*warning*
The following chapter includes violence.
The golden sand stretched till infinity and the heat was beyond imagination. In the middle of the sand dunes the house was echoing with gunshots and bombs. Raghav and Manav with the help of the local mafia leader were successfully killing all of Jairaj's men. But they hadn't found him yet.
They knew he was Vikram's prey. But at the moment his priority was his wife and they understood it. They could always leave him alive after a good torture session.
As Raghav reached a room on the second floor of the house, he saw two guards in front of a room. He was quick to eliminate them and enter the room. As soon as he came in his eyes caught the body laying on the bed. The old and tired Jairaj was laying in the bed looking at him with a horrified face. He knew his end was near. But he was too weak to move even for saving his own life. Ziah's kick had left him in a terrible condition.
"You motherf*cker." Raghav seethed in anger and held the old man's collar before pulling him up.
He moaned in pain and looked at Raghav.
"P-Please I am old..." He started speaking but a tight slap from Raghav sent him panting for his dear life.
"Old,huh? Then its time for you to go up."
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As moments passed painfully slow for Vikram he broke down into bits & pieces. After numerous tries he was unable to wake Ziah. A stream of tears left his eyes remembering that this was all because of him. Ziah had been dragged in the mess because of him. Jairaj and Mitali had a problem with him and their hatred for Vikram had pushed them to hurt her. She had no fault in this, except that she was married to an unfortunate man, he thought.
The door behind him opened with a creeking sound. The footsteps that echoed in the room fell on deaf ears as Vikram was lost deep in his thoughts.
"S-Sir?" Manav's hesitance was accompanied by fear in his voice. He was fearing the scene in front of him and it's consequences.
"I-Is ma'am okay?" He asked coming close enough to get a look at the unconscious girl.
Once again, he was ignored like plague. He took a deep breath before placing a hand on his tensed shoulders.
"We found him."
With a startle Vikram looked straight in front of him. He tilted his face to look right at Manav. A shiver ran down Manav's entire body seeing Vikram's eyes. Those bloodshot eyes filled with hot tears had only one thing in them, murder.
In the other part of the mansion Raghav was doing a hardworking job of torturing Jairaj. He was making sure to hurt every inch of his body but also kept him alive.
The hot desert suddenly felt cold to everyone present there. Even the air particles froze in fear of the man that had walked in the room.
He was wounded, but he was still a lion. And when he walked with the love of his life in his arms with his eyes blazing of fire, the world bowed in fear.
Raghav turned around and his eyes went wide seeing his sister. Jairaj was long forgotten as he rushed towards Ziah and tapped her face. She was pale and unconscious. He had never seen her like that, and it was a heartbreaking sight.
"Ziah! What happened to her?" He asked Vikram but he was not in the state to answer. He was lost in his own world.
Vikram simply placed his wife in Raghav's arms. His eyes were focused on the man in front of him. A shivering Jairaj was looking like he was going to pee his pants. Perhaps he had already done that.
As Vikram took each step towards the old man, the latter shook his head and struggled to move. But Raghav's special treatment had left him with no movement.
"P-Please no-" His voice died down as an iron fist landed straight on his throat.
Jairaj was beyond shocked. He tried to open his mouth but no voice came out. He clutched his throat and looked at Vikram with pure horror.
"You hurt my wife."
Another punch landed this time on Jairaj's old right eye.
As blood splashed in the air the spectators took a scared step back.
Meanwhile Raghav rushed with Ziah outside. His sister needed medical help and he was going to focus on her.
"I want her to open her eyes, and look at me with the love only she has for me." Whispered Vikram and a strong punch landed on the other eye of Jairaj.
Now he was bleeding with both his eyes and mouth. A few last ounces of life were left inside him.
Vikram held his collar and jerked him forward. He leaned closer to the man and in whispered in a low tone,
"You dared to take my wife away from me, you can take my breath away but not my Ziah."
These were the last words heard by Jairaj who's body went flying to the other corner of the room and collided with the wall. His lifeless body fell down on the floor with a thud. He was finished.
There was no emotion on Vikram's face, neither of anger nor any sadness. He simply walked out of the mansion without a word.
He sat inside a car that drove him to his wife.
Inside the small hospital where there was more darkness than people, Raghav was already seated in a devastated form. He had a different storm going on in his mind. He was blaming himself for everything. It was his decision of trusting Jairaj in the first place that had led his sister to danger. Guilt and shame were eating him. He had failed to be a good brother yet another time.
He felt a presence beside him, bringing him out of his trance. He drowned more in the sea of guilt seeing Vikram. The man he had known as fierce and strong all his life looked weak for the first time. His eyes did not have the fire that always lit up his surroundings. He was not the Vikram, he knew.
And he realized, Vikram really loved his sister. And he loved her more than Raghav could ever love her. He remembered the look of fear that he saw on Vikram's face when he heard that Ziah was abducted. He was truly scared of losing the precious girl.
"I-I am sorry." Raghav's small whisper echoed in the empty hallway. He recieved silence as a reply which was quite expected.
Minutes passed as hours for the men until the doctor finally came out of the room. Both of them stood up with a speed that had their head spinning for a second. But their personal ailments were of no value to them. All they cared about was Ziah.
"Mrs.Ziah is out of danger. She was severely dehydrated and her body had injuries that made her weak. But we have given her the necessary treatment and she is fine now. We will have to keep her here for the night." The doctor's words brought relief to both of them. But Vikram was a step ahead in rushing inside the room where his eyes finally found hers.
His heart skipped a beat but he was filled with a sense of relief the moment his eyes met Ziah's tired eyes. Her half open eyes were staring at him with a sea of emotions. Both of them knew that a lot had to be spoken.
Before Vikram could say something her eyes closed once again but not before a weak smile gracing her face.
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It was a cold winter morning and Ziah woke up feeling cold and empty. She frowned seeing she was alone in the cottage. Her memory of the previous night was clear in her mind. She was stuck in the snow storm with Vikram who had held her and kept her warm all night.
She wondered if he was not what she had thought of him. He had a different side to him. And she was not going to judge him on the basis of things she had heard.
But where was he? She thought.
Getting up from the bed, she freshned up quickly before coming out of the cottage. Shock was evident on her face seeing the view. Everything was white and foggy. Where had he gone?
Seeing his footsteps on the snow a strike of fear hit her. Had he left her alone? What if his whole kindness was a facade? And he had left her all alone in the middle of the snow covered forest.
Her thoughts were nerve gripping and frightening. She didn't want to think like that because her heart was starting to think differently of him. And while it was on a track to understand his real self, she didn't want him to break it under his feet.
So pushing the negative thoughts away, she decided to walk towards him. It was hard to walk in the snow without proper covering but she pushed herself for him.
"Come back to me, butterfly. I can't take this silence anymore." Vikram's pleading fell on her ears and she opened her eyes with a gasp. It was too bright and she closed her eyes with a wince. But a shadow covered her face and she once again opened her eyes.
This time her eyes found Vikram's tearful ones. He was blocking the light that was blinding her eyes from the ceiling. A gasp left her mouth as the realization dawned upon her.
She had reached him. From the snow covered forest and crushing beach waves on the island she had finally walked right at him.
"I love you"
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They are finally seeing each other😭
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