Anshu and Karan decided that they were now going back towards the High Tower. Whatever they could have done, they nearly had. Nothing more was left. She was thinking about what she was gong to tell to Chitrakshi and Shoubdha. They helped her much till here. Karan did it too. But still...
Hell lot of pain, still no gain. She thought. The person who said that 'No Pain No Gain' must have been a jerk!
As if she wasn't sad enough, she couldn't remember who said these words. This made her even more mad than before. She didn't like it when she was unable to mark a detail. Brains were the only things that came handy to her.
After a fair time of walking, she noticed that Karan was lagging behind. She turned around and noticed that he was atleast three yards away from her. He was walking slowly one foot at a time. Her subject of upmost attention shifted to his leg. The trauma around his left leg looked pretty bad. He was directly hit at the leg by the demon. He had wrapped the hankie she had given him around his leg but looking at the scale of damage, it wasn't enough.
"You're okay?" She asked him as she backed her steps towards him. Actually she wanted to ask Can you (even) walk? But words wouldn't simply come out.
"Absolutely. Sorry you would have to walk the whole distance on foot. If this wouldn't have happened, we would have been in the Kingdom by now." he said the last sentence in a slightly lower voice but Anshu heard it.
"No that's not the matter of concern. I don't have any complaints. You people already have done enough for us...." her pitch seemed to fall with each succeeding word.
"Whatever!" She said as she regained her usual tone. "At least I wouldn't have to use a capsule to travel. It smells fishy! And if you still want to give me a piggyback ride, you're gracefully welcomed." She said as she gave him a small smile. Karan replied back with one.
At least she started to smile more. God! I thought she was all a book nerd! Karan thought.
Anshu bent a little and gave him some support, taking some of his body weight on her shoulders. "You looked like a pirate back there... " She commented, "... except the eye patch."
"Do you even know how to crack a decent joke?" Karan practically asked her.
"I do." She hastily replied back.
"You don't." he commented as he led a small giggle. He was trying to reduce the tension in the atmosphere around them.
"Let's see, what will you call a dog with a hammer?" She asked.
"Well, I see the creatures in this world are far less magical than in ours. In our world, dogs can't half a hammer so there's no question of they would do it here. So the question is wrong."
"It isn't. At least make a guess."
Karan thought about it for the next few minutes, the only few minutes in their journey so far in which he didn't utter a word. "I lost is that okay?" he accepted his defeat.
"It's called a labraTHOR!" She answered as she led a laugh. But when she saw the expressionless face of Karan's she knew this fool didn't get a word of it.
"Don't you know what's a Labrador?" She asked "Or Thor?"
His face was still like he was he had just landed on earth from an alien planet, not knowing a shit about what she was talking.
"Come on!" She said in a rather unsatisfied tone. "There's no way you don't know Thor."
"So is this Thor a male?" he made a fool of himself by asking that.
Anshu now had made up her mind that he didn't know a thing about Avengers. But she just didn't feel right continuing it. Instead of explaining Asguard and Ragnarok to this fellow being from another world (which she was sure he wouldn't understand even if she tried.) she would rather strike her head with an electric pole and banging you head (willingly) to an electric pole was not considered an act of sanity, at least not in her culture.
"Who is he?" Karan asked again.
"Oh you would love him! He has his own movie franchise, he's handsome, hot, he's electrifying, he's an Avenger, and best of all, he has got his own action figures, costumes, games and stuff."
"Electrifying?"
"Yes. He can shoot lightning. He is God of Thunder."
"NO way! That's Indra! You're lying!"
"Trust me, he can."
"Indra had an impermissible son?"
"Thor is not his son!" Anshu tried to explain him. But it seemed like he was now all over it.
"Indra can have an impermissible son. After all, he is God."
"I am telling you last time-"
"Yes I remember, he had many affairs..."
This was it. Anshu slapped her hand on his mouth, forcefully shutting it. If Chris Hensworth would meet him, he would happily jump off a cliff.
"Don't you ever talk about Marvel or DC to mortals. You would surely make yourself look as an idiot."
"Aaghergh!" was all Karan was able to say. Anshu didn't realize that her hand still was shutting his big mouth. She restlessly loosened her grip.
