"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."

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We both hid behind the tree trying to analyze their distant yelling.

"They might be some local thugs", Adi whispered, seeing their outfit which consisted of lengthy robes & masks.

"Master, we are following her as per your orders", one of those goons bowed down before a man with short stature.

"You are following?", the master yelled out suddenly in rage. " If you were doing your work, properly then we would have got hold of that book".

"Do you people atleast have an idea of what that book contains ?", he spat furiously.

"It's the only tool we have to reach till the hidden wealth; it contains the tantras to open the doors of the cave", he hissed in low tone but we heard it clearly due to utter  silence in the surroundings.

I gasped hearing that. Book? Wealth?

So these are the evil guys, who are behind the gods wealth?

"You bastards, couldn't even get hold of her bag that day. What can I even expect from the shitty assholes like you", he continued to throw profanities at the other thugs.

"This people were the ones behind you that day. That idiot we caught lied to me", Adi hissed in anger referring  the man whom we caught.

"Master, we were so near to get hold of her bag; but we missed it in seconds", one replied.

"Don't repeat it again & again. Don't make me to remember that I am feeding useless bastards, who can't even face a mere girl", he spat distastefully.

"You are acting like a cat that caught fire on its tail", a deep yet throaty voice hissed at the master to which all the heads turned towards the corner where a man was sitting on the ground sharpening his weapon, which seemed like an axe.

I didn't notice him as he was concealed out of our sight. But now I noticed a giant frame covered in black robe. But his tone held a dominance unlike other thugs. His spooky tone petrified me in a negative way.

"Rudra", the master turned towards the man, "I thought you will never open your mouth", the master mocked him, "& dont forget your only duty is to follow my commands".

'Rudra', the name sounded so evil & vicious, suited for a man like him.

"You are overreacting, we still have 5 days left with us", Rudra said in a bored  tone, ignoring the harsh words of master.

"Overreacting? Huh?", the master let out a devious laugh silencing them. "she is making me to overreact".

"Twenty years", he hissed. "I'm waiting for this moment from twenty years. But she is ruining all my plans one by one from the moment she entered this village".

How did I ruin his plans? I thought.

"She ruined my plans of sacrificing her sister's blood to Kali(goddess) on that night. She made her sister to escape from my spell", he screamed.

I gasped at that. Sacrifice? Blood? What are they speaking about? No, these are not normal people.

"I neglected her thinking she was just a girl. But now I'm realizing my mistake. I thought it's a  child's game till this day. But now, I won't allow her", he gritted his teeth in fury as his rage grew higher with each word he spoke.

"I won't let her live"

"I will finish her in the same way I killed her father"

My body went cold listening to his words.

"Killed?"

My eyes widened in shock. Though I doubted about dad's mysterious death previously, but this was entirely different seeing those killers infront of my eyes.

"I'm not going to leave these murderers today", I grunted in anger.

My shock soon got replaced by anger as I surged forward towards them before Adi's firm grip held me back.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?, come to your senses, Ira. Just look at the weapons they have", he warned holding me back.

"And not to forget we are only two against those ten", he pointed out but I had lost my rational thinking by then.

"No Adi, how can you say this? They just mentioned about my dad, leave me I have to find out who those people are. I have to ask them, what harm  my dad caused , that they decided to kill him?", I whimpered in quivering tone, trying to pull away from his firm grip.

"L.......leave me, Adi...", I tried wiggling out of his hold in loud tone.

But my wailing alerted those goons, & they halted their discussion.

"Someone is listening to us", the master said alarmingly scanning his surroundings.

"They have heard our discussion. Go, catch them alive or kill them. But they should not return alive from this place", he issued an ultimatum.

"Shit, they noticed us. Common we have to run now", Adi muttered in panic, dragging me along as we began to run through the bushes & ruins.

"They went this side", muffled voices reached us from not so far.

"We cant run away from them any longer ; Its better if we hide somewhere here", Adi said his voice rough & occupied searching for a place to hide.

He abrubtly pulled me behind a huge bush seeing the approaching figures of the goons.

"Shh! Dont make noise", he murmured sensing those thugs approaching us.

I could feel his heart beating erratically, as he raked his gaze across the surroundings, for any oncoming danger.

"They are here", a strained voice boomed near us in the silent surrounding alerting his companions.

"Run", Adi grumbled alarmingly dragging me behind him.

"Damn", i cursed falling on the ground as I stumbled on the piles of stones.

"Are you ok", Adi bent down with concern but he couldnt complete his sentence as a sharp thing flew in his direction & pierced into his lower leg.

He fell on the ground groaning in pain, as blood began to seep from his leg due to the severe  force the knife hit him.

"No", i breathlessly whispered crawling towards him in panic.

"It's alright. I'm OK", he whimpered but his eyes widened as he saw something behind me.

