It took them nearly an hour to reach Delhi from Jaipur, as the helicopter was on standby. Once out of the airport, their matte stripe black ride- Audi R8 was waiting with an immaculately dressed chauffeur in black.
"I'll drive," Raymond said to the driver.
Without any questions, driver bowed to them and left.
"Whoa, I like black," said Anikaa and looking up at the dark clouds in the sky, she said- "and I love rain."
Without waiting for Raymond to open the door, Anikaa slided into the car.
"I'm glad you are finally impressed with something," said Raymond getting in the car and buckling his seat belt.
"Hope you can roll it faster than the road," said Anikaa.
Raymond started the ignition and the car roared into life. He eased the car out of the airport and joined the highway after bustling from the city. After an hour of drive, Anikaa was beginning to feel sleepy, her eyelids feeling heavy.
"I hope you are not dozing off," said Raymond, now familiar with Anikaa's motion sickness.
"Not at all...Such an exciting journey, how can I miss," said Anikaa abruptly with a sarcastic gleam.
"Well, it's drizzling and the road is busy, so I got to keep my eye on road," said Raymond.
"Yes, but you're driving very slowly. At this speed, we'll reach Rishikesh tomorrow."
"O yeah...Says who? One whose cars are always run by the driver. Can you drive in this traffic?"
"Of course, I can. I can easily touch Rishikesh by 6," said Anikaa confidently.
Raymond pulled over to side of the road and unbuckled his seat belt.
"If we don't reach Rishikesh in next four hours, you've to kiss me," he said smugly.
"Excuse me," said Anikaa in disbelief.
"Yes or we'll go by my speed," said Raymond drumming his fingers on the steering.
For few moments, they both kept staring at each other. It was the battle of two strong characters.
"Challenge accepted," beamed Anikaa and swiftly slipped out of her seat.
Raymond, gleefully climbed out of the car giving keys to Anikaa. Girls are no better drivers, that's what he always believed. And in this traffic? No freaking way possible.
When they both took their respective seats, Anikaa gave a mischievous smile and said- "Time for you to learn, it's my way and only my way."
Without giving him the opportunity to comment, she revved the engine and slammed the accelerator. Raymond was pressed back to his seat, his face stunned and mouth opened wide when Anikaa gathered speed and swished past the cars on the highway.
"Anikaa I want us to reach Rishikesh in one single piece," bellowed Raymond.
"Don't worry, just put on some music and enjoy the ride," said Anikaa, her eyes twinkling.
Raymond closed his eyes whenever Anikaa took over any car and silently started praying. For the first time in life, he was counting his sins. Anikaa pushed her Ipod into the music plug and Ariana Grande's 'Love me Harder' blared in the car.
Raymond's head whipped towards Anikaa when the words hung in the background- 'If you want to keep me, you gotta gotta gotta got to love me harder and if really need me, you gotta gotta got to love me harder.'
"Damn!" he muttered. Is that what it takes to be with her? Loving her harder because she is so different from any other regular girl.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the tyres squealed and Anikaa swivelled the car on the hairpin roads.
"Anikaa, just to remind you- we're not in pursuit of death," said Raymond clutching the assist grip of his side.
"Either I'm driving the car or sleeping in it. And, my family prefers the latter so on my own I like to keep up my practice," chuckled Anikaa.
"Yeah, tell me about that."
As Anikaa bidded, they reached Rishikesh in next three and a half hours with Anikaa sniggering and Raymond gasping. Anikaa was in very good spirits as she drove the car with blaring songs of Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Beyonce', JLo and evergreen Kishore Kumar. After reaching Rishikesh, she drove through the old roads and thin lanes of the city and took the diversion to go downhill. Within half an hour of drive, they reached a secluded villa at the far end of the city which was overlooking river Ganges. She pressed the horns of the car and a young boy rushed to open the iron gates for them. Anikaa wheeled the car into the gate and halted.
"Challenge won," she cheered and grinned at Raymond who had clenched his fists and was looking around as if not sure they had reached.
Anikaa's Rishikesh villa was way different from Munnars', however the name encrypted on the front was the same- Shireen Villa. The villa was sprawled on a vast land and was one floor only.
"Harish, how are you?" asked Anikaa to the young boy who closed the gates and came round her.
"Namaste mam," said Harish grinning.
"Harish, this is Mr. Sturrock, he's going to stay here. Please arrange a room for him."
Harish swiftly greeted Raymond and dashed to the car to get their luggage.
"Nice place," said Raymond looking around.
