Dinner that evening felt warmer than the food itself.
The house was filled with soft light, the clink of spoons, and the gentle hum of domestic normalcy. Tejas watched Dad serve dal with a proud smile and Vahni quietly refill plates with a grace that made everything look practiced.
For the first time in days, nobody felt on edge.
"Tejas, tell Aunty how we used glitter only in strategic locations," Anaya said proudly.
"There's no such thing as strategic glitter," he muttered.
"There is if I say so," she replied.
Dad laughed under his breath. "Both of you stay for dinner," he said, looking at Anaya. "You helped so much today."
Tejas blinked. "Dad—she might have to—"
"Yes!" Anaya declared before he could finish. "I accept all free dinners."
Vahni arrived from the kitchen with a steaming bowl of rice. No hesitation. No concern. Just a tired but genuine smile.
Tejas raised an eyebrow.
Vahni agreeing without resistance?
After yesterday's tension?
Strange.
When everyone settled, Vahni finally asked the important question:
"Anaya, did you inform your parents?"
"Yes, yes, Aunty," she said with a smooth grin. "I called before coming in."
Tejas nearly dropped his spoon.
He had been with her the whole time.
Walking.
Talking.
Shopping.
At no point did she call anyone.
But he kept quiet.
Dinner went on beautifully — laughter, teasing, gentle conversation. Even Vahni's eyes softened every time Raghav said something small or silly. And when Anaya whispered, "Your mom and dad give such couple energy," Tejas nearly choked on his rice.
After the plates were cleared, and Vahni insisted they stay a little longer, Dad looked at Tejas.
"Walk her home," he said softly. "It's dark."
Tejas nodded, grabbed his slippers, and followed Anaya out.
Green Park Colony at night was a gentle maze of dim lamps and quiet porches. As they reached Anaya's lane, Tejas noticed something instantly.
Her house was completely dark.
No porch light.
No TV sound.
No rattle of utensils.
No shoes outside.
"Your parents sleep early?" he asked casually.
Anaya's humming stopped.
"Uh… yes. Totally. They sleep… extremely early."
"Both of them?" Tejas pressed.
"Yes! Obviously. They're married. Married people get sleepy faster."
Tejas frowned. "Anaya. Are you alone?"
She froze for a breath — barely a breath — and then spun around dramatically.
"Me? Alone? Never! My parents are just… out. Office party. That kind of boring adult stuff."
"Both are at a party?"
"Yes."
"At night?"
"Yes!"
"With no lights on?"
She blinked rapidly. "They believe in electricity conservation. They are heroes."
Tejas stared.
Anaya must've sensed she'd tripped because she leaned in, lowered her voice, and said, "Look, lieutenant, I'm fine. Really. Let's not make a big thing out of it, alright?"
Her tone softened — not defensive, but almost pleading.
Tejas backed off. "Okay."
She smiled — small, real. "Goodnight."
She slipped inside, closing the dark door behind her.
Tejas walked home slowly, a question tapping against his ribs.
Why would someone lie so quickly
and so smoothly
about something so important?
The next morning, Tejas and Anaya carried their decorated chart to class. The glue had dried in little ridges, the stars were perfectly misaligned, and Anaya insisted the crookedness gave it "character."
They placed it on the teacher's table.
Mrs. Mary D'Souza inspected it with surprise.
"This is wonderful," she said. "Who drew this border?"
Anaya raised her hand proudly. "That's my accident."
Tejas rolled his eyes. The class laughed.
When the bell rang, they ran out together, high-fiving like champions.
"See?" Anaya said. "We're unstoppable."
"We glued paper to cardboard. Calm down."
"It's the small wins, lieutenant!"
Vahni came home humming softly — something Tejas hadn't heard before.
"You're… happy?" he asked.
"Head chef was on holiday," she said.
"Ah."
"And nobody shouted today. Even better."
Dad walked out of the bedroom with paper notes in his hand. "Three calls today. Two new students confirmed for tuition."
Tejas saw something flicker in his father's eyes — not fear, not worry, but hope. A hope he hadn't seen since they moved.
Vahni nodded slowly. "Good. Very good. I'll meet their families tomorrow. No one enters this house without being vetted."
Dad accepted this without argument.
Vahni was the shield.
He respected the shield.
Across the city, Devraj sat hunched over a desk littered with old heat logs, cigarette burns, and half-erased notes. The bribed officer had given him files — but sloppy files. Files with overwritten timestamps. Files that contradicted themselves.
He frowned at one particular page.
The ten-year-old logs were a joke.
entries pasted twice
readings missing
several minutes blacked out
two different coordinates assigned to the same timestamp
Sloppy.
Panicked sloppy.
"It wasn't an accident," Devraj muttered. "Someone hid something."
He checked the map again — the OLD map, the corrupted one.
The marked zone was a cluster of old buildings and an abandoned factory lane, nowhere near Green Park Colony.
"Of course he died there," the officer had insisted.
"The hybrid child couldn't have survived."
Devraj now doubted the officer —
not the location.
Then he pulled up the most recent thermal logs.
A moving low-steady-low signature.
Heat that drifted slowly across a neighbourhood.
Not their neighbourhood.
Not the old zone.
Green Park Colony.
"Hm."
He narrowed his eyes.
"A household oven? A furnace? A bakery transport cart?" he mused aloud.
Certainly not a superhuman.
Not a hybrid.
Too weak.
Too steady.
Too calm.
Definitely not a threat.
He shoved the papers aside.
"I need proper data from the OLD site," he said. "That's where the truth is."
Still searching the wrong place.
Still confident he was right.
He had no idea how wrong he was.
Tejas lay in bed, staring at the ceiling fan spinning lazily.
Dinner had been… nice.
Anaya hiding something had been… strange.
Dad's smile had been… warm.
Vahni humming had been… new.
Everything felt like a puzzle slowly forming pictures he wasn't ready to see.
And somewhere, far across the city, a man with a metal lineage studied traces in all the wrong places.
For now, that mistake kept Tejas safe.
For now.