Chapter 15: MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT Matured

Warning: Violence and Mature Content hence please read at your own risk

Content: 18+

Well I don't know how this would make you guys feel but I just pour out. Hope all of you have a good time reading this chapter.

CHAPTER-15:

Middle of the Night( Elle Duhe) Language: English

I summoned you, please come to me
Don't bury thoughts that you really want
I fill you up, drink from my cup
Within me lies what you really want

Come, lay me down
'Cause you know this
'Cause you know this sound

In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
Just call my name, I'm yours to tame
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
I'm wide awake, I crave your taste
All night long 'til morning comes
I'm getting what is mine, you gon' get yours, oh no, ooh
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night, oh

These burning flames, these crashing waves
Wash over me like a hurricane
I'll captivate, you're hypnotized
Feel powerful but it's me again

Come, lay me down
'Cause I know this
'Cause I know this sound

In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
Just call my name, I'm yours to tame
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
I'm wide awake, I crave your taste
All night long 'til morning comes
I'm getting what is mine, you gon' get yours, oh no, ooh
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night, oh

And just call on me, ah, just call my name
Like you mean it

In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
Just call my name, I'm yours to tame
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night
I'm wide awake, I crave your taste
All night long 'til morning comes
I'm getting what is mine, you gon' get yours, oh
In the middle of the night, in the middle of the night, oh, whoa

MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

The glass lamps were lit as the people stood surrounding the mandap(a temporary platform set up for marriage rituals), he was sitting in front of the fire as he saw the priest saying mantras, on his hand’s palm he held water as the chanting of mantras increased.
“Yajman(a way to call the groom) now wash your hands with this water” said the priest.
Aryan was confused what kind of setting he was in but he washed his hands with the water. He saw his mother and sister standing near the mandap, they were having the happiest time of their lives. He felt like what in the world happened that he was so clueless in his own marriage. Suddenly he heard the priest say, “Kanya ko bulaye(Call the bride)”

‘Okay, who is my bride? Now the mystery will be properly solved,’ thought Aryan as he smiled back at the priest who was looking at him without any expression, making him awkward.

The bride entered in a bright red lehenga(bridal outfit). Everything was okay but as she entered he tried to move a little to see his bride when he got absolutely dumbstruck at the scene he saw, above her bridal veil she wore a black baseball cap, her lips were not visible at all rather she was wearing a black mask. She wore a pair of black spectacles and two knives hung on her kamarbandh(waist chain).
“Khatti?” Aryan muttered under his breath, shocked to his core.
She came to the mandap near him and they exchanged varmalas(flower garlands). Aryan wasn’t sure he should be happy or sad or confused about the whole situation when he saw a sniper aiming at him from the far corner of the room.
“That man…” he uttered when Khatti turned and saw the sniper. As all panicked and moved away the sniper shot his bullet, Khatti pulled him, twirling him and made the ‘dip’ dance pose holding him by his waist. She took one of her knives and threw at the sniper and he fell down. He looked at her utterly confused with the situation and he woke up.

It was two o’clock as he looked at the watch near his bed.
“What the hell was that dream? Khatti and I are getting married and that dance pose was so ridiculous. I am Aryan Singh Rathore; how can I dream such nonsensical things? I only met her twice, Aryan don’t you dare dream of her again” exclaimed Aryan as he closed his eyes again trying to sleep. He was already a patient of insomnia and now this ridiculous dream shook him off.

Imlie closed all the doors from inside and placed a wooden chair in front of the main door so that no one could break the door easily and went out from the back door, she closed the door from outside and sat on a plastic stool which kept near the cattle shade.

As she heard footsteps approaching from the groves behind her house she decided that when she starts to renovate her house the first thing she needs to do is build a wall that protects their house.
As they stepped on the backyard, Imlie looked at the people, Dulari lal, the Sarpanch(Village head) and six more men came with well built bodies but one really took her attention; he was the guy who stabbed Chandrakanta eighteen years back. What an odd turn of luck?

This made Imlie break into a laughter as all the men looked at her shocked. She smiled and said, “Welcome, I was waiting so eagerly for all of you. Also Sarpanch kaka do you have a habit of always bringing only six men with you?”

“Imlie…” uttered Dulari lal surprised and the next moment he saw a sickle flying with the speed of light and stuck on the body of one of the men that came with him and the Village Head.

“Did you think I prepared a simple welcome just because Dadda isn’t present in the village?” Imlie gave an evil smile as she threw another sickle to the man who was coming to attack her. He fell down along with the other guy, both were screaming in pain. Those sickles were what her mother and grandmother used to harvest in the fields of other people but in place of plants Imlie was harvesting paid goons.