"Duck", he cautioned noticing a silhoutte of a man approaching us.

I crouched down beside Adi, hiding ourselves behind the huge piles of rocks as I peeked in the tiny holes between the rocks. A person silently stood on the other side without moving as if he could sense us hiding here.

He was about to turn around when something caught his attention. His eyebrows furrowed & a vicious look appeared in his eye & in just a second he was standing infront of us.

A cold shiver crept up my arm.

Panic rose in me as I recognised that giant frame. His body & hands covered with ash marks & his eyes pitch red blazing in fury as he took out his sharp weapon.

"No, please dont hurt him, you can take me", i whimpered trying to  cover Adi's body  with mine  as sweat shone on my forehead & crawled down my neck.

His barbarous eyes slid past my face until they landed on my heaving chest. & he suddenly went still in his place.

I consciously held my jacket trying to cover my chest with it. But his gaze was fixed somewhere.

I slid my eyes down to see he was eyeing my locket.

My throat suddenly tightened in panic.

"No, not this. This is very important, I can't lose this", I silently pleaded him through my eyes clutching the locket in my fists.

A weird look crossed in his raging eyes  replacing the evil in it  by something that I couldn't pinpoint.

He dropped the weapon in his hand taking a step back.

"Go away", he bellowed harshly.

I rose hastily still eyeing him in shock as I helped Adi to stand, my hands trembling in fear still doubting his intentions.

What if he kill us behind our back?

Why is he helping?

I couldn't restrain myself from turning back and taking a final look at him, but he was standing like a statue rooted in his place; his eyes blank.

——————✮⍟✮————

"Brother, you are bleeding", Hita's panicked voice grazed us as soon as we reached his home. I helped him to sit on the nearby couch, helping him with the first-aid.

"I'm fine. It's nothing, but a small scratch", he said trying to assure her.

"No, it's not a small scratch bro. You are bleeding, for god's sake.  What happened? Where were you both?", she asked terrified.

"Ira, you tell me. What happened to bro?, why is he bleeding", she directed her tense  gaze towards me as her eyes filled with tears.

My gut wrenched painfully seeing her teary gaze, as guilt washed over my senses.

What can I tell her;  that her brother was almost killed due to my recklessness & foolishness?

"Little one, come here", Adi called her near him. "See, I'm perfectly alright. It was just a tiny scratch. You are worrying unnecessarily".

"You are not hurt, right?", she asked in a weak tone touching his bandaged leg.

"No, not at all", he said winking at her playfully.

"I'm not joking bro", she slapped his arm placing her head on his chest.

"You know right?, You are the only one left for me besides grandpa. I can't see you in pain bro. I can't lose you like I lost mom and dad", she said in a vulnerable tone trying to control her tears.

Dear God. What was I doing? How can I be so selfish to risk another person life due to my recklessness? How can I forget that he has his own family? How can I forget about little Hita, whose whole world is her brother?

How can I face his family if anything bad had happened to him today?

My pulse quivered like a desperate fish writhing in a waterless sea, as all these thoughts crept upto my head.

No, I can't let that happen. I can't bear it if anything happens to Adi, my Adi. I have to set my preferences right. I should leave him out of this mess.

"Why are you silent? Now, don't tell me I have to console another human", Adi's sarcastic voice brought me back to  present.

"No,.... I mean no, I'm not worried about you. I have requested the local doctor to check on your injury. I'm taking my leave now", I said.

"Hey, what's wrong with you. I'm sure as a doctor you can do that for me", he said his eyes laced with concern.

"No, I can't waste my time. I will be busy with Stuti's marriage arrangements", I said staring at nothing trying to avoid his stare.

I don't care if I sound like a bitch for saying this but I have to avoid him. Knowing Adi, he is not the one to step away easily from me. I have to do this, in order to protect him.

"You are not making sense right now, Why are you acting so distant suddenly?", he asked trying to stand up.

"Bro, careful", Hita held him back gazing at me worriedly.

"It's too late. I will take your leave now", I said turning my back.

"Ira, stop right there. what the fuck is wrong with you?", I heard him yelling but I didn't stop as my thoughts were filled with the images of the black robed giant man with red eyes.

"Who is this Rudra?"

Even though he worked for those evil people why did he not harm us? Why was he looking at my locket strangely?Who is that master?

What kind of sacrifice was he talking about? Why does he wants to offer my sisters blood to goddess Kali ?

And he was talking about killing my dad. But as per the autopsy reports no such chemicals were found in dad's dead body. Then how did they kill my dad?

All these thoughts bombarded inside my mind & I couldn't get any reasonable reasons for all those strange occurrences I witnessed today.

Knowing there was no way to find answers to all these questions by myself, my feet dragged me towards the only person who has answers to all these.

I have waited enough.

Come what may. He must answer to all my questions directly today.