Mild golden rays are landing on Iris' fiery red hair. She is sitting with Ciana in the balcony and eating their lunch in absolute silence. The atmosphere is tensed as Elroy looks at them leaning against the wooden railing. Ciana is fiddling with her food. Leaving a short, deep breath, Iris says sadly, "Don't be sad princess. We'll watch the sunrise tomorrow."

Ciana looks with her teary eyes, "But we can still watch the sunset."

Iris looks down and replies, "Yes we can but..." Looking up, she glares at Elroy and continues, "your dad is behaving like a stubborn kid." Elroy glares at her and walks up to Ciana. He takes her in his lap and sits in her place.

"Please try to understand princess. It's already afternoon, even if we leave within 5 minutes, there will be very less chance to see the sunset." Elroy takes some food and tries to make her eat. But Ciana refuses and says in her tearful voice, "But there are chances right? Please daddy. I really want to go."

"Let's go El. Please. We even missed the sunrise." Iris looks at him expectantly.

"That's not my fault. Both of you were snoring till ten." Elroy tries to make Ciana eat again but she refuses.

"How's the food?" Bob enters with a wide grin covering his face. He looks at them and frowns. "Is there any problem?"

"Nothing serious. They want to watch the sunset. But even if we leave now, I don't think we'll reach in time." Elroy sighs and keeps the food-filled spoon on the plate. Iris and Ciana gets disappointed hearing this.

"That's not a problem at all." Bob replies with a sudden spark in his eyes. "I know a shortcut and you can reach there within one and a half hours and can see the sunset, if you leave within thirty minutes."

Iris looks at him with a grateful smile on her face and Ciana jumps down from Elroy's lap. She grips Elroy's arms with her small palms and whines, "Please Daddy. Please." Elroy looks at Iris who is pouting and looking at him with her big innocent eyes.

"Okay. We're going." As soon as the last word slips out of Elroy's mouth, the girls made out a shrill shout with a "Yes!" in unison. "But, we'll leave from there as soon as the sun sets." Elroy looks at them sternly and talks in an authoritative tone.

"Okay, sir." Both the girls nod their heads with a sweet smile intact on their faces.

"Now, finish your food." Iris and Ciana eats lunch while Elroy gets up and walks up to a thoughtful Bob. Elroy taps Bob's shoulder making him turn around.

"Can you give me the direction of the shortcut?" Bob nods his head and points at the hazy forest which they can see from the balcony.

☆☆☆

Elroy is sitting in the driver's seat inside the black car in front of the house and looking at his watch repeatedly. He is about to shout when Ciana comes out while putting a small water bottle inside her white sling bag and Iris trailing behind her.

"Finally. Now hop." The car passes the calm lake and heads towards the mysterious forest, leaving a smirking Bob behind.

As three of them gets out of sight, Bob brings out his phone and dials a private number. Just after the first ring, a cold, calm, female voice booms through the phone. She says a cold "Hello." making Bob shiver.

"It's done. They have left." A coldness has replaced the previous warmth in Bob's voice.

"Good. Now it's your turn to leave." The coldness in the female's voice has become colder.

"What do you mean? aaaaa..." The phone drops on the snow as someone slits Bob's throat from behind. Bob falls on the snow-laden ground as the murderer looks at him. He is wearing a white and forest green costume. A white mask is covering his face leaving his narrow toffee coloured eyes. Blood is dripping from the knife on the phone. He bends down and picks up the phone. Looking at the squirming Bob for the last time, he leaves as the icy snow sucks Bob's fresh blood.

☆☆☆

Amid the valley of snow, the black car is running like a tortoise. Mild fog is shrouding the laid back afternoon sun. Soft drops of snow is landing on the hood of the car while some unknown birds are humming sleepily.

Screech!

Shredding the mild fog, the car halts in front of a dense forest. The tall shadowy trees are creating an eerie atmosphere. Another layer of snow is caressing the snowy forest. With a thud, the back door of the car closes and little Ciana comes out, mesmerized, seeing the nature's beauty.

"Ciana! Wait for us princess." Elroy shouts from the car as he opens his seat belt. But, lured by the mysterious forest, Ciana ignores her father's words.

Elroy opens the door and steps a foot out but stops and looks back. "What happened?" He gives a concerned look to Iris who is fiddling with the seat belt.