She took out the log which she had hid before in the haystack and hit the neck area of one more man, the other came to punch her at that very moment but she held his fist with her left palm. The Impact was huge but the Village head got scared with the fact that Imlie didn’t even move a little from the place she was standing with the impact. She exerted more pressure on her legs than the punch of the guy that couldn’t even shift her an inch. As the other guy fell down when the log hit his neck and broke into two pieces Imlie grabbed one of the broken pieces of the log which was falling down in mid-air and hit his face straight with it from the direction of the uneven edge. The sharp edges and pointed tips of the broken log pierced his skin, went inside his ears and made him bleed in the worst possible way. Four were already down with pain, only two were left.

The Village head and Dulari lal decided they couldn’t waste time anymore and they soon needed to execute their next plan.

Imlie punched the goon right at his jaw as he was about to hit her stomach but she was faster than him; the moment he tried to hit her stomach a fist hit his jaw and he lost his balance. Imlie kicked the other guy so that she could recover a little time and in that time she focused the ribs of the guy who lost the balance for her punch and she continuously punched his chest for the next few seconds. At last she opened both her fists tightening all her hand muscles and gave the last bow, she heard a cracked sound; one of ribs was broken and he fell down.

The other man came from her right to attack her but she turned around and held both his hands. She pulled him closer and hit his forehead with her, before he could find balance and figure out what actually happened with him, she grabbed his hair from behind and hit his head on the bathroom’s bamboo fence; he started bleeding.

She brought him closer and said, “No, don’t lose your consciousness… today you have to show the same enthusiasm you have shown eighteen years back while cupping that dying girl’s breast”
The man in his forties looked at Imlie shocked, she pulled him to the shade where she hid the knife. There she had already put a bucket of water in beforehand, she took out the vegetable knife, threw him on the haystack and stabbed his knee and ankle.

“How many times did you stab her? Thirty four times right…” saying this Imlie stabbed him all over his body but she made sure that she didn't harm any of his vital organs. Her focus was on his soft muscles and she splitted his tendons and tissues just like a butcher does with meat. He winced in pain rigorously and lost his consciousness after ten stabs on his body. She took out the hidden duct tape, sealed his mouth and put his entire head inside the bucket of water. As he regained his consciousness she stabbed him exactly twenty four times more, he wanted to shout for the pain all over his body but couldn’t as his mouth was sealed. Everytime he lost his consciousness she dipped him in water till he would be out of oxygen. Within ten minutes Imlie made him suffer hell on earth and dragged him outside. He slowly lost his consciousness again and she dropped him on the plain ground, the Village Head and Dulari lal were missing and she knew exactly what they were up to. She knocked out the other five men unconscious and went to the front side of the house by the road that connects the front yard and backyard to the place where the straws of the roof were in the closest distance from the ground.

“Chef, what's on the menu today?” asked Aryan to the Chef in the kitchen as he was bored while working in the morning.
“Khatti gudia(doll) rani(queen) will decide the menu Aryan Baba” replied the Chef.
“What? Khatti again?”
“Aru why are you talking that way?” asked Arpita who came to the kitchen.
“Didi, what are you doing now in the kitchen?”
“Khatti said she will teach me some vegetable cutting skills”
“Does she have vegetable cutting skills? I thought she had…” Aryan’s words dissolved the moment he saw Khatti in front of the chopping board holding knives. She was in a blue organza saree wearing the same black baseball cap with her mask and spectacles. She took a gourd and placed it on the chopping board and the next moment she started using both her knives at the speed of light. Aryan bent a little far from the violence he was seeing in front of his eyes but as Khatti finished all the kitchen staff along with his sister gave a huge round of applause.

“Your wife has such good talent Aru, Khatti next time show this skill on small vegetables too”
Hearing Arpita’s words Khatti took a small chili and cut it into fine pieces. Once again all of the audience present in the kitchen clapped for Khatti.
“Aru, Khatti has the true skill to cut vegetables. Khatti teach me too”
‘What a freak show is going on here?’ thought Aryan.
Khatti showed a thumbs up to Arpita assuring she would teach her these vegetable cutting skills.
Aryan left the kitchen immediately unable to process what he just saw.

As he slapped his forehead his sleep was interrupted again and he woke up, this time he had actually slapped his forehead for mosquitoes. He sat straight on his bed, switched on the liquid machine which shoo away mosquitoes and stared at the opposite wall.
“Aryan Singh Rathore I warn you, if you dream Khatti once again promise yourself that you will slap the shit out of you. What kind of dreams are you dreaming, you punk?” exclaimed Aryan, annoyed at himself.

