A happy life. Everyone wants it but only a few achieve such a life and those who don't will leave with their desires. Such desires take life and change the course of destiny but for that, one's desire must be strong enough. Human desires, however strong they might be are seldom enough to change their fate but years ago, on a moonless night, one such desire changed the path of time. Not only did it change the fate of the three souls but also their nature. One can only wonder how strong could the desire be that it had challenged the almighty's written future, but then again, does god really want his creation (Humans) to walk the path he laid out for them? Does that mean one needs to challenge his fate, but how is one ever supposed to know whether he has changed his fate? How can one be sure that he is still only walking the path to his designed destiny?
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Maya held onto the blanket around her as she emerged out of the fire. The officers already got to work but what surprised Maya the most was Aditya standing among them with a fire extinguisher in hand trying to put out the fire. Her little brother who had been unconscious and weak just an hour ago was standing in front of her with desperation on his face to save her. As soon as Aditya spots Maya as she comes out of the house, he runs to her, throwing himself on her and almost bringing them to the ground. Luckily, Amish and Akshay were still by her side and held them.
"I will kill you, Maya. I will kill you if you ever do something like this again." Aditya talks in a breathless tone but he refuses to pull away from his sister who he thought he almost lost. At the time he felt so angry, afraid and desperate that he could not stay quiet and stand by her side.
"Have your sugar levels settled?" Maya asks as she places her hand over Aditya's head and caresses his hair with love. Amish joins their embrace leaving a breath of relief himself. He held his younger siblings in his arms as his heart finally started to calm down.
"I am fine. I just didn't eat because I was busy. If I knew you would bring down the house for it, I would've definitely found some time to eat." Aditya knew the moment he found himself in the hospital with Amish Bhayya and others that something was off. Even if his sugar levels fell, he didn't need to be admitted as he had his injections in his bag for emergencies like this and when Amish Bhayya told him that it was Maya who asked them to bring him to the hospital he became sure that she was up to something. Maya knew he had medicines and still asked to bring him to the hospital and made sure that Parul Dadi and others were already there with him when he only needed one family member to stay with him and there was no sign of Dadi, Chachi and Maya herself which meant disaster. He immediately explained the same to Amish Bhayya and came back to the house only to be proven right as they stood in front of a burning house. Amish immediately sprinted into the house, noticing that Maya was nowhere to be found and instructed Aditya to stay out as he was already weak. Still, Aditya could not just stand there and do nothing. As soon as the fire engine pulled up he helped them set the station and took an extinguisher himself as they got to work. Maya probably wouldn't have imagined that Aditya hadn't eaten anything, which meant this was not part of her plan and she improvised. For her to do such a drastic thing only meant that she had a strong motivation to do so, which could only be Aditya fainting.
"Maya, you need to explain."
"I will." The sibling's embrace was then disturbed by the people's loud voices as they formed into a crowd. Maya pushed into the crowd to find an unconscious Ranav lying on the floor. She felt something inside at the sight that she could not quite explain, but she ignored it to get to work and check his pulse and called an ambulance immediately. She helped take him to the hospital and stayed with him until Abhimanyu came rushing into the hospital with a concerned frown that didn't go down until the doctors confirmed that Ranav was stable. Only then did his father relax enough to have something to eat and rest a little in the waiting room. Maya left later with her brother after they settled everything in the hospital along with Aditya's check-up and she returned in the morning to check on Ranav.
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Maya helped Ranav get discharged from the hospital and dropped him at home while he had been silent throughout the process which was very unlike him but Maya thought it better not to poke. As they reach Maheswari House, Ranav finally speaks.
"Were you hurt?"
"Hmmm?"
"The last thing I saw before falling unconscious is you stuck in the fire and were being helped out by Akshay. Were you hurt anywhere?"
"Oh. I got burned a little, but I am okay."
"You got burned? Where?" Ranav panics instantly not knowing why he cares so much.
"I am fine. It was just a small burn." Ranav tried to hold in his anxiety that refused to leave him and tried to be as calm as possible.
"You knew."
"What?"
"You knew that the house was going to be on fire." Maya stayed silent as she could not deny the fact. "That is why you asked me that favour that night."
The night before--
Maya was about to leave but turned back to face Ranav.
"Thank you. Also, can you do me a little favour?"
"Whatever you say, madam." Ranav could just about do anything for her at that moment because he wanted her to be happy.
"Can you please take out all the paintings from that room I just showed? Take them away and out of the house."
"Take them where?" Ranav was confused as to how that would help her but he was willing to comply with anything she suggested.
"Anywhere. Maybe, take them to Maheswari's house? Just take them away."
"Okay," Ranav had done what he was asked to do and took the paintings to store them in Maheswari's house only to return to the fire as he watched her standing in between the flames which led him down a different dimension altogether.
--Present
"You knew what was going to happen."
"I did." The house didn't get burned as much because of the lack of electricity supply so it was easier to put out the fire and most of their belongings were unharmed. She was yet to be confronted for her actions by her brother but at the moment the house is going to be remodeled and they were to move their belongings to stay in Maheswari house for the time being.
"Then why didn't you do anything? You could've stopped the fire."
