This part contains extremely violent content. It is advisable to abort if not comfortable. There are gruesome details that may unsettle or nauseate you. Kindly skip if you are not brave enough to stand violence.
Some weeks before...
Tucking a rebellious strand back, Dhwani looked up through her eyelashes at him as he sat faking interest in his menu. A playful smirk coiled at the sides of his lips watching her eyes flicker between him, his menu, and hers trying to figure out the thing of interest in that leather file he had been holding for the past minutes.
Anirudh was enjoying her attempts to gauge his attention as they sat at the centermost table with others aligned at the corners leaving a good amount of space around them. She knew he was aware of her attention on him. The chandelier scattered its light all over the place but more on the man who sat opposite to her. While her skin glowed like burning gold that could be tainted with a little external caress, his grey eyes were playful and mischievous. Shining brighter than those candles used for decorative purposes.
Her lips pursed in emerging frustration and he immediately placed the menu card down, letting her know he was watching her again. "Are you ready to order?"
"I think" She bit her lower lips in hesitation, pouting. "Do we have to?"
"What?" He cocked a surprised brow. "You don't want to order here?"
"I mean..." She flushed in embarrassment. "Forget it. We should order."
His smirk turned amused. "You do not want to eat here?"
Her eyes took a quick sweep around and she shook her head in answer. "There is nothing enticing in here."
"Okay." He tested, sitting back, and leveling her with a newfound interest. "How about you suggest where will you find something enticing enough to eat?"
As if waiting for this question, she jumped at the opportunity.
"We can go to Orphanage." She suggested with an anticipating excitement. "Kaki is making Pandhra rassa with kothimbir vada and modaks. She said the kids have been requesting it for a while. How about we join them? It's been days since I had authentic Marathi food and Kaki's kothimbir vada is to die for, Anirudh."
"I thought this would be our dinner date." He sat back with his arms crossed. "But you seem to have plans to convert this into a group dinner with your little buddies. Not fair to me, Mrs. Anirudh."
"I thought we could spend some time there and have fun" Dhwani pouted and gave him her best convincing face. "Can we go if I promise to make it up to you some other day?"
"Not someday but today." He negotiated leaning forward, pinching her cheek to deform her pout. "You will go on a long drive with me and we will have an ice cream late at night. We will spend time on the beach, walk around the local markets, and return after midnight. Manzoor?"
(Do you agree?)
"Manzoor." She happily agreed. (Agreed.)
Anirudh shook his head in amusement and led her back to his car, within minutes they were on the road and Dhwani started the radio to fill the comfortable silence with soft songs. She sat leaning back glancing at her husband who drove with a hand on the window sill and another maneuvering the steering wheel.
She stared at the fine specimen of the man she had been married to, the calmness of his face, and the soft gaze that made her feel protected near him. He was like a shade on sunny days, he curbed her thirst for affection and recharged her tired soul with his easy company. His banter refreshed her mood and his presence made her forget the evils of the world.
He was her armor but more than that, he was her resting place. She could return to him any day after a hard battle and he would welcome her with his soft grey eyes and soothing calmness. He may lose his composure at days but he was a gentle cool breeze she always needed. Her life had been a scorching sun and Anirudh was the shade she had always searched for.
Home or not, he was her sense of relief.
Her Sukoon.
"If you keep looking at me, I will think you love me, Dhwani." His words made her avert her eyes, and her cheeks warmed but she never refuted him.
She have always searched for love and if somehow his little gestures for her have made his place in her heart, she wouldn't be surprised. She wasn't desperate yet she wanted to be something for someone. She wanted to be his something. His anything if he let her be.
"Then what about your continuous attempts to spend time with me? Is it because you are already in love with me?" Her question met a beautiful chuckle from him.
"True. I cannot resist a smart woman." His answer sent tingles past her stomach and she bit back a smile. She averted her eyes from him and glanced at the busy roads of the city.
They reached the orphanage and he happily joined the kids in dinner. He laughed, played, and teased them while they enjoyed authentic Marathi food. They stayed longer than planned retelling fairy tales to kids with different endings.
Dhwani never wanted them to live in a fictional world and somehow Anirudh held the same notion. While she narrated tales with different, more realistic endings, Anirudh asked them to create their own endings.
