Anikaa & The Mystery of the Painting

25. The Attack on Rachel

"So what? Heal her Jiyu, help her," groaned Anikaa.

"Every tribe has its secret weapon and mazze is Gnomons stealth," said Jiyu turning Rachel over again. Her face turned a shade of greyish-blue and her lips still black.

"Only Gnomons are aware of the antidote of Mazze. I can't heal her," said Jiyu.

"But, I can stop the poison to spread throughout her body," he added and took Rachel's wrist in his hand. He took out a bead from his necklace and wounded it around her wrist with a thin thread.

"We should take her to the bed," said Jiyu.

"Take her to my room," said Anikaa and Karan carried Rachel's body effortlessly upstairs leading to Anikaa's room.

It was 8 am and Anikaa was sitting on the bed holding Rachel's hand. While, Karan and Raymond were sitting on the couch of her bedroom, their head laid back. None of them wanted to speak.

"What am I to do?" she said in a low voice.

Her intercom rang and she lifted the receiver. It was Bahadur asking for breakfast menu. Anikaa dismissed all the servants for three days. She was aware nobody wanted to eat. Shalini was as such missing and now Rachel has been hit too by a deadly poison. What was she supposed to do without the gems? How can she revive Rachel back? It was still drizzling outside, but Anikaa was not in a mood to enjoy the rain.

Someone knocked on the door of her room and Anikaa squeaked it open.

"Yes Bahadur," she said hoarsely.

"Mam, someone gave this envelope to the guard and asked him to deliver it to you urgently," said Bahadur and handed a white envelope to Anikaa.

Anikaa knew what was inside the envelope. She took the envelope hastily and asked Bahadur to leave the house immediately. As usual, without asking any questions Bahadur left. She closed the door and wrench opened the envelope. Raymond and Karan leapt to their feet and stood behind her, peering in the letter.

IT'S GIVE AND TAKE NOW ANIKAA

GIVE US THE GEM AND TAKE YOUR FRIEND'S LIFE

REMEMBER YOUR TIME IS LIMITED

As they read the words, the words turned into black smoke and evaporated.

"You need to find the gems to save Rachel," said Jiyu from balcony.

"But how? I don't know why mum wrote the riddle? Why didn't she tell us anything? Why?" growled Karan.

"We don't have time to answer that why? Raymond I need to see the CCTV footage," said Anikaa.

"I have the footage in the car. I'll get it," said Raymond and rushed out to get footage CD out of the car.

Anikaa's eyes hovered back at Rachel. She was sprawled on her bed as if lost in a deep sleep, her lips still black. This is why she didn't wanted Rachel to be involved in this mystery. She had this ominous feeling from day one. But, why didn't they attacked me? What were the changes Jiyu was telling about? Why do I feel so fearless and daunting? How did I know that Tara was something else?- a range of questions hurled in Anikaa's mind.

It took Anikaa five hours to watch the sections of the footage of the week before Shalini left for Thailand and the week she returned. The footage of the island was blurred and incoherent, so she skipped that. On Anikaa's insistence, Raymond and Karan slept in Rachel's room for these hours as Anikaa argued that there might be more attacks from Gnomons as it was going to be full moon night. Jiyu was meditating in Anikaa's balcony keeping an eye both of her. It was 3pm, when someone shook Anikaa's shoulders. She had dozed off on the couch of her bedroom, watching the footage.