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Cabir- "Oye Madhubala Manik ko dekha hai kya??"

Navya- "Aap mujhse pooch rahe ho?"

Cabir- "Of course you're the only black and white Madhubala in this world"

Navya- "Majak mat udaayein hamara..."

Cabir- "Batao na Manik ko dekha ya nahi...?"

Navya- "Nahi dekha maine.. kya apne Nandini ko dekha...? pata nahi kaha chali gayi..."

Cabir- "mmmmm...wait a second dono gayab hai"

Navya- "Kya apko bhi wahi lag raha hai jo humein lag raha...?"

Cabir- "Exactly...kahi dono fir se ladhne toh nahi lage...? we need to find them ASAP ...

Navya- hmmmm... chaliye...

Cabir- (Showing Manik's pic on his phone)" Bhai Saheb aapne ise dekha hai kahi ? "

He got a negative reply...

Navya-  ( Showing Nandini's pic) "Aunty ji aapne is ladki ko dekha hai kahi..?

And she too got a negative reply 

Both Cabir and Navya asked a dozen of people but still they didn't get their answers.

The resort's gardener was coming from the opposite side...So Cabir tried for the last time...

Cabir- "Bhaiya..Apne ise dekha hai kahi jaate huye? "

Gardener- "Mmm..... haan dekha na yeh udhar jungle ki taraf jaa rahe the..and sath mein koi ladki bhi thi.. "

Navya- "Bhaiya kya yehi ladki thi..? "

Gardener - "Haan yehi ladki toh thi... "

Cavya- "Thank you so much Bhaiya for your help.. "

Gardener- "Aap jaldi se unhe dhoondhiye woh jungle bhut khatarnak jungle hai"

And he left..

Cabir- "It's 7 pm...It's not safe to go alone ...I think we should inform the staff ... "

Navya- "hmmm chaliye..."

Cavya- "Mam it's an emergency...We have to go to the jungle ASAP.."

Nyonika- "Stop panting guys.. what happened suddenly...?

Navya- "Manik aur Nandini jungle ke taraf gaye hai..and woh abhi tak laute nahi.. yaha ka maali bata raha tha ki jungle bhut dangerous hai..Hume unhe dhoondhna hoga..."

Cabir- "Yes mam.. we have to do something soon as early as possible.."

Nyonika- "Okay fine.. let's take the locals with us.."

Soon Nyonika ,Princi,Cabir , Navya, Dhruv ,Alya , Mukti ,Harshad , Abhimanyu along with the help of few locals armed with lathis and oil lamps embarked on the mission of finding Manan..

Everyone called their names...

Cabir and Navya went towards the east... Dhruv and Alya to the north... Harshad Mukti & Abhimanyu to the south And princi with Nyonika along with the locals to the west...

Everyone tried hard to search them..

But all in vain...

Even Manik and Nandini's shadow couldn't be traced...

Tension was building up and to top that the naughty clouds started their mischief adding more spice to the already tensed up atmosphere...

After a massive search.. everyone returned to the point they started from.

Some of the locals opined that Its about to rain anytime and it's advisable to leave the jungles as soon as possible... Because this jungle is one of the remote jungles of Manali...and not at all safe at night...

Nyonika-" Guys We have to leave..we have no other choice..."

Cabir- "I won't go leaving Manik and Nandini in this danger... "

Princi- "Cabir don't act as a fool... We can't afford to lose another member of our team..."

Nyonika- "They have moved far inside the jungle...And the rains won't help rather than increasing our trouble...And they are together...So I am sure they will be fine...And we are helpless right now..."

Cabir  and Mukti and Navya was reluctant to go but after lot of pestering they agreed and everyone retired themselves to the resort.

_____________________

Nandini's pov

"Manikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!"

I screamed  louder...

No one was there...The scream... didn't even help...

I was gripped with fear...

All kinds of  creepy noises were coming from the surroundings...

"Manik..Manik kaha ho tum...? Dekho yeh agar koi stupid sa prank hai..toh main bol deti hu..I won't forgive you ever...Please stop playing hide and seek... Jahan bhi ho tum...Aa jao samne...Manik tum sun rahe ho na...Manik...I swear  I won't fight with you ...But please aa jao...Please.... Manik..."

And I broke into tears...But there was no sign of him...

I heard a rustling noise from a nearby bush. I craned my neck to have a look at it through the dim moonlight...

I saw a tail...

It seemed a tail of a reptile...

Having a closer look... I realized it was no lizard or anything else but a snake making its way through the long grasses...

My heart thumped louder...

I jumped in fright and moved forward until I stumbled upon something amd landed flat on the hard earth...

Wait a second I didn't land on the hard hitting earth...

But on a body...

I felt my heart jumping out of my chest...

My eyelids fluttered shut out of extreme fear...

"Hang on Nandini... get up and see who's that.." my inner me boosted up my dwindling morale

I opened my eyes and the worst I was expecting came into my sight at an instant...

Yes...it was Manik lying senseless on the ground...

Tears blurred my vision yet I  gathered all my strength and cupped his face ...

"Manik... Kya hua hai tumhe...? Please don't play  prank..haan... Manik....Please ankhe kholo Manik...Please..please please ankhe kholo Manik..." 😢😢

And I broke down on his chest... 😢

I clinged more to him as it was the only comfort left for me...

After few minutes the flash back of the snake floated in my eyes...

It seemed a venomous snake dark brown in colour as far as I could remember...

Wiping my tears I frantically searched for any mark on his hands,face,neck..and legs...

Yes just above the  left ankle I found two punctured wounds on his fair skin .

My worst fears came true ....

I sobbed harder...

Everything seemed black in front of my eyes...