"What?" She asked, thinking about how shitty answer could he give.
"Okay. Atleast tell me her mother's name..."
If looks could kill, Anshu would have been sighing happy on his funeral.
"Forget this! Forget Thor, forget Avengers. HAPPY?"
"Okay, okay I will. But Anshu...
... lord Indra was naughty!"
She slammed her head, cursing herself for starting this conversation.
Then, Karan bursted into laughter.
"What?" Anshu asked. But he didn't reply. He was busy laughing.
"You!" Karan said as he led another laugh.
One by one it all started to make sense.
Still laughing, Karan fell on the ground.
"You!" Anshu wanted to shouted at him but instead she left a giggle. She herself couldn't resist laughing at her own foolishness.
"You made a fool of me?" Anshu asked as she acted to kick him.
"Yes...." Karan replied as he hopped to the right. "... I might not know what avengers are. But still, I know a bit about how you people are crazy for those, what do you call? Actors and cinema. You people try to find a reflection of your own self in those three hours of self confinement."
Anshu and Karan were still standing there, in the middle of the road, laughing.
If anyone would be nearby, he or she would probably think we're going bananas. Thank God that there is no one down here. Anshu thought. There was a man standing yards away from them. Anshu had noticed. But somehow she could tell that he wasn't a demon, so not a threat.
"Look atleast I made you smile...." Karan said as they started moving again. This was going to be a long journey if, as a whole, on feet. "... But you don't need to say thanks. You can't always get you head going straight to strategies, plans and calculations. Brain needs rest, it needs enjoyment. And in that field, yours is malnourished. Besides, this was exactly what we call a decent joke. Do you understand?"
Anshu could have argued back but she said only three words, "That's a prank!"
At this moment, anyone could say that Karan had had learned enough on this trip. He learnt how to give a look, exactly what he was doing now. "You're hopeless!"
"What's that?" Anshu asked, cutting the jolly atmosphere around them. "What?" Karan asked as Anshu moved her head in every direction possible. Empty-handed.
Maybe I'm just hearing imaginary sounds. I really need rest. Anshu thought.
Again! She heard a voice again. She couldn't be wrong twice. It was perfectly clear this time, a click, capture sound if more precise.
There! She saw a flash in the bushes nearby. Someone is taking our photographs. She thought as she dived on Karan, skidding both of them meters away.
"What the hell-" Karan tried to shout on her but she closed his mouth with her hand. "Sshh." She whispered in his ear, gesturing to keep quiet and listen.
Karan was terribly mad at her. The meeting he just had with the ground was painful enough, not to mention that she crushed his injured leg. But he himself heard the approaching footsteps so, no foul.
He and Anshu, slowly and gradually, moved out of the scene, hiding behind the bushes, a place from where the person couldn't see them.
"Who's there?" Karan whispered to her as he peeked at the man, who now, was standing where they once were.
"I don't know. But he's not a demon for sure." Anshu whispered back, something which Karan should have.
"How do you know?" Karan asked, wondering how she decided that so fast.
"A demon never uses a cycle..." She said as she pointed at the small keychain around his index finger. "... and what would a demon do of camera? If he would have been a demon, we would have been taken over by him by now. He obviously had a nice moment back then."
Karan had no words. She was damn observant. He wanted to appreciate her for how she had improved, but instead, he kept his attention on the person.
They looked in plain sight as the man took out a piece of folded paper from his pocket. "She's got to be the girl..." he said as he unfolded the paper to double check.
From what Anshu could see, was clearly a poster with the photos of her family members printed on. Below that in bold letters was written :
Missing
The one who provides information regarding above listed will get a prize of ₹10,000.
"... She might have gone that way." saying this, he turned lefte and ran in the direction to find her.
Once the checkpost seemed clear, Anshu and Karan came out of the windows.
"Now what?" Karan asked as he moved his leg a little. Keeping one step after another, he was even solwer than before. One could easily notice the tension lines on his forehead as easily as one could see the hankerchief wrapped around his leg turning redder after every passing moment, gradually soaking his bottom wear.
