Author’s PoV
Three days on this planet is 28days in earth. Netra was calculating her days here. She had been here for 5 months. At the end of every month, people come into her room one by one and touch her. As soon as they touch her, she feels immense pain in her body and she feels like she is drained off of life in her body. She fell unconscious on the first person on her first day but her stamina was improving gradually that today she was still conscious when the fifteenth person touched her.
She screamed at the top of her voice as the pain traveled to every nook and corner of her body. Her screams were terrorizing her as it echoed on the walls of this place. After giving her immense pain, everyone fell on her feet and prayed to her as if she was their god. Even though she could not understand anything that was happening around her, she knew one thing. She is pregnant! She is carrying a life inside her. A life given by Dyan! That is the only thing that keeps her going.
On the first day she opened her eyes on this planet, she was in a room with stone walls. It was a huge room with plants grown on all the walls making the room smell flowery. She was on the bed which was very comfy and bouncy. She thought it to be a water bed but soon realized that the bed was made up of animal fat and blubber. She was astounded by the fact that the bed doesn't smell a bit and understood the need to grow flowery plants inside the room. A shining crystal straight above her bed on the ceiling was very soothing to her heart. She even thought that to be some kind of illusion and hallucination maker like a spinning wheel.
She checked her whole body and was amazed to see her in one piece without any bruises or missing parts. She felt like she disintegrated when she fell into that vacuum. Surprisingly, she didn't feel any body aches but her memory was not particularly intact. She felt calm in her head but she knew something was wrong. She knew she was away from home but she didn't remember why she came here.
She had a distorted memory of a man who pricked her before falling into a pit. She looked around to see the man that accompanied her in this weird journey. He was nowhere to be found. She reached the door of the room and tried to open it but to no avail. The door was made up of solid rock and it would need an elephant to push it open. For hours, no one came to her and she was very busy in re-assessing her decision to fall into that never ending pit on earth. Her memory of Dyan was the only vivid thing in her mind. She felt stupid to have come this far without Dyan. Whenever she missed him, she touched the mark he left on her neck but it didn't give her the feeling of warmth and his nearness like it did back on earth. That is when she knew she was very far away from Dyan that their soul connection refused to work.
Bored of being in the room, she peeked out the window and understood the planet. She realized that she cannot escape from this room through the window. The slope of the mountain is so steep that if she steps foot out, she would slide to death. She doesn't want to take that risk now especially when she is carrying Dyan’s baby. Her only time pass is looking out the window to see the humongous trees with gigantic flowers. She saw many little bugs with beautiful colors and different features fly and walk everywhere outside her window but she hasn't seen any birds so far.
The mountain is dry with rocks and mud. The weather is pleasant all the time. The sun and two moons on the orange sky looked lovely. At some point of the day the two moons disappear and another moon takes its place which is blue in color. As far as she could see, there were no plants or animals inside the huge compound walls. On the other window, it is always night with thousands of stars and a moon. That side is always illuminated with red, green, yellow, orange, blue, and white colors everywhere. It was like a city decorated with millions of festive lights. She loved that sight and wanted to go there.
She was given food through a dumbwaiter every 6 hours. The food was delicious. They had a different kind of meat, soups, vegetables, fish, enormous eggs, and fruits in the meals but no rice or flour foods. She wanted to eat rice badly even though the food was healthy and delicious. Without no one to talk to, she started talking to her baby in her womb. She prayed to all the gods she knew to send help. She wished Dyan to be near her at this time. She desired for Dyan’s safety.
When this was getting torturous, a man came into her room. When she ran to him to talk, he just grabbed her arm, inflicting pain on her. She fell unconscious. That was the first time. So far it has happened five times and this time, she withstood fifteen people. No one talked to her or answered any of the questions she had asked but they never failed to fall on her feet and pray to her.
“Are you ok, sweetie?” She placed her hands on her little baby bump after the last man went out. The baby kicked in the stomach telling her that he/she is perfectly fine.
“Amma is sorry for all the inconvenience I am causing you, pattu. I didn’t think it through. It was so wrong to have parted from your dad. If we were with him, he would have taken very good care of you. You are supposed to be born as a prince. But I took that opportunity away from you by bringing you to this hell. I am so sorry!” She cried when the baby kicked her from either side of her waist.
“Haha, you are one active and strong baby! I know you will be with me no matter what. I love you, pattu!” she rubbed her belly with a mild smile. She fell on her bed as her tired body screamed pain and wanted rest.
‘How long is this going to go on? How will I escape from this torture room? How to know if Dyan is alright? How to get back to him?’
These are the questions she was having in her head as she was deep in her sleep. She started sweating in her sleep for the first time she had been in here. She felt a gush of heat wash through her body. Her clouded memory started to clear and she suddenly remembered everything. She woke up hurriedly to see her body. That is when she noticed that her father’s ring and her pendants, the Key, the injection, nothing was with her. Someone took them all from her. She remembered the last minutes when the man who accompanied her said that Dyan would come here soon. She remembered the voice that said she will find her mother here. To save her mother to be exact. So her father is the one that is holding her captive just like he is holding her mother.
Her Father! The Villain!
She remembered that she has powers. She is a flora and fauna girl. She has a wolf! A majestic white wolf. She is part Lycan and part witch. Yes, that is what the man from her family said. He had the same birthmark as she has. But he also said that her father is not the villain! Even though her rational mind refused to accept that, she realized that there are two sides to a story. She knew one side. Now it is time to learn the other side.
Mind-links! Can she do that? She tried to connect to Dyan but there was nothing, it was like she could not feel him. She tried to call Paari, Sevvanthi, Ellavan and Kathiravan but all failed. She wondered if the mind link would work on her mother as she must be here somewhere.
“Amma!” She called Senthalir, picturing the photo Sivagami paati gave her in her mind .
“Netra! Netra, is that you? Is that really you?” She heard back almost immediately.
“Yes! Um… how are you?”
“Netra! My precious. You don't know how much I have missed you. This life was totally a living hell for me all these years. Never a second passed by without me thinking of you, dear. How are you?”
“I… I am good.” Netra felt guilty to have thought of her parents as not important. She could literally feel the agony in her voice.
“Where are you, dear? Why did you come here? You should not have come here. Did he forcefully take you just like he did to me?”
“Who!?”
“Your father!”
“No, I willfully came here. Do you remember the bird? The blue bird with fiery yellow feathers?”
“Yes! That was the start of all the mishaps. How do you know about that bird?”
“You just saw her in your dreams. I saw her in real life. She told me that you are held captive here. She told me to go save you.”
“Captive? No, dear. I am not held captive here. You really saw that birdie? You believed her and came here? God! This is just getting complicated.”
“What do you mean you are not captive here?”
“Your father took me forcefully here but he has not held me captive. I don't know about his other faces, but he is a very good husband, dear.”
This conversation with her mother confused her more. So her mother is not in any distress. Her father is not the monster who she believed him to be. She could not understand anything clearly. Is her father good or bad?