"What if Red Riding Hood ate the cakes on her way to her grandma's house and blamed Fox?" A kid asked and Anirudh hummed acting to be in deep thinking.
"She may lie for the initial time but her grandmother will explain to her how your 1 lie gives birth to hundreds. She will realize her mistake and apologize to her grandmother and mother. She will also help her mother bake more pastries and take some for the fox as her apology. She will befriend the fox and he will protect her."
"And they will live happily ever after." Nia, the 5-year-old who sat in Dhwani's lap clutching onto her soft toy squealed in excitement.
They laughed at her optimism and nodded.
"Yes, my angel." Anirudh's eyes met hers. "And they lived happily ever after."
"There is no happily ever after." Dhwani voiced out her words as they walked out of the building and towards their car. She turned towards him leaning against the passenger door.
"Why would you say that, Petal?" He asked watching her with amazement.
"There is no life without problems, they keep coming and we have to keep fighting. One thing ends and another will come following. Life is a circle of happy, sad, tough, and easy days. There cannot be only happy and easy days. The sad and tough days will come to us if we want them or not. If there will be only happy days, we will stop valuing them and if there will be only sad ones, we will abhor the blessings. It will always be a blend of happiness and sadness. Whenever there are easy days, tough ones will replace them in a flick of seconds. So, there is no happily ever after."
"You are right but we cannot go around giving reality checks to everyone, especially the kids." He smiled shaking his head. "They are young and need a piece of hope. If these fairytales and their happily ever after give them hope and optimism, we cannot snatch it from them."
"I am not taking hope from them." She mumbled bashfully. "I just want them to be able to make a difference between the fictional world and the real world."
"And they will." He leaned and held her chin to make her look up at him. "They are small children, don't take away the childhood from them in the name of reality, Petal. It is not fair to them. No child should lose their innocence. Isn't that why you try so hard to make their childhood memorable? You do everything to make them feel normal. Blessed."
She nodded slowly. "I only wanted them to be prepared for any day. Good or bad."
"That's why, you are their favorite. You may want them to fight their own battles but you will always stay as their shield. A backup they can lean on."
Just like you are to me. Dhwani kept her words to herself. She smiled and he pressed a quick kiss on her forehead as if he had heard her confession for him.
He opened her door and she sat inside with a happy smile. True to his words, they had spent time on the beach, strolled in the markets, and ate an ice cream much to Anirudh's health constraints. He shot her a glare in disagreement but bought four different flavors, two each, and took her to a rock where they sat and enjoyed the delight.
"Anirudh" She called his name and he was quick to glance her way, toning the volume of the songs they were playing in the car down to give her his full concentration and how well she appreciated his efforts to hear her out. "Thank you for not signing those papers."
His eyes stilled on her, flashing with a certain emotion she had felt at equal intensity. It was apprehension, dread of what could have happened if they had walked separate ways which was quick to evaporate as a surprise smile caught his face. "I thought I would never hear you say that."
"I have been meaning to tell you this for a while now." She confessed feeling silly. "I thought I could walk away and mingle in this crowd but the truth is, I would have been lost here, again. I knew it was inevitable once I walked out of our marriage and I didn't want to. I don't ever want to be lost, Anirudh."
"I will find you." His fingers took her head and he clutched onto hers. "Did I not promise you, Petal? You will find me everywhere you want. I will find you in a crowd of billions. I could never let you be alone. You need me, you will find me, Petal. That is Anirudh Chauhan's promise."
(Explicit content ahead. You are warned.)
He promised and Dhwani knew he would come searching for her. It was only a matter of time before he did. They may fight, ignore, or stay apart but these little promises always stay between them.
She believed in him, now only she had to believe in herself.
She needed to save them.
By hook or crook.
Dhwani watched the kids jump through the window and land inside the kitchen. Vishal's eyes met hers and she nodded with appreciation. He waved the kids and gently shoved them inside the pantry, away from the eyes of another person. Those little kids were able to fit inside the pantry, kitchen cabinets, and some below the huge dining table.
She tilted her head towards the gate and he quickly ducked inside another table while she watched them from an elevation. If anyone came looking for them here, all they would see would be a closed, spotless, and deserted kitchen. She smiled with teary eyes and walked away as another set of gates closed and she knew her little munchkins were safe, for now.
