"Aaru",Mridula rushed to her embracing her into a warm hug. Just when she was happy that her sister was here, her smile dropped seeing her parents standing behind.

She broke the hug with a faint smile and asked them to come inside.

"Akka, how are you doing? All okay? No complaints about anything?",Aaradhana asked.

"I'm okay! Just headache persists. I'll tell you later about it",Mridula said and turned towards her parents.

"You look pretty, Mridula",her mother said and kept her kajal dot behind Mridula's ear.

"Thank you, make yourself at home. I have to go now, excuse me",she said and took quick steps towards the kitchen to already find Meenakshi there.

"Meenu akka, why are you here already? I would have made the prasad(offering) na",Mridula said and took some ingredients to help her make the kheer.

"Both of you, go and see the arrangements for the puja near the puja room. I'll make the prasad! Mridula, see if your parents need something, kanna",Aruna said.

"Okay athaya!",both of them said and moved to the puja room to make the necessary arrangements there. Since it was the first day of navratri, most of the family members would be fasting and henceforth they did not really have much of cooking work to do, just the arrangement of idol and puja. 

"Meenu akka, I heard they are celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi in Dallas just like they do here",Mridula tried to break the ice. Meenakshi was a lively girl, she spoke less but whenever she did, she made sure she conveys her point. 

"Yeah, I took Dharani to the pandal this time, she was very excited and wouldn't stop talking about it. Dallas is indeed becoming next Hyderabad, every nook and corner is filled with telugu people",Meenakshi said to which Mridula nodded.

"Akka, why don't you stay back here, with Dharani?",Mridula asked gathering all the courage she had in herself.

"You know how it is, Mridu! I can't really stay here anymore and I keep coming back here because I lost everyone in life and I don't want Dharani to grow up and think that she has nobody in her life to call as her own. I would love for Dharani to stay back here and I know it makes her happier than ever, I have to be selfish sometimes. What if she picks him someday over me? I wouldn't be able to handle that pain",Meenakshi said as a tear drop rolled down her cheek. 

She quickly wiped it and looked around to find Vikram looking at her intently. 

"Excuse me, please",she said and went to her room. 

Mridula hesitated, glancing toward the corridor where Meenakshi had disappeared. Her heart ached for her sister-in-law, but before she could move, Sharan’s hand gently stopped her.

“She needs a moment,” he said softly, his voice unusually calm.

“When did you come?” Mridula asked, masking her frustration.

Sharan leaned against the doorway, crossing his arms. “Just now. But forget that—are you fasting?”

“Seriously, Sharan? I’m asking something important, and you’re dodging it with this?” she shot back, narrowing her eyes.

He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Fine, sorry. But answer me—are you fasting?”

“Yes, obviously,” she said, her voice laced with exasperation as she turned back to arranging flowers.

Before Sharan could respond, Dharani came running, her small arms wrapping around Mridula’s legs. “Chithi!”

Mridula bent down, her face lighting up as she scooped the little girl into her arms. “Oh my goodness! Look at you! So cute, kanna.”

Dharani giggled, her frock swaying as Sharan pulled her into his arms and kissed her cheek.

“Chitappa, you promised we’d go shopping!” Dharani complained, her big eyes accusing him.

Sharan gave her a sheepish smile. “Dhanu kutty, why all that trouble? We can just do online shopping, right?”

Dharani gasped dramatically. “Oh god, why did you give me such a lazy chitappa?” she said, shaking her head in mock disbelief.

Mridula chuckled, ruffling Dharani’s hair. “Guess he was born lazy, kanna. What can we do? Some people are just like that.”

The two burst into laughter while Sharan stood there, pretending to be offended. But even through the teasing, his gaze lingered on Mridula—a flicker of something unspoken in his eyes

The kheer in Mridula's hand trembled as she moved toward Aaradhana’s room. Her eyes darted around, ensuring no one noticed her slipping away from the commotion of the house.

Inside the room, Aaradhana was seated on the edge of the bed, scrolling through a medical journal on her tablet. She looked up with a soft smile when Mridula entered but immediately sensed something was wrong.

“Aaru,” Mridula whispered, carefully placing the tray of prasad on the nearby table.

She locked the door, her movements slow, deliberate.

“We need to talk.”

Aaradhana frowned, closing her tablet. “Akka, what is it? You’re scaring me, Are you okay? Is it something regarding your health? What happened?"

“This was thrown into the garden a day ago,” she began, her voice barely above a whisper. “It wasn’t just the stone. There was a note with it.”

She unfolded the crumpled piece of paper from her other hand, handing it to Aaradhana. The message was something, it didn't give out any clues properly. It was in the poetic way just how Mridula would probably write it.

Aaradhana’s fingers tightened around the note, her face paling. “What is this, akka? Who did this?”

“I don’t know,” Mridula admitted, her voice cracking.

“But it’s not a coincidence, Aaru. Sharan and Vikram bava think it’s connected to something bigger. Sharan is looking into some old files from my college, and Vikram bava is working on this stone to figure out where it came from. I would be lying if I said it didn't matter to me. I am scared, but I don't want anyone to be going through problems because of me”

“Akka don't think like that, whatever it is we'll handle it!” Aaradhana interrupted, pulling her sister into a tight hug.

