Ashlesha slithered straight into Abhay's room from the open window who took notice of the same as he was busy reading some book while seated on a sofa opposite the window.
"What are you doing here?" Abhay asked surprised by her sudden visit, he then stood up as she assumed her human avatar.
"You need to leave this place right away" Ashlesha requested him as she appeared to be quite disturbed.
"What do you mean leave and why?" He asked her to which Ashlesha revealed what she overheard as she was eavesdropping the Singh's who were discussing their plan to find and oust them, "that healer is going to perform a ritual tonight, I'm not worried about myself as none of that is going to affect me anyways since I'm the serpent of illusions. But you need to evade this at any cost"
"Then you need to get out of here as well, that healer's no joke it would be wiser if you don't underestimate him" Abhay advised and warned her as she dismissed him saying "I have seen many like him before, there's a reason why I became the naagmaya which was to take on that tantrik who partook in our destruction years back. I won't lose to someone like him"
"Even if you say so, please be careful and keep your guard up around him" Abhay expressed his concern
"Don't worry" Ashlesha replied putting his worries to rest.
........................................................................................................................................................
Adish and the rest of the elders were gathered at the main living room where they were discussing the stuff that would be required to perform the ritual to identify and oust the serpent hiding amongst them.
"I would require some rock salt, camphor, sandalwood sticks...." Adish enlisted the items he wanted as one of the house staff members noted down the same.
Rani who just came out of her room observed them as she walked through the hallway downstairs towards them, "What's going on?" She asked them
"We are having a pooja tonight" Shipra informed her
"Out of the blue?" Rani stared at her aunt
"Yes my child, it's to allow your father's soul to attain peace" Shipra's heart sank as she lied to her young niece using her dead father as an excuse.
"Right.... I see. I thought it we were doing this tomorrow" Rani asked
"We were but I guess it may not be possible tomorrow so we're thinking of getting it done today" Shipra lied once again
"Okay..." Rani gave her a soft yet dejected response before walking away from the living room.
As they carried on, Abhay walked past them and was heading towards the main door in a bid to sneak outside.
"Where are you going?" Lakshya called out to Abhay as he opened the door.
"To the hospital, a friend of mine met with an accident so I'm sort of in a rush" Abhay lied
Lakshya wanted to believe Abhay but was bothered by what Adish told him earlier during the day, "but we have a pooja today, you cant just leave"
"What pooja?" Abhay pretended to be ignorant about the tip he received from Ashlesha
"It's to ensure the safety of the family" Lakshya explained to the imposter to which they replied, "I'm sorry but I have to go"
"Okay fine, in that case I'll come with you" Lakshya suggested
"Why are you coming along?" Abhay asked him wondering if Lakshya suspected him in any manner.
"As you know we're being targeted by those serpents so I'm worried that they may come after you next" Lakshya expressed his concern.
Abhay then raised his wrist to show him the fake amulet tied to it, "as long as I have this on me I should be fine right"
"Yes that's right but I need to go buy supplies since you're leaving anyways we can get the same while on our way back home so I'll join you" Lakshya insisted
"But-" Abhay was cut off by Lakshya, "No buts I'm joining you" and then headed out towards his Jeep much to Abhay's disappointment who then walked towards the same and hopped into the driver's seat before driving away.
........................................................................................................................................................
Mahima was in her room getting ready as she was being decked up by her friends for the wedding.
The red lehenga complimented her complexion, while the maangtika, nath and earrings highlighted her facial features along with the make up which made her look quite stunning.
The bangles that were slid down her hands jingled as she moved them.
The heavy bridal necklace made her look like a queen as she covered her head with the bridal veil.
(Pretend this is her bridal outfit)
Once ready she asked her friends to give her a moment of being alone in the room.
She then picked up her phone and tapped on Vikram's contact from the list. As the call went through she waited for it to get answered however to her disappointment there was no response from the other end.
She tried once again but this time the call got rejected giving her a reason to feel anxious.
A knock on the door then got her attention, "are you done? We need to leave for the temple" one of her friends asked
"Yes I am" She then put her phone in her purse and stepped out the room and headed to leave the house. Once she was outside Mahima continued to walk towards the decked up car which was ready to drive off only to get interrupted by Arvind who seemed to have taken note of the troubled expression on her face.