"I really don't have the slightest idea." Anshu said as she turned to the exit. "But I surely do know that we have to leave immediately. And add to the list, you seriously need medication if you don't want to get infection."
"But where would we go? If reaching the high towers wasn't hard enough before, I have got even worse. And last but not the least, now citizens and police are looking for you too."
"Why do you always ask me for answers?" Anshu asked a she waved her hand in air, "TAXI!"
A taxi eventually stopped near them. Anshu gestured Karan to keep his mouth shut.
"Where to?" the driver asked Anshu.
"Laxmi complex please." Anshu replied as she read his facial expressions. His eyeballs didn't move. So he surely wasn't aware of who she was or anything related to the prize.
"But-" the driver tried to say something, maybe because he noticed that Karan was bleeding, or maybe because they were minors but Anshu stopped him in the middle. "No questions and drop us as fast as you can..." She said as she took some rupees out of her pocket, "... I will pay twice the fare."
The taxi driver instantly put the notes in his pocket and replied, "Get in mam."
Anshu gestured Karan to sit inside first, thinking that if he himself would be asked to slam the door shut, the door will come out in their hands. She knew what she was thinking was not at all possible. But it was far better th take precaution than paying the damn repair charge.
They sat inside, Anshu shut the door and the taxi raced on the road.
The moment of silence lasted for the what seemed first ten minutes after which Karan eventually inaugurated his nonsense.
"So where's it?" he whispered to her.
"What? What are you talking about?" Anshu whispered back.
"Oh come on! Tell me where the hell is that thing?" he asked, whispering again.
"What are you talking about?" She again whispered back though slightly irritated now.
"The horse!"
"The what?" Anshu's jaw literally hit the floor on hearing this.
"The horse or even donkey. I mean we are travelling in a chariot right?"
"There's no horse here, neither a donkey." She replied back. She took care of not to be too harsh on him or the sweet little reality of the taxi would sadden him, realizing there's no beloved horse for him in here.
"I know you're lying to me. There must be a horse in here. Maybe the driver's sitting on it!"
He went quite extra loud in the second part of his baseless, pointless theory. Anshu noticed the eyebrows of the driver pop up a little. He might had overheard them while Karan was busy taking his shit out of his mind.
Before Karan could open his mouth again, Anshu said, "Karan don't talk to me about anything now. Go, examine the window!" She gave extra pressure on the word window. Great for Karan if he only mumbles to himself out there. Otherwise the driver will surely think that they ran from an asylum.
"I found the HORSE!" Karan screamed to her as he moved his eyes back on her. For a split of second, even the driver looked out of the window as so to get a view of a living horse on the busy roads of Mumbai.
There was no horse to be found.
"Karan," She quietly spoke his name with a false smile on her face, "where-is-the-horse?" She asked as she herself looked around for the horse.
"See there are many of them out there..." he said a he pointed at many objects running on the road.
Anshu stared at what he was he was actually poing at.
That's called a bike Goddammit! She thought.
"... through his legs are nowhere to be found." Karan continued.
"Did you friend hit on his head quite hard today?" the driver asked.
"Oh no-no!..." Anshu said taking tje situation back in her control. "... He's just new here. He used to live in a village quite far away. Very-Very far away actually."
"Oh so he's from village too." the driver now joined the conversation, "... Let me tell you boy. I too was from village. When I came here in this superfast city, I too used to wonder..."
Anshu cursed. Great! Now I have to deal with two idiots! She thought. ".... I used to graze for hours at the beauty of this place. I spent hours daily fascinating about how these tall buildings would have been made, how cars used to chase each other on these ever busy roads." the driver continued.
Someone please get me out of here!
"... You know I still remember my days in the village, feeding cows and buffaloes, how I used to practice farming, scaring the crows away. Those are some things I loved the most. "
Enough!
"Will you please concentrate on the driving please? Or I would have to cut the payment amount."
The driver grimaced but continued to drive. Anshu was glad that she pressed the right nerve at the right time. After a few minutes, the car slowed down.
"Here it is." the driver made the announcement. They were at their destination. Anshu and Karan left the car. Karan still was wondering only God knows what.
