Chapter 17

Abhay is caught offguard by Vikram who sneaked in on him from the back stunning him for a moment.

"If you're going to tail someone then the last thing you'd wanna do is step out of your car let alone drive close to your target" Vikram sneered as he took a step closer to Abhay forcing him to step backwards.

"Now that you know about me, I guess it's time you meet your end"  Abhay turned around and began to flee the scene. As he hurried towards his vehicle and got inside he immediately turned the ignition key and hit the accelerator. The Jeep started and gets turned around as it heads off the opposite direction. Abhay sighed in relief for a moment knowing he managed to get away. While on his way back home Abhay sensed something move behind him but didn't bother to turn and look back until he noticed a shadow reflect in the side view mirror right when he is just halfway back home following which the Jeep abruptly came to a halt.

As he attempted to step out, he was pulled back to his seat by something that seemed like a thick rope strangling him. Abhay used all his might to pull away and finally got out of his vehicle only to be stopped in his tracks by a serpent which turned out to be Vikram who then assumed his semi serpent form following which he picked Abhay up using his serpentine half and began to constrict him.

"Good bye" Vikram told him before biting Abhay on the forehead following which he released his target and left him right after watching him die.
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Shipra stood near the kitchen counter as she picked up the water pitcher to fill  an empty glass and later gulped down the same to quell the growing uneasiness within her.

A while later one of the house maids approached her along with an amulet that she found around inside the mansion.

'Is this to be disposed off?" The maid asked

"Where did you find this" Shipra's eyes grew wide as she saw the amulet that was held by the maid

"I found it lying on the porch floor while doing the cleaning" the maid answered

"Hand it over and get back to work" Shipra collected the amulet and then immediately asked all the family members to gather down.

Once everyone showed up in the living room Shipra showed them the amulet that the maid found and asked everyone to check whether it belonged to any of them however neither of them seemed to have lost it.

Shipra then realised that Abhay hadn't showed up, "Where's Abhay?"

"I saw him walk out and leave a while ago" Rani told her aunt

"Did he inform you about where he was heading to?" Shipra asked her

"Not really, he seemed to be in a hurry though" Rani answered

Shipra nearly panicked until Abhay walked right inside from the main door right at that moment.

Elated by his return back home she quickly rushed to Abhay and embraced him.

"What's wrong mother?" He asked Shipra

"Where did you run off to that even without informing any of us?" Shipra scolded him following which she then checked his wrists which did not have the amulet on.

"You dropped this before heading outside" Shipra then tried to tie the amulet around his wrist however Abhay resisted, "Can I wear this later after I shower?"

"Sure" Shipra responded.

Abhay then headed back to his room, while on the way he ran into Ashlesha who was just passing by with his gaze fixed at her and a smirk on his face.

A while later Ashlesha who was in her room was about retire for the day as she got on to her bed. She turned off the lights and was about to lay down until she felt another presence along with her inside the room. She then turned the light back on and found a serpent right near the main door.

"Who are you?" Ashlesha asked the serpent before her as her eyes began to glow.

The serpent then transformed into Abhay much to Ashlesha's disbelief

"You're a snake too?" She looked at him

"Oh, I see you haven't figured it yet" Abhay then transformed into Vikram prompting Ashlesha to get up and stand.

"Good thinking infact excellent!!" Ashlesha exclaimed

"Now we can take out our next target much sooner" He told her

"Indeed" Ashlesha responded
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The next morning

Chetan entered the house from the main door, apparently he was out of town to manage one the family business subsidiaries. The minute Rani saw him she walked towards him and greeted her elder brother.

"Welcome back and I missed you a lot!" Rani told him

Chetan then handed her a sleek gift wrapped box much to Rani's pleasure.

"What's this?" She then opened it and was pleased to know that it was a box of assorted sweets.

"Thank you so much" Chetan then began to head to his room upstairs. As he walked ahead he saw Mahima pass by and recalled the incident which took place the other night at the hotel further reminding him of the grudge he held against both her and Lakshya.

Mahima then headed to the lawn area where Lakshya was practicing his steps with the choreographer for the sangeet function the coming day.

As Mahima was busy working of getting the place set up Lakshya kept stealing glances hoping she'd notice and approach them as a result of which he kept messing up the steps. The choreographer then steps back and asks Mahima to step in to assist them for a while as the former begins to demonstrate the steps with her male colleague and requests Mahima to pair up with Lakshya so he could practice the steps along with them. Although Mahima was hesitant she agreed to the request as long as it helped with the sangeet function.