"Are you okay, why do you look so worried?" Arvind asked her
She then confided over how she was bothered by Vikram evading her call, "Maybe he is driving, perhaps that's the reason he is avoiding your calls" Arvind reasoned
"I guess you're right, ofcourse you are! What other reason could there be? I must be overthinking" Mahima felt at ease as Arvind put her worries to rest before getting into the car which got driven off.
........................................................................................................................................................
Abhay had his eyes focused on the road as he kept driving ahead not paying much attention to his phone that kept buzzing while on silent mode with an incoming call from Mahima.
Lakshya noticed that it wasn't the usual smartphone which Abhay carried around most of the time the reason being that it didn't belong to him but rather to Vikram.
"What happened to your previous phone?" Lakshya was curious to find out as Abhay was caught off-guard by his sudden query.
"Oh that.... the screen stopped working so I left it at the service centre who let me have a spare phone in exchange till it gets fixed" Abhay lied hoping Lakshya would believe him.
"Do they actually give out spare phones?" Lakshya was intrigued by the lie he just heard while expressing his doubt over the same.
"Not really, but the person in charge of the store happened to be a good friend of mine so he agreed to give a spare till my phone is fixed" Abhay lied once again
"I see" Lakshya accepted
.......................................................................................................................................................
Shipra, Anvay, Soumya and the rest were preparing the main living room for the rituals to be performed later in the evening.
The homa pit which would be lit later once everyone is present at home i.e. when Abhay and Lakshya return back home was set in place with the mattresses being placed on all four sides by the house staff.
"Where are they? It's almost time for the rite and they're still not home" Shipra seemed pretty frustrated
"Relax, I'm sure they're on their way back home" Anvay tried to pacify his wife
"I would have stopped Abhay from stepping out had I known that he'd be this late" Shipra regretted
"Don't worry, Lakshya has accompanied him plus he did leave to visit his friend at the hospital leaving right away would have made him look pretty insensitive now wouldn't it, perhaps that's the reason" Anvay reasoned as he noticed the unattended landline phone ringing since quite a while and then walked towards it right away to answer the same.
"Hello" Anvay spoke as he received the call
"Dad it's me Abhay" the voice on the other end answered
"Where are you? It's almost time for the ritual, please hand over the phone to Lakshya" Anvay told his son
"Lakshya isn't with me at the moment" Anvay was confused by his response and asked "What do you mean he isn't with you? You'll left together to get the supplies needed for the ritual tonight"
"Please listen to me, the one who left with Lakshya is a fake" Abhay then went on to explain how he was knocked out by Vikram who was indeed a shapeshifting serpent a few days back and was left unconscious for the same reason. As soon as he woke up he felt it would be wiser to contact someone who didn't live in that house and Srishti happened to be the only person that came to his mind at that point.
"I'm on my way home right now along with Srishti, In fact I've contacted you through her phone" Abhay then requested his father to alert Lakshya about the same to which he agreed and disconnected the call.
"Who was it?" Shipra asked him to which Anvay revealed to her and the rest what he just learnt leaving them all shocked and terrified at the same time.
"And Lakshya is with that serpent all by himself!" Shipra cried out as she grew anxious
"The serpent won't be able to harm him as he's wearing the amulet I given all of you" Adish assured her
"So I was right all along" Adish thought to himself before walking out of the house without any notice to the rest.
........................................................................................................................................................
Lakshya and Vikram who was impersonating Abhay were at the hospital where the latter's imaginary friend were said to be admitted.
As they were about to approach the reception Vikram asked Lakshya to wait in the seating area however Lakshya refused to listen and insisted to accompany him, "But what will you do in there, you don't even know him" Vikram tried to stall him
"It's fine, I won't enter and just wait for you right outside the door" Lakshya told him much to Vikram's annoyance as he looked at his watch since not only did he have to get away from Lakshya but also be on time for his wedding.
"Ok then just wait here, I'll go and get the ward details" Vikram then walked towards the front desk and asked the person in charge, "Did any guy in his mid 20s who met with an accident get admitted here?"
"Let me check" The nurse manning the front desk then went through the records on her computer screen and confirmed that there was indeed one patient who was brought in that day and being treated for the same reason.
"Okay, Can you tell give me their ward no.?" Vikram requested
"And who are you to them?" The nurse asked him
"A close friend, I rushed here as soon as I got the news and wanted to check on them" Vikram lied
"Okay then" The nurse then gave him the ward no. along with the directions to get there with Lakshya accompanying him on the way.
