~Edited.~
Please listen to the song above...
At the start of every chapter, there will be a snippet of Nandini's past from the beginning.
~~
November 22nd, 1999
Reunion & Mayotte, France
After two weeks at the Academy, Natasha finally knew her way around the glass triangle that she would call home for the next few years. There was the main dining hall, individual rooms, meeting rooms, a courtyard, a swimming pool and a shooting range. Others were rooms with heavy metal doors and other training areas that Natasha had yet to see. She realised within a few days of being here that she was the only one who didn't share a room.
In the room next to her, there were about three girls, a few years older than her but she hadn't bothered to learn their names. All knew was one looked angry all the time, one was smiling like it was Christmas and the other was quiet as a mouse, not because she was plotting but because she just wanted to be invisible.
Her schedule was repetitive for someone who was so used to the luxuries of different leisure activities. Everyday, she got up at 5 o'clock, showered and dressed in the uniform- a skin-tight leather bodysuit. It was to make sure they got used to heaving the weight of several weapons on them and getting used to the material against their skin.
Then came the 20 minute breakfast in the dining hall where most of the girls in their division, around her age, mostly older. Some wore different uniforms and Natalia came to the conclusion that they were part of the hacker specialty. Natalia was taught everything, from hacking to martial arts so she was surprised when she discovered that some girls only specialised in one field.
From 7 o'clock onwards was the morning lessons where they studied like it was a normal school. The usual subjects like Maths, sciences, and the several languages that Natalia was already familiar with.
That goes on for about 4 hours without any breaks after which two hours of exercise followed. The girls were split into age groups where they competed against each other in a variety of different activities. They learned gymnastics, tumbling, mixed martial arts. Every so often, if the trainers were in a good mood, they may be allowed to play a game of volleyball.
At around 12 was the hour lunch, half an hour of which they were allowed outside and Natalia finally got to admire the open sky and feel the sun hit her pale skin.
Then came the afternoon lessons which is so different from the first because they were lectured on etiquette and appearance, coding and weapons training. The first time the instructor brought out a knife for each girl to handle, Natalia was so scared she was going to cut herself, she almost dropped it. Some of the girls cut themselves and the teacher hit them with her cane over the knuckles but nothing to wipe the blood with so it flowed over their knuckles and onto the knives painting a gruesome image.
Dinner was quite early and it was this high nutritious diet that they all had to follow. Natalia didn't want to make any friends so she sat in the corner, her eyebrows drooping but her shoulders back. In the Academy, there was no place for friendship.
The activities after dinner were the worst of all- the girls were tested on, it wasn't meant to teach them anything but Natalia leant that the mind was brittle and she knew she had to train hers to avoid being manipulated. The doctors in the class told them that the purpose of the session was to assess their brain's behaviour and health but the electricity that sparked around their brain told a different story. One by one, every one of the girls were strapped into a metal chair and a mouth guard was placed in between their teeth so as not to break them and wired headsets was placed on their forehead with two IV drips on each of their arms- one with clear liquid and one with an almost blood-like substance.
This was a demonstration to the other girls in the room of what was to expect. The lights were switched off and all the girls were strapped, listening to the voices bounce off the wall. The drip made her head spin and her body convulse. However, she was one of the lucky girls who did not experience the nausea, the sudden vertigo and one girl apparently even fainted during one of the lessons and then she was never seen again.
It was quite strange that she couldn't even remember what happened in the room but she experienced the aftershocks of it. Natalia sometimes begins to hum songs that she doesn't even know and once, in the shower, she began to spin around on her toes. Sure, she had learnt ballet before but she was never good at it.
Before bed, girls were sent to the nursed and professional plastic surgeons to make sure any injuries were taken care of. The girls were supposed to look beautiful and fit. There were to be no flaws or imperfections that could be seen. They were always accompanied by a guard. No-one was allowed to wander around the compound alone, especially at night. The girls who did not need medical assistance were sent back to their rooms to begin their night-time routine.
At 9 o'clock, it was bedtime and so Natalia lay in her big, hard bed looking up at the ceiling, feeling cold and alone for the 100th time in the day.
This repeated, and repeated, and repeated. Sometimes on the weekends the girls would get to watch a film. Always Russian, always drenched in propaganda. But it was the one fun thing Natalia got, so she enjoyed it.
