THE ANTHROPOPHAGUS

THE SILENT REVELATION!

Nandini's eyes fluttered open, the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital room stinging her eyes. She felt a rush of panic as memories of the cave flooded back—Meera's sadistic smile, the searing pain of her tongue being cut, Harsha's deranged laughter. Her heart pounded as she tried to speak, but only a choked, guttural sound emerged.

Aasha, sitting by her side, noticed her distress and leaned in, her eyes wide with concern. "Nandini! You're awake! Thank God you're awake! Can you hear me? Can you understand me?"

Nandini nodded weakly, tears streaming down her face. She tried to speak again, but her mouth betrayed her. The pain of her missing tongue was a brutal reminder of the horror she had endured. Desperately, she began to gesture with her hands, hoping to convey the terror she remembered.

Aasha frowned, trying to make sense of Nandini's frantic motions. "Calm down, Nandini. Take it slow. What are you trying to tell me?"

Nandini pointed to her eye, then to her mouth, making a cutting motion across her throat. Her hands shook as she mimicked flames licking at her skin, her fingers splaying outward to show something protruding.

Aasha's face twisted in confusion. "Your eye... mouth... fire? I don't understand."

Nandini squeezed her eyes shut, the frustration and helplessness overwhelming her. She pointed to her own tongue, then shook her head violently. Finally, she mimicked a monstrous figure, one eye bulging grotesquely, half of its face melted away by flames.

Aasha's eyes widened with dawning horror. "Someone... someone with a burned face? An eye bulging out? Oh my God, Nandini, who are you talking about? Is it... is it someone worse than Harsha?"

Nandini nodded vigorously, her whole body trembling with the effort. She made the figure's movements slow and deliberate, emphasizing the horror of its appearance. Her eyes pleaded with Aasha to understand the unspeakable terror she was trying to convey.

Aasha's face paled. "But who? Who could be worse than Harsha? Nandini, I... I don't know what to do. I don't understand!"

Nandini's head fell back against the pillow, a sob wrenching from her throat. She had survived the unimaginable, but now, trapped in her silence, she couldn't make Aasha see the new nightmare lurking in the shadows.

Nandini lies in a hospital bed, her eyes filled with fear and confusion. Aasha sits beside her, holding her hand, trying to offer comfort. The door creaks open, and Bhairava and David walk in, their faces grave.

Aasha: (looking up, voice trembling) What is it? What have you found out?

David takes a deep breath, his face etched with sorrow and determination.He closes the door behind him and approaches them, the weight of his burden evident in his posture.

David: (voice low) There’s something you both need to know. It’s about Harshit.

Nandini's eyes widen in fear, and she grips Aasha's hand tightly. The shadows seem to grow longer, enveloping the room in a sense of foreboding.

Aasha: (confused) What do you mean? What about Harshit?

David pulls a chair close to the bed, sitting down heavily. He looks at Aasha and Nandini with a mixture of pain and resolve.

David: (sighing deeply) The Harshit we thought we knew... he's not who we believed him to be.

Aasha's brow furrows in confusion, the tension in the room thick enough to cut with a knife.