Once they got there Vikram entered the ward while Lakshya watched him from outside. Vikram approached the patient who was unconscious much to his good luck. He then looked around and stared at the window with the intention to escape. Lakshya then entered the ward upon observing his unusual behaviour. "What's the matter? Why are you looking around, is there something wrong here?" Lakshya asked out of concern.
"No reason" Vikram responded
"Okay then let's leave, your friend appears to be unconscious and it would be best if we don't disturb them moreover we're getting late" Lakshya told him
"Indeed I am" Vikram muttered to himself
"I heard that and since you agree let's go back plus we need to get the supplies as well" Lakshya reminded
"I heard you too" Vikram then got up to leave along with Lakshya while resenting him for the same.
The reason behind Lakshya paying a close attention to the imposter was to put Adish's suspicions to rest and to prove that he were wrong all along. Once they stepped out of the hospital they headed towards the jeep and got into it. Vikram turned on the ignition key and let go of the clutch as he pushed down the accelerator to drive away.
While on their way to buy the supplies Vikram noticed the incoming call from Mahima as his phone kept buzzing while in silent mode but didn't bother to attend it as he was driving. "It's looks like an urgent call, shall I answer it to let them know your driving" Lakshya suggested
"Nooo... I mean it's not necessary, I'll get back to them later" Vikram refused
"What if it's something important? They wouldn't keep calling if that weren't the case" Lakshya pointed however Vikram ignored him and just focused on the road as he drove ahead, seeing that he wasn't interested in heeding his advice Lakshya stopped bothering and just remained quite.
A while later Lakshya received an incoming call from Srishti's number, as he contemplated over whether to answer the same or not he accidentally slid the green icon thereby accepting the call.
When he realised the same he put the phone next to his ear to answer her, "Yes Srishti tell me"
"Lakshya it's me" A masculine yet familiar voice responded to him
"I'm sorry but I don't understand-" Lakshya was cut off by the voice on the other end
"Please don't say a word or you'll alert him. Listen to me carefully, try to get away from him, just make some excuse or anything but get away from him because the one next to you is a fake" The voice told him
"What makes you say that?" Lakshya doubted their claims
"It's because I'm your brother" The voice answered
"He's telling you the truth, in fact he's with me right now" Srishti added much to Lakshya shock
"Please stay calm and try to get away-" before Abhay could complete Vikram snatched Lakshya's phone away and threw the same outside the window.
"So you came to know, good I don't have to put up with the act anymore" Vikram expressed his relief as he then stopped the Jeep midway in a desolate area and assumed his true identity right before Lakshya.
"Don't be so shocked, this is literally second nature to my kind" Vikram chuckled as he watched Lakshya who was stupefied by the enemy right before him.
"I knew you were wicked but didn't expect you stoop at this level, I guess deceiving people is your second nature too" Lakshya taunted him
"look who's talking, anyways now that you're within my reach it's time I send you to your dead uncle" Vikram told him in a cold manner following which he grabbed on to lakshya's arm and ripped off the amulet string bracelet apart as a result of which he was temporarily immobilized giving Lakshya an opportunity to get out of the vehicle and run away as far as he could which led him in the middle of a forest where he was stopped by for a moment to catch his breath.
As he was about to make a move he felt his foot get pulled back by something felt like a rope causing him to fall flat facing the ground. As he turned to look behind he saw Vikram in his semi serpent avatar who then proceeded to wrap his tail around Lakshya lifting him up at face level.
"There is something about you brothers, you'll often end up surviving our attacks thereby evading your death" Vikram seemed intrigued
"What do you mean by 'our' attacks, so you've got an accomplice" Lakshya deduced
"Why do you care? You're anyways going to die" Vikram reminded him
"Don't be so sure about that, it's like you just said we brothers often end up surviving your attacks so it's likely you won't succeed this time either" Lakshya mocked him
"Let's see about that" Vikram then pulled him closer in a bid to bite him on the forehead and finish him off using his venom. However before he could proceed he felt his body go cold as a result of which he ended up releasing Lakshya who too wondered what came over the serpent before him.
"Stop right there!" A man called out from a distance
Lakshya turns around to find Adish heading right towards him, once he was close he lifted his green stone and hovered it right infront of Vikram who for some reason couldn't move.
Adish then chanted some mantra following which Vikram was reduced to his original serpent form that remained still on the ground with the former picking him up and placing him in a secured yet enchanted basket.