Taking a brief breath, she heard the loud slam of gates and the breaking of wood as Prakash and Ravi searched the dorm beds one after another.
"Where the hell did they go?" Prakash screamed and threw the bundle of pillows and sheets Dhwani smartly had placed in each bed.
She had to waste their time as much as she could so that she could gather all the kids and setting fake sleeping figures helped. Now that they had searched and destroyed the entire 20 beds, they were baffled. First, they had taken a long time breaking the heavy wooden doors and now empty beds, they were raging.
And, that is what she wanted. Even the smartest person on earth would make a mistake when angry and these men here, they were foolish monsters. They were to make a mistake and that is when it will be the right time for her to strike.
Uncapping the bottle full of cooking oil, she spilled the liquid on the stairs. Quickly marching to another corner, she stuck to the wall and watched these pigs huff and hurry down the hallway to check the rooms downstairs. The moment they stepped on the third step they slipped and fell straight on their faces.
Their elbows and necks took the heat and she was successful in disarming them to some extent.
"How the hell did the oil come here?" They cursed and whimpered at the fall and glared at each other.
"Those brats!" Ravi gritted concluding. "They are troublemakers. I have to clean their shit every day. It must be for some prank again. Let me get hold of them once, I will break their bones and make them beg on streets all their lives."
"I will see how you reach my kids. I wouldn't even let you see them." Dhwani whispered and glared at the two and curbed the urge to hit their head. Pressing herself more towards the wall, she watched them groan and get back to their feet.
Somehow they were quickly back on their feet and ran to find the kids again. They needed those three kids but now, they will be able to find none.
10 more minutes and their chase ended with destroying racks of toys and screaming profanities.
"The kids." Ravi exhaled dialing Ishani. "They are not here. I have fucking checked all the rooms. None are here."
"I told you that bitch is here," Ishani screamed through the phone speaker. "She is hiding them. She knows, Ravi. She fucking knows and if she gets out of here, we are doomed."
"No. She can't be here." Prakash tried to deny her claims. "She said she was leaving. I myself locked her office. She wasn't there."
"Then how do you explain kids' whereabouts, you fool?" Ishani yelled again, huffing. "Look, get the power on and search every corner for her."
"But..."
"Ravi." Ishani cut off Prakash with a sternness Dhwani was new to. She had known a meek girl who was always targeted by the students. She was an easy target every single day but hearing her now, Dhwani could feel bile rising in her throat.
"Kill this man if he doesn't follow. Anyways, his age would kill him any day. Better to end his miseries now."
Her words met a slap on Prakash's face, a kick to his balls, and a push to the broken rack. He was crying in pain and Dhwani cupped her lips to stop wincing. The man fell back hounding like a dog at the impact and Ravi gritted his teeth. "You are right. He is trying to delay this already. He told me to search the rooms upstairs before the ground saying the kids might be there. He also took so much time trying to find tools to break the door. We need to get rid of him before anyone else. Say a word and he is dead, Ishani."
"Don't kill him." Ishani declared in frustration. "We need him to access the master key and get the kids out. This oldie is the only one who can lure them out."
"Fine. Tell me what to do."
"Take Prakash to the matrons' room. Wake them up and use them to get the kids out of their hiding. And, find Dhwani so we can eliminate her." The instructions came clearly. "Once you find her, bring her to the storage room at the back. I know where to dig a grave for our dear Dhwani Didi."
Ravi dragged a beaten Prakash towards the main MCB board and demanded he join the broken fuse. He shoved his head inside the wall again and stood a foot back to let a groggy Prakash fix it.
If the power comes back, the kids will not stay hidden anymore. They will make some noise which will lead to them.
But Dhwani cannot go infront of them and blow her cover. She didn't know how long the help would take to come.
She picked a broom from the nearby supply closet and a wiper before she made good use of darkness. Taking silent steps behind them, she raised the broom to hit Ravi when the man sensed her presence and turned back. Not wasting another second, she pushed him back on a tattered Prakash and both fell with a loud yelp. Hitting their entangled forms blindly, she passed harsh blows on them and kicked the broken fuse out of their reach.
A hand-held onto her wiper rod and yanked it out.
"So, you were really here." Ravi glared at her, throwing the rod towards her which she was quick to dodge.