Anshu gave him the fare. "Twice the usual. As promised." The driver left the scene right after.
"So now what?" Karan asked as he lifted his head to read the sign Lakshmi Complex.
"Oh we will not go in there." She replied.
"Then why did you ended up here?"
"Soon the driver too will notice who we are. I don't want the police to catch me here."
"So where then?"
"We are visiting a friend of mine who lives two blocks away."
¤¤¤¤¤
Ting tong! Anshu finally gathered the courage to ring the doorbell.
"A-N-S-H-U" Karan yet again whispered to her.
"Speak." She replied as she observed the surroundings. An ambulance was parked in the nearby parking. Good. She thought.
Then she noticed a cycle parked there too.
Better. Not even better, awesome!
"Who's house are we trespassing into?" he asked.
"We are not trespassing. She is one of my close friends and..."
The door opened. Luck might be in Anshu's favour now because a girl of around her age group opened the door.
Sushhh! Anshu gestured her to keep her mouth, emotions, and question bank, all closed for a moment.
Anshu sneaked in as she opened the door. At the sight of Karan, the girl tend to close the door back.
"He's with me." Anshu assured her.
Anshu made her seat on the sofa as she carefully closed the door.
"A-A-" the girl tried to say something but words stayed back.
"Is she handicapped?" Karan asked.
"NO you fool." Anshu replied in a low voice.
"Preeti who's there?" came the sound from the what seemed the nearby room.
The asking gradually increased as the female came nearer and nearer.
"Anshu is that you?" asked a lady in her mid forties. She was wearing a salwar. The lady looked familiar with respect to the girl they sitting on the sofa nearby. She observed Anshu carefully. "Where were you? Where are your parents...." She quickly reached for her phone, "... I am calling the police right now!"
"No Mrs Kaushik you can't. I have to get to sort some things up first. Besides..." She pointed at Karan's bloody leg.
"Oh my God!" Mrs Kaushik said as she stared at it. "Bring him in...." She replied as she tossed the keys on the sofa.
"And Mrs Kaushik one last request. Please don't mention about it to anyone."
"Sure but, you have to give explanations first."
Hesitating, Anshu gave a nod but she herself was not sure if she would. Anshu helped Karan to get to the other room.
"Who is she?" Karan asked in a low voice.
"She is what we call a doctor."
"She is your friend?"
"NO you idiot! The girl down there. She's the one."
The other room was far more weirder than Karan had expected. Inside was a bed along with many equipments and machines. Anshu asked him to lay down on the bed as the lady, Mrs Kaushik, lifted the ends of his pants a little.
The wound was bad already. Bleeding had stopped but still, he could see it was blackish in colour now and had some yellow thingie over the skin.
"That's something serious. What happened to him?" Mrs Kaushik asked. If Anshu would tell her that she was crossing worlds, fighting demons and lethat stuff, well, Mrs Kaushik would probably advice her to visit a psychiatrist. Anshu decided not to reply, neither Mrs Kaushik waited for. The doctor immediately applied an antiseptic on the wound but it hardly scraped the puss off. What is this? She thought as she applied a cream but yet again ended in a fail.
Worried now, Mrs Kaushik rushed to her medical equipment and picked up an injection.
"Are you people aren't going to stitch it up right?" Karan asked as he stared at the injection's long needle. "It's way too big for that." he continued.
"Look Karan, this will pain, a little, or maybe even more. But remember, Do Not Shout. No screaming okay."
Karan could understand her world even less as he had no idea what an injection was for.
Mrs Kaushik filled the injection with the dose and in a single go, injected it just below the outer skin. Karan screamed in pain. "What the heck! GGGGOOOOOODDDDD! "
Have you ever seen a four year old kid's face when he gets an injection? The child turns pale, he lost his senses, time and world doesn't matter anymore for him because he already has a lot of pain to deal with.
Well, Karan was worse. He forgot how to breathe, his face remained expressionless and his eyes were closed shut. He was, as if, lost in his own world. Mrs Kaushik had to slap him on face to bring him back to consciousness.
Moments later, he opened his eyes. Anshu asked if he would like to have water, to which he replied with a nod. As Karan took the water down his pipe, he said, "Never do that again!"