Imlie stood behind the two men who had almost finished their matches trying to get the house on fire but failed miserably. They were wondering why the house was not catching fire whether they tried to light it from the walls or the roof. A straw house is always considered vulnerable to fire especially during dry days but it hadn’t rained for a while and it was still not catching fire at any cost.
“The fire won’t lit up the house at any cost” Imlie exclaimed from behind.
As they turned around Imlie hit their neck area with two thick branches which she carried from the backyard.
“Now you will play ‘fire fire’ in jail, congratulations” Imlie said with a disgusted smile.

Aryan entered his bedroom after splashing water in his face in the washroom with the hope to sleep at last after getting these weird dreams. As he stepped out of the attached bathroom of his room he got dumbstruck; he saw a girl in maroon saree, standing near the window and scrolling her cell phone. He couldn’t see her face as her hair was open, he slowly took his steps towards her; he felt like he had no control over his body. She played a music track on her mobile phone, he slowly came and stood behind her as if he was enchanted.

Roshni Se Bhare Bhare(Abhijeet, Alka Yagnik) Language: Hindi

Roshni se bhare bhare

Bhare bhare naina tere

Aryan slowly grabbed her left hand with his left hand from behind, she turned around but her face was blurred. He couldn’t see her face at all, that time he understood this was none other than Khatti. He couldn’t imagine her face as he never saw her but as he felt like he should move away he couldn’t do it. He turned her around again and slowly removed her hair to the right side of her shoulder with his right hand. The nape of her neck was now visible to him, this place of her body was something he noticed when she hugged him for the first time while saving him from the terrorists.

Roshni se bhare bhare

Bhare bhare naina tere

He looked at her neck intently; that part was so inviting to him that he couldn’t just look at the skin for more than a few seconds and pressed his lips there. She flinched at his sudden act and grabbed his right hand which was on her right shoulder holding her hair away from her neck. He didn’t stop, steadily he set some more kisses on the nape of her neck and moved slowly to her left earlobe leaving a trail of kisses but the moment he bit her earlobe she moved out from his grip and stood leaning on the wall near the window.

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

He still couldn’t see her face, the frustration of not being able to see her face made him switch off the main light and turn on just the dim lights of the room. Now her blurred face played hide and seek with the dim lights making it perfect for him. Again he was pulled to her like an intoxicated man.

Sapnon se bhare bhare

Bhare bhare naina tere

She placed her right palm on his left cheek as he went near her, he pressed his lips on her lips. Her lip smelt like fruits. ‘Maybe she had got some lip balm on’ thought he, but he didn’t stop and sucked her lower lip. She held both of his cheeks with her hands as he explored her bare waist. She didn’t back out and sucked his upper lip. Slowly she opened her mouth and he got free access to suck her lips more freely, he went crazy when she did the same back to him.

Sapnon se bhare bhare

Bhare bhare naina tere

His tongue explored her mouth and soon he found she was doing the same; both of their tongues were trying to find dominance in each other’s mouths. He suddenly felt her hands moving down from his cheeks. At first he thought she was struggling to open his buttons but when her hands were moving more downwards he got alarmed, he broke the kiss and turned her towards the wall.
‘Not so soon’, thought Aryan.

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

His eyes went towards the ‘dori’ of her blouse. He looked at the knot and pulled one of the ends of one of the threads of the ‘dori’.
‘Doesn’t she feel uncomfortable sleeping in this?’ thought Aryan. He couldn’t hear any sound from her, so he slowly opened the safety pin that was tucked to that blouse keeping the saree’s pallu at its place. The georgette fabric got its freedom at last and didn’t take even a second to fall off from her body.

Dhoonda hai dhoonda hai tujhe

Aakaash upar tale

She stood there with her back facing him, suddenly he felt running his fingers on her back and when he did her body trembled. It amused him so he moved his fingers on her back slowly touching her like some feather would have touched but when she tried to move away he held her hands and pulled her back. The buttons of her blouse were in front so he slowly moved his hands to the front and moved his fingers upward. She looked away from his face as his wrists brushed over her breasts. Slowly he unbuttoned her blouse and pulled it out though her hands exposing her bralette.

Shaayad kisi badri mein

Lipti hui tu mile

She held the fabric of her saree near her chest area but he was still looking at her back when suddenly his eyes caught something interesting. He ran his fingers through her spine and opened the hook of her bra. He smiled because at last he could see what he wanted to see. She had a mole in a very strange place, it was at the center of her back but could get covered even with the thinnest straps of the bra. As if the mole loves to play hide and seek.