Similar to her Munnar's house, this house also boasted of modern architecture and was painted white in colour. There was a vast living room and two large passages on either sides of it. A floor to ceiling glass door stretched across all the rooms of the house separated the living room with the verandah. Beyond the verandah there was a huge backyard that overlooked river Ganges. It was almost 8pm and they could only hear silent splashes of water emanating from the heavy current of the river.
Harish strolled in dragging two suitcases of Raymond and Anikaa.
"Harish will show you the room. Shall we meet for dinner by nine?" asked Anikaa looking at her watch.
"Nine will do," replied Raymond and followed Harish to a passage that lead to the other side of the living room and entered the first room. It was a large bedroom which could easily fit in two normal-sized bedrooms. It had a large built- in TV on one side of the wall, facing the bed and a floor to ceiling glass door veranda that lead to the backyard. Though, it was all dark outside Raymond could hear temple bells at a distance. For the first time, Raymond felt immensely peaceful.
***********
Raymond was feeling entirely worn out after a warm shower. He just wanted to sleep and he wearily dragged himself out of the room wearing his jogging bottoms only. He could hear faint noises from the other side of the passage of the living room where there was a kitchen. He slowly ambled to the source of the sound, his lips curving into a thin smile as he watched Anikaa in an emerald green chiffon maxi dress that had a cascading ruffle from her waistband to the hem. It had a V-shaped neck that swooped down at the back. She was humming a tune and was serving two plates in front of her, frequently tucking her loose hair behind her ear. In one swoop, she lifted all her hair in a bun and clipped it upwards. Raymond stifled his moan as she turned around towards the stove exposing her slender back of the neck.
Sensing the steady glance, Anikaa whirled around and saw Raymond in nothing but jogging pants flaunting his shaved olive chest, broad shoulders, ripped body and toned waist.
"You'll catch cold," said Anikaa eyeing him.
"I know how to warm up," said Raymond entering the kitchen, shoving his hands in his pocket. He stood on the other side of the kitchen bar opposite to Anikaa.
Anikaa ignored his comment and tore off her gaze from his inviting body and sexy stubble to the food. She placed two bowls of soup, salad and a plate of pull-apart cheese bread on the large dining table that could easily accommodate eight people.
"Hungry?" she asked.
"Ravenous," said Raymond huskily, his eyes reflecting his answer.
"Then eat, you'll need energy to sustain my driving tomorrow," said Anikaa impishly.
Raymond instantly broke into a smile. He pulled out a seat for Anikaa and then sat opposite to her, gorging on the soup and bread.
"This is delicious, you've wonderful cooks working for you," said Raymond appreciatively.
"Harish wants to become chef, so whenever I'm here he practices a lot of recipes on me," said Anikaa.
"I love eating but I detest cooking," she added.
"I like girls who are honest about eating and don't starve to get that thin-as-a-paper-waist," said Raymond.
"Thin as a paper? Rachel had a tough time getting me to exercise. She still gets nightmares when I eat cheese, butter, cream...," chuckled Anikaa at the memory.
"Rachel is pretty good, however I don't share the same feelings for Bahadur," said Raymond partaking the salad.
Anikaa chuckled remembering how Bahadur calls Sturrocks as Stircocks.
After dinner, they both strolled to the living room veranda. Raymond was now wearing a grey hoodie and Anikaa had let her hair down which was now blowing in the gentle breeze.
"This place is very serene and beautiful," said Raymond.
"It is. I came here three years ago for a holiday and I fell in love with this place. Whenever, I want to be alone, I come here."
"Why do you want to be alone?" asked Raymond.
"I.....," said Anikaa and slumped in the heap on the ground.
"Anikaa....Anikaa....what happened....Anikaa....wake up," said Raymond frantically shaking up Anikaa.
"IT'S THE DART," said a deep voice behind Raymond. He turned around and saw a bald man in a white robe, his face tensed.
"Who are you?" Raymond hurled at him to catch his collar. But, he didn't notice that the man- Jiyu was levitating off the ground.
Jiyu at once shoved his hand at Raymond and calmly instructed him.
"Turn her around, before the poison engulfs her body."
Raymond hesitated and then slowly turned Anikaa's body around. A sharp dart with a serpentine carving on the tip was stabbed into the back of her neck.
Jiyu crouched on his knees and took the dart out of her neck. He placed his thumb on the injury point and a spurt of thin black gel came out of her wound. He rubbed his bead necklace on the wound and within seconds the injury disappeared.