“We’ll handle this. You’re not alone, Mridu. We’ll find out who’s behind this.”

Before either could say more, a knock on the door startled them.

It was Sharan, calling from the other side. “Umm..The puja is starting, Amma is calling you both!”

"We're coming, bava! Are you okay though?",she asked noticing his foot which was bandaged.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's a small injury, thanks to your sister she changed the bandage twice. The pain is there, but not much, nothing to worry",he said and gave a small smile to her assuring he was fine.

"Are you sure? I'll check it myself after the puja once. Don't you dare step out till then, okay?",she said to which he agreed.

The three of them went to the durga puja pandal which they kept in their home, Sharan's family and Mridula's family were there for the puja.

"Mridula, come in the front! You too, Meena",Aruna called them and both of them went in the front.

With the ladies in the front of the pandal, starting with their prayers and gracefully arranging the flowers with every hymn they say out, the gentlemen behind were just seated behind lost in the devotion except for Vikram and Sharan.

Vikram's mind wandered, not to the current situation, but to the past. His mind shifted to the door where Meenakshi had disappeared earlier, her sudden departure leaving a heavy silence in the room.

He felt the ache in his chest—an ache he had grown familiar with over the years, but one he never quite learned to bear.

Meenakshi was a mystery to him, and it wasn’t just her words or actions that kept him on edge. It was the unspoken things between them—the silence after every argument, the way she would retreat behind her walls when everything got too real.

He wanted to protect her, to make her feel safe, but no matter how many times he tried, she always seemed to pull away.

She had always been strong, independent, and distant. She kept the weight of everything inside, locking it away like a secret she was unwilling to share. And Vikram, for all his attempts to help, never quite knew how to break through.

After the puja, Mridula took the tray of prasad and began distributing it to everyone. She handed the bowl to Meenakshi with a small smile.

“Meenu akka, can you give this to Amma and Appa? I have something to take care of.”

Meenakshi nodded, though her gaze lingered on Mridula, as though sensing the turmoil beneath her composed exterior.

Vikram sat in the study, the stone placed under a magnifying glass. His laptop displayed multiple search results, but none offered any concrete answers. The carvings on the stone didn’t match any known symbols, adding to his frustration.

In the adjoining room, Sharan was busy combing through old records from Mridula’s college. His focus was razor-sharp, but his mind wandered to Mridula’s strained face during the puja.

“Did you find anything?” Vikram asked, walking into the room with the stone in hand.

“Not yet,” Sharan replied.

“There’s nothing unusual in her academic history, but someone’s definitely been digging. A file was accessed last week without authorization",he continued.

Vikram frowned. “Someone’s trying to cover their tracks. We need to move fast.”

Sharan sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’ll head to college sometime. Maybe someone on campus knows something.”

“I’m coming with you,” Vikram said firmly.

Sharan opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he saw Vikram’s resolute expression.

“Fine. But we’re telling Krishna to tighten security here before we leave”,Sharan said to which Vikram agreed.

Meanwhile, Aaradhana received a call from her hospital. Her colleague’s voice was filled with urgency.

“Aaradhana, are you still at home?”,the voice from the other side came.

“Yes, why?”,Aaradhana asked sensing something suspicious

“There’s an emergency, You need to come immediately. The attending is asking for you”

Before Aaradhana could ask more, the line went dead. She had some doubt, the attending didn't really care about the interns, it's concerning that her attending asked about her.

Shrugging her  thoughts and packing her bag she moved out of the room.

“What happened, Aaru?” Mridula asked.

“There’s an emergency at the hospital. I need to go,” Aaradhana said, already moving toward the door.

“I’ll drop you,” Sharan offered, stepping forward.

Aaradhana shook her head, offering a small smile. “No, you’re needed here more than with me. I’ll manage.”

Sharan hesitated, glancing at Mridula, who gave him a reassuring nod.

Aaradhana took a cab and left for the hospital. Whereas, Sharan and Vikram prepared to leave for the college.

Vikram stood near the kitchen counter, his fingers tapping restlessly against the edge. The silence between him and Sharan felt more pronounced than ever. It was that awkward kind of silence, the one where both knew they should talk but couldn’t find the words.

"Sharan," Vikram finally broke the silence, his voice measured. "We need to do something. This stone incident... it can’t just be a coincidence anymore."

Sharan didn’t respond immediately. He leaned back against the doorframe, his arms crossed, eyes narrowed as he processed the weight of the situation. "I know," he muttered, finally looking at Vikram. "But it’s bigger than just the stone, Vikram. It’s everything. All of it."

Vikram felt the tension between them ripple. It had been building up for weeks — the frustration, the misunderstandings, the feeling that neither of them truly knew how to fix things. They weren’t talking as much anymore, and when they did, it was strained, as though the words were being forced through clenched jaws.