"How did you get here?" Lakshya asked Adish
"I had a vision that led me here" Adish responded
"You were right and I'm sorry for writing you off earlier" Lakshya apologised
"It's okay, let's get back home now" Adish suggested
"Oh by the way, I think... no I mean I'm sure he has an accomplice" Lakshya informed Adish
"I'm not surprised" Adish told him, Lakshya then noticed Vikram's phone which kept buzzing on the ground indicating an incoming call.
He picked it up wondering if it could give him a clue, when he flipped the phone to see who was calling it was Mahima. Before he could answer the call was dropped from the other end however she then sent a text message which read "Where are you? Is everything okay? Papa and I have been waiting for you at the temple along with our guests. Please hurry up before it's too late"
He then remembered that she was to get married today and it dawned upon him that they were still waiting for Vikram expecting him to show up at the temple. He knew what a no show from the groom's side meant and how it could affect the concerned bride and felt quite responsible and guilty for putting her through it.
As they got out of the forest and saw their vehicles parked at the roadside, Lakshya informs Adish to head home alone.
"Why? where are you going?" Adish asked
"To dissuade her from waiting any further" Lakshya answered
"Who are you talking about?" Adish was confused
"His fiancé, they were supposed to get married today but she isn't aware of what happened here right now does she? The least she deserves is to know what happened instead of being left hanging at the wedding dais" Lakshya replied
"And what are you going to tell her exactly? will she even believe you?" Adish countered
"Whether she believes me or not at the least she shouldn't be disgraced for no fault of hers" Lakshya pointed
"I'm telling you that I have a bad feeling about this, please reconsider" Adish requested him however Lakshya ignored him and just drove away in his car.
................................................................................................................................................................
Mahima remained seated in her respective spot as she waited for Vikram to show up while trying to contact him using her smartphone but her attempts appeared to be futile as he didn't respond to any of her calls causing her to grow anxious and restless as she continued waiting along with the guests who also appeared to be frustrated with the delay.
Most of the guests present were residents of the city who got acquainted with the Mahima and Arvind overtime, while the others were Arvind's relative's both close as well as distant from Shiv Nagar.
Although Arvind didn't visit Shiv Nagar ever since he moved out of the village he did manage to remain in contact with his close relatives as a result of which most of them were meeting him for the first time.
"The auspicious hour is passing by, any news regarding the groom's arrival?" the priest asked Arvind
"We're trying to contact him" Arvind told the priest
"A no show? I wonder why" the guests began to whisper amongst each other.
As time passed by the guests began to complain, "How much longer are we expected to wait?"
"Vikram must be on the way perhaps stuck in traffic, that could be the reason why he is late" Mahima tried to pacify them.
Some of the guests began to leave while the rest continued to wait, "We're nearing the end of the chosen time for the wedding, if he isn't going to show up then I request you to allow me to leave" the priest told them
"Please wait a little longer, he will come" Mahima requested the priest as she wondered what took him so long.
"It's best that you don't wait anymore" a familar voice spoke out from afar causing everyone present there to turn towards them
"Who is he?" one of the guests asked
When Mahima and Arvind saw them they identified him right away, it was Lakshya and they were surprised by his unannounced yet sudden arrival.
"Isn't he the groom? I guess we don't have to wait anymore" a lady who was a distant relative of Arvind blurted out loud
"Oh is that so then that's great" the woman's husband was relieved and then approached Lakshya " You sure took a while moreover your not even dressed for the occasion I guess the rumors about you being busy all the time must be true, but I'm sure you could have made an effort to be on time for your own wedding and spare us the long wait"
Arvind then interrupted to clear their misunderstanding, "He is not the groom" although he was bothered by what Lakshya said earlier.
"This is why you shouldn't jump the gun" the woman's husband taunted
"Even if you say that I didn't make that assumption thoughtlessly" the woman told her husband
"What do you mean?" he asked her
"Take a look at him closely, he is the same man we saw at the lodge that night a few weeks ago along with Mahima. At first I wasn't so sure so I didn't say much but after seeing them together once again I was able to recall that night, which is why I assumed he was the groom" the woman explained
"You're right, indeed it is him" her husband agreed
"What are you'll talking about?" Arvind asked them who then revealed how the two posed as a married couple to get a room at the local lodge much to Mahima's dismay who hoped that it would have remained as a private matter as she knew that it would have been difficult to explain without getting judged. Even though she didn't care much about how it affected her but rather her foster father.
"What are they saying? Is this true?" Arvind asked Mahima who was quiet for a moment before confirming it, "Yes it's true but it's not as what they think" Arvind couldn't believe the confirmation her received from and was left quite shocked.
