BEAUTIFUL FAMILY

The morning sun offered no comfort to Neila as she woke. The mansion felt unnervingly empty. After finding that Rishab had already left for the day, curiosity—or perhaps a dark intuition—led her back to the forbidden room. This time, she noticed something she had missed before: a narrow, hidden door tucked behind the massive wardrobe.

Pushing it open, her breath hitched. The room beyond was cold and sterile, dominated by four large glass tanks. Inside the transparent walls, suspended in water, were four children—two boys and two girls, none older than ten. They were deathly still, their faces obscured by breathing pipes. Neila collapsed to her knees, the horror of the sight echoing through the silent room.

Many Years Ago

Mitali was a hollow shell of herself, her body ravaged by the failed experiments of her own making. In her desperation, she turned to a priest who recoiled at the sight of her.

"Please help me," she sobbed, her voice cracking. "All I want is to be beautiful."

The priest’s expression was grim. "Don’t cry, my dear. There is a way to achieve the beauty you seek... but it requires a sacrifice."

Mitali didn't hesitate. "There is nothing I am not prepared to do. Just make me and my family beautiful."

They descended into the forbidden room, standing before the wardrobe as the priest began a low, rhythmic ritual. The house began to groan, the floorboards shaking violently as the air grew heavy.

"You want beauty?" A voice, both male and female, resonated from the shadows.

The priest gestured for Mitali to answer. She stepped forward, trembling. "Yes. Please help me."

"You shall have it," the voice hissed with a demonic edge. "The chemicals surrounding this place will be your tools. But in return, you will feed your first two children to me. And you will offer your own blood every week. If you fail, the loved one blessed with this beauty will pay the price."

Mitali swallowed hard, the weight of the pact settling in her soul.

Present Day

Neila stumbled out of the mansion, her mind fractured by what she had seen. She ran blindly until she collided with ASP Geeta.

"Officer, please! Help me!" Neila cried, her face stained with tears.

Geeta held her by the shoulders, startled. "Calm down, Neila. What happened?"

With trembling hands, Neila led the officer back inside, showing her the secret room and the children in the tanks. Geeta stood stunned, the professional mask of a police officer slipping for a moment before she hurried Neila into her car and sped away.

Elsewhere, Raj’s car pulled up near the Mehra mansion. Mitali sat beside him, her eyes fixed on the entrance where Rishab stood outside, flanked by his bodyguards.

"Wait, we can't go in yet," Mitali whispered, fear etched into her features. "He’ll be out shortly." Raj nodded, his hand tightening on the steering wheel as they watched.

Many Years Ago

Mitali and Rishab stood before Ananya, who had recently undergone her own transformation. The beauty was radiant, but the cost was about to be revealed.

"My first two children?" Ananya asked, her voice shaking. "I thought my blood was enough."

Mitali stepped toward her, her smile devoid of warmth. "There’s nothing to be afraid of, Ananya. This is what I did to Rishab’s own brother and sister."

Ananya gasped as they led her to the glass tanks. Seeing the two siblings suspended in the water, she recoiled. "If these are Rishab’s older siblings, how are they still children?"

"Nina Oxygen," Rishab answered coldly.

"It’s a supplement," Mitali explained. "It keeps an unconscious body in a permanent state of stasis. It doesn’t work on the conscious. Now, are you ready to be beautiful forever?"

"Are you going to die at the end?" Ananya whispered.

Mitali’s smile widened. "Of course. Death is the law of the land. But you won't die of old age."

Present Day Geeta’s House

Neila and Geeta entered the smaller mansion, only to find Naveen walking out of a side room. The surprise was mutual.

"Neila? This is my son, Naveen," Geeta said.

"Omg, Mum, you brought Neila here?" Naveen said, a bright smile on his face.

"Hi, Naveen," Neila replied nervously. Geeta watched them, her brows furrowed in surprise at their familiarity.

"Mum, she’s my friend from school," Naveen added. The word friend hit Neila like a physical blow, and her disappointment was visible.

"Well, great," Geeta said, though she seemed distracted. "Take care of her until I return. Neila, I’m going to get help." Neila nodded, her heart heavy with worry as Geeta disappeared out the door.

