******Part 16******
{the sections in Italic are flashbacks, the green color text is song lyrics}
"Didi!" Myra called interrupting the two friends; Naintara extracted herself and quickly looked at Myra, catching on the panic in her voice.
"What happened?" Naintara asked seeing the panic in Myra's eyes. Myra darted her eyes at Kirty Ma'm not sure whether to discuss anything in front of her.
"woh…." Myra hesitated, her eyes again darting towards Kirty ma'm.
"Kirty is family, Myra!" Naintara stated understanding Myra's reluctance.
"Woh… G-Geet…" Myra stammered.
"Kya hua?" Naintara asked, her eyes surveying the party hall in search of Geet, there was no sign of her and neither could she see Maan.
"Myra, What happened?" This time it was Kirty who asked, placing a comforting hand on Myra's shoulder, to calm her loud breathing.
"I d-don't know… she j-just….. i-I think she was a-about to h-have a seizure....." Myra stammered, remembering the wide eyes of Geet, her dilated pupils, the way her body had gone completely stiff, hard as a rock, her fingers digging into Maan Veerji's hand. Myra knew the signs, identified the symptoms as the pre-attack of seizure. Myra using her instinct had softly commanded Maan Veerji to take Geet back to their room. Maan Veerji not comprehending his wife's sudden behavior had followed the order and discreetly walked out of the party hall with his wife, tightly gripping her around the waist, as he pushed her hard body to move forward.
"kahan hai woh?" Naintara asked, her forehead creased with worry.
"Maan Veerji took her to their room" Myra answered softly.
"Myra, you stay here, Kirty and I will go check on Geet" Naintara informed.
"But I wanna come too" Myra said. Naintara stopped in mid-stride and turned back quickly, a frown firmly planted on her lips.
"Myra, we have guests and you are going to play the perfect host! and don't say anything to anyone, not even DadiMa, I don't want her worrying about it!" Naintara instructed in a low even voice before swiftly turning and heading out.
"Naintara, you head on, I will just bring my emergency case" Kirty said as they stepped in the living area. Naintara nodded at her friend, and turned towards the staircase.
************
"LET ME OUT" Geet screamed, as soon as the door slammed shut and she found herself in complete darkness.
"Brij Bhaiyaji…. Please…. let me out…. I am sorry…. please…. please… LET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"MANNEEE….. Please….. MANNEE….. OPEN THE DOOR! PLEASE…. Get me out of here…. MANNEE...." She screamed, yelled and cried out for help…. calling out for her brothers in the hope of being taken out from the darkness….
"LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!" She screamed again and again and again, as loud as her little lungs could manage, her legs banging at the door, her small hands clawing on the door; fingernails broke, blood oozed out but she still continued.
"Get me out…. please get me out…. Manneee… please…. please…. please" Geet pleaded banging on the door but she soon ran out of breath and broke down in silent sobs of panic and fear before starting another round of screaming for help….. help to be rescued from the cold darkness…. blackness….blackness that surrounded her….and silence that echoed in the tiny closet….. her eyes only saw the darkness…. her ears heard nothing else except her own silent cries and loud breathing…. The blackness terrified her…. scaring her into a frenzy, panic enveloped her, engulfed her as she moved her head in the hope of seeing anything but black…. only to gaze at the darkness….
"Let me out! Please…. don't leave me here…. Please….. Baba!.... Please…. Baba…. Help me…. Please" She screamed again as she tried her best to open the locked door… her trembling hands twisted the door knob, banged the door, clawed at the hard wood with desperation, wanting to see light, wanting.... hoping for someone to come and unlock the door, to free her from the darkness that surrounded her. For hours she continued with her banging and screams until finally exhausted her small body slid down on the floor, the tears pooled down her face as she wrapped her tiny arms around her legs and held them close to her body.
"please… please…. please…." She whispered to herself as she waited…. sobbing silent tears as she rocked her body continuously for the next hour….. but then suddenly the rocking stopped, her eyes widened in horror as she felt something crawl on her back, her body stilled, her hands instantly clasped over her mouth, muffling her cries. She sat still… too petrified to move….. minutes or hours….she didn't know which passed by but she still sat still as the thing that was on her back moved slowly and explored her back, she cringed inwardly as the slime thing moved down her back, coming round her stomach, she felt it's tiny feet crawl on her body. The tears glided down her cheeks, her eyes wide open stared in the complete darkness, and her mouth covered with her hands holding the bile in, her body shuddered as she felt another thing on her feet.
