So Mish is making list of all suspects n T is included bt she cant kill a mosquito.. ;) Dat was Nice.. Raj dead..killed.. Waiting for d next part.. Thanx for d pm..lol.
CHAPTER 19
Pia let the darkness take her.
When she let go completely, she began to dream. She was Maithali and she was seeing the end of her own life.
She saw the battered and bloody figure of Abhay rising up to kill it's torturers. She felt it as her turn came. She saw his savage face, his glittering eyes. She felt her life being taken away.
She saw the end of the story. The endless corridor of time. The forgiveness and the promise.
And then shadows. Pia slept peacefully, unafraid.
The first thing Pia saw when she woke up was a pair of big doe eyes looking down at her. ''Are you okay?'' She asked.
She opened her eyes slowly and blinked. She was lying down on a bed, not her bed. Misha's bed.
''I don't know.'' She muttered. Disjointed images were forming in her head, it felt like she would explode any minute.
''I found you outside my door a while ago.'' Misha said. ''I think you collapsed, but you managed to make your way here.''
''Oh.'' She remembered. Maya. Abhay. Attack. Abhay again. The dream. Her own voice saying, I forgive you.
And now he was gone, gone wherever home was.
She had never felt so alone.
''Pia, what happened? Are you sick? I didn't know whether to take you to a hospital last night. You didn't have a fever, you were breathing fine. Kabir said that you could just sleep a little.''
Pia blinked and realized that there was someone else in the room. He was leaning across the door, he passed a little smile when she looked at him.
These two faces..so unfamiliar, yet so familiar. She felt like she knew them all along, when she only met them today.
Ofcourse, she'd known Misha as Maithali..
''I'm not sick.'' She said. She had this sudden urge to tell Misha about everything, but Abhay had told her that he'd kill anyone who knows, and she was scared..scared of how much a human should know.
Besides, she didn't even know the truth yet. That's going to change, she told herself.
''Pia, are you even listening to me?''
''Yeah, I am sorry. I kind of felt dizzy, I think. Now I'm all better. Can I use your phone?''
''Can you what?''
''I have to call Paul.'' A pause. ''The psychologist. I need to see him fast.''
''Pia, it's almost 11.30 in the night.''
''I need to see him.'' She repeated and jumped up. She walked past Misha, who stared at her in amazement.
--
''No.'' Paul said. ''It's absolutely out of the question.''
''Paul. Please. I have to do this.'' Pia stood up from the chair and pleaded. ''If you don't do this, I'll try on my own. I think self-hypnosis should work.''
''It's. Too. Dangerous.'' Paul said each of the words separately, and shook his head. ''You end up at my house late night and ask me to hypnotize you. Don't you remember what happened the last time?''
Pia felt sorry for him, but she went on. ''If I do it on my own, it will be even more dangerous. Right? If you are there, you can wake me up anytime you want. You can throw a glass of water in my face again.''
He looked up sharply. ''And what if it doesn't work this time?''
Pia held his gaze. ''I don't know.'' She admitted. ''But I have to try. I want to know the truth. If I don't, I really may go insane.''
He groaned and grabbed a pen. ''What is it that you want to know?''
''I want to know about this woman who keeps warning me.'' She said. ''Her name is Maya. I want to know how I die in my other lives.''
''Oh, terrific. That sounds like fun.''
''I have to do it.'' She took a deep breath. ''I know you don't understand how important it is to me, but it is very .. important.''
A pause. ''All right. All right. Only because I think it's safer for you to be with somebody.''
''Thank you.'' She whispered. ''I want you to ask some questions to me.''
He nodded. ''Okay. I want you to imagine a violet light..''
--
''She's something else, isn't she?'' Kabir chuckled.
''I guess.'' Misha shrugged. ''Am I the only one that felt the.. ''
''Connection?''
''Yeah.'' Misha smiled at how she and Kabir could understand each other without trying.
''I did, too. She is weird but she's .. like family.''
''Am I the first one back?''
It was Panchi's voice. She was slightly breathless, her hair was a mess. ''Handling two hungry supernaturals is a tough job.''
