So dearies! Sorry for the long wait. I was away for a cousin's wedding and now am not in good health. But still have to deal with a ton of workload. So please bear with my delayed updates till I get myself together in a few days.

Part 13

Flashback:

Naina was about 13 years old and had just hit puberty when she and Preeti were heading to school in the BST bus at the peak hour. The crowd increased after every stop and there was no free seat available. They were young and naive and so didn't know they could demand a ladies seat to be vacated if a male was occupying it. They both stood holding the overhead hangars when the driver breaked suddenly and the crowd pressed into them. However, a certain guy pressed into her back more than the reflex action to save oneself from falling and though young, Naina didn't like it and felt odd. The stops passed and the bus hoarded more crowd than it could optimally carry. But that was how it was every single working day in the big metro city of dreams.

The incident had repeated after a few more stops and Naina gave a I-am-not-comfortable look to Preeti, who though standing close to her was herself surrounded by another circle of crowd. Meanwhile, the guy had managed to squeeze himself in the seat close to where Naina was leaning holding the back rail of the seat and grabbed the perfect opportunity while getting up from his seat. His stop was approaching and to not miss it, he had to penetrate the crowd in advance. While doing so, he cast a lecherous glance towards the girl and grabbed her forearm inappropriately. Before Naina could understand or react, he had immediately let it go as he felt jolted as if accidentally touching a live wire. He was confused but had no time to react or analyse as the crowd behind him pushed naturally, all of them trying to get off.

While Naina hardly registered his vile intentions, both girls had known that her body had sent out some unusual reaction on its own. Later in evening, they had discussed this event, whispering in their bed and Naina had confessed that it was the first time some such thing had happened. She had an instant flash of that man beating some woman. And that he was locked behind bars and then there were a multitude of visions but it was like a swirl of color and only this she could remember. A couple of days later, they had read in the newspaper that a man had accidentally killed his wife during domestic violence and the piece of news had his picture.

This had riled Naina up and she was flustered for days. It had been extremely difficult for Preeti to make her look normal and sane and also keep the secret from her mother. She was a huge support in making Naina come to terms with this newfound skill. Once Naina had accepted it, they ventured out to confirm and try it out on other people in case someone might ever need help voz she couldn't help feeling that she could have saved that woman's life.

Over a period of next few months, Naina had tried the same with several classmates or random neighbours just to make sure that it was for real. And to her surprise, each time she got better at reading the images in a flash, she could see and read several images. The only unanswerable concern was why couldn't she do the same with Preeti or Chachi. Everytime she tried it with them, she came empty handed and had no clue why. So, both sisters had spent several hours digging in as many libraries as they could until one day Chachi started getting suspicious about the longest hours that even Preeti spent with books. So, they decided to stop but not before one tiny piece of information that such skill was equated to a heightened sixth sense or some psychic abilities which might be tied to family ancestry, and so, might not work on them. Both sisters had made several attempts to extract any family information from Bela but each time she had a different story to tell or some lame excuse. They both had even gone to the length of searching the household and going through Chachi's personal belongings to finding any clue about their family ties but nothing came up, not even a single family photo which had anyone else except the three of them. So, they had no clue of why it was happening and only to Naina and why not Preeti if they were related by blood and why not Chachi.

But Preeti had cleverly pointed out that her mother might be good at keeping secrets after all. Nothing in her behaviour confirmed their suspicions that Chachi had any special ability and that left a thousand unanswered questions. If not in the house, Naina decided to search for answers in the Universe and that strengthened her interest in all things ancient. Over the next 7-8 years, she acquired as many skills and accumulated as much knowledge as she could. Her inability to read herself prompted her to prepare fervently for what the future might behold.

Ultimately, she inferred that her psychic ability was like palmistry where one can't read themselves as it was forbidden to the craft. She had also decided to restrain herself and not use her ability as an experimental tool or otherwise as it was taking a toll on her mind and emotions when she read people but found herself to not be able to help any of them. Also, each time she had attempted a trial, it had left an unsettling feeling in her heart and brain as if something was resisting against it.

Present:

"Naina...tu sun rahi hai na! Tujhe sab sach batana padega!" Preeti's loud holler brought Naina back from reminiscing her teenage days when Preeti was the only friend and confidante she had and who had gone to unimaginable lengths to protect her identity and support her through every thick and thin. She was like a shadow who never left her even in the darkest times and here she was hiding the biggest secret of her life since forever. Only a few days ago, she had realized that the sinking feeling of resistance might be attributed to the uninvited presence that she always felt enveloping her and had only revealed itself to her fully most recently. She decided something and took a deep breath.

"Preeti...yeh sach hai ki tu mere baare mein sab jaanti hai.." she exhaled loudly and closed and opened her eyes, "sivaay ek baat ke".

Preeti gave her an anticipatory look...but when she didn't continue as she was still mustering the courage, "main sun rahi hoon behen!"

Naina took in a deep breath and wanted nothing more than to share the only kept secret from her sister. But just when she was about to start blabbering, her tongue tied up and no words came out. At Preeti's penetrating gaze, she knew, she couldn't dodge the situation so she had to tell the truth without revealing anything.