Aah, dhoonda hai dhoonda hai tujhe

Aakaash upar tale

His hands rested on her love handles as he slightly bent and kissed that mole. She once again moved out and leaned on the wall holding the fabric of her saree near her chest. He noticed the loosely tucked bra whose one strap had already slipped away from her shoulder and the transparent saree failed to cover her nipples peeking out from the bra. As the wind blowing from outside grew strong so his desires.

Shaayad kisi nadiya pe

Chalta hua tu mile

He came near her and removed that piece of fabric and slowly pulled her bra down gazing at her cleavage when he noticed another mole on her left breast near the nipple area. He roughly made haste and threw away the bra on the floor, as he pinched her right nipple with his thumb and index finger of his left hand he saw her breathing hard. He didn’t stop anymore and his mouth made its way to the right breast. He wet her right nipple with his tongue and gave a small bite. She couldn’t stand straight anymore and sat on the ground. He also sat with her and kept playing with her breasts. As he kept sucking her breasts and pulling nipples he saw her body moving at a rhythm from the heated atmosphere.

Roshni se bhare bhare

Bhare bhare naina tere

She suddenly pushed him a little away, she felt angry from the way she pushed him. He looked at her confused but her face was still not visible to him. Suddenly she came near him and started unbuttoning him. He understood the anger was from the fact that he was teasing her more than giving pleasure. When she was about to touch his bare chest he held her wrists and pulled her near him, he slowly rubbed his right cheek with her left cheek and kissed the area below her right ear. He would never allow anyone to touch his chest area for the bad memories he had related to it. She froze again as the tip of her nipples touched his skin above his chest. No, he could no longer look straight at her face, it felt bizarre as it was blurred.

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

He picked her up in a princess hug and made his way to his bed. The long fabric of her saree slowly made its way with her touching the floor, her upper body was naked and his eyes weren’t letting those plump breasts out of his eyesight. He was also half naked which made the right breast touch the bare skin of his chest, roughly rubbing skin to skin and her breath near the left side of his neck was making it hard for him to stay in control. As he made her lay on the bed she turned to the other side. His eyes again got locked at the mole of her back. He also laid down on the bed beside her and looked at the nape of her neck.

Maine samay rok ke

Tera pata pucha hai

He smelled the nape of her neck as his hands pulled her saree upwards, she shifted a little far from him but he pulled her near again. He was running his left hand trying to find a new place to explore but as he was kissing her left shoulder blade she tried to move his mouth with her left hand without turning towards him. Getting her fingers near his mouth he sucked her fingers.

Mili nadi se kehke

Saagar tale dhoonda hai

The fingers of his left hand found the place it wanted to explore, first he brushed his hand against it for a little while and next he stuck one of his fingers inside. There was no doubt that she was wet down there. He moved his finger in circular motion inside her, she immediately pulled back her fingers from his mouth.

Haan, lehron pe chalte hue

Paani ke phan chhoote hai

Understanding the atmosphere he himself moved down and pulled out her panties. Nope this won’t do, he was hardening. As he pressed his lips there as she clenched the bed sheet hard. His tongue had left her mouth long back now he was tasting her, her real self. She went crazy with his tongue swirling doing a dance of passion and she lifted her upper body a little with the help of her elbows; she pulled his face back to her and put her tongue inside his mouth to make him understand how it feels when someone invades with a tongue. At this chance he got rid of all the extra fabric she had on her and her hands grabbed him and softly rubbed him over his joggers; even with the slightest touch of her he hardened up more.

Jaise tere haath ho

Mera yeh tan chhoote hai

As none of them were ready to leave each other’s mouth he stuck two of his fingers inside her and shook his hand with every force he got but when he thought he could tame her he was wrong. She got hold of him moving her hand inside his joggers and rubbed him as fast as she could. He was speechless when he understood both of them were on the verge of letting themselves go loose but none ready to accept a defeat from each other.

Roshni se bhare bhare

Bhare bhare naina tere

He made her lay down and turned her around, no more hands should interfere and they were ready for the real thing. He wanted to be inside her but didn’t want to ruin his mood as she was not visible to him, so he decided not to look at her face. He tore a packet of condom and wore it, slowly he made his way inside her; she was extremely tight but lubricated with her juices.

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

Sapnon se bhare bhare

Bhare bhare naina tere

He slowly started moving inside her but the clenching sensation he was feeling made him go nuts, he couldn’t hold back and soon he was moving at a fast pace. She held the pillow as tightly as she could as he wasn’t slowing a bit. His balls thrusted against her but as he understood he might break her down he turned her around and gave his shoulder to her to bite. She had turned him on to such an extent that he couldn’t control his own speed.

