A cold whisper hissed to Devadatta's ears, chilling and clear, "You think you can challenge me?" He spun around, but there was nobody there. But where is he? Suddenly, he realized he was standing alone in the middle of a festival ground, a place tha...
Upon their return, Devadatta and Kabirajji were greeted by an alarming sight: Devadatta's cowshed was ablaze, with orange flames leaping into the sky. Fortunately, the cows were elsewhere, unharmed by the fire.
But the relief was overshadowed by a more pressing concern: Devadatta's wife was mysteriously absent from the scene. Also, no one has seen her daughter Kamini either! Devadatta once vibrant with the dynamics of his supremacy, now trembled under the weight of fear and uncertainty.
A cold whisper hissed to Devadatta's ears, chilling and clear, "You think you can challenge me?" He spun around, but there was nobody there. But where is he? Suddenly, he realized he was standing alone in the middle of a festival ground, a place that should have been bustling with people, yet it was completely empty. There are no people anywhere.
Across the deserted expanse, Devadatta caught sight of Tilotamma, her attention captured by a few dogs. She was the only other soul visible. Her back was turned opposite. She has not noticed Devadatta yet. "Perhaps I'm going insane," he speculated internally. He stepped towards Tilotamma.
Then, in a moment that sent shivers down his spine, Tilotamma's head twisted completely backward around in a way that heads shouldn't twist, revealing eyes that were entirely white, without any hint of black in them—like ghostly orbs staring right through him.
Devadatta's heart skipped a beat in sheer terror.
"Remember me?" The voice echoed again, a cold whisper that seemed to float directly into his ears, as if the speaker was standing just behind him, breath warm against his skin, a haunting intimacy that left him uneasy, looking over his shoulder into the empty air.
Before Devadatta's disbelieving eyes, Tilotamma's form began to twist, her features blurring in a nightmarish dance. She elongated, her bones cracking, reshaping into Kubja's familiar silhouette, the girl all the village boys had adored, including Devadatta. But this was different; there were no signs of the white blisters that Kubja had. It was her, yet it was as if he was seeing her from a past memory.
Suddenly, Devadatta's memory sharpened - Tilotamma was not a stranger. Tilotamma looks like Kubja from their days in the paathsala.
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As she tilted her head, a chilling smile spread across her face, revealing teeth that seemed to belong to some nightmarish creature rather than a human. Dark, viscous liquid oozed between the sharp, uneven teeth, dripping onto the ground. In an instant, the figure blurred into motion, charging at Devadatta with a speed that seemed both unnatural and terrifying.
Devadatta's skin was slick with sweat, his heart pounding against his ribs, as fear rooted him to the spot. The once-familiar figure was now a specter of horror, her approach heralding a terror Devadatta had never known.
