1 chapter 27 excerpt

Noa checked her watch – an expensive gift from her father – and reassured herself that her mother was not in danger. At least not in danger from the Kshatriya. She rose from the couch, intending to join Kaal in the kitchen to help him, when the Indian guy entered the living room.

He carried plates, while Maria carried the utensils that carried the food. Maria placed them on the dining table, beckoning the others to come and grab a bite. As they took their seats on the table, Kaal presented them with scrambled eggs and rice. Maria looked at Kaal with respect, and after one bite Noa, Will and Zoey had to do the same.

Damn, this is good.

"I remember this," said Zoey, looking at her plate. "You were the one who cooked dinner for us."

Kaal nodded slightly.

"How can you make scrambled eggs and rice taste so good?" asked Maria.

"Well, if you cook eggs and rice all the time, you get better at it," Kaal responded wryly.

"Who would have thought, that you were the one who brought us dinner-every night," Noa looked surprised.

"Brown boy cooking for a white lady," Kaal said, dull-eyed. "Yes, who would have thought of that."

Noa formed a grin, and Kaal was as expressionless as ever. Zoey focussed on her food, while Will found it hard not to stare at Maria's daughter.

You are pathetic, just ask her out.

Shut up, Will rebuked. How much do you know about girls anyway?

About sixteen thousand times more than you. I am quite the catch.

With that said, Kaal went back to the kitchen, and Maria followed him, literally begging for the recipe. After Zoey was done chowing down her food, which was fast, she took out her phone and texted Ayu.

"Wait, did you just give the signal," said Noa looking up from her plate.

They nodded as she got up. Noa and Will shared a look, before they left the table rushing to the kitchen. They stopped short of the threshold, Will collapsed to the ground screaming. Noa wanted to do the same, but instead focussed on Kaal's severed head. Upside down, Kaal's head rested in the dishwasher, his body – which missed a forearm – lied on the floor beside the sink. Noa looked for the missing body part, and found it clutched between Maria's teeth. She spat it out. And then turned towards Noa and Will, who were both lumped by the threshold, unable to make use of their arms and legs. Maria had mixed something in the food. A kind of Naga poison. She charged at them, blinded with rage but fell headfirst as if tripped by some rock. She felt a grip at her ankle and found Kaal's mutilated body responsible. It was disturbing to watch a headless body crawl towards her. She kicked Kaal's head, or where Kaal's head should have been, had it not been separated from his body, by her of course. Kaal's head started laughing like a maniac.

Unable to escape from his grip, Maria decided to do a summoning. She needed a material medium for it, but couldn't find any nearby. So, she broke her foremost upper tooth using a lower incisor and spat it at Kaal's body. The tooth in mid-air, turned into a snake, larger than any Zoey had ever summoned. It coiled around Kaal's body, obscuring it completely. Before being forced to withdraw his grip, Kaal dug his thumb in Maria's ankle, breaking the bone.

Kaal's head continued its hysterical laughter.

"You brat!" Maria screamed as she pulled her leg free. She forced herself to stand, and limped to where Noa and Will were. She stopped a foot short, this time because her daughter stood before the threshold, wide-eyed with shock.

"Baby, go back to your room," pleaded Maria, not wanting to face her daughter. "I'll talk to you later."

Zoey raised a trembling finger, pointing behind Maria. Maria let out a sigh, then raised her left hand calling the snake back. To her horror, the snake jumped past Maria tackling Zoey to the ground. It coiled around Zoey's neck, threatening to break it. Maria couldn't make sense of the situation. How had she lost control of her summon? She turned towards the boy's body. It had vanished, leaving a crooked tooth on the ground. She wondered if the boy had transformed into a snake and had struggled her summon down. Was the brown boy, really an Ekchakra? One with only one Chakra.

"So," talked the severed head. "I need you to calm down."

Maria hissed, then said turning towards the sink, "Shiva doesn't forgive those who hurt the Naga."

"Even if the Nagas drug children and then threaten to eat them, just to keep their secret hidden?"

"You are not normal children," remarked Maria, then added rather harshly. "You are of Kaliyuga."

"So's your daughter," said Kaal, tightening his grip around Zoey's neck.

"Stop it or I'll ..."

"... hear your daughter scream," said Kaal quite casually.

"What do you want?" asked Maria gritting her teeth.

"I want you to feel helpless," said Kaal.

Then in a sorrowful voice he added, "Then I want you to know that I feel the same."

"By the way I am sorry for this Zoey."

He withdrew from Zoey's neck. His snake body turning back to his normal headless form. A blood coloured fire started over the dishwasher and Kaal's head disappeared. And shortly thereafter, a head appeared on Kaal's shoulders.

He walked up to Maria and snapped his fingers. The pain in her right ankle went away as the bones swiftly mended themselves.

"What I break, I can mend," said Kaal, offering a hand. "Take that as a token of faith."

Maria looked at him suspiciously for a moment then took his hand. She jerked him towards her, and Judo tossed him to the ground. She landed her knee over Kaal's chest, breaking some ribs. Maria punched him in the face, then continued bashing Kaal. After having his cranium cracked and visibility surrendered, Maria raised her arm and brought her fist down on the boy's head, halting only a few inches from impact. Stopped by the strength of another. For a moment, Kaal thought it was Zoey, but it turned out to be someone else, someone with eyes like Zoey, but taller, much taller.

"Stop it Maria," said the man.

If you want to read the whole story, pls use the link below

The Traitor In Front Of You (The Narrator's Tales Book 1) https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07R28DJXJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_tEu5CbZEYH8A4