As Lakshya and Mahima paired up they started aping the steps demonstrated by the choreographer. As they danced Lakshya for an unexplained reason felt at ease as he practiced and made eye contact with Mahima who seemed to be indifferent to his gaze given she was more focussed on following the steps.



https://youtu.be/yEJQpoHfw0s

(Imagine this song playing as Lakshya gazes into Mahima's eyes and focuses on her while practicing the steps)

"I hope you aren't doing this on purpose, I still haven't forgotten what you said the other day" Mahima whispered as she glared at him

"That's good, it means you've registered what I said" Lakshya replied to her

"Not really" Mahima scoffed, "you need to know that no matter what you say, it won't change a thing"

"Then why did you bring it up?" Lakshya pointed

"To remind you of the same" Mahima asserted as they continued to practicing the steps.

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Adish was in a deep meditative state while inside his room seated on the floor, as he had his eyes closed and allowed himself to get immersed in a trance. Adish then saw a vision where Lakshya seemed to be under attack by Abhay for reasons beyond his understanding causing him to snap out and rise up.

He then stepped out of his room and began to head outside with the intention of clearing his mind which was now bothered by the vision he had earlier.

While he was walking through the hallway he ran into Soumya who greeted him and asked if he needed anything to which he responded with a polite no. Once he was outside the house and passing by the lawn area he noticed Abhay who was actually Vikram impersonating the former.

Adish approached Abhay who seemed to have his eyes fixed on both Lakshya and Mahima as he curled his right hand into a hard fist making his frustration quite apparent.

"What's the matter?" Adish asked Abhay who now stood right next to him with his attention now diverted away from the main stage which was set up for the event.

"Nothing, just that I can't believe the sight before me at the moment" Abhay responded

"They're just practicing aren't they?" Adish pointed

"I know but I don't like it" Abhay vented

"And why is that so?" Adish was confused by Abhay's unusual interest in the pair on stage

"It's because....." Abhay trailed

"Because of??" Adish asked

"Srishti wouldn't like this and Lakshya seems to be giving that girl quite a lot of attention which doesn't feel right" Abhay answered

"I think you need to relax" Adish placed his hand on Abhay's shoulder to help him calm down who immediately pulls away. Adish felt something strange the minute he touched Abhay but simply couldn't figure what it was as Abhay then excused himself and walked away.

"That was unusual" Adish muttered to himself who then headed outside through the main gate.
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Srishti was inside her car on the passenger seat behind while the chauffeur drove her to the Singh family mansion. She was lost in deep thought contemplating over whether she should reconsider marrying Lakshya owing to his behaviour lately especially his interactions with Mahima which she found disturbing.

The car stopped a while later and they had reached their destination. Srishti stepped out and walked right inside the premises. As she got to the lawn area her heart sank the minute she saw the mainstage.

Although she knew it meant nothing it still upsetted her as she continued walking towards the stage until she saw Abhay who was back and standing right infront as his gaze was fixed at the duo practicing on stage.

She approached Abhay, "Why do you look so bothered?"

"Why would I be bothered?" Abhay turned to her

"Do you still think you're brother is happy with this alliance?" Srishti asked

"How would I know?" Abhay responded out of annoyance

"What's with that tone? and weren't you the one who told me to relax the other day?" Srishti asked surprised by his irritated demeanour.

"What changed now?"

"Nothing at all, It's just that.... I think you should be up there instead of her" he told

"Well ofcourse I should be there which is why I'm here" Srishti told him

"Then what are you waiting for? Go and take your place" Abhay told her

"Okay, you don't really need to tell me that though" Srishti who is about to head towards the stage accidentally brushed past Abhay's shoulder slightly pushing him towards the side as she walked away however being a serpent he found her touch very familiar yet strange like that of his own kind.

Srishti then took over as Mahima stepped aside and returned back to managing the venue.
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Chetan was in the living room along with his friends who came over to pay him a visit.

Everyone of them were seated on the sofas as the house staff served them with snacks and drinks.

"How is the project going?" One of his friends asked

"Good" Chetan answered following which they began to chat about their further plans for the day.

As they were busy in discussion they noticed and observed Mahima pass by the hall to report to Anvay and leave for the day.

"She really is something isn't it?" One of Chetan's friends commented

"What do you mean?" Chetan looked at his friend

"I mean even after what happened the other day at the club she still has the nerve to keep working here as if nothing happened" his friend elaborated making Chetan recall the same along with the humilating brawl he had with Lakshya causing him to seeth in anger.

"Had she not been that officer's fiancé then we would have taught her a lesson she'd never forget" his friend spoke out

"She will pay eventually" Chetan made it his resolution to do so.

Mahima entered Anvay's study room and informed him that the preparations for the next day were completed and requested him to allow her to leave early for the day.

