Sitara and The Dayan

Chapter Seven

Dayan!

Grandma was a dayan. The words pounded inside Sitara's head.

Sitara struggled to catch her breath, feeling as if she was trapped in an endless nightmare.

Worse, this wasn't a nightmare.

She dared to peek inside the room. The three evils were laughing, sending shivers down Sitara's spine. She knew if she stayed longer, she would scream. She rose to her feet and sprinted back to the house. She dashed to her room, jumped into her bed, and pulled the blanket over her.

"Now I'll wake up," Sitara repeated to herself. "I'll wake up soon."

But of course, she didn't.

Because she wasn't sleeping.

It wasn't a dream.

It wasn't a fantasy novel.

It wasn't a TV series.

It was real.

Grandma was a dayan!

Suddenly, a realization struck her like a lightning bolt. Maybe it was the reason Grandma had stayed so young. And looked even younger than Sitara's mother. They used to joke about grandma's youthful look. Grandma would say she has good genes. Now Sitara knew where the good genes came from.

And another horrible thing was true.

The dead girl Sitara saw in the garden house was real. That meant... there were probably more girls in the other coffins.

And the dayan was so smart that she almost persuaded Sitara into believing that she had imagined all that. If Sitara hadn't listened to them, she would have never known the truth. She would have willingly sacrificed herself for the dayan.

She was so stupid. She rejected a vocation to Darjeeling and now stuck herself with a bloodthirsty dayan. What had she gotten herself into? Before she knew it, she was sobbing.

Her life was ruined. She walked directly into the web of the Dayan. She was going to die. What had she dreamed? She would inherit the mansion, become a famous baker, and settle in this small town.

But Grandma didn't lie to her completely. Sitara would inherit the place forever. At least her dead body would.

Suddenly, Sitara heard footsteps approaching her bedroom.

Sitara's heart raced as the sound of footsteps grew closer to her bedroom. With a glance, she realized that in her haste she had forgotten to lock the door.

She threw the blanket over her head and grew completely silent.

Maybe it was her evil grandmother with her shining dagger. Maybe she had changed her plan and wanted to drink Sitara's blood now. Maybe she just couldn't wait to be younger.

Sitara's room was suddenly filled with the creaking sound of the door opening, followed by the gentle footsteps. The slow and careful steps told Sitara that the Dayan had entered the room.

Please don't drink my blood now. Sitara prayed.

A hand was placed on the blanket.

Sitara screamed, flung the blanket aside, and jumped out of the bed.

"Sitara," said her grandma, aka the dayan. "Are you okay?"

Sitara was about to scream and tell the dayan to stay away from her, but she stopped herself. She was powerless. And who knew how powerful the dayan was? What dark magic did she possess? What kind of deadly spell did she know? Sitara couldn't reveal that she knew Grandma's dirty secret.

If Sitara pretended that she knew nothing, it would be more beneficial. She took a deep breath and turned to the dayan. Grandma was once again wrapped in her shawl, doing her best to look like an old, weak grandmother who adored her grandchildren. Thankfully, she wasn't holding any dagger.

Sitara's body sagged with relief and she sank to the floor. At least she was safe for now.

"I ...I had a nightmare," Sitara lied.

The dayan walked over to her and looked at her with a worried expression. Maybe she was worried Sitara's blood wouldn't taste good if Sitara was sick.

"Sitara," she said. Her voice was weak once again.

Sitara hoped the dayan didn't know mind reading. But just to be safe, she thought about her parents and not what she had just witnessed in the garden house.

"I thought I should check on you," Grandma said, her voice filled with worry. "Are you okay now?" She sat next to Sitara and put a hand on her head.

Sitara's skin prickled with the sensation of countless bugs crawling across her flesh. She tightly balled her hand into a fist to stop herself from slapping the dayan's hand from her body.

"Yes, I'm good," Sitara replied with a slight smile.

"What was your nightmare about?" the dayan asked.

You are the nightmare. Sitara thought but said, "It's... you know, just... stupid things like darkness and I was alone"

"You are never alone, darling," her voice was warm and comforting. For a split second, Sitara liked the warmth. It made her feel safe, like it used to do when she was younger and grandma would comfort her when she got scared of monsters. But now Grandma was the monster. How fast the night changes.

Grandma smiled. "I was thinking, after I get well, we'll go to Paris."

With my dead body. Sitara thought. "Sure," she answered.

"Well, you have to help me get better," Grandma said.

No, I don't want to give you my blood and soul so that you look good. Sitara only nodded and fake yawned twice.

"You should sleep now," Grandma stood up. "I'll tuck you in bed,"

Grandam helped Sitara into bed and gently put the blanket over her. All the while, a fake smile was plastered over her face.

"Good night, Grandma," Sitara said, trying to get rid of the Dayan quickly.

The dayan left the room. Sitara waited patiently for the footsteps to die down and the distinct click of a door being locked downstairs. Then she threw off the blanket, slipped out of the bed, and locked her bedroom door.

"I'm not going to die," she said. "I have a lot to do with my life. I haven't even finished high school yet,"

In the dimly lit room, she restlessly wandered back and forth. "What should I do?" she whispered to the empty room. Almost begging the walls to answer her.

Sitara couldn't call her parents and tell them everything. Who would believe Sitara if she said her grandma was a dayan?

Sitara grabbed her phone and googled about the date of the next Amavasya. To her horror, it was just eleven days away.

What should she do? How was she going to save herself from the dayan?

Maybe she could set the house on fire and make it look like an accident. She even imagined the headline of the newspaper. "A clumsy granddaughter set the house on fire killing her grandmother and two servants."

She quickly dismissed the idea.

She was not smart enough to carry out a plant like that. Then there were police and other things to worry about.

She couldn't fight the dayan.

Sitara gripped the phone and stared at the date on the screen. Her only solution came to her mind.

"I have to run away," she said.

***

Hi everyone!

What would you have done if you were in Sitara's position?

Would you have fight the dayan or run away?

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Happy Reading. 📚❤