A sigh of relief escaped from her mouth. It could have been worse. Many people loose their voices when they scream that hard.
"Anshu..." Mrs Kaushik gave her a call, "... I hadn't seen that type of wound in my life. And besides, who is he? What's going on here? And most important, where're others?" Mrs Kaushik made the last question for her family. Reminding her what she was here for.
"Who are they?" Karan asked. He grazed in awe as the girl whom he met on the doorstep came inside.
"Karan meet Preeti, a close friend of mine." She said as she pointed at Preeti. Later she pointed to Mrs Kaushik, "Mrs Kaushik, her mother, is a doctor."
"And to both of you..." She addressed to the mother and daughter. "He is Karan."
"Why are you here? I-I mean where were you all this time?" asked Preeti.
"Don't you think we should ask her to sit?" Mrs Kaushik made the cut with reality. "Have a seat Anshu. You're hungry aren't you?" both Anshu and Karan gave a small nod. "Let's see. Cold coffee with sandwiches?"
"Mrs Kaushik you're the best!" Anshu replied.
¤¤¤¤¤
While the three of them, Anshu, Preeti and her mother, sat on the couch, Anshu told them everything. Starting from the temple to the kidnapping of her parents to Neel going missing, everything. She paused in regular intervals when she had to breathe, or when the faces of Preeti and Mrs Kaushik went expressionless or when she had to take a bite of sandwich or a sip of coffee.
"So that's it!" Anshu said with a sigh of relief as she ended her part.
"So it that really true?" Preeti asked, questioning her words.
Anshu atonce shrank to an inch size, jumped on Preeti's shoulder and said "Don't be scared."
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Preeti screamed in horror.
"Anshu quickly came back to her original size as she saw the situation slipping away from her hands.
"Now?"
"We both freakingly do." Mrs Kaushik replied.
Great then. She thought.
"So what will you do now Anshu?" Mrs Kaushik asked.
"I don't know. But..." Anshu's eyeballs moved upwards, thinking, "... You still go to school right?"
"Well yes I do. But I couldn't make it today. Maths teacher was going to ask for assignments."
"I already told you to complete them on time but you never listened."
"Look, that was different. That time you were there to help me."
"Simply writing forwarded homework is called copying."
"Hey! That's what friends are for."
Anshu wasn't even sure why she in this argument. But she listening to someone close's voice months later. She missed it.
"Anyway.." Anshu brought them back to topic, "... Did you know anything strange about my brother's class? Anything strange happened recently?"
"Well, I'm not sure about it but, there was a rumor..."
Ah! How couldn't there be rumors? People love to gossip about the ones who are missing, or in problems, or in controversies. Anshu thought.
"... Someone was stalking him, a girl if to be particular." Preeti continued.
That girl must be Vaani. She thought. But Neel never mentioned her being into him. From when was her brother keeping secrets?
"Explain." Anshu cross questioned.
"Well, wherever he went, she followed. Other girls noticed her staring at him in the middle of the classes and the mostly strange, she quit the school the very next day you guys were found missing."
"Well that's not a problem."
Anshu turned around to see who it was. Karan was finally on his feet. He was still the same, still wouldn't stop interrogating."
"What do you mean?" Anshu asked, a bit confused.
"Well, he has got a Fanclub of his own at school." Karan spoke out.
"Is he nuts?" Preeti asked, looking at Anshu.
"Probably." Anshu replied. "So that girl must be V-"
"I am no fool. I met a girl down the apartment of yours. And well, she said he was kind of a boyfriend material at specific nights, if you're lucky enough."
"Wait..."Anshu's eyebrows curled. He never mentioned about any girl in near the apartment before. "Who girl?"
Then Karan explained them how he met the girl in the compound. How she first talked harshly and then she told him about the demon, how she mentioned Neel in the last.
But as he continued, the more fear was developing in Anshu's mind.
"What happened?" Karan asked. "Looks like someone has snatched your living daylights out!"
"Karan this shit is beyond you have ever seen...." Anshu said in a low tone.
".... The lady living there has no daughter."