Natalia Solovik Ivanshov, a name she had earned since arriving at the Assassin Manor, shook out of her stupor before heading inside the double-doors, the cavernous entrance hall of the Manor silent. Her heels clicked on the marble flooring, her phone buzzing in her back pocket and a bloodied sack in her bruised hand.
No one had greeted her, except the housekeeper who'd taken her trench coat—and, after getting a look at the wicked grin on her face and the blood on the sack, hadn't spoken beyond that.
Natasha strode through the hallway; Quiet as mice, quiet as the wind, quiet as the grave.
The doors to Dmitri Hamel's study lay at the other end of the hall and were currently shut. But she knew he was in there. She also had no doubt that Dmitri had eyes at every entrance in this city. The moment she'd stepped into this country, he'd been alerted that she'd at last returned.
It had been three months since the night he had beaten her unconscious—punishment for letting a mark go; there was a huge bounty on her head. It had been three months since he'd shipped her off to another Assassins Master who could beat obedience into her. And they did. Or at least tried.
The sack in her hand was proof. Proof that Dmitri hadn't broken her that night.
She was accompanied by many men along with five trunks of gold and jewels, which were to be put in her room. She gulped, wanting to explain to him that her debt was now paid. He had bought her for 1.2 billion and the trunks were worth more. She wanted to leave. She wanted to be free. Of him. Of this life.
She strode past the 2 bodyguards at the big, oak door and flung open the doors of Dmitri's study.
The so-called King of Assassins was seated at his desk, with a Mac in front of him and several stacks of paper. She didn't utter a word as she strode right up to the desk and threw the sack onto it. It made a horrific sound before the blood started to seep onto papers. She opened her mouth but he held up a finger, still looking at his computer.
He made a flapping gesture with his hand. Sit down. The message was clear enough: she was to wait until he was ready. And until then, even if she screamed until her lungs burst, he wouldn't acknowledge her existence.
She sat down as minutes passed and the grand speech she had planned faded from her mind. He picked up her phone from where she had placed it and glanced at the bank account numbers.
It had increased by 10 million; the amount she was paid for the head in the sack. He kept glancing at her, so she put her legs up onto his desk with a 'thud'.
Of course, Dmitri would think that was Selena's head in there but it wasn't. Natasha had let her go but hunted down an innocent woman that looked just like her. The fiery red hair along with the doe eyes. Perfect.
She looked at the white, Persian rug beneath the desk; someone did an amazing job getting her blood out of it. There was so much blood that night and how much of it belonged to Nikolai? She still didn't know what the consequences were to him of them letting Selena go.
Dmitri finally looked up at her, setting aside the phone. She kept her eyes emotionless, even as his eyes scanned her from head-to-toe and lingered on a long, pink scar on her collarbone.
She reminisced all the years she had spent here and all her missions. A few sentences and it would be over. All this over with a string of words and a mountain of cash and gold.
She opened her mouth to speak again but he spoke first.
"I'm sorry." He said. The breath almost knocked out of her as the words vanished again. "If I could take back that night, Natasha, I would." He leaned over the desk, his hands forming into fists like they had the other night, bloodied and bruised.
"I am sorry." He repeated. He was nearly 15 years her senior, his face remained young. Elegant, blue eyes; he was the most alluring man she had ever met. "I shouldn't have let my temper get the better of me. I shouldn't have sent you away."
"Then why didn't you retrieve me?" It was out before she had a chance to control the snap in her voice.
Dmitri's eyes narrowed slightly, as close to a wince as he'd let himself come, she supposed. "By the time I realised my mistake, you were already back."
She clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to roll her eyes,
He read the disbelief in her eyes. "Allow me to make it up to you." He rose from his leather chair and strode around the desk. He swiped a velvet box of the table and sank to one knee before her, his face near level with hers.
He extended the gift to her. The box in itself was a work of art, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, but she kept her face blank as she flipped open the lid. An emerald-and-gold brooch glittered in the grey afternoon light. He'd bought it because he also knew her wardrobe, her tastes, everything about her.
"For you," he said. "The first of many." He lifted a hand, carefully bringing it to her face and brushed a finger from her temple to her cheekbone. Like she was a fragile flower or a glass doll that would break.
But she wasn't fragile like flowers. She was fragile like a bomb.
Father, brother, lover—he'd never really declared himself any of them. He loved her like family, yet he put her in the most dangerous positions. He nurtured and educated her, yet he'd obliterated her innocence. He'd given her everything, but he'd also taken everything away.
Her face remained impassive.