"She's right, nothing really happened! She was just helping me-" Lakshya tried to support her statement but was cut off by Arvind who then grabbed him by the collar "You better shut up, you really think anyone here would actually believe that even if what you say is actually true? Why the hell did you come here?"
"Perhaps that's why the groom didn't arrive, he probably learnt about her two timing him, isn't that why she stepped out for her so called 'work' even on her wedding day?" one of the guests commented as they began to gossip amongst themselves prompting Arvind to ask them to leave from the venue as he let go off Lakshya.
Once they had left Mahima tried to contact Vikram once again, as she did that Vikram's phone started buzzing inside Lakshya's pocket. At first Mahima didn't think much about it but as she tried another two times she took notice of the same and immediately asked him to pull out the phone from his pocket.
She tried Vikram's contact number once again as a result off which the phone in Lakshya's hand started buzzing again confirming it belonged to Vikram.
"What is his phone doing with you and why did you ask us not to wait anymore?" Mahima glared at him
"Because he won't show up or more like can't, I told you to call off the wedding, you should have listened" Lakshya told her
"And why is that?" She questioned him
"he's been put to sleep" Lakshya revealed
"What do you mean by put to sleep?" Arvind asked
"I mean he's been taken care of in the exact same manner how a rogue animal would be by the authorities, so yes he's been put to sleep" Lakshya repeated
"Rogue animal?" Arvind was confused
"Yes an animal, he was never a human to begin with but rather a vicious shapeshifting serpent" Lakshya revealed
"You're at it again? Like seriously? Where is he and what did you do to him?" Mahima asked him once again
"Like I said already he's been put to sleep, you won't be able to find him even if you tried" Lakshya told her
Arvind then approached Lakshya and glared at him as his hands balled into fists, "do you realize what you've just done? You've ruined my daughter's life over your delusions and you have the audacity to look me straight in the eye"
"Her life isn't ruined, in fact she dodged a bullet and is better off without him, trust me" Lakshya argued
"Oh really? You think her life isn't ruined and that she is better off without him especially after how she has been disgraced publicly due to your presence here today, How exactly? After what happened will people stop pointing fingers at her? Which decent person would marry her now?" Arvind was seething in anger before turning to Mahima, "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"
"I wasn't sure of how you'd react moreover I never expected it to come out the way it did today" Mahima explained
"I thought you knew better, I never expected you would ever disgrace me" Arvind expressed his disappointment
"She hasn't done anything, its like I said nothing happened that day and she was just helping me out due to my injury" Lakshya tried to convince Arvind.
"And who would believe that? Like I told you even if what you say is true people would continue to believe otherwise. Who is going to marry her now? Will you do it? obviously no right?! You've ruined us!" Arvind accused him before walking away followed by Mahima as result of which he felt a pang of guilt regarding what happened as he watched the two walk away. He never expected things to have turned out the way they did nor did he intend to get them humiliated in front of everyone.
Before they could exit "Please wait there" he called out to them
Arvind stopped right at the stairs and turned as he saw Lakshya approach them, "What do you want now? Wasn't the humiliation you made us go through earlier not enough? Or is there more left to come?" Arvind retorted
"Nothing of that sort..." Lakshya trailed as he hesitated to complete his sentence.
"Then why did you ask us to wait" Arvind questioned him while on the verge of losing his temper.
Lakshya then responded in a hesistant manner as he carefully phrased what he said next, "As you expressed your concern over her marriage and questioned me regarding her prospects for the same. To be honest as long as the person concerned genuinely loves her they wouldn't care about such baseless rumors or reject her based on that alone"
"Unfortunately you don't really find such people much now do we?" Arvind pointed
"If what you say is indeed true and since you hold me responsible for this...." Lakshya trailed once again making his hesitation quite evident as Arvind waited for him to complete
"If you're okay with it then...." Lakshya continued
"Okay with what exactly? What is it that you're trying to suggest?" Arvind narrowed his eyes
"I would marry her but only if you agree to it" Lakshya answered leaving Arvind flabbergasted and Mahima astounded.
........................................................................................................................................................
To be continued...
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Comments (4)
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Bloodmoon @Bloodmoon
+ 2
2 years ago
Sorry I meant ff but mistakenly put os which means one-shotYours is not a one shot na sorry😂
Bloodmoon @Bloodmoon
+ 2
2 years ago
Finally the os reached where I wanted Thanks for the update ❤️