"You may go but please make sure you're here on time tomorrow. I don't want anything to go wrong during the sangeet" Anvay instructed her

"Please be assured, nothing will go wrong" Mahima told following which she stepped out of the study to leave and go back home.
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Adish was back from his stroll outside and headed straight to the kitchen. He asked one of the staff to give him a glass of water. As he waited near the kitchen as the floor inside was being mopped by one of the maids. Ashlesha then just walked right inside to collect her meal.

One of the maids handed him the glass of water which he gulped down and handed the same back from outside the kitchen.

Ashlesha then picked up her tray of food and began to walk cautiously towards Adish's direction completely forgetting the fact that the floor had just been mopped. The maid who had mopped the floor was new and inexperienced as a result of which she failed to realise that the bucket was leaking from the bottom forming a puddle of soap water right ahead of Ashlesha's path who was completely unaware of the same.

Adish who was just about to leave noticed the same and immediately ran towards Ashlesha but was late as she  slipped and fell down. He then extended his hand to help her get back up however she refused it and began to pick up her food tray. Just as she was about to pick up the plate her hand brushes past that of Adish who tried to help her pick up the same. Ashlesha immediately retracted her hand back however Adish already sensed something unusual about her which was pretty much the same when he brushed past Abhay earlier.

"Are you okay?" He asked her sounding pretty concerned

"Yeah, I'm fine" Ashlesha then picked up the plate and tried to clear the mess.

Just then Shipra entered the kitchen, "Just let it be" she asked Ashlesha to head directly to the dining room and asked one of the maids to clear the mess and serve Ashlesha directly at the dining table.

As Ashlesha left the kitchen and headed straight to the dining room as requested Adish observed her as his suspicions about her resurfaced in his mind.
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Srishti was back home, she stepped out of the car and headed straight back inside her family mansion which was being renovated from the inside. Srishti walked inside through the main entrance door which was open and was surprised to find her parents seated with a strange man who appeared to be a sage of some kind.

"You're right on time!" Smita exclaimed

"Mom, Dad what's going on and who is he?" A confused Srishti asked her parents.

"This is Guruji, he is here to give you his blessings" Harshad informed her and then gestured her to touch his feet to which she complied.

Srishti then looked at the sage as she rose up and found him oddly quite familiar for a reason she couldn't recall. The man before her was actually Satya from the cave temple dedicated to Godess Manasa who had disguised himself as a priest they'd consult remotely. Back then he didn't recognise her as it was the first time he met her after many long years.

"Have we met before?" Srishti asked him

"Yes my child" Satya answered her

"Then why am I unable to recall the same?" Srishti asked them

"It's because you were an infant then, so it's natural you wouldn't remember it" Smitha answered

Satya then removed an amulet from his bag and gestured Smitha and Harshad to remove the old amulet bracelet from Srishti's wrist.

Once the bracelet was removed Satya then slid the new amulet bracelet down her wrist which more or less appeared to be the same as the old one.

"Never take this one fall to the ground nor take it off at all" he instructed her

"But why?" Srishti wondered

"Because then it would lose it's effectiveness" Satya answered

"But what is this effective for and against exactly?" Srishti questioned him.

"It's to protect you from any negative energy and bad luck" Smitha answered on behalf of Satya

"That's right, think of it as a protective measure in general" Harshad told her

"I see" Srishti responded

"You must be tired, go rest inside your room" Smitha told her daughter who then headed upstairs to her room.

"Guruji, will this new amulet work?" Smita anxiously asked Satya

"It will provided she never takes it off or it doesn't fall off on it's own, the rest is just her fate" Satya told them following which he took their leave.
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The sun had set and everyone had taken their place at the dining table.

Shipra along with Soumya had served everyone at the table.

"I can't wait for tomorrow's function" Rani mentioned

"Why so?" Lakshya asked

"I get to dance" Rani responded

"Ofcourse you would, that would surely brighten the mood of the function" Shipra told her with a smile

"It's the first wedding in this house after so many years and that even of my grandson, it'll definitely be quite grand"  Chandrika told them expressing her joy.

"Indeed" Anvay exclaimed while Chetan frowned. As they were having dinner Lakshya realised that Abhay had been quite the entire time which given his nature was quite unusual. Once he was done Abhay got up and prepared to walk away

"Won't you be having the kheer?" Shipra asked him

"No mother, I'm done for the day" Abhay answered and left the dining room much to everyone's surprise as that was his favourite dessert.

Abhay headed upstairs and straight towards his room. Once he was inside, Ashlesha slithered inside in her serpent form before reverting to her human form.

"The plan's set, our target will be taken down for sure tomorrow" She told him

"Most likely" Abhay who now reverted to his true self as Vikram responded.

As they were discussing the plan in detail Lakshya who was pretty disturbed by the sudden change Abhay's demeanor decided to speak to him. He walked upstairs and towards Abhay's room, once he was right outside he turns the doorknob and enters Abhay's room.

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To be continued...

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