~
That night, Mukti stood at the edge of the terrace ready to jump. She called Alya first to let her know exactly why. She was in tears, pouring her heart out to her friend on face-time. Harshad then appeared on her screen as he began to tease her while Alya tried to tell him what was going on. Harshad sighed angrily and said "Mukti, are you crazy? Get down from there." Mukti just shook her head at him and began to advance closer to the edge. Harshad texted Alya with "Keep stalling" as he rushed to Mukti's terrace. Mukti cuts her call with Alya and begins to edge closer.
But Mukti gets saved by Harshad who leaves after seeing Fab 4, Dhruv was not there.
The next day, at college, Nandini doesn't go to college as per the plan so the whole "get Nandini back" campaign is set up by Harshad who gives the petition to Neyonika. Neyonika then tells Nandini about it.
At college, Manik was looking for Dhruv and then he goes to a café near the college. Nandini is sitting there, drinking her coffee with a croissant on a little plate. Dressed in a petite crop top with black jeans and black vans and a leather jacket thrown on top to protect from the slightly cold, she looked like she just stepped out of a magazine cover.
She looks up from her phone and sees Manik charging at her and sighs lightly. He stops right in front of her and asks where Dhruv is.
"How am I supposed to know that?" Nandini shares some of the same traits as her 'alter-ego' and she absolutely hates everyone at the college who make it seem as though she broke up a friendship that was meant to last forever. Nandini didn't know much about friendship, considering she had only about two people she could call friends.
Manik gets angry at the blatant display of annoyance on her part and commands everyone to get out and holds Nandini's shoulders with so much fore that red fingerprints are left when he removes his hands just as the manager walks in. The manager, a stout woman with a slightly pinched face stops in front of them and tells Manik to let her go. Nandini smiles, throws in some money in the black check on her table and grabs Manik's hand, who only stares at her even as she begins to drag him out of the café.
"Nandini, I don't have time for this. Where the hell is Dhruv?" When Nandini's answer is the same as it was before, Manik grabs her forearms, "Stay the hell away from all of us."
Nandini almost laughs at what he considers a threatening voice as he walks away from her and into his car. She stood against the hood of her car, debating whether she should go inside to finish her cup of coffee or go shopping like she had planned. In the end, she decided to spend some money and was about to get into her car when she saw a familiar cap in the crowd and called out his name. Dhruv waved at her and she motioned him over, smiling.
She informed him of Manik's threat and whereabouts and watches as Dhruv turns in the direction of the college. He enters the practice room, holding two guitars and waits until every member of the group arrived and practically jumped him when he handed Manik his new guitar.
Manik stood behind everyone before walking towards his best friend and taking the guitar off him with a smile on his face. They plan to try out the guitar and just get the band ready when Harshad walks in, slamming the doors of the practice open, Nandini following behind. She was on her way to the shopping mall when she received a call from Harshad that their protest worked and that she was back in college. Harshad throws a few taunts their ways about their little broken group before leaving with the rest of NH3.
During their break, Dhruv is walking aimlessly outside and he sees Alya giving money and telling the person to leave. Dhruv, confused, hides a little and watches as the guy who harassed Nandini walk away from Alya. Dhruv comes out of his hiding place and confront Alya and she makes him promise not to tell anyone as it would inevitably break up the group again with Manik being angry at her.
Nandini is sitting on a bench behind the college, going through the different pictures on her phone, so many of them were taken by Dominic who was so keen on capturing every embarrassing moment of their little group. She looks up when she hears a noise and watches as Mukti is being held back by two guys whilst the other traces lines on her cheek with a knife. Standing up slowly so as to not startle the guy in hurting Mukti, she walks up to the guy holding the knife, his back towards her and grabs the knife whilst simultaneously punching him in the ear. Grabbing the arms of the guys holding Mukti, she moves behind them, making their arms crack loudly.
Mukti sighs in relief and rubs her arms which are undoubtedly sore from the rough grabbing. Nandini, grabbing Mukti's shoulders, leads her to the bench and makes her sit down, rubbing her shoulder and watching as a tear slip down her cheek. She is taken aback when Mukti throws her arms around her and hugs her but she just pats her shoulder, knowing that skin contact is important after things like this.
After a while, Nandini leaves making Mukti ponder over what just happened and deciding that Nandini isn't as bad as they once thought. Nandini decides to go to the café she went to before, near college, deciding to check out the place she just bought for very little money and to her surprise, Dhruv is there. She smiles at him before sitting down at another table and ordering a coffee. After a few moments, Dhruv stands up and walks over to thank her for helping him patch things up with the group.
