There was a four feet gap between a cupboard and the wall. They hid behind the cupboard, Sameeksha's back was resting against the cupboard and Abhishek was standing in front of her.

"Hua kya hai?" He asked, "jisme mera per fassa aur me giri, woh haathi daant the!" She gritted her teeth, "what nonsense! Fake honge" He said.

"Abhishek mera bachpan guzra hai haathio me! Asli aur nakli daant me fark boht acche se pata hai mujhe!" She said.

"Kon tha?" Someone asked, "koi to tha yaha par, mene kisi ki awaaz suni" The other man replied.

Abhishek looked Sameeksha, fear was evident on her face.

"Theek se dekh, jo bhi tha, yahi kahi chupa hoga" The first man replied.

Sameeksha placed her hand on her mouth, Abhishek got closer to her, he placed his hand on either sides of Sameeksha's shoulders. Sameeksha looked up at him, he shook his head slowly, signing her not to worry.

He moved his gaze to see if anyone was coming, she kept her gaze fixed on his face. He again looked at her, their faces were an inch apart, their bodies were almost touching.

"Tujhe vehem hua hoga, waste karne ke lie time nhi hai. Order poora karna hai, jaldi chal" One the men said, Abhishek sighed.

A couple of tears fell from Sameeksha's eyes. Abhishek rested his back against the wall and held Sameeksha's wrist, slowly pulling her into a hug.

*******

Bandana and Ethan were still searching for Raftaar, they finally found the cave mentioned by Sameeksha.

"Do din ho gaye dhoondhte dhoondhte, ab yeh dusri raat hai. Cave to mil geyi, baaki andar jaake pata chalega" Bandana said taking a sip of water from her water bottle.

She gave the bottle to Ethan and loaded her gun. He drank some water and placed the bottle in her bag.

"Ready?" Bandana asked, Ethan nodded and they stepped inside cave.

They turned on the dim torch lights on their guns on and carried on walking slowly.

She looked at Ethan and shook her head as they could not find any human traces. After a while they reached a point where the path split into two.

She looked at him, he shrugged his shoulders. She pointed at the right one, they were about to leave when she felt a gunpoint behind her head. She immediately froze.

"Drop your gun and turn" She heard the familiar voice. Her eyes got teary, she dropped the gun and turned around.

She jumped and hugged Raftaar tightly, he hugged her back and caressed her hair.

"Kitna dhoondha hamne aapko! Kyu chale gaye the?" She sobbed. "Oye" He said breaking the hug, "ese thodi rote hai" He said wiping her tears away.

"Dekh Ethan dekh raha hai, kya sochega woh?" He said in a low voice, she chuckled, making him smile.

"E" Raftaar said shaking hands with Ethan and hugging him.

"Kab aae?" He asked, "do din pehle" Ethan replied, "ohoo! Accent better ho gaya" Raftaar praised his hindi. Ethan smiled.

"Yeh konsi jagah hai chupne wali? Itna time lag gaya dhoondhne me" Bandana said, "Sameeksha ne bataya nhi tha iss cave ke bareme?" Raftaar asked, "iss hi din ke lie to mene usko bataya tha" He said.

"Usne bata dia tha, hame hi time laga dhoondhne me" Bandana said.

"Sabse pehle ye bataiye ke kucch khaya?" Bandana asked, "ek hafte se fruits se kaam chala raha hu" He said shaking his head.

"Bahar trees ke neeche wale fruits missing the, tabhi pata chal gaya tha" Bandana said, "aapke lie khana laai hu, pehle khaa lo, fir kaam ki baat karte hai" She said giving him a bag.

They sat in a small office that Raftaar made and started eating.

"Chief kese hai?" Raftaar asked, "abhi bhi zinda hai" Bandana sighed, "ek per kabar me hai, pata nhi kab parlok sidhaarenge" She shook her head making them laugh.

"Tujhe mera hint mil gaya tha?" Raftaar asked, "of course! Aapne ek hi din YouTube pe video nhi daala, mene tabhi flight book karaa ki thi. Fir dusre din bhi kucch upload nhi hua, luckily yaha ek murder ho gaya to uss bahane ham aa gaye" Bandana explained. He nodded.

"Sameeksha theek hai?" Raftaar asked, "haan, aapke bareme batake ro rhi thi, par vese theek hai" She said, he nodded.

"Anyway, mujhe ek clue mila hai" He said, "Gurukul ke andar kucch chal raha hai, haathi daant se related" He said. Bandana and Ethan looked at each other, "Sameeksha ke through pata chala" He said.

*******

So, missed me? 😏