''Where's everybody else?''
''We separated early. It's the only way for both of them to hunt together without hunting each other, if you know what I mean?" She grinned.
''Okay.'' Misha nodded. She didn't know what else to say. ''You wanna guess any suspects?''
''Oh, I don't know.'' Panchi flopped down on the chair. ''I wonder if it's someone we haven't thought of yet.''
Misha remembered when she'd been talking about before Pia came. ''Panchi, I wanted to ask you something. You know you said only Raj could have figured out that you were coming here, what about the person who smuggles off the letters?''
Panchi's face jerked up. ''I didn't live with his family, so I can't be sure who smuggles them off. But.'' She looked at Misha. ''that's a very good point.''
''Look.'' Kabir said. ''This is probably crazy but, what if Shaurya's father isn't really dead? What if-?'' At that moment, there was another crash from the garden outside.
-Continued on the next page-
--
Pia was seventeen and her name was Mah-Nakht. She was a priestess.
She carefully placed her offering in front of the statue while she started to say her prayers.
A step sounded behind her and she broke off, annoyed.
''I'm sorry, did I disturb you?'' It was a woman, a woman with long black hair.
''You're not allowed in here.'' Mah-nakht said sharply. ''Only priests and priestesses..'' Her voice trailed off. There was something about her.
''I just want to talk to you.'' She said. Her voice was mesmerizing. ''It's important.''
Mah-nakht could sense power in this girl's voice. But evil? She wasn't too sure.
''My name is Maya, and what I'll tell you may save your life.''
She stood still. A part of her wanted to run and get away from Maya. But a part of her was curious. ''I really shouldn't stop in the middle of a chant.''
''It's about the stranger.''
Mah-nakht felt herself gasp. ''I don't know what you're talking about.'' She said shakily.
''Oh, yes you do. The stranger. Tall, dark, handsome..with such sad eyes. The one you have been meeting secretly.''
Mah-nakht could feel her whole body shaking. She was a priestess, sworn to the gods. If anyone found about her meeting a man..
''Oh, don't worry, little one.'' Maya laughed. ''I won't turn you in. I want to help you.''
''We haven't done anything.'' Mah-nakht snapped. ''He says he doesn't want me to leave the temple. He will go away soon. He says we will be together in the next life.''
''No wonder.'' Maya touched her hair, and she pulled away instinctively. ''No wonder you believed him. I suppose you think you love him.''
''I do love him.'' She blurted out before she could stop herself. ''But I know my duty.'' She didn't want to tell Maya about the remarkable things she'd seen with him, about the promise, about the connection.
''You believed him? Oh my child, you're so innocent. I suppose that comes from living in a temple.'' She looked around and shrugged. ''I hate to tell you this, but the stranger does not love you. He is a evil man, a very evil man.''
Mah-nakht gasped. She had heard of demons like that, but she couldn't believe this. He seemed so gentle..so compassionate.
''It's true.'' Maya said. ''Why else would he want to taste your blood?''
''How do you know?'' She bit her lip.
''You have been meeting him at night when everyone was asleep.'' She went on. ''You thought it wouldn't hurt to let him drink a little of your blood. Just a little. But what you do not know is that he is a demon and he wants you dead.''
The voice went on and on about demons who drink blood and people who change into wolves. Mah-nakht's head began to spin, she could feel her heart breaking. Tears were forcing themselves out of her closed eyelids.
She couldn't deny that the stranger acted a little like a demon. Why else would he want to drink her blood?
And the feeling of destiny..he must have tricked her with spells.
''Look at me.'' Maya said, it was a mistake to look at her. They seemed to turn different colours from moment to moment. She was caught in a spell, she couldn't look away. ''Remember all that, remember this.. how he kills you.''
It actually seemed to Pia that she was two different people. Mah-nakht saw Maya disappearing, and the stranger walking in from the entrance, his arms raised. He pulled her in a rib-crushing hug. He showed his teeth.
