"THE HELL!?" I cried out loud, throwing away the pillow. "How dare you do that?" I shouted at her who was standing infront of me with an empty jug in her hand. Obviously, it was empty because all of the liquid was now on my face. "Get up and get out of here." She said, crossing her arms. "What even? Both of us have to go to the college, right? And also, we're partners. Like, for the project. So, keeping that in mind, shouldn't we leave together? Our destination and journey, both are same so why not walk together?" I questioned raising by brows to which she sarcastically smiled and walked out of the room saying, "I want you out of here within 20 minutes."

Argh! I stabbed my feet onto the floor angrily, mentally yelling at her for always ordering me no matter how nicely I tried to talk to her.

----------------------------

STOP! STOP! STOP!

My eye literally jumped out of it's socket seeing those policemen infront of my car, ordering me to stop the car immediately. I hit the brake of my car and the car drifted. Oh damn, what the hell is happening here!? My heart was thumping faster than usual seeing those hundreds of policemen and those injured men, women and children. "What's wrong? What is happening here?" I questioned.

"Turn the car and go to back to your house. It's a war zone and the government has announced curfew. Don't risk your life, just leave!" One of the policemen told me and hearing that, I turned pale. I turned the car and to my surprise, the road back to the orphanage was blocked. Damn! I cursed, hiting the steering weel angrily. I was stuck. Badly stuck! The way to the college and even the orphange, was blocked and I had no way out of this dangerous situation. Just when I was trying to figure out something out of this situation, I suddenly remembered something. Nandini! And that is when it hit me hard, She was also about to leave for the college and I'm so sure she must've left by now. Oh God! I took out my cellphone from my pocket and dialled her number but then I saw that there were no signals. Okay let me just accept the fact that Yes, I was kind of worried for her. I told her to come with me but no, why would she listen? I took a deep breath and I was sweating out of fear. I was thinking hard as to how to reach her. I had no idea about where exactly she was but one thing was clear, she must be on the route to the college but the road was blocked so it was impossible for me to reach her in car so then, keeping a rock on my heart, I decided to leave my car behind and search for her. I knew that I won't be getting my car back but this was important. I got out of the car and headed towards the college, carefully. This girl. Argh! And why the hell am I even bothered? She doesn't even talk to me nicely then why am I so concerned about her well being? Actually Manik, You should just let go. Yeah..Just leave her. Don't risk your life. Yeah, don't. Saying this, I turned to go back to my car but there was something about her which attracted me towards her. As I already said, She was worth a curiosity trip and thus, my heart protested. Nevermind, this will be the last time. The last time I'll help her. I changed my mind and resumed my mission to search her.

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I looked at my watch to see the time and that's when I realized that it's been two hours. Two hours since I'm searching her. Where the hell She can possibly go? The road I was walking on was desolate which was enough to tell me that the condition of the city is very dangerous and alarming. "Nandini!" I cried out loud, so that she hears me but all my efforts went invain. "D-o'n't..Pl-ea-s-e don't k-i-ll me." I heard a broken voice coming out from the back of the bushes. "Don't kill me. I beg you..No..Please." I immediately ran towards the bushes and there I saw her. She was sitting on the ground in a broken state, holding her legs and was continuously crying. "Nandini? Nandini..Hey, look at me." I said, trying to calm her down and the very next second, she embraced me in a bone crashing hug. "They will..They will kill me. Yes, they're coming..They will finish me." She was shivering out of fear and the redness of her face told me that she was not in a state to understand anything. She was scared to death and I just couldn't figure out why. "No one will kill you. See, look here, look at me, I'm here right? Nothing will happen. Calm down and Relax. Everything's fine." I said as I took out the water bottle from my bag and gave it to her. She was finally better than before and Thank God, She was normal now. "You okay?" I asked, looking into her eye and she just nodded her head in a yes. I extended my hand so that she gets up and Surprisingly, this time, She held my hand. In that particular moment, I really wanted to ask her about what wrong happened which made her panic so much but then, I knew this was not the right time and keeping her nature and attitude in mind, She would feel embarrassed. This girl was really making me curious and confused. First, I saw her crying at the roof top thinking about her Mom. Second, She's scared of the dark and emptiness and third, death does scare her alot.