And then the pieces started to assemble together. Karan's sudden encounter with a demon, while she never heard a single noise; his taking wrong directions somehow and ending up in school and; the demon's sudden disappearance.
That girl down there, knew something, something about Neel and Anshu was sure about it.
"Karan, tighten up. We gotta go."
¤¤¤¤¤
Anshu was standing right where Karan met her (only if me remembered correctly).
A criminal always returns to the crime scene as so to ensure that he hasn't left any clues.
That was Sherlock Homes.
If only she would find her here...
"Are you sure you found her here only?" She asked to Karan.
"Yes I am sure about it. But it was much more like she found me." Karan replied as he looked around.
Anshu looked around. She was nowhere to be seen.
Someone pat on her shoulder. Anshu turned around in an instant. There she was! That girl, face to face with Anshu. Anshu might had made the Zulu quite in handy by now because she found herself holding the zulu, with it's blade's edge at the girl's neckpoint.
"Viola, Viola, young lady calm down!" She said to Anshu as she slowly put the edge of blade away from her neck.
"I wouldn't have dared doing this if I was you." She said back as she summersaulted Anshu.
"Ouch!" Anshu groaned in pain as she hit the ground. At this, Karan attempted to lunge forward on the girl but she waved her hand in mid air, as if to say, don't you dare.
Karan ended up helping Anshu to get back on her feet.
"You see..." the girl said as she looked back at the both of them, "... I am far more powerful than you SaptaSiddhis. And you..." She definitely was pointing out Anshu here, "... You are blessed with brains. Use it. Don't you want to see your mother, father and brother alive?"
"Who are you?" Anshu asked in a relatively lower tone.
"Call me Zeeva." She said as she looked at Anshu yet again, "You look smart girl. Can you predict who I am?" She asked to Anshu.
"You already mentioned that you consider me smart." Anshu paused for a moment. Was this girl a demoness? Or was she a SaptaSiddhi? Or something another? She definitely knows mind manipulation. Which means she might be a demoness. But, SaptaSiddhis might be capable of that too. She had to give the correct answer.
"What you are is not what matters. On who's side you are is what matters here." Anshu replied.
Zeeva's eyebrows popped up. "Well said, smarty pants. Can you describe your words? Maybe your little friend there doesn't know what's going on?"
Another question. This girl seems to know about her a lot.
Whatever!
"You led us to the demon. We nearly got caught. But we survived. When we were going to catch the demon, it ran off. You led us to the demon as if you were doing him a favor by letting him catch his prey quite easily..."
"... But here you are giving us information for free? That sounds fishy. " Anshu completed her sentence.
"Well said girl. So what do you think I am doing?"
"I have my guesses."
"Guesses?"
"You were taking a test. A test to find out more about us. We were your gunnie pigs and you were experimenting on us."
"Right to every single word."
"So where is my brother? And my parents?"
"You know the answer girl. The pawn is just one house away from becoming the queen. Trust me."
"Trusting you? That's something I wouldn't."
"Then solve it yourself."
"If I would have been knowing how to, I wouldn't have been lurking around you like I am."
"Then how girl?"
"I will figure something out."
"Till now what have you?"
"Quite much." Anshu replied.
"Like what?"
"You're playing a game. And as well as I have observed you, my family members are the pawns."
"Not only yours but many. I am impressed girl. Let me give you a hint. Ask the princess about the night in the temple. You'll get your answers."
"What if I won't?"
"Didn't you yourself say that you'll figure it out yourself?"
Saying this, she disappeared into mist. Fog and mist covered the area near Anshu and Karan.
"Karan!" Anshu shouted his name.
"Anshu I am here." he replied.
They were still covered by mist and fog. Anshu saw light coming from a distance.
"Here!" She said as she grabbed Karan's hand and they together walked out of the mist.
"Unbelievable!" Karan muttered as he saw where he was standing.
They were standing right in the front of Kailash Graham, in ETKing.
"So what now Anshu?" Karan asked as he opened the gate to the Graham.
"I really don't know. But, the princess has some unworthy explanation to do."
Dedicated to @jyothi89.
Zeeva is inspired from someone close to Hayden. :D
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