Chapter 10 — Babulal

eccentric old woman. I thought it was superstition." He was quiet. "After Ramesh I knew it wasn't superstition.""Why did you keep putting people in there?" Poorvi said. Her voice was controlled and her eyes were not. "If you knew—""Because if I stopped—" He put his hands on the table. "She told me. If nobody lives in the flat, it goes looking. It can — it can leave the mirror. It can find other reflective surfaces. Other ways in. If I keep tenants in the flat, it stays there. It has enough. It doesn't go beyond." He looked at Tanvi. "Each person who leaves—they take enough back with them that it doesn't need to go further. They recover. Most of them recover." He looked at his hands. "I thought that was better than the alternative. I thought one person at a time, mostly recovering, was better than—""Than what?" Mrs. Rane said. Very quietly."Than it getting out," he said. "Into the building. Into other reflective surfaces. Into other flats. If it gets hungry enough—" He stopped. "Kavita kept it fed for thirty years. I've kept it fed since. Each tenant is — sufficient. They lose some things. They recover. It stays contained."The office was very quiet."You've been feeding it," Tanvi said. "With people. With people who didn't know."He didn't answer."Where is Reena?" she said. "What happened to Reena?"He looked at his hands for a long time."Reena was — she got too close," he said. "I don't know what happened. I opened the flat and—" He stopped. "I put a lock on the door. I thought if I locked it long enough, whatever was left would—" He shook his head. "And then I found you. I'm sorry. I thought another person would—I thought it would reset.""Where is she?" Tanvi said again. "Where is Reena?"He looked at her."I don't know," he said. "I genuinely don't know."