"I can't open this." Iris pouts bringing a sudden flicker of desire in Elroy's eyes. He quickly controls himself and leans towards Iris to open the belt. Iris moves back giving him space. But his hot breath fanning her lips drives her hormones crazy. She gazes at his lips and places a feathery kiss. Elroy halts and looks at her. His desire is now back, and its intensity has grown few notches higher. With a click he opens the belt but instead of moving back he closes the distance between them. Still looking at her eyes with all the love of the world, he plants a soft tender kiss on Iris' lips. But within few seconds, passion takes over the softness. Elroy bites her lower lip making Iris gasp. The tongues fight for dominance but with a sudden kick given by the unborn baby, they open their closed eyes. Elroy looks at her bump and smiles, "Looks like our baby is jealous." He bends and kisses her bump. He caresses her bump and feels a soft kick. His smile reaches his eyes as he looks at an emotional Iris. He plants a soft kiss on her forehead and says, "Let's move. Our another princess is waiting outside."

Elroy opens the door as Iris asks, "Another?"

Elroy walks up to Iris and opens the door. "Yes. I'm sure we'll have a daughter just like our elder princess." He touches her bump and feels another kick. Laughing a little, he gives his hand to Iris as he says, "Are you ready my Queen?" A hearty laughter leaves Iris' lips as he grabs his hand and says, "Always my King." Elroy locks the car while Iris looks around, frowning.

"El, where's Ciana?" Hearing this, Elroy looks up and sees a concerned Iris. He quickly walks up to her and looks around. Suddenly his eyes stop searching as he bends down. Iris follows his gaze and looks at the spot. Two small sized footsteps have gone inside the forest. Elroy panics and looks at Iris who is gazing on the snowy ground with fear in her eyes. He grips her sweaty palm and says, "Let's go. We need to hurry." and they step inside the forest.

"Ciana!" Elroy shouts as they walk through the dense forest following the footsteps. But they can't even see the shadow of Ciana. Only the cracklings of wood under their feet and a monotonous humming of an unknown bird is wavering through the forest. Few mild rays of light are landing on the snowy ground passing through the long hovering branches of the snow-laden trees. Cold wind is caressing the couple's tensed faces.

"El, where is she?" In a trembling voice, Iris whispers. Tears are brimming in her eyes as her mind wanders towards something worst. Realising how much fear stricken Iris is, Elroy tries to hide his own fear. He rubs her back and says calmly, "This forest is not big. We'll find..." Before finishing his sentence his eyes get stuck on the ground. Frowning, he picks up a silver bracelet which has a white cat's face glued in the middle. As soon as Iris sees it, she snatches it from Elroy. Her welled up tears are now dropping. She clutches the bracelet. Elroy looks at her and embraces her.

"It's her. I gift... gifted this to her this Christmas." Iris chokes while murmuring. Elroy whispers, "I know." He pulls back and says with a new confidence, "We found this here. This means we are going in the right direction." They follow the footsteps again. Iris seems to be in deep thought as she says, "But why is she running like this?" Elroy speaks with a faint smile on his face, "Because she is our Sherlock Holmes. And you can't deny that she is a curious kid. But, don't worry. She is also mature enough. I'm sure she's waiting for us outside the forest." Elroy points in front making Iris look at that direction as he continues, "A bright ray of light is coming from that direction. It must be the end of the forest. Let's go Ri. I'm sure Ciana is waiting for us there." Holding each other's hand, they follow the ray of hope.

After walking for few minutes, they come out of the forest with lots of hope. But, there is no sign of Ciana. Cold piercing wind is blowing along with snow. Their eyes scan the whole place. Lumps form in their throats as tears threaten to break out. Iris grips Elroy's arms tightly and shouts, "Where is Cia, El? You said she'll be here waiting. But where is she?" Her piercing cries shudder Elroy as she breaks down. Elroy doesn't know what to say anymore. He tries to control his pricking tears making his eyes bloodshot. He gulps down a lump of tears and cups her face. He looks into her eyes and says, "She must be here. Please calm down. Maybe she's hiding somewhere and wants us to search her?" Iris moves away and turns around as she shouts, "No! My Ciana will not do this kind of joke. She knows how much tensed I'll be." She kneels down as her whole body shakes. Elroy wipes away his falling tears and quickly rushes towards broken Iris. He takes her in his arms and tries to sooth her as he continues looking around.

"Stop crying Ri. We have to find our daughter. Please be strong. Plea..." He stops whispering. He breaks the hug and makes Iris look in front. Two pairs of footsteps is visible on few made and half-made snow balls. One is small same as Ciana but there is also two big footsteps.

"Someone else was here with Cia." Elroy murmurs.