Raymond turned Anikaa around and she slowly opened her eyes. She looked at Jiyu and smiled at him. Raymond confusedly looked at Anikaa and then back at Jiyu.
"Can someone tell me what's going on here?" asked Raymond furiously.
Anikaa sat up, still feeling dizzy.
"It's the after-effects of the poison. You'll be fine by tomorrow," said Jiyu calmly.
Raymond lifted Anikaa, took her inside and carefully placed her on the couch.
"Anikaa are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes," said Anikaa looking out at Jiyu.
"He will not come inside," she said and scrambled to stand up. But, her head whirled once again and she clutched Raymond's hand for support.
Jiyu, after surveying the land entered the living room, carefully draping his robe so that it doesn't touch anything.
He once again kneeled in front of Anikaa, took her hand and closed his eyes.
"You'll be fine," he assured.
"May I know, who are you sir?" asked Raymond agitatedly.
Jiyu gently smiled at Raymond and then looked at Anikaa.
"Its better you tell him the story," said Jiyu in his deep voice.
"Yeah, since the cat is out of the bag," said Anikaa waving her hand.
"Sit down Raymond," said Jiyu motioning him to a chair.
"You need something to drink," said Jiyu and two hot cups of simmering coffee appeared in front of the table.
"Would you mind?" said Raymond controlling his rage. Raymond clenched his wrist; he was running out of patience with both of them.
Anikaa lifted the cup from the table and enclosed her hands around it to take the warmth.
"It all started when..." Anikaa narrated the whole story to Raymond, from the point she received Sturrock's invitation- to meeting with Jiyu- his father mentioning about Jiyu- the story about Himkhasa tribe- their relation to his mother- gems and finally Gnomons. Raymond listened to her in rapt silence; his coffee mug was still sitting on the table, untouched. At the end of the story, he turned to Jiyu who now he noticed, was still levitating off the ground.
"Do you mean that my mother is missing because of these gems?" asked Raymond frowning.
"I'm afraid so," said Jiyu.
"I can give you hundreds of gems worth billions; just get me my mother," said Raymond.
"You don't listen well. The gems are priceless- red one can give anything you desire- money, success, fame, health and even life. And, the properties of black one are still unknown. No gem in this world can suffice the value of these gems. It belongs to Himkhasa, to The Great Himalayas. Also, we don't know where Shalini is, we were protecting her," said Jiyu gently.
"Oh! Some kind of protection you give. Look at her; she's been attacked twice today," said Raymond motioning to Anikaa who was staring at him, waiting for his anger to cool down.
"And, Anikaa you...," said Raymond whirling to her.
"I knew you were hiding something. But, how can you help this man or trust him with your life?" he asked.
"Raymond, all this is just as weird to me as it is to you. And, I wouldn't have believed Jiyu if the riddle in your mother's painting was not revealed. All of this started making sense to me after that. I'm sure your mother knew about the gems and that was the cause of her disappearance. All we have to do is to figure out the meaning of the riddle. Jiyu is protecting me and helping us."
"He's helping himself," snapped Raymond.
Anikaa ignored his rage and continued- "He protected me in the morning as well. Why do you think the knife missed me?" argued Anikaa.
"And, what about now, why did the dart hit you?" debated Raymond.
"It's a Shamak dart, the one that can never miss its target. The good point is that it can be used only once on someone. I couldn't stop it; however I could nullify its effect," said Jiyu gently.
Raymond shook his head with disbelief. His head was hammering with whatever happened. All he wanted was silence and sleep.
"I've had enough," said Raymond and went to the other room.
Anikaa was now feeling much better after coffee; she leaned back on the couch.
"I think I'll have to be with you all the time now," said Jiyu thoughtfully.
"No way, I am too fond of my privacy," smirked Anikaa.
"What about Raymond?" she asked.
"Don't worry; he doesn't trust me right now. But, the future beholds a strong friendship between all of us," said Jiyu and whisked out of the veranda door.
"Have a good night," waved Anikaa, getting up from the couch.
Anikaa woke up to the strong sunlight that was coming from her veranda door. She had forgotten to draw the curtains at night. In fact, she didn't remembered how she reached her room last night. She fumbled her hand on the side table and grabbed her phone. It was 8am and she was still feeling sleepy as if someone had injected sleeping potion in her body.
"Of course, sleeping potion. Not injected but ingested through coffee," she muttered and yanked the pink comforter off her. She stomped straight to the veranda, her eyes searching for Jiyu who was still levitating off the garden in a sitting position with his face towards Ganges.