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe

Chhu Ke bole na choona mujhe.

As she scratched his back with her nails both touched the highest ground of pleasure. When he brought himself out from her he saw her face covered with her hair, she was panting. As he removed her hair which was pasted to her skin for the sweat she generated, he was dumbstruck. For a moment he felt like he knew this face.

“You are…” he muttered under his breath.

“You are…” Aryan woke up from his sleep. He was sweating like anything but as he recollected himself he became red and redder.
He realized that he just had a wet dream with a girl with a blurred face and at the last moment he saw her face. But he couldn’t remember her face anymore as his attention went to the only thing he did in the dream. He was dreaming ‘Khatti’ inside a wet dream and he just ended up guessing that the girl he did have that intimacy with was also ‘Khatti’ because her face was blurred. He didn’t stay on his bed anymore and ran to the bathroom from where he couldn’t leave for more than half an hour. But he was sure about one thing, he wouldn't go to bed anymore else he would be haunted with the heat that he was feeling inside himself. It was almost four in the morning hence he decided to go jogging. The wet dream had charged him too much now only some exercise could cool him off.

Imlie called Aditya slowly to help her, it was almost four o’clock. Aditya didn’t understand what kind of help she needed but when he went outside he was dumbstruck and confused. He looked at her once and the next moment he looked back at the scene before him. Unconscious men were lying and all of their mouths were sealed with tape.
He looked at Imlie again when she said, “Aditya, the rope is there. We need to tie all of them”

“You beat them so badly? Who are they?” Then his eyes went to Dulari lal. He suddenly remembered the day he visited him and his wife was this Tuesday to request them to accept the nullification of his marriage with Chavi. He needed to find Ahana when her memories flooded in and wanted to explain to them that their daughter doesn’t deserve to get her life ruined by marrying him. He was after all fifteen years older, he would die way earlier than her. For him such an age difference in marriage was only acceptable if the couple is head over heels in love else this was just brutal to the girl. He understood it more as his memories of his past life got clearer and remembered how Imlie suffered. He was no more emotionally connected with the thought of making a marriage work with such situations conditioned by society.

“They tried to burn down our house. Now not only with the suspicion but with pure evidence the police will arrest them.” replied Imlie.

Aditya and Imlie tied the unconscious men with the rope. Suddenly Aditya’s eyes went to the sun that was slowly rising up, he looked at Imlie and thought this was the right time to say the things he wanted to say to her.

“Imlie…”
“Yes”
“I am sorry” said Aditya as he sat on the ground after tying all the men.
“Why sorry?”
“I shouldn’t have behaved the way I had”
“You must have your reasons” replied Imlie as she sat with him.
“Actually I was confused. You might not believe me but what I said about my past life was the truth. We actually have time traveled, I don’t know why it happened but it did happen. At first I got only few fragments of memories making me confused but slowly as I recovered more memories I understood what I did with half knowledge was all wrong”
Imlie looked at his face, though she knew she had also time traveled but she was a secretive person hence didn’t tell him that she was also a regressor.
He continued, “In the past timeline we were married but we had a divorce too. You married a guy called Aryan Singh Rathore later”
“And you?”
“I married Malini but didn’t take the responsibility of her or my child. Rather I fell in love with a lady whose face I don’t remember anymore. I am remembering moments with her nowadays but the tragic part was I didn’t end up with her either. I must be a bad guy. Aren't I?”
“People might call you characterless if they hear in your last life you loved three women”
Aditya looked at his feet quite upset with Imlie’s statement.
“But who would know the reality of things seeing from far? Even crystals will feel like diamonds. When a person changes a lot of partners people may think he or she is a characterless person or a bad person but the real scenario always lies with the person. No one knows what actually happened to make a person behave like that except that person. So rather than asking me you need to ask yourself, love isn’t a forever thing we need to find other factors too to work out a relationship. By the way, who is the lady of the past whom you loved and lost?”
“Her name was Ahana and I didn’t end up with her because she died. I don’t remember how she died though but I remember she died when I was thirty seven or thirty eight. So I decided to find her again in this life and live my life with her for at least the next five years as I don’t remember the reason for her demise.”

