Eyes are the mirror to one's soul.

****

Tears cascaded down Maya's eyes, staining her soft cheeks with strokes of pain.

"It's just a crush, Maya! For God's sake don't be so foolish."

But she had been foolish. She had expected too much, maybe. It was a one-way road to love and definitely one-sided too. Had he loved her, he wouldn't have been so rude.

"Yet he does consider me his friend, does he not?" What is so personal and triggering about the fourth victim that Hrishav turned so bitter and offended?

"Wait... is it... is that her?"

Two bickering crows hit themselves against the window pane of Maya's room. Maya shrieked at the top of her lungs, afraid that the crash would leave bloody marks, but fortunately the birds flew away. Crows fighting under the moonlight was too strange. Maya hugged her knees to her chest, crawling up into a ball.

This is scary.

Radha had spoken about some her to whom Hrishav belonged. So, is that it? That lady was murdered?

For the first time Maya felt she should put herself in his shoes. What would she do to find her beloved brutally murdered, dumped in a pool of blood, never to return again? Would she be able to heal from this injury?

No, probably never.

I should not have brought the topic to him.

Maya let out a frustrated groan and drowned herself in the pillows. It was almost 2 o'clock in the muzzled night, in the sinister village of Devipuram, where even if Devi lived in the name she was too imaginary to even exist. The clock ticked in the silence, hypnotising the weak mind of Maya, lulling her to sleep as tired thoughts begged to be let go of. Soon she felt her limbs go heavy and eyelids droop. Sleep called her home...

And she needed to go.

****

Someone shook her in an attempt to wake her up. She felt tickling, nimble fingers tap on her feet. Still in the trap of slumber, Maya struggled to open her eyes. Her mind was awake and knew someone was touching her but her body was paralysed.

Wake up, wake up. I call you.

Won't you come to meet me?

Inhaling deeply the air of life, she filled her lungs with vigour and her eyes fluttered open. She stretched her body, yawning like a little princess.

No one was there. But she clearly remembered hearing a voice. It was familiar– naive, sweet as honey with a dash of innocence.

"Who was it?"

Ah, Sahiba! Yes, it was the voice of Sahiba.

"Was it just a dream? Because she had asked if I would come to her when she called me..."

So should I go?

"Maybe, maybe she needs me."

Freshening up and after having breakfast, she got into a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a shirt. On the way towards the door, Nathu stopped her.

"Where are you going? Some new adventure?"

"To Sahiba. I think she's calling me."

Nathu's brows curved quizzically. "Calling you? Did she send someone?"

Maya couldn't explain what she felt. "Actually I had told her to wait for me. This meeting was scheduled."

Nathu looked at her sceptically. "Alright. Just be back on time."

Maya waved him goodbye and was going to step out of the house when Nathu cleared his throat rather too loudly. Maya turned back.

"If you have some free time, not today only but, maybe in a day or two, please allow me to speak to you. I have some things to share."

"Oh-okay. I will. Bye."

And now what secrets did Nathu have?

****

Maya bought an even bigger packet of laddoos for Sahiba this time; if she wanted to share with Maya she would still have enough for her to enjoy as well.

This was probably Maya's third visit or so to the slums and she had already got acquainted with the twists and turns of the place. The people there too must have become familiar with her face, because most of them didn't care to spare her some intimidating glances as they did during the first visit. They had grown to know about her. And luckily she was not good enough to attract attention.

Humming to herself a tune of a favourite movie, the jolly Maya headed towards the house of Sahiba. Just as all the other times she had come to the house, there was a man waiting outside the house.

This time, Maya didn't have the opportunity to hide. She was too engrossed in the music in her head to have noticed the man earlier. Thus she now stood still like a statue, partly affected by the unforeseen state of the situation.

The man had covered himself in a big black shawl. He had used it to hide his face, leaving out just the eyes. He donned a simple pyjama and panjabi. This one seemed concerned about keeping his identity a secret by not letting any of his features be known.

The man had not noticed Maya. His eyes were focused like that of a hawk on the slightly open window of Sahiba's home. He walked closer to the window, trying to get a finer glimpse of the interior. He pulled the shawl tighter to his body and squinted his eyes.

Without making any noise, Maya took up a nearby log in her right hand. Cautious feet closed the proximity between her and the stranger, but just at the crucial moment a rock had to come beneath her feet. The crunching noise amidst the pin-drop silence alerted the man.

They locked eyes.

Maya gasped.

It was the same man who had been following Sahiba after Radha's body was discovered in the temple. And even if she had not been able to recognise him before, she could easily know who he was now.

His eyes gave him away. Poor thing had a brilliant pair of those.

Maya hissed. "Don't dare to escape."