I took out my phone from my  bag... But the phone had died...since I forgot to put the charger on...

I searched in Manik's pockets and due to God's grace luckily found one..

I quickly dialled Cabir's number...But the call got disconnected with a beep sound ... as no network was available in this dense jungle .

I was feeling dizzy.... My Brain had stopped working...

The sound of thunded further dampened my spirit... But something avoided me from collapsing... maybe the Strong determination to help out Manik...

Gathering all my strength I tried lifting Manik...

That too wasn't an easy task given the muscular figure he had...

With great difficulty I made him stand anyhow... and made him wrap his hands around my shoulder ...

I staggered forward.... I saw light coming from a distance maybe few feets away...

I pushed myself forward and reached the spot in ten to fifteen minutes...

It was a small hut  with an oil lamp hanging at the entrance...

I saw an old man coming out of the hut.

"Chacha kya aap meri madad kar sakte hain....?" I asked

He came forward and helped me to give support to Manik... Together we brought Manik inside the hurt and made him sit on a pile of haystack..

"Kya hua ise beta" asked the old man

I narrated the whole incident  hiccuping at irregular intervals...

"Ohh to saanp ne kata hai...yeh jungle hai hi aesa yaha kaafi khatarnak saanp ghumte hai ...Abhi tum ise hospital bhi nahi le ja sakti...Barish hone wali hai... hospital toh yaha se kaafi door hai... But tum chinta mat karo...mere pas ise subah tak jinda rakhne ke liye kuch jaributiyon ki jarurat hai..tum abhi yaha ruko, mai le aata hu pass me se..."

"Jaldi aaiye chacha...."

The words 'ise jinda rakhna hai' gave me goosebumps...

I can't let Manik die...No Not at all...

Meanwhile chacha went in search of the herbs .. I tried my best to give first aid to Manik...

I teared apart my stole and wrapped it around the wounded area...

It was difficult to make Manik sit straight since he was unconscious...

I made him lie keeping in mind that His head should be on a higher position so that the venom doesn't travel to the heart since it would aggravate the spread of venom to different parts of body...His ankle was kept at a lower position to prevent such situation...

Chacha returned with some pungent smelling herbs...He asked me to grind them with the stone grinder... And apply the juice onto the punctured wound...It will stop the venom from spreading to other parts of the body for around 12 hours...

I did as instructed and applied the juice on the wound...

I was still in tears...

"Beta ab mujhe jana hoga.... Meri biwi ko bhut tej bukhar hai...mai bas kuch jaributiyan lene yaha aaya tha...kash mai abhi yaha ruk pata..."

"Nahi chacha aap jao chachi ke pas unhe aapki zarurat hai.... Aapne mere liye itna kiya iske liye mai puri life abhari rahungi...."

A lone tear escaped my eyes..

"Chinta mat karo...Mata Rani tumhari madad karengi... Wese tumhara pati hai kya yeh...?"

"Nahi...aesa kuch nahi hai..woh hum dono ek jagah kaam karte hai....d..dost hai  woh mera..."

"Dost k liye itna kuch...Chalo acha hai..bada khusnasib hai woh jo use itni achi dost mili...Main chalta hu .."

He was about to leave and I bent to his feet to take his blessings...

Once again I was left alone in this darkness...

It was raining cats and dogs...

In between Manik stirred a little...

In few Moments he puked ...I ran towards him... He needed water.. There was no water...

I went into the rain...plucked a broad leaf from a short tree... turning it into a makeshift bowl... filled it up with rain water and rushed towards him... half of the water dripped off ...still whatever was left,with that I quenched his thirst...

He grasped my hands trying to utter my name with moist eyes...

I couldn't bear his pain... I snuggled closer to him .... I hid myself in his embrace... I was sobbing...

I felt his tears on my forehead...

I cupped his face.

"Manik.. kuch nahi hoga tumhe .bas aaj raat kat jaye kisi tarah...main tumhe hospital le jaungi...Nandini ke hote huye tumhe kuch nahi hoga ....Main kuch nahi hone dungi....Your life is  most important... more than my life...So please please don't cry Manik...."

But by then he slipped into unconsciousness once again...

I felt my world collapsing under my feet...

I took Manik's head on my lap and caressed his hair...

With incessant hiccups I was brooding over what happened few hours ago...

Aiyappa It was all my fault... If I hadn't fought on that stupid issue then he would have been saved from this dire situation...

And why did I fought over a petty issue which he hadn't done...Yeah he only supported his team that's it... which anyone would have done in that case...

But what's the use of thinking now...

Aiyappa it's all because of me he is fighting death...

Agar aapko punish karna hai toh mujhe karo...

The snake should have bitten me..I was responsible for everything...

Aiyappa I am warning you Manik ko kuch nahi hona chaiye...Agar use kuch hua na I will never ever be able to forgive myself..never ever in my life...

In few hours Manik has become  a part of my life...

Manik has become my world....

Nahi Mere Manik ko kuch nahi ho sakta...

Mai apne Manik ko kuch nahi hone dungi chahe ismein meri jaan bhi kyun na chali jaye...

And my world sank with tear drops flooding Manik's motionless face...

The heavy downpour became concomitant to my incessant sobs...

You never know when life takes an unpredictable turn... Nandini...the poor soul was fighting back her tears...was fighting with her Aiyappa...only to bring Manik back to her world... This is one of the most emotional chapter I have written...I had tears visualizing Nandini's situation... What will happen next..? Will Aiyappa help Nandini...Stay tuned to know what's there in Manan's fate... And guys please keep voting... And guys I don't get inline comments and  also less comments at the end of the chapter  so I request all the readers including silent readers to give their views....