Pia saw that Maya never left the temple. Her face and body rippled as if she was made of water. It was as if there were two images. The outward image was Abhay, it was Maya underneath him.
She felt her flesh tearing up, teeth sinking in.
''That's how she did it.'' Pia breathed and jumped up on the sofa. ''That's how Maya killed me.''
--
Misha threw the door open.
It was Raj. He was lying flat on the ground, his face turned the other way. She couldn't see if his eyes were open or not, it was too dark.
Everything seemed suspended for a minute.
If Raj died, if he had been killed..
Nothing will be all right. Nothing or no one will be able to make up for it. She would never be all right. She didn't know why, but she knew it was all true.
She couldn't breathe. Her arms and legs were out of her control.
Raj moved. He lifted his head up and pushed himself straight with his arms.
''Are you alright?'' Misha asked. It was a stupid thing to ask. His neck was bruised, there was blood on his shirt. His arm has a huge cut on it.
''What do you think?''
''Having problems in walking, Raj?'' Rhea appeared from behind the bush. She looked at Raj worriedly, and sighed.
Raj was getting up, shaking dirt off his shirt. ''I'm fine.''
''What happened?'' Panchi asked.
''He was attacked.'' Rhea answered. She took another deep sigh as she registered the injuries on his body.
''It wasn't an attack. It was a coward attacking from behind my back. I couldn't even see who or what it was. Before I knew it, he was gone and I was injured and covered in blood.'' Raj finished.
Misha's heart was thumping wildly. Her eyes never felt Raj's injury marks. She opened her mouth to speak, and shut it again.
''Come on in.'' Kabir opened the door. ''We have got some stuff to figure out.''
''But, first, erm, won't you want to clean up?'' Panchi raised an eyebrow at Raj.
''I took care of him, Panchi. Don't worry.'' Rhea smiled.
''I'm fine, okay.'' Raj rolled his eyes. ''Let's go in.''
Now that he was right, Misha wanted to forget what she had been feeling a minute ago, or what it meant.
What it meant, a voice inside her whispered, is that you are in big trouble, girl.
They all gathered around the table.
''So, what's the story?'' Panchi asked.
''The story is that there is no story.'' Misha stared at the paper in frustration. ''Look, let's start from the beginning. We don't know who did it, but we do know some things about them, right?''
''Right.'' Rhea nodded.
''First, the goat. Whoever killed the goat had to be strong, because staking it wouldn't have been easy. And whoever killed the goat had to know how your uncle was killed. And they had to have some reason for putting a black iris inside the goat's mouth, maybe they knew that it represents Raj's father as a Lord.''
''I think they are after Raj.'' Rhea shot a look at him, while Misha could feel her own heartbeat accelerating further. ''And they must have some reason to attack him, some reason to hate the vampires.''
''Whoever this person is, he or she is undoubtedly very smart, and over confident. They leave clues for us, and they leave such a mess behind them that we really don't know where to start.'' Raj said.
''Right.'' Misha said. She met Raj's gaze and saw something that startled her. As if it mattered to him that she thought he's smart.
Well, they were being nice to each other for the first time. Not arguing, just talking. It felt good.
''Do we have to keep thinking?'' Kabir said pathetically. ''I'm tired.'' Even Rhea slumped on the table. it was around 2 in the night.
''I don't think we are going to solve the mystery tonight.'' Rhea shrugged.
Misha didn't want to lie down. She didn't want her brain to wander about, think about..she didn't know what to think about. She didn't know what she wanted. ''If there wasn't a psychopathic vampire goat killer lurking around, I'd probably go near the lake outside.''
Raj nodded as if it was the most normal thing for a girl to go outside at the lake at 2. ''I'll come with you.''
PRECAP :
''You know, somebody told me this would happen.'' Raj said.
''That you'd come to a hill station and chase a goat killer?'' Misha grinned.
''No. That I'd care for somebody, and it would hurt.''
--
''I'm going to find him.'' Pia yelled. ''Maya gave me a clue. She didn't mean to, but she told me he had a house in Mumbai. I know where to start. I will find him in Mumbai.''
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