"I had to." Dhwani dropped the glass bottle of oil on the floor and splinters of glass stabbed into their legs. "If not me, who will teach you bastards some lessons."
She took the rod and tried hitting it again when she was shoved back and landed on her back. Biting the wince back, she tried to stand when Ravi yanked her hair and thrown into the wall.
"You wench!" He screamed at her face, thrashing her head back into the wall and Dhwani felt dizzy with the intense pain traveling through her forehead and nose. She could feel a hot trail of blood dripping down her face. "Where are the kids? Tell me while I ask you nicely."
"Nice and you, what a joke, you jackass!"
His feet were bloody and slippery due to oil which acted as her ally, she kicked on his shin and the man went tumbling down.
She yelped as his fist pulled on her hair as a support while falling. The pain traveled through her roots and scalp. Scratching and stabbing her nails, she loosened his hold on her and kicked him as many times as her body allowed. She scrambled to the wall to support herself and wiped any blood on her face with the ends of cotton dupatta. Due to darkness, she didn't get to see how much darker her light pink dupatta may have turned but it took a lot of pressure for her to tie a piece of cloth on her head and control the bleeding.
She blinked through the dizzy spell and breathed through her mouth.
"Bitch." He cried in pain, three consecutive falls and some beatings surely caused some harm to him.
"I am being very polite, Ravikant." She hissed with a deadly glare. "Leave my kids alone. Get lost from here and I will think before pressing charges against you. My offer stands for only 5 minutes after that my people and police will be here to take you."
"Po...police?" Prakash's face lost any color it had.
"Don't lie" Ravi screamed in denial. "No one is coming but death. Your death. I will be killing you, you bitch and then I will cut open all of your kids' stomachs and sell their kidneys. Their hearts too."
"You will never get to touch them." She announced feeling rage coursing through her blood.
"I have touched them before." He laughed like a maniac. "You may never get to see that boy who went missing 5 months back. Do you want to know what I did? He kept screaming and crying when I stabbed his sides and twisted my scalpel. His hot blood trailed down my hands but I didn't stop. I cut his ribs and extracted his kidneys."
"Shut up." Dhwani cupped her face feeling nauseated.
"I sold his kidneys for lakhs worth of rupees. That boy didn't even know he was worth so much. He was shivering like a fish deprived of water. I enjoyed watching life flow out of his life along with his blood. It was sad that his heart couldn't take the pain. Another minute if he would have remained alive, I would carved his heart as well. Imagine the crores of rupees I would have sold it."
"You pig! You monster! How could you kill a child?" She picked the iron rod from the supply cabinet without a second thought and hit his head to shut his mouth.
She kept continuously hitting Ravi's head until his heinous laughter was replaced with his coughing of blood.
"You killed a life. He was a child. He was a kid. S...so small, so fra...gile...so innocent." She cried at the pain she felt at the gruesome details. It was a sin, a crime and she didn't know if there was any law in the world that could provide justice for the atrocities towards tens of children they had wronged. Murder was punishable, greed wasn't.
"I sold...his...eyes too." Ravi coughed out blood, wiping it from the back of his hand. "They were beautiful. Very pretty like...yours. Bloody...orphan"
"Why?... He was still...a child." Dhwani threw the rod and sobbed in her palm.
"We...fed his body...to dogs...they had buffet out of his...bones."
He was a maniac and Dhwani couldn't hear anymore. She shook her head wiping her tears and picked the rod back to hit him.
"Hit him again and I will kill one more kid." Ishani stood at the end of the hallway. A flashlight in one hand and another wrapped around the throat of Geeta, Savitri Kaki's disabled daughter. The girl was being dragged by her neck on the floor yelping in pain.
She was deaf and dumb, living with Savitri as her parents didn't want her. Her disability was seen as a curse and they didn't want to associate it with a bad omen making Savitri Tai leave home and live here in the Orphanage. She started working and took care of her granddaughter along with other kids who were rejected by their parents.
She couldn't explain herself in words thus, crying was the only medium for her to announce her pain. She was the reason the kids in the orphanage were learning sign language. They wanted to make Geeta feel included in their groups when they had met months back.
"Don't. Don't harm her." She warned Ishani who smirked.