"No. It's not possible. She... she... No." Iris whispers to herself. She grabs Elroy's hand and says, "We need to hurry. Cia is in danger." Elroy sees a fear in Iris' face. She follows the big footsteps as Ciana's footsteps have vanished from there. Her behaviour shocks Elroy but he doesn't ask her anything. Few seconds later, they come in front of a wide gorge. Two wooden poles are standing few feet away from each other on the ground. Ropes are knotted with each pole which leads to a narrow rope bridge. The big footsteps are visible on the snowy wooden planks of the bridge in the dusky light. Wasting no time, Iris steps on the bridge bewildering Elroy. But before she can continue Elroy grips her arms and turns her around.

"Where are you going? We need to call the police and find Ciana." Elroy asks as he brings out his phone. But before he can unlock the screen, Iris shouts back. "We can't wait for them. We need to rush before it gets late." Iris turns back to walk, but Elroy stops her again.

"What do you mean Ri? Are you hiding something? Do you know where Ciana is?" The usual warmth in Elroy's voice is now icy.

"No." Iris' sharp voice echoes as he continues. "I don't know where she is. I just know that she is in danger and we have to save her." She chokes as she finishes her words. She stomps around wiping her tears and walks on the narrow snow covered wooden planks as fast as she can.

"I don't know what you are hiding Ri. But right now we have to save our daughter." Elroy mutters as he looks at Iris who is walking holding her baby bump.

"Wait!" Iris stops and turns her head back. Tears shroud her eyes as she looks at Elroy with expectations. Seeing the trust for him in her eyes, a tear drops from Elroy's eyes. He regains his strength and gives her a faint smile. "I'm going with you." Iris smiles hearing Elroy as she nods her head. He moves towards the bridge as he whispers, "Lord, please be with us.". But as soon as he puts the first step, the bridge dis-balances. Iris tightens her grip around the rope and shouts, "El!"

Elroy pulls back his feet and the rope balances again. "Ri!" Elroy shouts looking at Iris who is trying to balance herself griping the rope with one hand and protecting her unborn child with another.

"Are you okay?" Elroy asks as Iris looks at him with a confused expression. She nods her head as Elroy checks the ropes and the planks, "The bridge is weak. It's better if we go one at a time." He looks at Iris and says, "You have already crossed half of the bridge. I'll wait here and cross, once you reach the other side." Iris nods her head slightly leaving a sigh and is about to turn around when Elroy shouts, "Iris!" Surprised, Iris looks at Elroy for few seconds. Her eyebrows frown as her eyes ask what? Elroy nods his head in a no and says, "Be safe." Iris gives a small smile. She turns around and walks as fast as she can.

Iris has almost reached at the end. She looks in front and flinches seeing the dense snowy forest and the lurking shadow. The falling darkness of the night along with the winter fog has shrouded the dusk. She takes a long breath as she stands on the last plank. She looks at the edge where snowy bushes and two tall, snow-engulfed, leafless trees are nestling together guarding the forest behind. She takes a long breath and puts one foot on the bushes and holds the thick branch of a tree. She takes the next step but before she can place her foot on the bushes; the ropes knotted to the tall trees shreds and one side of the bridge breaks.

"Iris!" Elroy shouts from the other end. He is about to put his feet on the bridge but Iris shouts, "No!" Elroy dashes back as Iris continues holding the tree firmly, "Someone has tampered the bridge. The ropes are cut from the knots." She pushes herself and places her foot on the bushes as Elroy screams, "Careful!"

Huff!

Huff!

Iris huffs while Elroy asks with concern, "Are you okay?"

Iris turns back leaning against the tree. "I'm fine." She tries to say it loudly but Elroy hears mumblings and nothing else. Fear creeps up within him and he steps on the first plank. But before he can step forward, the bridge breaks completely.

"El! Move back." Elroy looks in front and shocks seeing the planks dangling in the air one by one. He steps backwards and lands with a thud on the icy ground. He gets up and in the last light of the day he sees that Iris is standing at the edge of the gorge.

"Iris! Go back." She takes a few steps back and sits leaning against the tree as tears form in her eyes. Elroy takes his phone out to call someone but curses seeing no network's sign.

"Iris. Check your phone and see if there's network." She takes out her phone but answers back negatively.

"Shit!" Elroy mumbles and looks at Iris who is looking at him with expectations.

"Iris. Wait here. I'll be back with help. Please wait here, Ri. Don't move from here. Please." Iris nods while Elroy rushes back.

Iris breaks down as Elroy vanishes into the forest. She puts her hand inside her coat's pocket and brings out Ciana's bracelet. Tears drop on the silvery bracelet. She clutches it as she sobs silently keeping her lips tight. Suddenly, she straightens hearing a sobbing. She wipes her tears and looks back. As she concentrates on the sound, she mumbles, "Ciana!" 

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