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It was the first quarter of the night. The city was asleep, but something was awake inside Deben Rajput.

The moon was hanging above the window in his room - as if someone had cut off its face and left its cover. There was something in the air... something strange. As if the ground was holding something down and the sky was keeping it awake by cooling it.

Deben yawned. There was sweat on his forehead. A dream... again the same dream.

That temple. That forest. That fire in which someone was burning. And in the middle of that blazing light - a woman. Her face was not clearly visible, but her eyes... there were three lights in those eyes. Three eyes. All three were looking together - inside Deben's heart.

> "The time has come..."

"You have come back..."

Deben opened his eyes loudly. The clock was about to strike. He got up from the bed and tried to drink water, but his hands were shaking. Every night this dream was increasing. First there was only fire in it. Then the temple. Now... there was a voice too. Of a woman.

But today for the first time... there was a girl in that dream.

In white clothes, silver shine in hair and eyes... as if stopping him.

> “Don’t come... this is the way to death...”

Deben put the glass of water on the table.

His heart was beating very fast.

That night he made a decision.

“Enough is enough now. I have to find out whether this is a dream or reality.”

☀️ Morning - A silent thought

The next morning Deben woke up without touching the breakfast plate. His uncle was reading the newspaper. Aunt came calling him from the kitchen, but there was more worry than tenderness in her eyes.

> “Son, what happened? It seems you have not slept for so many days?”

Deben looked at aunt carefully, then said:

> “I want to ask you something. Which is our real village?”

In a moment, aunt’s face turned pale.

> “What happened? You were born here in the city…”

> “No aunt. Don’t lie to me. I remember that place… or I see it in my dreams. Where there is a temple. There is fire. And there is a goddess… who has three eyes.”

Uncle shook the newspaper from his hand.

> “Where did you hear all this?”

Deben said slowly:

> “I didn’t hear… I have seen it. I see it every day. In my dreams. Since childhood.”

After a long silence. Then aunt held his hand for the first time.

> “Your father also used to have similar dreams. And one day he went there.”

> “What happened to him?”

> “His body was found behind the goddess temple. Burning.”

Deben's throat went dry.

> "Is that place called Kalvan?"

Uncle looked up and said softly:

> "Yes. Kalvan."

🚞 No disturbance, go away

Deben had completed all the preparations in three days. He bid farewell to uncle and aunt respectfully. Aunt tied a black thread on his hand.

> "This will save you. Don't go inside the temple... unless you hear a voice."

Deben caught the bus. Far from the city, in the middle of the forest, Kalvan was hidden - a name that did not appear on the map. A place from which people never returned as a city.

When Deben got off the jeep, there was dense forest all around. A narrow road led to that village. There was a dead silence on that road. As if even the wind was blowing while holding its breath.

🏚️ First view of the village

As soon as Deben entered Kalvan, he felt that time had stopped here.

A small house, on whose old walls there were marks of trident and vermilion. Outside the house there were peepal trees, under which some women were sitting with their eyes closed, as if asking for forgiveness from someone.

An old mansion-like house was kept for Deben to stay. Its door used to open automatically, as if he was being called inside.

It was night. Deben closed the window from inside, but a strange cold was increasing in his garden.

That's when he saw her for the first time.

👁️ First look – First glance

On the way to the temple, under an umbrella - a girl was standing. White lehenga, silver shine in her hair and her eyes... Deben's breath stopped for a moment.

> "You?"

"You shouldn't have come," her voice was as cold as ice.

> "Your name?"

> "…Akurti."

She looked at Deben for a moment, then her eyes flashed like lightning. As if three eyes were hidden in them, only the flame was not visible.

> "Go back as soon as possible. Kalvan will not let you live."

> "But I have not come to die. I have come to ask my questions."

The girl said only this:

> "Then get ready... for that answer... which will contain love... and curse."

Akurti touched me and disappeared into the middle of the forest.

Deben stood there - as if all his dreams had become reality at that moment.