"Keep the rod down, Dhwani."
"I said leave the girl." Dhwani was not to be intimidated. She was not going to give in to these monsters. "I will give you anything. Any amount of money you need, I will give you but let the girl go. You can leave this place without a scratch. I promise but give her to me."
"You will give us money" Ishani laughed at her offer. "How much money can you give us? 70 kids. 2 kidneys, 1 heart, and 2 eyes each. How much does that amount to be Ravi? Please give our estimation to Mrs. Dhwani Chauhan. She will be giving us that money."
"Shut up. Do you realize you are talking about humans? Those children are innocent souls and you are quantifying their organs? Have some shame, Ishani?"
"When you, rich people scam the poor, where is the so-called shame?" She gritted her teeth tightening the hold on Geeta's throat. "Your father-in-law and husband have not earned money with humanity. They have destroyed many lives. They would sack people right and left for the smallest of mistakes. Your humanity doesn't fill your stomach. Money does. What's wrong with me desiring the same? Why should I shame and not you, rich folks?"
"Don't take my family's name from that mouth of yours." Dhwani snapped. "They did not punish innocents. They do not kill young kids or sell their organs on the black market. They do whatever business in every legal form. They aren't murderers but you are."
"Wanna watch me kill her too?" Ishani tilted her head to the side and smirked like Lucifer. She fished a knife from her pants and placed it on Geeta's stomach.
"No!" Dhwani screamed and heard her chuckle. "Don't kill her, please."
"Look at her, the lioness is gone and now a scared little kitten is all I see." She clicked her tongue in a taunt. "If you want to see her alive, drop your rod."
"I...I am." Dhwani followed the edge and pierced the girl's stomach.
"Good." Ishani quipped and kicked the fuse towards a half-conscious Prakash. "Get the power back."
Prakash fumbled with the fuse while a groggy Ravi stood up somehow with the support of the wall and stood beside Ishani.
"I did what you wanted. Leave the girl." Dhwani's demand met an eye roll from Ishani.
"Now that the veil is up, I don't need Savitri's pathetic cover-up." She shrugged and shoved the girl towards Dhwani.
Dhwani lunged forward to save Geeta and took her in her arms.
"Are you okay?" She mouthed and gestured in the broken signs she had seen Savitri use. She checked her for any visible injuries and sighed. Pulling the girl to her chest, she hugged her close.
"Melodrama," Ishani commented with distaste. "Once the power is back, search for the kids while I keep an eye on Mrs. Chauhan. I may have forgotten to give her a warm welcome."
"You will be punished for this, Ishani." Dhwani glared at her. Hiding the girl behind her, she raised on her feet only to hold the wall as a dizzy spell crossed her. Her dupatta was dampened with the blood she seemed to have lost.
Prakash fixed the fuse and pushed the lever to bring the power back when suddenly a spark went off making them all flinch at the momentary brightness, the lights flickered a few times before they stayed.
"What the hell was that?" Ishani questioned holding Prakash's collar who looked equally confused.
Dhwani could smell burning wires and her eyes widened observing the sparks from the MCB board. Heart in her mouth, she realized what was happening.
Pushing Ishani and Ravi down, she picked up the rod and snatched the knife from her. She hit Ishani's head harshly and Ravi again to which he crumpled on the floor. She strikes on Prakash and he falls on Ishani who groans in pain. Another hit to her head and she locked the power room to make sure that they would not be following her for at least the next few minutes. Taking Geeta's hand, Dhwani rushed to run towards the matrons' room before the little sparks turned into something nastier.
If ever the short circuit escalated, it could lead to a deadly fire and she had to evacuate the building in any of the cases.
She banged on the door but did not wait for the response. As Ishani said, the matrons were in an induced sleep, and waking them was entirely a task herself. Throwing a glass of water on Savitri, she let Geeta wake her up while she tried waking others.
"Didi...ji? G...Geetu?" A groggy Savitri Tai woke up and her eyes widened with immediate moisture. "You are...safe? She...took you, my Geetu...is safe?"
"Yes, she is safe." Dhwani squatted at Geeta's level and caressed her head. "Ishani will never be able to get back to her."
"But...how?" Savitri squinted to look at Dhwani. "You are bleeding...what happened, Didi ji?"