While Rishab and his guards were out searching for Neila, Mitali and Raj slipped into the mansion through a secret entrance. They made their way to the forbidden room, where Mitali revealed the wardrobe to Raj.

"Oh my God," Raj breathed, his face pale. "My grandfather told me about this cursed wardrobe. He and a priest made a deal with a devil they summoned from a dark book of myths."

Suddenly, Mitali gasped, clutching her chest. "Omy God... I am dying." Her nose began to bleed, and before Raj’s eyes, her skin began to wither and dry out.

What should I do?" Raj asked, reaching her side as she collapsed. "Is there a booster I can give you?"

"You have to break the curse," Mitali gasped in pain. "Kill the devil."

"My grandfather’s book," Raj remembered. "He told me everything is inside it."

As Mitali continued to age at an impossible rate, Raj turned to the door, only to find Rishab and his guards waiting for him.

Many Years Ago: Mehra Mansion

A five-year-old Neila was playing happily with Sham and Rani when Ananya entered the room.

"Sham, Rani, come with me," Ananya said, her voice trembling.

"What about me, Mum?" Neila asked.

Ananya gave her a nervous, heartbreaking smile. "Don’t worry, Neila. We’ll be back soon." She led the older children toward the forbidden room where Mitali and Rishab waited.

"Mummy, what is this place?" Rani asked, her voice small. Ananya turned away, tears streaming down her face.

"Rani dear, we’re going to play hide and seek inside that wardrobe," Mitali said smoothly. The children, excited by the game, climbed inside. Rishab shut the door and turned to console the sobbing Ananya, while Mitali simply watched, a terrifying smile on her face.

Inside the Wardrobe

The past and present blurred in a chorus of screams. Sham and Rani were trapped in the dark, clawing at the wardrobe door. Suddenly, a black shadow coalesced before them. They screamed as the shadow lunged, sinking into Sham’s neck, draining the blood until he was a dry, husk-like shell.

Rani stood frozen, her screams silenced by terror, until the shadow took her too. By the time the wardrobe door swung open, Mitali, Rishab, and a weeping Ananya were met only with the pale, lifeless forms of the children.

Presently

At the hospital, Geeta moved quickly, slipping into the laboratory to seize some chemicals. As she tried to leave, she bumped into a nurse.

"Ma’am, what are you doing in here?" the nurse asked, her eyes darting to the bottles Geeta was trying to hide.

"Nothing," Geeta said, regaining her composure and flashing her ID. "The doctor asked me to pick these up. I’m a police officer." The nurse nodded, satisfied, and Geeta hurried out.

Back at the mansion, Raj fought his way through the remaining bodyguards, managing to reach his car. Rishab watched him flee and barked orders to his men to follow. He turned back to Mitali, who was now unrecognizable, her body having aged rapidly into that of a sixty-year-old woman.

"We need to end this madness," Mitali sobbed.

"You've ruined everything, Mum!" Rishab bellowed in the forbidden room. "Do you think life is fair? Before this, I was just a man who was rich and ugly. Girls only wanted me for my money. I heard them talking on the phone, laughing at how they couldn't stand being with someone like me."

He looked at Mitali with tears of pure rage. "You changed that. You gave us beauty. You made us a 'beautiful family.'Such beautiful family.And you are going to help me one last time."

Mitali watched in horror as he began to drag her toward the wardrobe.

At Geeta’s house, the brief peace was shattered. Naveen and Neila were talking when Rhea, Diya, and Maya burst through the door.

"You fucking bitch!" Rhea screamed at Neila.

"No, Rhea, it’s not what it looks like!" Naveen tried to interject.

"Shut up and stop pretending!" Diya yelled. Neila backed away, terrified.

"Please hear me out," Neila sobbed. "Miss Geeta asked me..."

"Don’t bother," Maya sneered, pulling a knife from her purse. "You must die."

Rhea and Diya pulled their own blades. Naveen grabbed Neila’s hand, and they bolted into a nearby room, locking the door as the three girls began to stalk through the house, searching for them.

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