Part 3
Milind and Prachi broke away all of a sudden when they heard a loud knock on the door. When turned, they saw Roberto walking in. Prachi's eyes widened in shock as she realized what has just happened and the state she was in. she quickly covered herself with the robe that was half way slid off from her shoulders. Prachi felt an immediate regret as she thought of what has just happened. Her response to his advances clearly showed that she too wanted what he want as well. She shivered as she knew that it wasn't good at all.
Milind however averted his gaze from Prachi as he was in total fury and she could tell the way his eyes has gone red. She also thought that she saw his pupils dilate large and got darker. A shiver ran down her spine and then she glanced at Roberto who stood there with his hands fisted into a ball by his side.
"Is everything alright master?" Roberto asked and Milind just stared at him. Prachi noticed that his voice has lightly shaken while he spoke.
"everything is fine" Milind replied glaring at Roberto. Prachi watched the silent conversation between the two and knew that what's coming up is not good.
"yes Roberto everything is fine, just had a nightmare" Prachi said forcing a smile and wishing that Milind would stop scaring the poor old man.
"of course" Roberto said and bowed lightly and made his exit not daring to meet his masters eyes.
When the door closed with a soft click, Milind turned to look into at Prachi and then almost with a flick, his expression changed. he smiled and gently cupped her face and brought her near to kiss her temple and prachi gently trembled.
"how are you feeling now?" He asks her and Prachi looked at him and nodded her head numbly. And when she nodded her head indicating that she was okay now, Milind smiled and added. "good, then I'll see you tomorrow evening" Milind made Prachi lay down on the bed and then he looked at her with so much of adoration before tucking a strand of her hair back her ear and kissing her temple once more before leaving the room.
When Milind left the room, Prachi sat up and buried her head in her palms. 'what have I done' She thought as regret itched through her. she knew she shouldn't have given herself away to him like that. what will he think now? if it haven't been for Roberto, she knew that she would have been a place where there would be of no return. She laid down on the bed and felt the tears sting in her eyes. 'oh dear god please don't let it be love' she squeezed her eyes shut as she deciding that she would leave the first thing in the morning as she cannot stay back even though she had to.
In Milind's room
"I-I—I didn't intend---t-too—in-in-intrude" Roberto choked the words out as Milind strangled him up on the wall.
"I told you I don't want anyone around when I'm with her" Milind roared further choking him up. Roberto's feet were almost in air now. Roberto tried to free Milind hand from his neck fighting for air. Roberto's eyes blazed in horror as he knew that his master was a very hot headed person and will never want anyone to come between his and his love. he saw his masters eyes, inky black with pupils which was now fully dilated and also his fangs that has come out more and even more sharper.
Milind held Roberto high up more and then all of a sudden, his eyes soften and the color too has returned back to normal, his charcoal eyes. Milind slowly released the old man and stepped away and faced to face outside his window which showed nothing more than the pitch black night.
Choking, Roberto got up and then said, "I'm sorry master but I had to stop you"
"I know, I got carried away" Milind replies raking a hand through his hair with frustration. "damn I should have known" he hit his fist hard on glass window shattering it to thousand pieces. Milind glanced at his hand which has cut deeply and blood has started to ooze out almost at the very instant. He laughed softly and watched his wound to heal up on its own. Roberto on seeing this grabbed a towel from his cupboard and handed it to Milind who wiped away the blood which looked like it had only been stained. There wasn't even a wound on the place where he has cut himself a moment ago.
"you know Roberto, even though my wounds heal on its own, I still couldn't save Prachi that night, I could have saved her"
"Master its not your fault, you were being held captive with those chants and men—"
"yes but still, I was a powerful vampire then and still am and yet I couldn't save her" he said rubbing his brows. "she will never forgive me"
"Master, it wasn't your fault and you have to have patience, she is yet to remember what happened in her past life"
"I know" Milind sighed shutting his eyes trying to block away those awful memories he had been carrying for years. He could still hear her the agonizing scream of hers. How can he ever forget? It was too painful to bare and to see seeing the only person whom he had loved so dearly dying at the hands of his own mother.
Yes, it was his mother who had plunged that dagger into her chest and tossed her into the water like a ragged doll. It all happened right in front of his eyes and he still wished that he could have been able to stop his mother sooner….
Milind closed his eyes once again as he rested on his bed, remembering the time he had first met her and an automatic smile played on his lips.