Imlie looked at Aditya, he was lost in the thought of his love whom he remembered as someone who left the world. Imlie understood why she was not the one whom he wanted to find in this life, people may fall in love but later they can fall out of love too but the love which leaves the world being in the memories as the ultimate picture of love, never disappears with their presence. Something similar happened with Aditya, he fell in love with Malini when he was in college. It was the love driven by the attraction of physical appearances, twelve years in and then Imlie herself became a part of his life. The love he had for Imlie was for the role of husband, he slowly convinced his subconscious that he should love her because he married her first and was living in guilt of not accepting her publicly. Gradually his love for Malini decreased and Imlie became the one he loved but his trust stayed behind with Malini as he knew her from twelve years only channeling his love towards Imlie. The lack of trust broke him and Imlie apart and slowly neither Malini nor Imlie could be associated with love for him anymore. He couldn’t love Imlie as she moved on and as Malini tried to kill Imlie he couldn’t accept someone in his life as his love who tried to take someone’s life. He was a righteous person after all. That time Ahana came to his life and even when she left this world she was still his love. Hence his heart now only wants to find Ahana and this time he has the opportunity, he is still a bachelor as his marriage with Chavi is nullified for her not being eighteen during her marriage time which was one week back. Now he wants to find Ahana and live his life with her.

“Any clue where to find her?” asked Imlie.
“You believed me?”
“Yes, so any clue how will you find her?”
“I remember meeting her in a hill station, since I am suspended right now I will leave for Himachal Pradesh this Sunday”
“There are many hill stations here in India”
“I will search every one of them. I want to meet her again though I don’t remember her face”
Imlie felt sorry for Aditya, she was the reason for his suspension but she promised herself that she would do everything to give him back the honor he lost in these last few days. But some things are good when they are taken to grave with silence hence he should never know the reason for the mess in his life thought Imlie.

Suddenly they heard the horns of cars and police sirens. Harshit had reached her house along with a group of officers from Chautaalgarh.

Aryan returned from his jogging and heard some sounds in the kitchen. He went there to pick up a bottle of water from the fridge when he saw a staff member cleaning the bottles in the kitchen.

‘How should I ask for advance payment? That useless alcoholic father of mine just snatches all of my earnings as always for his alcohol, he doesn’t even care for the rations at home. How will I save up this way? What if the Rathore family also throws me out like others. I am new here and asking advance payment can mess up my job’

“Excuse me” Aryan called.
The girl turned around and greeted Aryan “Good morning Sir”
“Can I have a bottle of water from the fridge?”
“Yes Sir”
She handed him a bottle and he took a few steps to the door but stopped in the middle and turned towards her.

“Riddhi right?” he said looking at the badge on her uniform.
“Yes sir” she said awkwardly as she picked up the cleaning cloth that fell from her hand when he called her.
“I will inform Didi to give your payment always on the fifteenth of every month instead of the first day. Just don’t let this be known to your father and hand him a small amount on the first day of every month, that way you could save up as well as stay out of suspicion from him.”
She looked at him bewildered.
He continued, “And take your advance payment before going home from the butler,” Aryan left the kitchen for his room.

Riddhi exclaimed, “How did he know about my problem? I didn’t utter a single word and was only thinking about my advance payment. The house owner is strange but helpful indeed at least solved my problem”

Dulari Lal came back to his senses and saw someone was putting handcuffs on his wrists, he panicked and saw the village head shouting at the top of his lungs.

“I am the Sarpanch of the village, no law is above me here in Pagdandia”

“Here comes another fool who thinks he is above the law and system of the country” exclaimed Imlie.
“So I guess the cases will increase on them apart from the forced marriage” remarked Harshit.
“Indeed, adding murder attempt on five people, committing arson” added Imlie.

Aditya came towards Imlie and Harshit who were talking, Meethi, Dulari Devi and Chavi also came out of the house. They woke up with the sirens of police cars.
“Who beat them in that manner?” asked Meethi.
“Amma Aditya did and I helped him a little” replied Imlie.

Harshit stood there expressionless because the injuries on the six goons were proof for him with the idea who actually caused it. The thirty four sharp cuts on one man without hitting any of the vital organs and only slicing the muscles and tissues could be only done by someone who has knowledge about the body and weapon. Here he knew very well that a normal person could never do this except some dangerous entity who was present there with a facade of a cheerful eighteen year old.
‘That guy had decided to help her I guess or maybe threatened to help her if he saw are doing the actions himself’ thought Harshit.

“You can’t arrest us” shouted Dulari lal.
“I can actually mister, we found pictures of getting Mr. Aditya and Miss Chavi married at gunpoint in the laptop of terrorists who were keeping an eye on Mr. Aditya as he was their prime target. Also now murder attempt and arson will be added to your crimes.” replied Harshit.
“Not just murder attempt but real murders will be added to their crime list too” added Imlie.

