branches, Priya stumbling over the undergrowth behind him. “Dear, what do you know? Why are we going into the jungle?” she pleaded. Prasad did not answer, his focus fixed on the trail.

He recognized the path—it was the same road they used every day. He looked up at the sky. It was growing dark, turning evening.

“Why is it evening already?” Priya cried, looking at the deepening gloom with horror. “Where are we? Where are we going?”

Prasad, too, was baffled. How did we walk from the house to here? And how did it suddenly turn evening? His breathing was ragged, his tension mounting. He had to find Suman.

“Tell me, please, where are we going?” Priya begged, exhausted.

At the house, the auto driver, tired of waiting, checked his watch. It was 8:00 AM. He stretched, got out of the auto, and walked toward the house.

Prasad finally confessed, his voice frantic, “I don’t know where we are!”

He plunged deeper into the trees, Priya following relentlessly.

Pushing aside the last of the foliage, they stopped dead.

The wind suddenly vanished. The trees around them stood perfectly still, frozen in a profound silence. It was pitch black—full night.

And standing before them, illuminated by the cold light of the moon, was a house identical to their own, yet ancient, dilapidated, and ruined.

“Dear, how did we get back to our house?” Priya whispered, unable to comprehend the sight.

Prasad stared at the decayed structure. Then, he saw a fleeting glimpse of a figure—Suman—standing in a broken window, watching them.

Prasad raced toward the house. Priya followed.

They crept inside, searching. On the dusty floor, they saw dog prints, leading to a closed room. Prasad motioned for silence. He slowly opened the door.

Priya screamed.

Inside, Luna was tearing at the body of a person—Ruchi.

Luna instantly turned its enormous head toward them, its gaze terrifying, pinning Prasad in place. He was paralyzed with a horror that stole his voice and motion.

Priya spun around to flee, but she slipped and fell, hitting her head against the stone floor. Blood streamed from her wound. She looked down at what she had slipped on: a patch of the black liquid, in which was pressed the unmistakable sole of Suman’s shoe.

Panic clawed at her throat. Suman was here.

She looked up. The black fluid was dripping down the staircase, pouring from the floor above.

Suman was upstairs.

With a surge of desperate courage, she climbed the stairs, one foot after another, fearing what awaited her, yet compelled to face the truth. She reached the landing. Black liquid was seeping under the door.

She threw the door open.

She fell to her knees, screaming until her chest burned.

Hanging in the center of the room, half-eaten and mutilated, was Suman’s body. The sight shattered her. She wept hysterically, clutching her chest, overwhelmed by the unbearable grief of her son’s death.

Then, she heard a sound rising up the stairs behind her.

She turned, her breath caught in her throat.

Coming toward her, dragging the mutilated body of Prasad, was Luna. Luna’s eyes were completely black, and her jaws were covered in Prasad’s blood, his neck bitten open.

Priya raised a hand to her mouth, stifling a final, desperate cry. The fear was absolute, the grief crushing. She saw the finality in Luna’s black eyes. Her last seconds were ticking away.

Chapter 3: The New Hunt

At 9:00 AM, the auto driver woke up. He checked his watch, realizing an hour had passed since he dropped Ruchi’s mother off. He got out of the auto to check on her. He felt strangely refreshed.

As he approached the bungalow, the main door slowly creaked open. That’s odd. I didn’t open the door. Maybe the old woman is coming out, he thought.

The door swung fully open, and his casual pace faltered.

Hanging from the door frame, dripping blood from the neck, was the headless body of Ruchi’s mother.

The auto driver screamed, scrambled back into his vehicle, and sped away in terror.

By 9:30 AM, the police had arrived, alerted by the auto driver’s frantic report. They searched the house, finding no bodies, no blood, and no evidence of violence. A search of the surrounding woods yielded nothing. Prasad, Priya, Suman, and Luna had simply vanished.

The auto driver was their only witness. He told his story again and again: how he brought Ruchi’s mother to the house, how the couple went into the woods and never returned, and how he later found the old woman hanging, headless.

The police were skeptical. “If what you say is true, where is the blood? You must be lying. You must have done something to them,” they accused, twisting the narrative until the poor man was the prime suspect.

The village gossiped, spinning tales of black magic and greed. In the backdrop of the tragedy, new owners had already taken over the flourishing cotton and stitching businesses.

Near the factory gates, the workers whispered again:

“There’s a new owner for the cotton business now.”

“I wonder how long this one will last.”

“Who knows…”

A new, expensive car drove down the dark, dense jungle road, heading straight for the isolated bungalow. Inside were a husband, a wife, and their young daughter, who clutched a doll.

“We’re going to our new house,” the husband said cheerfully. “Our family is going to be so happy here.”

“Are you excited?” the wife asked their daughter.

The girl nodded enthusiastically, her eyes fixed on the house that was now coming into view. She was curious about her new room.

As the car stopped, the girl stared at the bungalow.

From the surrounding jungle, a single, sharp bark broke the silence. The girl turned to look.

Standing at the edge of the dense trees was Luna, the dog, staring directly at her.

The girl smiled, waving at the dog.

The new hunt has begun.