The next morning, Prachi woke up as she felt a sudden rush of light expose onto her. as she fluttered her eyes open, she saw Maria standing at the dark corner of the room with a tray in her hands.
"what are you doing there Maria?" Prachi asked rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn.
"I'm sorry madam but I'm sort of allergic to light"
"oh is that so? So why did you open the curtains?" Prachi said getting up and rushing to close the curtains. The room turned into complete darkness and then Prachi saw her give a huge sigh of relief before stepping out from the dark corner.
"if you had allergy, how did you open the curtains?"
"technology miss, just one button and all is done" Maria chirped and Prachi had to laugh seeing the way she had advertised the remote controller.
"you know you are really good at advertising, you should think about taking it as a profession" Prachi teased her and Maria had immediately become serious, all her humor gone.
"I wont leave this place miss" Maria says before keeping prachi's breakfast tray and leaving the place. Prachi watched her as she made a hasty exist and immediately regretted for saying anything like that. she wondered why it has bothered her so much. she must be really loyal to this family. Prachi suggested and then went to take a shower before she start her work. It was still early in the morning and she wish to leave sooner as she doesn't want to stay back anymore. it hurts to stay back knowing well that she was very much falling in love with Miind mishra. And she couldn't let it happen, not since it was him.
After her morning routine, she got herself ready and went out of her room with her camera dangling in one hand. She wasn't much of a photographer but she was always appreciated for her striking pictures she took. She didn't know why, all she did was take a master from journalism and not in photography. She had never known how to handle a camera till she was eighteen. Unexpectedly, her father had came with her birthday gift that night and handed her her first camera and just for fun, she started to take pictures of different places and thing and started to create her own fantasy world through them.
Smiling at those memories, she walked along the dark, deserted and narrow corridor. In hope she could have a glimpse of Milind Mishra somewhere. She poked her head into the study room. surprisingly it was dark and she breathed a sigh of relief. "good thing he is not here at the moment" she murmured under her breath and pushing open the huge oak door, she walked inside and drew the curtains letting the light stream in. Prachi sighed as she saw the beautiful scenery of the land masses around and she wondered why he kept his place blocked away from the scenery. Turning around, she clicked some pictures of the study and walked around to touch the enormous trophy cupboard. It was full of them. she saw them all was tagged with different names but all had a common last name. "mishra" it was certain that the whole trophy case surely belonged to the entire mishra clan.
Clicking the pictures of them, she saw a neatly put away Pandora box near the far end of the cupboard. Curiosity grew even bigger as she saw the lock opened. She didn't know why but it seemed that it was kept open deliberately as if they knew that she will be interested in taking a look at it. looking around to see if there was anyone in sight, she opened the glass case and pulled the antique box out of its original position and instantly she felt a strange connection through it.
Prachi placed the box on the table and fingered it. but not even a grain of dust was in it. "looks like its kept with great care" Prachi thought out impressed. she was to open when she suddenly felt like as if she was being watched. She could feel so. Her instincts could never go wrong. "is anyone there?" she called out edging towards the door. Slowly, she went near the slightly opened door. Her hands has started to shake and as she touched the door to open, it opened almost immediately and Prachi let out a small squeal of fright.
"I'm sorry madam, did I scare you?" Roberto asked seeing the look on her face. Prachi almost fell backwards. Eyes wide Prachi let out a small laugh. "you really scared me Roberto"
"I'm sorry" the old man apologized and then said. "Master Milind wants me to escort you around the palace" He informed her and Prachi nodded her head with agreement.
"this way Madam" Roberto motioned her out and Prachi clutching her camera tightly in her hands, she went out. before she did, she glanced over her shoulders once again and saw the beautiful Pandora box standing there where she left. When Prachi got out, Roberto took out a small remote and pressed a button and immediately it drew the curtains making the whole study turn into pitch black.
"why cant you leave them open?" Prachi asked and Roberto turned around and answered.
"Master doesn't like it" and with that Prachi felt a shrill run down her spine.
When Prachi stepped outside, the sky had got over shadowed by the clouds which seemed that it might break off to rain any moment. she glanced beside Roberto who was telling her about the wine yard his master owned.
Prachi looked around amazed. Like an over excited school girl, she ran towards the tempting grapes. For a moment, she lost herself to the beauty surrounded and didn't even notice when Roberto quietly slipped away from there leaving Prachi all alone in the deserted wine yard.