"Preeti, meri behen, main tujhe sab kuch bataungi. Aaj tak kuch nahi chipaya hai, yeh bhi bataungi. Par abhi nahi. Kuch hai jo pehle mujhe confirm karna hai...mujhe jaanna hai ki woh sach hai ya mera koi bhram".

Preeti looked into Naina's eyes and saw how determined she was to not divulge anything at this point. She could be very resilient when the situation called for and exceptionally malleable when required. She sighed, "main jaanti hoon Naina ki jab tu kuch thaan leti hai toh duniya ki koi taqat tujhe dagmaga nahi sakti. Par tujhe dou vaade karne padenge. Pehla ki sahi samay par tu mujhe sab sach batayegi, kuch nahi chipayegi, chahe sach kitna bhi ajeeb ya bhayanak kyon na ho. Aur dusra agar bhram ko yakeen mein badalne ke raaste mein koi bhi khatra hua, toh mujhe batayegi aur mujhse madad legi".

There was no dodging Preeti too, after all they were sisters and very much alike in nature when it came to tenacity. Naina's eyes misted, she smiled, nodded and hugged her sister as a thanks for understanding her and giving her the much needed space, but still having her back. "Pakka promise...Girl Scout's code of honor", she promised.

However, the situation at the Maheshwari mansion was not so easy. There was no shrugging off Munna Pandit when they sensed their friend to be worried or in any kind of trouble. They had had each other's back since kindergarten, and the bond had only grown stronger with age and time. They might seem carefree and irresponsible to the world, but when it came to each other, there wasn't much they could hide and get away. They felt responsible for each other than their respective families.

Munna was still waiting for Sameer's answers and Pandit had also sensed that something major was going on in Sameer's mind. Also, his words indicated the same. "Sameer..." Munna prodded him.

Sameer sighed. He had been a fool to have thought he could keep anything from them and deal with the mess all by himself. "Munna, Pandit...main tum logon se kuch chupana nahi chahta tha par...." he breathed in deeply for calm and continued, "par...sach itna ajeeb hai ki samajh hi nahi aaya kaise batau".

"Tujhe humse kuch chipane ki zaroorat nahi hai Sameer". Pandit placed one hand on his shoulder in assurance.

Sameer looked at them each and decided to share and let them make their own decision. He walked to his study table by the side of the window, opened the middle drawer, and pulled out the envelope containing Nanu's letter. He brought it over and handed it to Munna. "Shayad tere kuch sawalon ke jawab ismein ho".

Munna Pandit were both confused but opened the letter, the key dropped out that Munna checked, but held in the other hand. Both boys glanced at each other and started reading the letter silently. Various emotions and expressions crossed over their face and Sameer understood that it was a lot to take in, process and accept. He walked over to the open window, let the light breeze soothe the feverish feeling and let his insides calm down. After the required amount of time, he felt that the boys were done reading and were gazing at his back.

He knew the dreadful moment was inevitable. He simple closed his eyes and spoke with his back still turned to them. "Main jaanta hoon ki usmein jo bhi likha hai woh ajeeb hai aur tum logon ke mann mein hazaron sawal honge. Par iss waqt tumhare kisi bhi sawal ka mere paas koi jawab nahi hai. Main bhi utna hi jaanta hoon jitna uss chithi mein likha hai. Apne baare mein mere bhi kayi sawal hai ki main kaun hoon, kahan se aaya hoon, kya hoon...insaan hoon bhi ya nahi?" He closed his eyes and choked almost when uttering the next words, "main jaanta hoon ki kisi paheli ke sath koi bhi rishta rakhna kitna mushkil hai, issliye tum log mujhe chodkar ja sakte ho. Main samajh sakta hoon!"

He had expected everything but not this, though deep down he hadn't stopped wishing that they wouldn't stop caring. Both boys ran to him and back bugged each side of his shoulder in their trio and cried. When he turned around, he saw their genuine tears of love and concern, and Munna's words were a balm. "Tujhe kya lagta hai Sameer, tu hume jane ke liye bolega aur hum chale jayenge. Dosti ki hai...har haal mein nibhayenge...marte dum tak..."

Pandit supplemented, "aur zaroorat padi toh uske baad bhi".

Munna nodded, "teri zindagi mein chahe kitne bade raaz ho, aur tu chahe kuch bhi ho, insaan ho ya nahi...koi fark nahi padta. Sameer Munna aur Pandit hamesha saath the aur saath hi rahenge. Yeh dosti koi nahi tod sakta, na Bhagwan na Shaitaan". Munna put his palm out, Pandit placed his on top and seeing the determined duo, boosted Sameer's confidence and gave him faith that no matter what, his besties were never going to turn against him. He placed his hand too and then, all three placed their other hand too on top of each other sequentially and sealed their promise of eternal friendship.

The trio hugged with renewed vigor. "Par Sameer, Nanaji ko dhoondhenge kaise?" Munna asked now that they were in this together.

"Nanaji tak pahunchne ka raata iss chaabi mein hona chahiye. Bus iss chaabi ka lock dhoondhna hai". Sammer stated taking the key from Munna's hand.

"Lekin yaaron, usse pehle Sunaina naam ki musibat se nipatna padega!" Sameer segregated the problems and focused on the one that needed immediate attention. They looked at each other. Munna Pandit scratched their heads trying to find a solution while Sameer closed his eyes to think and chanel his new energy.