"Why would I stop the fire when I was the one who started it." Maya had no idea why she was being so honest with him. Maybe it was because she had already outed her family secret to him that she no longer felt the need to hide her true self from him.
"You did?" He didn't sound as surprised as Maya expected him to be.
"Not exactly. Let's say I helped the fire grow."
"Why?"
"You won't understand. Also, you don't need to know." That shuts up Ranav, who leaves in silence. They both are not in a mood for conversation, their heads filled with worries. While Maya worries about when her brothers finally ask her for an explanation, Ranav's head is filled with questions that he doesn't even know where to start finding answers for. Maya parks the car in the garage and silently goes into her room, aka her mother's room, which seemed to have been unchanged in the past years as it was almost the same as described in her mother's diary. Just like every other thing in India, the room serves as a reminder of her mother's existence while the entire Rajvansh family tries to be ignorant of it. She had asked for this room right after they entered the house. It was only an added tension that Atul Chacha returned this morning after having to go on a business trip in place of Amish Bhayya and he was met with a surprise upon knowing last night's events, to say the least. Atul remained as invisible as the paint on the walls since Maya came, as he rarely ever made an appearance at the dinner table. It has been two and half months and his interactions with Maya can be counted on fingers. Maya staying at the camp and only returning for weekends also played a part in their minimal interaction but now that the camp is being closed next week and Maya was exempted from it altogether allowed them to finally have some words, only that none of them was really interested in it. There was not much written about Atul Chacha in Mishti's diary and Maya has no idea of how to approach him.
She had gotten many calls and messages from Trisha and Pradeep asking her if she was okay and she barely managed to answer them while packing her things this morning. How quickly the news passes. Maya slips into her room silently as the rest of the family settles in. She was unpacking her clothes when a knock on her door took her attention. She turns around to find her brothers standing in the doorway and she knows that the time for confrontation has come.
"Bhayya." Maya pushes her clothes aside to make some place on her bed for her brother to sit. "Come inside and sit down." Amish enters and sits in silence and Aditya follows to do the same.
"Have you had breakfast?" Amish asks with a neutral tone which only causes Maya to grow tense.
"Yes."
"How do you feel now?" Maya knows that this is not why Amish is here.
"I am fine, Bhayya."
"Maya, will you finally tell me what exactly happened yesterday?"
"I am sorry." Maya cannot deny her mistake in impulsively taking action but she also can't ignore the fact that in this house, she is being given more importance than her brother.
"It's good that you're sorry, Maya. But what I want to know is why my little sister had to go to such a length to hurt the family. Why did you do it?"
"Do you think I really did all of that?" Maya, for some reason, felt disappointed that her brother thought like that about her but how could she blame him when she proved herself to be so?
"No, Maya. I don't think you would do such a thing but I can't say that I don't think you're involved at all." Her brother's words served as a medicine to her mortification. She felt relieved that her brother still trusted her. Finally, she felt confident enough to say what she had to.
"Ms. Meenakshi was the one who wanted to set that fire to mom's picture. She thought it would serve as a reminder for everyone how much of a jinx our mother was to this family. I just wanted to direct that fire elsewhere." Maya had heard Meenakshi talk about her plan on the phone the day she agreed to come to the party. That is why Maya was willing to attend the party as she could not let such an opportunity slip away.
"But in the end, that's not what you did."
"Yep. Because it didn't feel enough. Aditya had diabetes and no one in the house knew. I was the one who left for the camp and only returned on the weekends, still, everyone knew what I liked and what I didn't. Aditya stayed here the entire time but no one knew he was diabetic. I can't turn a blind eye to how partial Ms. Kuhu is and how everyone else is following her into giving less importance to my brother."
"But I told you I was the one who did not tell anyone. They know what out like because at home, all I talk about is you. I told them all that so you could be more comfortable in that house and probably bond with the family." Aditya could not help but point out that Maya was the one who never cared to interact with the family, which is why he had to take the initiative for them to know more about her.
"That's just an excuse to defend them, Adi. If they tried, all they had to was ask you to know more about you. Even if you didn't tell them, they didn't ask you either."
"Of course, they did. I just never got into that conversation with anyone."
"Or they never gave you enough reason to."
"Stop it both of you." Amish intervenes in their fight and stands up. "All I want is for you two to be happy, Maya. If Aditya finds his happiness in being with the family, I hope you respect that and know the consequences of your actions. Yesterday someone could've gotten hurt and that someone could've been you. I can't live with the fear that you will one day put yourself in danger for your hatred. No amount of hatred will help you feel better, Maya. Whatever you want to do, think it through after setting aside your personal feelings. "
"I am sorry. I will never put myself or anyone else in danger again." Amish smiles at his sister and gently pats her shoulder.
"That's what I wanted to hear. You should know that your safety comes first." Maya looked at her brother as the wheels in her head started to turn. Maya will not put herself in danger and she will not let any innocent get hurt either but now that she knows what Meenakshi is capable of, she can't just sit and watch. The next move, Maya will make first.
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Hello Dear Readers,
I am still waiting for some opinions on how you feel about the story's progression and my writing. Do leave some comments if you like the story. It would motivate me a lot. See ya in the next chapter...
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