But in that reality there was less love... and more death.

🌒 Previous Episode

City boy Deben Rajput has the same dream every night- a temple, a goddess, a flame with three eyes and a girl who tries to stop him. When the dreams start getting too dark, he discovers the truth of Kalvan, the village of his ancestors. The mystery of the dreams, the death of his family and the curse of the temple- everything is connected to that village. At the end of Episode 1, Deben meets Akurti for the first time- a mysterious girl who tells him:

>"Along with love there will be curse."

The first ray of the morning had not yet fallen on the earth. There was a light cloud in the sky of Kalvan, but behind that cloud, the spire of a temple was visible- in a burnt colour, as if fire had just come out of it.

Deben saw the temple in full for the first time. It was many years old, but there was something in it that still seemed alive.

> "That temple is burning..." A child ran past him.

> "What did you say?" Deben interrupted him.

> "At night... when no one is looking, that temple burns by itself. There is no fire... but smoke starts to rise."

> "And does anyone go inside?"

> "Whoever goes inside... never comes back."

Her footsteps stopped as Deben walked along. Was this the same place she had seen in her dreams? The same... where her father's body was found?

Another child said, "They say a witch is locked up in that temple."

But there was no witch in Deben's dreams. There was a goddess.

That day Deben tried to see Akurti again - but there was only a vine in the forest, with a small piece of her hair hanging from it.

As if he had taken a step there - or sneaked a peek - just yesterday.

Then a voice came from behind –

> “Devya wants to meet you.”

Thakur-like voice. An old man wearing saffron clothes was standing at the turn – Baba Tamas.

He had a small broom in his hand – as if he was cleaning the air.

> “Do you know me?” Deben asked.

> “I know. What is your name, what is your lineage, what qualities were instilled in you from the beginning… everything.”

Deben looked at the old man with his eyes.

> “Can you tell me why all these dreams come?”

> “Because Deviyam remembers you. You are her last friend.”

> “Was Deviyam a goddess or a prostitute?”

> “She was a goddess… who was deceived by humans. Who was burnt. At that moment all three of her eyes were closed – but her daughter did not close her eyes. She had sworn that she would set her mother free.”

Deben said softly, “Akurti…”

> “Yes. Your death is his way out. And your love… his pain.”

That night Deben goes to a corner of the forest – where the path leads to an old pond. From there the forest behind the temple is visible – and in the middle of the pond there was a small tree, where Deben had first seen her sitting.

Akurti.

She had water at her feet, and a flower in her hand – which she would put in the water again and again, and then hold up.

“Why alone here?” Deben asked.

> “Because I can never belong to anyone,” there was a pain in her voice – a pain that only someone whose body is burdened with secrets can feel.

> “Are you Deviyam’s daughter?” Deben asked directly.

Akurti looked at him. There were no tears in her eyes. There was only a light – a burning one.

> “Yes. I am their daughter. Of Deviyam. The Goddess... whom you people burnt. Locked in the temple. And now... their daughter has been given the responsibility... to free her.”

> “And I am on the path to that liberation?”

Aakurti nodded yes.

> “Your death can free my mother. She must be jealous of your life.”

> “And if I die, what will you get to live for?”

Aakurti closed her eyes and said again:

> “I am just a curse Deben. Love is not in my destiny.”

> “But your eyes... are not lying.”

Both of them fell silent for a moment. It was just a wave of water, or maybe of the heart.

At 12 o’clock at night Deben saw a ball of fire rising in the sky.

Smoke was coming out of the temple. People were closing the doors of their houses.

> “That is the night…” Baba Tamas said from somewhere.

“When the three eyes of the Goddess open automatically.”

> “And what does she see?” Deben asked.

> “Her power. People like you.”

The fire door of the temple was opening. A sound came from inside – as if someone was crying. There was no light. Baba was missing.

Deben took a step forward.

The same voice. The same light. The same face.

> “You have come… now you will not be able to go.”