In a flick, the man was sprinting and Maya ran after him. He whizzed like an eagle manoeuvring through the winds while Maya ignited her storehouse of energy to not lose him from sight. Whether the man knew each and every maze-like turns of the slum or he just counted on his intuition to guide his feet was a mystery. Even in the midst of the tension and the threat of being caught he didn't allow the shawl to slip off his face and reveal his identity with a solid confirmation. But Maya wasn't dim-witted– she recognised him and it made her increasingly suspicious of why he would come here out of all the people.

He seemed to have an infinite supply of stamina– he didn't even pause for a second to catch up a breath. Maya felt she was going to lose this time and fail this mission, but like a help from Kalika herself the man stumbled over a rolling container. Whoever had thrown it there was Maya's spirit guide for today. Finally, she stopped in her tracks. She bent her knees, panting like she had aced a marathon.

"Why here?" She wheezed, too exhausted to articulate a more meaningful string of words.

But as she walked towards the man, a hand pulled her from behind, forcing her to face none other than Lalita.

"What are you doing here?" Lalita asked. She was taking deep breaths too. Maya understood that while she chased this man she was also being hunted by Lalita. It felt like a scene from some spicy Bollywood movie.

A cat after a mouse. A dog after the cat.

The man took this as a chance to get up and flee. Maya was held back by the powerful and relentless grip of Lalita who was adamant on not letting her slip away. Maya twisted her arm and screamed, but to no avail.

"Don't collect a crowd here. Don't create a scene!" Lalita hissed. "You don't want people to know."

"Why was he here?"

Lalita huffed. "It's none of your business. I can assure you that I will look after this case better than you. You will only ruin it."

"Do you really think at this point I will trust anyone?"

Lalita frowned. "I am not pleading with you to trust me. I am stating that there are issues which I can better handle than you." Lalita snatched away the log from Maya's hand. "And don't move around with these weapons. You could have injured him fatally."

"As if you care."

"Do you want to be the next murderer?"

Lalita's acrid words snagged the skin of Maya's heart, peeling it in an agonisingly slow pace which aggravated the twinge in her chest.

"You all are hiding things from me," Maya whispered, taking steps back. "You all are up to something."

Lalita sighed. "You can always go the path you want but don't interfere in the lives of others. Here in the slums the rules are different. We don't allow everyone in."

"I had seen you all as benign. But you just saved this man who was–"

"I saved you too, Maya. We have our own lives, try to understand! We cannot tell you everything."

"You all have secrets."

"It is the order of nature." Lalita took the packet of laddoos from Maya's hand. "You wanted to give this to Sahiba right? I will take it to her. Maya, leave."

Leave. The word rang in Maya's ears.

It was an order.

****

From the eyes of an outsider, Maya appeared to be pissed off as a kid whose lollypop was robbed by some ruthless bully. Now, she clomped across the streets, fuming like an agitated bull.

And presently the bull hit a very well-formed, hard but smooth surface, and tumbled back.

"Oops! I didn't mean to!"

Maya hit the dusty street, ruining her lovely jeans. She looked up to see who had knocked her down.

Oh.

She gnashed her teeth.

Hrishav gave his hand to Maya and pulled her up. "I am sorry I wasn't looking. Are you–"

Maya kicked a pebble and just carried on her way.

"Hey-hey, umm, wait there!" Hrishav, with two bags full of fruits and vegetables, followed Maya like a nagging pest. "I am sorry."

"It's fine. Even I wasn't looking ahead."

"Yeah, that too. But I am sorry for other things as well." Maya stopped suddenly, causing Hrishav to halt too. "I was thinking if you would come over tomorrow for lunch, in my home. Last time you came I couldn't be hospitable at all. I was sick. So maybe this time?"

Maya's mouth was wide open, enough for a bunch of flies to fly in and out.

"Okay, it's not anything compulsory. If you have a problem we can skip this."

"Really, Hrishav?"

"What?"

"You should go to a doctor."

He grinned. "My sister is one. Why though?"

"You need some expert analysis."

"Oh... I don't understand."

Maya rolled her eyes. Hrishav still didn't budge "Are you coming?"

His eyes were determined. No, he wasn't going to go back with a denial. He was here to get what he wanted and would conquer it anyhow, by any means.

"Fine, I will," Maya mumbled.

"Thank you."

Seconds passed. Hrishav still stood in front of her. After a moment he shrugged and left.

Strange fellow. Strangest fellow.

Was there even a single sane human in Devipuram whom Maya could label as simple and healthy? It seemed not. Maybe the only ones who were sane and sober got killed.

"Hrishav should take care of the words that leave his lips. Often they pierce me like merciless arrows."

A part of Maya would have slammed her for being heartless had she not accepted this offer from him. Yet she knew she was still upset. She wasn't going to melt so soon.

On the other hand, visiting his home would be beneficial. She would finally ask him to tell about the history of the temple and their family.

And also meet his family– his sister, his brother...

Maya blew a breath. "From today onwards, I don't think I will trust a man ever again."