Dulari lal, the village head as well as Harshit looked at Imlie shocked.
“Aditya” exclaimed Imlie.
Aditya nodded his head and went inside Imlie’s house.

Aryan stood under the shower, he would have not given a solution to Riddhi but the dreams from yesterday had kept him distracted till today. He couldn’t concentrate even while jogging outside, he understood he had messed up a great deal but it was reversible as they would leave for Mumbai this Sunday and that staff would gradually forget that he had actually read her thoughts.

He had a superpower which he got after the death of his brother-in-law, the real reason he actually shifted to Mumbai. The day he saw his father figure burning down to ashes alive, he actually slept well. The last time he slept peacefully was that day, he couldn’t explain himself how he could be this shameless to sleep when he was most disturbed and upset with the death of his brother-in-law. When he woke from that deep sleep he realized he could hear people pitying his sister and also throwing venoms on his brother-in-law for what he did with the laborers.

“Can’t you be a little more empathetic to my sister? You are saying my jiju(brother-in-law) did so wrong with the laborers that he deserved to burn down to ashes?” Aryan shouted at one of the lady who was a guest.
“When did I say such things?” retorted the lady.
“Don’t lie, I heard you perfectly. Not just you all of you are saying something bad about my jiju.” Aryan pointed at the ladies one by one.
“What kind of person is this? Blaming all of us. You should wash our feet and drink that water because we came to grieve for your brother in law even after knowing what he did. He was a monster. We will not stay for one more second, everyone let’s leave” shouted the lady at Aryan and everyone made their way to the main door.
“We also don’t want people here who don’t respect my jiju” shouted Aryan.
Narmada and Arpita tried to stop them from leaving, folding their hands and begging them but they were adamant to leave hence they left.

Aryan tried to stop his mother and sister from doing this when a slap landed on his face from Narmada.
“Maa,” he asked, baffled.
“Aru, are you crazy? Do you know why people call others during the rituals after a person’s death? They don’t just call them just to respect the departed soul but also to assure the living family members who feel peace when they see people remembering the departed ones. And what did you just do? You made them leave, what did they do? Arvind left with so much controversy at least they didn’t hit us with remarks on our faces. Even if they gossip in between them we are no one to stop.”
“They didn’t gossip maa, I was sitting in between them. Aru the time you shouted it was in a pin drop silence moment. What did you get by ruining this? We didn’t even get the chance to take him to shamshan(burial sites). At least you have kept your cool here” said Arpita.

‘Also you slept yesterday so peacefully when I was crying for Arvind. At least you should have shown some empathy yourself Aru before telling others’ Aryan heard Arpita’s words but didn’t see her moving her lips for once.
“Di…” he called her but she had already made her way to the other side of the hall.

As Aryan remembered that day, he remembered more events like trying to make things work in Delhi but everywhere he would hear people mock or despise his brother in law. At the end he understood he hears every kind of negative emotions of people when they think within a radius of two to three meters and he left for Mumbai where he started everything afresh with the help of Nishant who never had any bad thoughts towards him or his family. He had indeed caught him sometimes cursing some guy called Sundar but it didn't matter as he was not familiar with anyone called ‘Sundar’.

Aditya handed the envelope he got from Sudheer to Harshit.
“This is the proof of Dulari lal killing his daughter, there is a recorded confession from his wife too in the tape inside it.” said Aditya.
“They are some top notch players I see, hiding a murder for eighteen years” remarked Harshit.
“Not just one, more two murders happened eighteen years back” said Imlie.
“What?”
“Yes, Our love is pure as the white cloth without stains, our love has the innocence that blossoms like flowers, our love is like vines which grows more and more with time, our love has thorns which will protect us from any evil. I should praise you Sarpanch kaka to think off such a beautiful poem encapsulating true love”

Meethi had gone inside to do some stuff she forgot to do. The village head’s face went gray with Imlie’s remarks as he stammered and said, “What do you mean by I made the poem?”

Aryan suddenly realized that he heard emotions from every person he met except two people, Imlie and Khatti. Imlie’s were quite convincing as she was a teenager but yet he didn’t hear her being upset when she said she was an illegitimate child. He didn’t hear her inner voice of grief or anger or sadness towards her father who abandoned them. The same goes for Khatti, he was literally hugging her but he didn’t hear her inner voice either. She neither cursed anyone nor felt angry, she might be a mute person but a person with no inner voice. How is that even possible?