"This is not the time, Kaki." Dhwani squeezed her hand. "Please hear me out. You need to wake everyone and go to the Kitchen. I have made the kids hide there. Please call out the kids and take them out from the gate. Please hurry. The building could catch fire within minutes. You need to save them. Please take them out. Can I trust you, Tai?"
"Yes! Yes, you can." She joined her hands and held Dhwani's palms nodding vigorously. "You saved my Geetu. I will do anything you say. Anything."
"I trust you, Tai. I do." Dhwani stood back up and glanced at other matrons on whom Geeta splashed water. Dhwani smiled at her and kissed her forehead. "Take care of everyone, will you, my fighter?"
The girl nodded and shot her a smile.
"If all the kids are out in the Kitchen, where is Ishani?" Savitri asked while waking the kids.
"I have locked them in the power room," Dhwani informed her. "I will go to the kitchen, please bring the others there quickly."
"I will but..."
"But what, Kaki?" Dhwani halted at the door.
"Manna, Didi ji." Savitri reminded her. "We need to wake her up too."
"Oh god. I forgot about Manna" Dhwani realized whom she would have left back and exhaled shivering at the fear. "I...I will bring her. Please...Please take the kids out...I will bring her out. Take...take care, Kaki."
Savitri glanced at her granddaughter and back at Dhwani. "You too, Didi ji."
Her steps turned sloppy with each turn she took, eyes turning foggy, and a pinching ache in her head blinded her. Dhwani leaned against the wall and took some calming breaths. Her vision had started blurring yet she could feel her fingers shake and the rushing of blood in her veins.
"No," She whimpered in a prayer. "Not today. Please, just some time more. A little more."
She closed her eyes and opened their conviction, she had enough time in the world to see the aching disease raise its ugly head in her brain, but not today. Anything could happen in mere minutes. So, each second was life-threatening.
The building although wasn't huge was no less than a maze, it was a plus point that night but an equally disadvantage at times like these.
She had allotted Manna's room at the other end, away from staff and close dorms to let her have a peaceful environment. The girl was vary of male species, she was still recovering from abuse and now, there was a ticking time bomb in their surroundings.
A flicker of light passed and Dhwani ducked down as the bulb above her head burst into flames. The wires sparked together and swung to the nearby curtain. Her breath stuck in her throat as within seconds the cloth was on fire and it had started spreading to other things. The wooden doorframes, furniture, chart papers on the velvet boards, and then the gate.
Running against the time, Dhwani rasped for breath when she took one last turn towards the girl's room. The smoke had filled the air making it difficult to see or breathe. Her palms stung with the burning metal door handle still she pushed it open for a wide eye Manna stuck to the wall.
"Di...Didi?" She was hyperventilating, scared for her child's life as she covered her belly from any subsequent harm. "You...are hurt."
"I am here to take you out, baby." Dhwani's words of assurance met with a series of hiccups and she recoiled more in the wall. "Please...Manna, trust me. I will not let any harm come to you."
Dhwani took a sweeping glance at the room and yanked the blanket from the bed, the curtains and switchboard had caught fire, the bed was untouched but it wouldn't take more for the flames to touch and destroy the other part of the room.
"We will go out, okay? I am here." She pulled a shivering Manna in her arms and covered themselves from the blanket. She cupped her face. "Whatever happens, run. Don't drop the blanket, Manna. It is the only protection we have."
Dhwani earned a shivering nod from the girl and she guided her towards the hallway, they took small and conscious steps to get to a safe place. Manna was sticking to her like a baby and ambled, she wanted to warn her to hurry but seeing her condition, she bit her words back and placed a palm against her belly.
They crossed a small distance towards the dorm and jumped back as the burning door came crashing down.
Manna shrieked and hugged Dhwani, "I don't want...to die, Didi...please. "
"You...won't." Dhwani shushed her. "N...othing will happen. I...I am here."
She stepped away from her and wrapped the entire blanket around Manna, covering her from all sides seeing the fire reaching its peak.
"We will take the garden exit, okay?" Dhwani again earned a nod and she swallowed. Moving around, she could feel the intensity of fire but the urge to escape overpowered them all. They could see the gate and Dhwani smiled at the girl. "We are close. Three minutes and we will be out of here."