Nandini smiles, "Dhruv, we can't be friends. Manik won't like it and he is like your brother and I would never get in the way of that."
Nandini knew that Dhruv was upset so when he nodded and walked away from her, she stood up and went after him and watched as he held his head and shook violently. Nandini's first thought is to call Manik and she watches from Dhruv's side as Manik rushes over. He sees Nandini making Dhruv sit down and the Café empty in the middle of the evening. She is trying to relax him but it's not working. Manik brings his guitar and begins strumming whilst singing the one song that calms Dhruv down.
Dhruv finally relaxes after what seems like an eternity and that is when Manik goes in hulk mode and drags Nandini outside, his face showing the rage he felt.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Manik insinuated that Nandini had something to do with triggering the attack.
"First of all, Dhruv came to me." Nandini was practically shouting by now, she did not like be accused of something she had no part in, "I told Dhruv to mend his friendship with you and just now, I told him that we can't be friends because the great Manik Malhotra won't like it. "
With that, Nandini stalked off towards her car, not waiting for a reply from Manik and she didn't even turn around when he shouted her name. Manik walks back inside and thinks about his behaviour towards her when she was just trying her best to be nice. His chain of thought is broken by Dhruv who wakes him and says his name. Manik rushes towards him and helps him get up and into his car before driving him home, after making sure he was aright and then driving home.
The next morning, Nandini wakes up feeling refreshed and freshens up before heading into her closet. Donning a Ralph Lauren silk teal shirt and beige House of Bijan trousers that were slim fit, her shoes were white Dior pumps. Her face had light make up and her hair was in big curls with a messy part in the middle. She grabbed a few gold necklaces before lacing them around her neck and grabbing a thin diamond rind and putting it on.
During the middle of the day, Nandini wounds up in the storeroom, hiding from Navya who wanted to know about her whereabouts and then Manik walks in and locks the door, looking for Alya. Nandini looks slack jawed as she watches Manik stalk in and Manik immediately turns back and tries to open the door which has been locked from the outside as instructed by Harshad.
Manik walks towards the door, and opened the lock from the inside. He tries to pull the door open but fails. He pulls harder and slaps his hand against the door.
"It's locked." Manik looks back at Nandini who raises an eyebrow, she just stares at him before charging towards the door and screaming for help.
"Call someone then." Nandini searches her own pockets and realises she left her phone with Navya who snatched it off her when she was messaging Dhruv. Manik too realises that his phone is in the practice room.
An hour into them being stuck in the basement, they are both sitting helplessly in the moth-covered sofas. Nandini is leaning with her head back, her eyes closed and Manik stares at her, he doesn't understand the attraction he has towards her, despite being in a helpless, on-sided love relationship.
He was helpless because Alya proposed him on her birthday in grade 7 and asked him to love her as a birthday gift. Manik, neither agreed nor disagreed, keeping Fab 5 in his mind. This was enough to give Alya hope that as long as they stay together, Manik will fall in love with her.
Manik, tired of sitting down, starts looking around to find an escape; he finds a little gap, just about Nandini's size. He shouts for Nandini to come near him and points at the hole. Nandini stands up from the sofa and walks over to him.
"That's great. Go for it." She points to the little stool and motions for him to get through the hole.
Manik just looks at her, "Yeah but I'm not in the mood." He sighs before crossing his arms ad leaning against the wall.
"What do you mean you're not in the mood?" Nandini is practically shouting in frustration, ready to rip her beautiful hair from her head.
"Nandini, use your common sense. How will I fit? You can fit in there. I promise I won't let you fall." Nandini immediately looks at him after he says that and he too is staring at her eyes, trust shining there. Nandini was the first to look away and Manik looks down and asks himself what he is thinking and to get a grip of himself.
Manik, after getting over the awkwardness and clearing his throat, walks over to the corners and grabs the stool which had a broken leg but it would have to do and places it near the gap. Nandini tries to get on but it keeps moving and so she hesitantly puts her hand on his shoulder, feeling the build of muscles there. Manik looks at her and blinks his eyes in assurance before motioning to the gap, in the hope of giving her some courage. She swung her leg onto the stool and stood on her before attempting to reach for the gap but when she tilted slightly, the chair of the leg broken and she fell.
~
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