Jagendra spread out the case files on the floor of his apartment, rain drumming softly against the shuttered windows. The dim light from the lone bulb flickered above him, casting shadows that danced across the faces of the dead.

Three women.

Different backgrounds.

No direct link—on the surface.

Nandini Patra, 22. Art student at Utkal University.

Priyanka Dash, 19. Worked at a boutique in Saheed Nagar.

Ankita Sahu, 25. NGO volunteer focused on temple reform and women's safety.

He stared at their profiles, chewing absently on a clove stick, his mind grinding through the noise. They weren’t sex workers, nor part of any obvious trafficking ring. The killings weren’t for pleasure—they were... ritualistic. Purposeful.

He turned his attention back to Ankita’s file. Her NGO had recently been featured in a now-deleted article—one Nikita Rao had written last year before it was quietly taken offline. Jagendra made a note to talk to her.

Then he noticed something subtle in the evidence log.

Each of the victims had been to the same temple before they disappeared.

Not a famous one—not the Lingaraj or Mukteshwar.

This was a ruined shrine on the outskirts of the city. Padma Mandir—"The Temple of the Lotus."

The temple had been shut down years ago after reports of illegal tantric activity. It was said to house a secret inner sanctum, one never opened to the public. Most dismissed it as a myth.

Jagendra wasn’t most.

He grabbed his coat and headed into the storm.

The Padma Mandir sat like a rotting corpse among the trees, its stone spires worn and broken. Moss clawed up the walls like nature trying to reclaim something profane.

Inside, it was silent. The smell of wet earth, incense, and faint copper lingered.

In the back of the main sanctum, behind a decayed tapestry, Jagendra found the symbol carved deep into the wall.

A lotus in bloom. Surrounded by fire.

Fresh ash lay at its base.

Someone had been here. Recently.

And they weren’t done.