"Yes...Yes, Didi." Manna sounded confident and Dhwani felt better.
The night was coming to an end, they would exit the building and will be safe. A few more steps and everything will be over.
Another two steps and they rounded the last corner before the exit when the blood splattered on their faces making them gasp in horror. The woman she had once worked so closely lay spitting blood, her stomach stabbed multiple times and blood acting as fuel for the fire.
She could hear Manna's sobs and crouched to check the face, she cringed at the cruelty and closed her eyes.
"You shouldn't have come here."
"No, please." Dhwani inhaled harshly, not ready to turn back and witness another monster. She had seen and witnessed enough for a lifetime.
"I didn't want to do this but you stepped here, Dhwani. You brought this upon yourself." The whisper froze her. "Whatever you do, a child will die today."
"No."
A shriek and Dhwani turned to check on Manna only to be hit back again, this time she was thrown back and several other voices reached her but she couldn't feel anything. It was burning around but what she could feel was only cold blood.
Her blood.
(End of violence.)
â â â â
Vidyut carried a sleeping Uttara in his room. He gently placed her down and covered her with the quilt. Brushing the bangs away from her forehead, he leaned to place a chaste kiss on her forehead before closing the door behind him.
He watched the servant stand at the door with a glass of water for him.
"Thank you." He picked up the glass and took a few sips. He placed the glass back in his tray and the woman started walking towards the kitchen when he called her back. "Tai, can you stay and take care of her?"
"Yes, Baba." The woman nodded at once. "Do you want something to eat?"
"No." He denied glancing at the door and back towards the eerily silent mansion.
She excused herself to keep the tray back and he walked back towards the living room where his distressed grandparents sat.
Gayatri Chauhan sat chanting and reading on rosary while his grandfather paced the lengths of the room.
"You two should be sleeping." He announced his presence and walked towards them. He took hold of his old man and gently guided him towards the couch occupied by a matriarch. "Sit back and take some rest. If you keep taking so much stress, you will be spending Bhai's birthday party in your room with a doctor."
"At least it wouldn't be you." Ajeeth Chauhan grumbled in his breath and Vidyut scowled.
"Aap, you are still joking around? I don't know where my children are and look at you, you can never be serious." Gayatri Devi chastised him.
"I am also worried for my daughter." Ajeeth shot back offended. "I told Dhwani to stay home today but no, you and Rashi wanted only her to check upon the arrangements. She may be our eldest daughter-in-law and the best but that doesn't mean you will only make her work. "
"Arey! It is her husband's special day. She wanted to do it and also, how would I know that she would be going to the orphanage after that? When I was asking you to send the driver back to pick her up, what did you say? That it was okay if she traveled alone. She is a big girl."
"I thought she wanted some alone time." He reasoned. "Have you not seen how low she looked for the past days? I thought if she spends some time with those little kids, she will feel happy and may get back to normal."
"But now see, she is nowhere to be found. The building is on fire, what if something happens..."
"Gayatri." Ajeeth cut him off. "Don't even say it. Nothing will happen to my daughter. She is stronger than that."
"But I am only..."
"Stop both of you." Vidyut ceased their spat. "Please, stop fighting, and how about you two retire to your room? It is past 3. Bhai is looking for her and the fire is under control now. We will find Bhabhi soon but you need rest. It is not right for you two to stay awake late and stress. She is okay. Understand?"
"I will only be at peace when I know Anirudh found her." Ajeeth declared and was ready to get back to pacing when Vidyut shot him a stern glare.
"Sit back." He said and sighed as a grumbling Ajeeth followed him. Gayatri Devi was back to praying and reading her rosary. "Let me call bhai. If he says he got her, will you two go and rest?"
"Yes."
"Fine." Vidyut fetched his phone only to hear it ring back.
Hyde calling...
"It is Hyde." He informed me and took the call.
"Sir, we need you." Came an urgent request. "You need to come here to the hospital, we are taking them there. Hurry, please."
Vidyut felt dread settling in him "Did you find her?"
"Yes."
"I am coming."
The call dropped and Vidyut schooled his features before smiling at the old couple.
"We found Dhwani Bhabhi."He announced to them who waited for this information with a bated breath. "Bhai found her."
Let's say, I have nothing more to say. I will take a lot of time to get over this part.
So will you.