Chapter 1 - The Woman in the Dream
Morning sunlight slipped through the curtains of the Raheja mansion, painting golden patterns across the bedroom floor.
Shivanya slowly opened her eyes.
For a few seconds, she didn't move.
She was still trapped between sleep and reality, her mind desperately trying to hold onto the fragments of the dream she'd just had.
The ancient temple.
The crimson moon.
The enormous serpent coiled around the stone pillars.
And that woman.
Again.
Shivanya sat up abruptly.
Her breathing was uneven.
She pressed a hand against her chest.
"Why do I keep seeing you?"
The woman in her dreams had never spoken normally. Her voice always seemed to come from somewhere far away, as though it travelled through centuries to reach Shivanya.
But today, something had been different.
For the first time, Shivanya had seen the woman's face clearly.
And that was what frightened her.
Because the woman looked exactly like her.
Same eyes.
Same features.
Same long hair.
The only difference was the strange silver mark on the woman's forehead.
Shivanya touched her own forehead instinctively.
Nothing.
Just skin.
She shook her head.
"It was only a dream."
She forced herself to get out of bed.
The moment her feet touched the floor, she heard a voice.
"Good morning, dream girl."
She froze.
Ritik stood at the bedroom door, holding two cups of coffee.
Shivanya turned around.
"You scared me!"
Ritik smiled innocently.
"That was not my intention."
"You were standing there silently."
"I was admiring my wife."
She rolled her eyes.
"At seven in the morning?"
"Especially at seven in the morning."
He walked toward her and handed her one of the cups.
"Coffee."
She took it.
"Thank you."
Ritik studied her face.
His smile slowly disappeared.
"You didn't sleep properly."
Shivanya avoided his eyes.
"I'm fine."
"Shivanya."
"I'm fine, Ritik."
He didn't argue.
Instead, he gently touched her cheek.
"You're allowed to not be fine."
She looked at him.
That was Ritik.
He never forced her to speak.
He simply made her feel safe enough to speak whenever she was ready.
She smiled faintly.
"I had another dream."
His expression softened.
"The same one?"
She nodded.
"Tell me."
Shivanya hesitated.
"I don't know how to explain it."
"Try."
She sat on the edge of the bed.
"There's an old temple. I don't know where it is. There's always a red moon. And there's a woman."
"What woman?"
Shivanya looked at him.
"She looks like me."
Ritik's eyebrows lifted.
"Like you?"
"Exactly like me."
He sat beside her.
"What does she say?"
Shivanya lowered her voice.
"That I have to choose."
"Choose what?"
"I don't know."
Ritik remained silent for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Maybe your subconscious is telling you to choose between coffee and tea."
She stared at him.
"Seriously?"
He grinned.
"I was trying to make you smile."
It worked.
She laughed despite herself.
Ritik leaned closer.
"There."
"What?"
"That smile."
He kissed her forehead.
"Much better."
Shivanya rested her head against his shoulder.
For a moment, the dream disappeared.
There was only him.
Only his warmth.
Only the quiet comfort of being loved.
But beneath that comfort, something inside her continued whispering.
Choose.
________________________________________
Later that morning, the house was filled with noise.
Breakfast had become a chaotic affair.
Ritik was trying to steal food from Shivanya's plate while she repeatedly moved it away from him.
"Ritik!"
"What?"
"That's mine."
"You are my wife."
"So?"
"Everything you have belongs to me."
Shivanya raised an eyebrow.
"Then your wallet belongs to me too?"
Ritik immediately became serious.
"Let's not take this relationship too far."
Everyone at the table laughed.
Shivanya smiled.
For the first time in days, she felt normal.
But then a servant entered the dining room.
"Madam?"
Shivanya turned.
"Yes?"
"This was found outside your room."
He handed her a small silver box.
She frowned.
"I didn't order anything."
"It doesn't have a name."
Ritik looked at the box.
"Open it."
Shivanya slowly lifted the lid.
Inside was a single silver pendant.
A crescent moon wrapped around a tiny serpent.
Her blood ran cold.
The room seemed to disappear.
She knew that symbol.
The same one from her dream.
The same one she'd seen on the terrace the previous night.
Her fingers trembled.
"Shivanya?"
Ritik noticed.
She immediately closed the box.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
She forced a smile.
"It's just a pendant."
Ritik reached for the box.
"Then why are you scared?"
"I'm not."
He looked at her.
She looked away.
Before he could say anything else, her phone rang.
She stepped away from the table.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Hello?"
A woman's voice finally whispered.
"Stop looking for the temple."
Shivanya's heart stopped.
"Who are you?"
"You don't remember me."
"Who are you?"
A faint laugh came through the phone.
"You will."
The call ended.
Shivanya stood frozen.
Then she heard something behind her.
A soft hiss.
She turned.
Nothing.
Only an empty hallway.
She slowly looked down.
A thin trail of water stretched across the marble floor.
And at the end of it was a single snake scale.
Silver.
Shivanya picked it up.
The moment her fingers touched it, she saw something.
A flash.
The ancient temple.
The red moon.
The mysterious woman.
And Ritik standing beside her.
Blood covering his shirt.
Shivanya gasped and dropped the scale.
"Ritik!"
He came running.
"What happened?"
She looked at him.
For one terrible second, she saw the image again.
Ritik dying.
Her screaming.
The woman smiling.
Then everything vanished.
"Shivanya!"
She threw herself into his arms.
Ritik held her tightly.
"What happened?"
She couldn't answer.
Because she didn't know what frightened her more.
The mystery.
The woman.
The temple.
Or the possibility that the dream was showing her the future.
Ritik gently lifted her face.
"Look at me."
She did.
"Whatever is happening," he whispered, "you won't face it alone."
Her eyes filled with tears.
She nodded.
But somewhere deep inside, Shivanya already knew something Ritik didn't.
This mystery wasn't approaching them.
It had already found them.
And whatever was waiting inside that forgotten temple...
had been waiting for Shivanya for a very long time.
Anupamaa
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