Excited as ever, Prachi ran her hand over the tempting, ripe purplish grapes. She plucked one and tossed it in her mouth savoring its juicy taste. 'hmmm' prachi murmured closing her eyes and letting a huge sigh of content. And it was only then Prachi realized that what she was doing. Laughing at her own child like behavior she turned around to ask Roberto if she could take some of the grapes but when she did, he was nowhere in sight.
Prachi scanned around the place but she didn't see a single soul around. and without thinking. Prachi looked up at the sky and almost instantly a drop of rain fell on her eye lids. Feeling like a lost child, she looked around nervously and then began to run aimlessly. She didn't know where to go but as soon as she stepped to run, the rain started to hit hard on her making her jerk with every touch of it.
Prachi was now drenched all over and she was shivering cold. But still she wasn't able to see her way back. terrified, she turned around swiftly and began to search for it. she was sure that Roberto did not take her that far from the Palazzo. Her mind had instantly stopped working as fear flamed up ten fold.
All of a sudden, she slipped and fell down on the muddy ground covering her with mud. Balancing herself, she got up as the rain still poured down heavily and as she got up she felt a sharp pang of pain in her elbow and when she looked at it, she saw that it was scrapped. Holding her paining elbow she got up and she felt like as if she saw something. Wiping away the water from her face, she narrowed her eyes to see better and when did, she saw a barn not so far away from where she stood. Surprised as why she didn't seem to remember passing by it before, she padded lightly not trying to slip away towards the barn.
For now, all she could think of was to get a shelter from the heavy rain that was pouring down like anything. thanking her lucky stars, she stepped into the barn and saw it empty. She expected like any other barn for it to have a horse, but nothing was there and instead the place looked like as if it has been deserted for ages. The place was a ruin with straws carelessly discarded all over. shivering, she went in and sat down over a log that laid nearby and watched the clouds darken even more and the rain to pour even heavier. Looking at it, she knew that it was not going to stop anytime sooner. sighing, she reached for her camera and it was then she realized. gasping with shock, thinking that her precious camera must be now fully destroyed with all the struggling she did out there in the rain.
When she reached for it, she weaved a huge sigh of relief as she saw that her camera was neatly in her pocket. Taking it, she clicked it open and began to search if it was damaged at any point. After examining and seeing zero damage, she put it neatly aside from her and sat back to relax.
She knelt down and soothed the straws aside before lying down. and when she did, she jolted up almost instantly as saw a whiteness wave before her eyes making her vision go blur.
Prachi rubbed her eyes to make it more clear but it was of no use. She saw two figures before her eyes and instantly fear gripped inside her. she rubbed her eyes again harder wanting to make out who they were.
"Prachi wait" Prachi heard a familiar voice calling out to her. Prachi again rubbed her eyes and what she saw made her jolt up to her feet. as the vision got clearer, she began to shake like a leaf. 'how is that possible?' Prachi thought backing away as she saw the two people right in front of her eyes.
It was her, she was standing there. right before her and with no one other than Milind Mishra. How can that be possible? She backed away as fear gripped in her. and with each step she watched them in horror.
Prachie saw herself backing away shyly with her head bent, fiddling with her fingers and
Milind was taking each step forward as she took a step backwards. They were both completely drenched. Prachi felt her back hit on the wall and then saw him blocking her, caging her with his strong hands. she still didn't dare to look at him and saw that her cheeks has flamed to deep red.
Milind brought one of his hands to cup her face and slowly gazed his thumb pad over her lips before bending down and nibbling them with his lips. Prachi let out a small gasp and then closing her eyes, she tilted her head just enough so that he could take his lead and kiss her. and that he did and kissed her senseless. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he too pulled her closer slipping his hands behind her back.
As desire ripped though them, Prachi threw her head back and he gently moved his sensuous lips from her mouth to the softness of her nape. She heard herself moan and Milind pulled her down and making her lie, he stretched himself beside her and began to roam his strong hands over her soft body.
Prachi stood rooted on the spot as she saw herself with Milind like that. she had no idea why she was day dreaming of such. She closed her eyes and then opened praying it to be a dream as she didn't want it to be a reality. It was way too much for her now. she could barely keep up with the promise she had made for herself. How can she when she was seeing such images? It was like as if it wasn't a dream at all but all were reality. Was it a reality? Prachi thought shocked. She knew that she saw blurry dreams like that in the past and often she would talk to her mother about it but she would always brush it off away saying that it was merely a dream and nothing more than that.