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PRESENT.
4:30 PM.

"Was something wrong with her? Why did she behave in such a way?"

"Everything was wrong with her. She wore strength and weakness equally well, That girl was half goddess and half hell and as you know, even the white rose has a dark shadow, she was that kinda girl. You have no idea what a smile can hide. Like seriously!" I smiled.

"And what about that girl, you people were searching for?"

"Oh, her. Well, Cabir did find out some information about her."

-----------------------

Everytime I tried to look at her, She just used to look away. Deep down inside, She was kind of embarrassed maybe. She was avoiding an eye contact from me maybe because, She was afraid that I might I ask something which she doesn't want to answer. "Listen, it's okay. It happens!" I said, smiling a little. "For now, we need to find a place to spend a night because obviously, going back is not the option. The city has turned into a war zone and due to the curfew, we can't walk on the road like this. They might shoot us!"

"WHO?" She insantly asked, with fear in her eyes.

"No one. Relax" I said, changing the topic.

"Where will we go?"

"We have no other choice. This forest is the only option we're left with." I said, yawning.

"It will be dark in here." She said, holding my arm lightly.

"Hey chill, There's still time for the night and also, I'm right here so don't worry." I smiled.

Manik Malhotra, What's up with you man? She's scared, it's her problem not yours. Why are you bothered? Why is her fear, her problems concerning you?

-----------------------------

As we sat down on the ground, in the middle of the forest, I just noticed that the signals of the phone were back. I immediately dialed Cabirs number but due to frequent disconnection, I just couldn't speak to him. "Why don't you text him?" She suggested. I nodded my head in a yes and sent him a text which said, Dude, don't worry about me. I'm stuck here in the forest. Can't get out of here due to the curfew. Don't try to reach me, I'll take care of everything. If signals do come back anytime, please text me and let me know the condition of the city. Also, She..I mean Nandini, my project partner is with me so yeah.

In about a minute or two, I got a reply from him which said, You and hitler, together? Dude, my sympathy is with you. I'm sure the state of city is better than the state of the forest where both of you are staying. Anyways, Yeah, Please do take care of yourself. The city has turned into a war zone and everything's going wrong. We're all at the college hostel and just by the way, that Murthy..I.got to know something about her. She lives with her mother and her father passed away 2 Years ago on 12th November. I sighed, reading the text. Things were becoming even more complicated. I didn't know about Mr Murthy's death. "All good?" She asked and I just nodded. I thought to ask about that Murthy girl from Nandini but then, I changed my mind. She's very intelligent. She will Definitely become even more suspicious. No, I shouldn't be asking her.

"Now that you're calm and composed, mind telling me what made you panic so much? Why were you so scared that you hid behind the bushes?" I questioned, looking into her eye.

"The sound of the bullets, the vision of the fire and the screams of little kids scares me." She spoke, hesitatingly. "But why?" I asked. "I don't know. I've always been scared of such things. Aren't you afraid of anything?" This time, her tone was sarcastic. She was coming back to that zone. That 'hitler' zone. "I am afraid of things but I don't cry sitting in a corner. I don't turn pale." I laughed. "That's how you deal with things. I don't do it that way." She shot back. "You know what? You kind of astonish me with your behaviour sometimes. Like, you're so rude and strong from the outside but you're afraid of dark, loud sound, children crying and what not! You really are strange." I spoke, taking a deep breath.

"Why do you care?"

"You wish!" I said, looking away, hiding my nervousness. No Manik, you can't allow her to affect you. You're better off alone. You don't need anymore friends in your life. Just don't. Stay away from this girl. I ordered myself.

"Anyways, we have to leave this forest before it turns dark." Like really now? She was damn scared. I rolled my eyes saying, "Okay." But to be very honest, getting out of the forest in such alarming situation was definitely a big risk which I wasn't sure of taking.

~~~~~~~~~~

Long time, huh!? I'm so sorry for this delay but my sister has come back from the US After 2 Long years so was very busy with her. But, here I am, with a BIG update. Hope you like it and ya, don't forget to leave your comments. :)