"How can you mix sleeping potion in my coffee?" she asked Jiyu sharply.
"A very good morning to you Anikaa, I see you are back to your charm," said Jiyu calmly.
"Jiyu..."
"The poison you were given was strong enough- not just to kill you but decompose all the organs of your body. I had to give you the potion to make sure you don't have any internal injuries."
"But, you could have told me."
"Well, sometimes it's better to keep things to ourselves, don't you agree?" said Jiyu, his eyes glittering.
Anikaa could have argued with him, but she knew the reason for the gleam behind his eyes. There were hundreds of things that she had kept to herself, including the mystery of the painting, Jiyu and Gnomons. She avoided Jiyu's steady glance and shifted her gaze to the enthralling turquoise-green Ganges which was considerably flowing with high water currents.
Raymond entered the garden from his room. He had dark circles underneath his eyes implying how badly he slept.
"The coffee would have helped," said Jiyu.
"Yeah, for sure," muttered Raymond, eyeing Jiyu dubiously.
In few minutes, Harish brought in two cups of tea and delightedly greeted both of them.
"Mam, I have added my own tea spice," said Harish grinning.
"Really?" Anikaa took the cup and sipped the tea.
"Whoa! This is really good Harish, better than last time," she said taking another sip of the simmering tea.
Though Raymond preferred coffee, he took the cup of tea to taste it.
"Hmm...this is good," said Raymond giving Harish a dry smile.
Harish, pleased with the praises strode to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
"O he forgot to get the tea for him," said Raymond looking at Jiyu from the corner of his eye.
"No he didn't. Jiyu is only visible to people who he wants to see him," said Anikaa.
"That's convenient; nobody will attack him," said Raymond sarcastically.
Breakfast was a dull affair, as Raymond ate in complete silence and Anikaa had to tackle the questions of Rachel who was utterly bewildered when she told her that they had taken a detour to Rishikesh.
It was almost 10am, and Anikaa was pacing the living room donning a Diane Von Furstenberg aviva black maxi dress, eagerly waiting for Raymond. Raymond had been behaving incongruously since he found out about Jiyu, gems and Gnomons. He was giving a nasty look to Jiyu and was not talking to Anikaa.
"Raymond we are getting late," yelled Anikaa getting impatient.
Raymond didn't reply and in a minute strolled in the living room wearing jeans and black shirt, looking outrageously handsome.
"You are late," reminded Anikaa sharply.
"It's not an offence," retorted Raymond.
Anikaa had it; she was not there to take his blows. She crossed the distance between them in two leaps and poked her finger in his chest.
"This is the reason I never told you. I knew you would never understand. Instead of getting a solution you're recounting your problems. I lied to you- hid the painting- Jiyu- story- gems and what not. Your focus should be finding your mother rather than throwing tantrums, bitterness and displaying resentment," raged Anikaa.
"For a change, grow up," she snapped and stomped back to her place, folding her arms, waiting for Raymond to say something, especially- sorry.
Raymond was dumbstruck for a moment. Never ever in his life, had someone spoken to him like this. It was his first time and he felt that he was jolted out of a deep sleep. Every word of Anikaa rung in his ears. How can he be so egotistical and overlook the very reason of this journey. He was here to find his mother and what if he has to take help from a supernatural Jiyu. How does it matter?
Realising his mistake, Raymond walked to Anikaa who was still looking outside and her nose had turned a shade of pink, from the rage coursing through her body.
"I'm sorry," he said politely which turned Anikaa to face him.
"I apologise for my rash and insolent behaviour. Its just I was confused and when you were attacked, I just saw red," added Raymond honestly.
Anikaa's temper simmered down at once. She nodded at Raymond.
"I think sorry suits you," said Anikaa.
Raymond gave a lopsided grin.
"You look cute, when you apologise," the words came out of Anikaa's mouth before she could stop.
"I've additional attributes to cuteness," said Raymond, his eyes gleaming again.
"Of course, we saw the sample yesterday," mocked Anikaa.
"If you two leave now, you may catch Bhagyashree," said Jiyu from the garden.
Anikaa and Raymond saw him standing in the garden with a pot which was now flooded with roses of different colours.
"We're leaving," said Anikaa taking her clutch with her.
"I'm sorry for my behaviour last night, I was not behaving right," said Raymond walking towards Jiyu.
"A man who realises his mistakes and acts upon it on time saves the regret for the rest of his life," said Jiyu giving his gentle smile.
Raymond beamed at him and went out of the house with Anikaa to meet Bhagyashree.
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