"I think we need to call Krishna," Sharan said, his voice dropping slightly. "He’s the only one who can help us with this, especially with the security."

"There’s something happening, something bigger than just this stone incident. I don’t trust it. Can you help?"

Krishna paused, his usual easygoing tone gone. "Are you sure everything’s okay? Your family? Everyone's safe?"

"We’re fine,"Sharan answered quickly, though his mind was racing. "We just need someone to watch over the house. Discreetly. I don’t want this blowing up before we have more answers."

"I can handle it," Krishna replied immediately, his voice now serious. "I’ll send someone. Don’t worry about it. We’ll keep it low-key. I’ll make sure no one knows what’s going on."

"Thanks, Krishna,"Sharan muttered, feeling a weight lift slightly from his shoulders. He glanced at Vikram, who was waiting quietly by the door, arms still crossed.

Sharan ended the call and looked at him. "Krishna’s handling it. He’ll have someone here within the hour."

Vikram didn’t say anything for a moment, just nodded. Sharan could sense the hesitation in his body language — the unspoken words that neither of them seemed able to express.

"Let’s just go to college," Sharan finally said, his voice flat. "We’ll deal with this when we get back."

Vikram wanted to say something, anything, to break the growing tension between them, but he knew better.

They walked out of the kitchen in silence, the weight of the conversation still hanging between them.

As they reached the door, Vikram’s thoughts turned back to the situation at hand. The security would help, but something told him that this wasn’t just about the stones.

There was something else lurking in the background, something that neither of them had fully understood yet.

As they left the house, neither of them spoke, the silence between them stretching longer than it should have.

Vikram felt the unease set back in. This was just the beginning.

The ride to the college was tense. Sharan kept his gaze fixed on the road while Vikram sat silently in the passenger seat, his mind racing.

“You didn’t have to come, you know,” Sharan finally said, breaking the silence.

“I’m the head of this mission,” Vikram replied curtly. “Whether I like it or not, it’s my responsibility.”

As they approached the campus, Sharan parked the car discreetly near the gates. “I’ll check with the admin office to see if anyone’s been asking questions about Mridula. You—”

“I’ll see if there are any suspicious activities near the labs,” Vikram finished, stepping out of the car.

Later that afternoon, the family was settling down when the sound of glass shattering broke the calm. Meenakshi rushed to her room, where a stone lay on the floor, dangerously close where Dharani’s toys were scattered.

Her hands shook as she picked up the stone. The stone, still pulsing with an eerie glow, trembled in his hands once again. As if on cue, its surface rippled like water, and the familiar, cryptic script began to form. This time, the message felt different—more ominous, more personal.

With a deep breath, he steadied himself, knowing that whatever came next would further unravel the mysteries that seemed to consume him. She read aloud, his voice echoing through the silent room:

In the quiet corners, a whispered name,
Where fire meets silence, none can claim.
A path unseen, with thorns to spare,
The hidden one, elusive as air

Just as Mridula paced back and forth, worry etched deeply on her face, the air in the house felt heavy with unspoken fear. Her mind raced, a thousand questions swirling as she tried to make sense of the strange occurrences. The stone, the messages, the unsettling glow—it all seemed so surreal. The sense of dread grew stronger with every passing moment, especially for Mridula, who felt an unsettling pull toward the events unfolding.

Krishna, sensing the tension in the air, walked into the room with a calm demeanor, but his eyes betrayed his concern. He could feel the weight of the situation pressing down on them all.

"What's going on? Why is everyone so tense?" Krishna asked, his voice steady yet carrying an undertone of worry.

Before anyone could respond, the phone rang, its shrill tone cutting through the tension in the room. Mridula quickly answered it, her hand trembling slightly.

"Hello?" she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

The voice on the other end was unfamiliar, strained with urgency. "Hello, is this Mridula? This is a colleague of Aaradhana from her college. We’ve been trying to reach her, but there’s no sign of her. She hasn’t come in today, and no one has heard from her. We’re really concerned—could you check on her?"

Mridula's blood ran cold, her mind racing as the words sank in. Aaradhana, who had been calling them just moments before, was now unreachable. The growing sense of dread deepened...

Y'all I am alive! Sorry sorry sorry, I know no amount of sorry can make up for my disappearance. I just had too many things on my plate and writing had to take a back step because of that. I genuinely apologize to everyone of you! I had a lot happening in life (it will be a long rant if I start but some other time not now)

But anyways, how are you all doing? I hope you are all good. I'm finally a bit free for just 3-4 days so I thought I'll write an update and here I am.

Please refer to the previous chapter to catch up with this and yes, we're progressing towards the main plot slowly every character will have their own exploration, revelation and so on from now on!

There will be ups and there will be downs, and there will be unexpected turns and shocking disclosures, so stay tuned.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading the chapter, I finally felt alive writing this chapter, like literally 😭 I can't stay away from writing lesson learnt!

Don't forget to vote and comment your views! I hope you all are still here 🥺💗

And till the next chapter, hasta la vista lovelies 💗💗

Take care, stay safe and love yourself a bit more from my side today.

Your Author
Sakshi Devi