Suddenly with Khatti’s mention he remembered his dream and he went red.
“Aryan Singh Rathore, stop thinking about that dream. Your mind is repeating those scenes again, stop it. You shouldn’t think things like this when you are…” suddenly he remembered something and went silent. Tears accumulated near his eyes which got washed by the water from the shower.
He exclaimed, “You... you are anything but not a virgin so there’s nothing to feel so weird about. Aryan have you forgotten that you hate female touch though you slept with so many girls only to forget that girl’s touch. Now you are dreaming about sex? Though you have been out of woman's touch for the last three years, don't forget you have slept with different girls once only to keep that hatred alive.”

"Our love is pure as the white cloth without stains, our love has the innocence that blossoms like flowers, our love is like vines which grows more and more with time, our love has thorns which will protect us from any evil. What does this make one think of?" enquired Imlie.
“I feel like some white flower,” replied Aditya.
“And a flower which grows in vines to be specific and it has thorns” deduced Harshit.
“Maybe white climbing roses” guessed Aditya.
“No, we don’t have white climbing roses in Pagdandia but…” Imlie suddenly remembered something.
“But?” Harshit repeated her with his own questioning expressions.
“But, we do have a bougainvillea vine in Sarpanch’s house though it’s known as the most deserted vine as it never had flowers. So I don’t know if it will be white or pink flowers but they had made the ground as a garden below the vines. Brother, send someone to dig up that ground we might find something there” said Imlie.
"You might be absolutely correct Imlie"

Aditya looked at them, he was confused but his mind was saying that Imlie and Harshit knew each other from beforehand. Suddenly Chavi exclaimed, “We have a white bougainvillea bush in our house too near the bathroom area and flowers do bloom in that bush”

“Chavi!” screamed Dulari lal in anger.
“His frustration said everything, brother we might end up digging the dead today” remarked Imlie.
Harshit sent two teams of police officers to the village head’s house and Dulari lal’s house. They would take some villagers to dig up the areas hence Harshit estimated the real news would reach him only after half an hour. It was almost six o’clock.
“Brother, we need to find one more person whose identity I don’t know right now” exclaimed Imlie.
“Who?”
“Chandrakanta '' uttered Imlie.

As Imlie said the name Meethi who brought a glass of water on Dulari Devi’s request was shocked to her core by the name she just heard. The glass fell down from her hand and everyone looked at her.
“Gudia, how do you know this name?” yelled Meethi.
“I just guessed the name, Amma, did you know her?”
“She was someone who betrayed her mother and me, her best friend and ran away with her lover to some different village. For twelve years her mother tried to find her like some lunatic and died drowning in the river. She is the worst human being” said Meethi.
“Amma, neither her lover survived nor she. You are hating the wrong person.” replied Imlie softly.
“You are lying” shouted the village head who was still there sitting on the ground. The police had not taken him yet as the case was getting lengthy.
“Gudia what are you saying?” Meethi sat on the ground unable to process anything.
Dulari Devi and Chavi ran towards Meethi to comfort her when Harshit’s cell phone rang.

Imlie looked towards his face while he spoke on the call. After he was done he looked at Imlie and said, “Two skeletons were found from both the places. We arrested their wives too, the Sarpanch’s sons are coming here after hearing the news. We didn’t arrest them yet as the murders were eighteen years old. But there’s something strange, today the bush is filled with white flowers”

Imlie looked at Harshit surprised and turned her head towards the Village Head.

“The two skeletons must be of Chandrashekhar and Chandrakala. Where did you bury Chandrakanta?” asked Imlie to the Village Head.
“There is no third person, the bushes are the symbol of true love where we rested two lovers. The story of Chandra and Sekhar belongs to true love now you have woken them up from their peaceful sleep” shouted the Village head.
“Shut up… Chandrashekhar loved Chandrakanta not Chandrakala, for eighteen years you guys have lied. Truth never stays hidden and today the truth will wake up. I will ask you once more what did you do with Chandrakanta’s body?” Imlie retorted.

“She rests in the forest behind the temple of Goddess Sita, below the white bougainvillea bush which never blossomed like the one in the Sarpanch’s house but I am sure since this had flowers blooming in it for the first time in eighteen years that bush will be filled with flowers too”

Imlie and everyone looked at the person’s face who said this.
“Satirth Bhaiyya(brother)” exclaimed Imlie.

Songs Used:-
~Middle of the Night(Elley Duhe)
~Roshni se Bhare Bhare(Abhijeet, Alka Yagnik) [Movie: Asoka]

Well for a second did the genre changed to Smut? I don't mind though. Next chapter will open the mystery of the extra heartbeat.
Yours Mimi(❁´◡`❁)