But Prachi didn't believe it. she never did try to convince herself as those dreams were very often to her. it was like they were trying to tell her something. And soon after she had come there, to Venice, everything changed. The blurry images she dreamt were no longer blurry but she was now seeing them more clearly and closely as before.
Prachi began to remember the time when she rode to the airport and she was waiting in her taxi for the traffic signal. A priest who just happen to walk by stopped and told her what was awaiting her. she thought that he was saying it just like that as she did here people acting like that just to fool people and Prachi thought that he too was one of them. but now, it all seem to make sense. The dreams, the familiarity of the place, everything….and the words of the priest….she could still hear them out so clearly
"your past awaits you, its time that you remember your past that is going to change your entire future, the incomplete work you left unfinished in your past life will be done in this life, go my child, your past awaits you"
How has the words really hit her now. Prachi slumped down and covered her mouth with her hands as she realized the hard hitting truth. 'it's my second lifetime' she whispered to herself still unable to believe it.
Prachi felt a hand on her shoulder and without even looking back, she knew who it was.
"you knew don't you?" Prachi asked closing her eyes in distress.
"yes" he replied. She felt him move in front of her and then kneel down beside her. Prach still didn't open her eyes as she knew that she could never look into the eyes of the man who loves her so much. but what was she to tell him? that she don't remember anything? what will he think of her? she had no idea. She simply could not bear to turn down someone's hope like that.
Gathering up all the courage, Prachi opened her eyes and saw Milind watching her. with worried in his eyes and also, there was something else. Hope. it was hope. hope that she remember him.
Prachi's eyes welled up and he immediately took her in his arms and began to sooth her. "hush Prachi, its okay"
"I'm sorry Milind" prachi began to cry harder as she still couldn't let herself to remember her past. She could very well see everything but why don't she remember it? the love, the promises? Everything they shared? Why cant she? Prachi clung to him and he held her tightly.
Milind couldn't believe his luck. The wait was finally over. Prachi, his Prachi finally recalled everything about her past. Their love, their life. Everything. His heart swelled with happiness and held her tightly feeling totally secure now. he have nothing to fear. the fear of losing her. She is with him now.
"we are together now, our love united us once more" Milind kept saying unable to hold back and all of a sudden, Prachi stopped trembling as well as her weeping.
Her hold slacken from his and then ever so slowly, she pushed her away from him. her eyes widened in shock. Milind watched her puzzled as she got up and slowly started to back away.
"prachi?"he called out but Prachi backed away more and then she hastily turned her heels and ran outside not caring how hard the downpour was or how lost she was when she came for shelter back there.
Milind watch her dash out and instantly was to go behind her. but he waited back. he knew that if he went behind her, she will never tell him what was wrong. He would wait patiently until she herself come to him and tell him. 'I'll wait Prachi' Milind said to himself as he watched Prachi run towards the Palace.
Prachi didn't know how the palace has come into the sight but there it was standing right in front of her. the grayish walls. She looked back and saw the barn looking like a tiny doll house. Soaking in the rain. There was no sight of milind. She thought he must have followed her, but he didn't and for a moment, she thanked god that he didn't follow her. right now, she needed to be alone. To clear up her own messed up mind.
She reached to the front door and banged hard. Not even bothering to ring the bell. she just needed to do just one thing now. Pack her bag and get out from there so that no one will be hurt. Prachi pound the door harder than before that even her hand started to pain. she waited imapatiently for the door to open but it didn't. she realisd that she was shaking like anything and her legs were frozen to cold and all it kept her from falling down.
"open the door please" Prachi called out but she knew that her voice will not pass through the huge door. Tired and exhausted, she didnt wait for the door and instead went to the other side in search for an alternative door to get into the palace. She knew that much that a palace ofcourse wont have just one entrance.
Taking a deep breath she headed to the west side and saw a small door hidden well with the ivy's that was handing high above.
Reluctantly, she pushed open the door and got herself in sheltering herself from the heavy downpour once again. it was only then she realized how badly she was shaking. It wasn't mostly because she was all drenched. it was because she knew where she had come. It was the west wing! The very west wing, where she was forbade to go.
sorry for the short update...but hope u'l like it...please do comment guys and silent members do hit the 'LIKE' button if u like the update😃
Cricket
