THE CURSED CHILD

The Night Destiny Burned

This story belongs to me.
Before it became a story... it was my life.

My name is Mahira. Some call me Mahi. I live in Dehradun with my Dida. People say I survived a tragic car accident when I was eight years old. They call it a miracle.

I call it a lie.

September 20, 2003, was the night my life split into before and after.

We were driving through an empty highway when I saw her.

A woman in a red saree is standing in the middle of the road. Her hair was still, yet her saree moved as if breathing. Her eyes weren't reflecting light.

They were glowing.

She didn't look at the car.

She looked at me.

Papa jerked the steering wheel. Maa screamed. Metal crushed. Fire consumed everything.

When I opened my eyes, I wasn't on the road anymore.

I was lying in a dark forest.

Alone. Unhurt. Alive.

She stood before me again and whispered inside my mind:

"You have been reborn. Destiny has been altered. He will return... and this time, he will take your soul."

Three days later, they found me miles away from the crash site. No burns. No injuries. Doctors called it trauma. Police called it a shock.

But I know what I saw.

That night wasn't an accident.

It was a beginning.

And whatever took my parents...

It's not done with me yet.