"No…. no… please… NO!" She screamed in terror, her body thrashing violently in an attempt to get rid of the two unknown things that explored her body….. knowing but not wanting to name the things…. her body recoiled and quivered in revulsion as the things moved over her body….. the bile rose back up in her mouth as she could no longer control the nauseated feeling…. Her body involuntary bent forward as she opened her mouth and retched out the bile that she had been holding onto for hours.
….
….
Hands are shaking cold
These hands are meant to hold
Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
Move along
Move along
So a day when you've lost yourself completely
Could be a night when your life ends
Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving
All the pain held in your
Hands are shaking cold
Your hands are mine to hold
…..
…..
…..
"no… no… no… please…get me out… please…. get me out of here… Mannee… please…." She cried, her hands clutching her head, her fingers pulling at her hair in agitation…. she didn't know how much time passed since she was thrown and locked into the dark, clustered tiny closet…. all she knew was that she clawed and fought with everything around her, trying to find an escape.
….
….
when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
Move along
….
….
sound…. she heard the sound….. finally, she had heard some sound….. no it wasn't her own silent screaming not the sound of the blood pounding in her ears, this sound was different…. This sound was loud…. So loud that she had to cover her ears and clench her eyes shut as she felt the floor vibrate at the loud noises that cracked through her closed closet….. the loud violent noise had her shrinking back into the wall…. It was lightning…. thunder…. a storm….. the worst one in past the decade…. the noises so loud that it had her shivering and holding herself tightly, her eyes tightly shut….
"Make it stop…. Make it stop…. Please make it stop" She pleaded, her fingers gripping her hair and pulling at it in the hope of feeling pain…. Wanting to feel something… something different….. something that was not fear…. For never had she felt such fear in her 8 years of life….the silent tears descended down her cheeks as she curved herself into a ball, wrapping her hands around her little body, sometimes calling out to her mother in soft whispers…. and sometimes whispering the lyrics that Mannee always sung to her…..
….
.…
***********
Maan turned to close the door, letting go of his hold on his wife…. two steps…. he had only taken two steps, his hand was already on the door in an attempt to close it when he heard the scream…. the loud anguished scream from his wife that pierced through his whole body…. he hastily swept around… only to see his wife crumpled to the floor and heard her screams of agony… of terror….. her shrieks were loud… so loud that they echoed throughout the room, throughout the whole hallway, he only hoped no one heard them in the party hall…… he was unable to move as if frozen in his stance…. too shocked at seeing the anguish and hearing the painful screams that escaped from his wife…. he did nothing for the longest time…. stood still and gazed at his wife inquisitively as if he had never seen her before…. he stared at her balled form, watched as her body convulsed violently with her loud screaming…. her hands outstretched as if clawing something… her legs were thrashing as if fighting something…. her eyes wide open in terror, her face damp with tears…..
Naintara had just reached the top of the stairs when she heard the agonizing scream; she hurriedly turned to the hallway that lead to her brother's room, her hands shook with trepidation, her eyes widening with surprise and fear at hearing the anguished with scream. It had sounded like someone in terrible pain…. another scream filled the hallway…. Naintara quickly stepped into her brother's room barely glanced at him, who stood still staring down at his wife, too shocked to react. Naintara quickly ran to Geet, crouching down on the floor beside her…. terror coursing through her, she gathered the young girl into her arms.
"Geet" She whispered. "Geet…. Pari… wake up…. It's only a dream…. Geet?.... Pari…. Please… it's not true…. Whatever you are seeing… it's not happening…. your safe…. Geet? Do you hear me? Geet? …. You are safe, Geet….. safe with your family…. Geet?" She tried to comfort the girl, holding on tightly to the girl's thrashing body, having no idea what had caused such pain and terror in the girl….
"It's alright Pari…. you are okay…. everything is fine" Naintara soothed the girl, loosening her hold once the thrashing subsided, she gently rubbed the girl's back whispering soothing words… doing everything like she had at often times done in the past when her own daughter woke from a nightmare. She didn't know what caused such behavior from Geet... she didn't know what terror engulfed the girl… she didn't know what torment the girl was going experiencing… all she knew was she had to cease the girl from her violent thrashing and bring her back from the nightmare she was living before she ended up hurting herself…..
********
minutes…. hours….. days….passed as she stayed in the darkness, stayed in the small closet, banged and clawed with her hands and legs till she lost her strength, screamed and pleaded till her voice cracked, cried and prayed…. but no one heard…. no one came…. no sound, no voice, no guardian angel for her rescue….. the energy drained from her, she lay scrunched down on the cold marble, ….. breathing in the smell of her own blood, her dress stinking of urine and vomit she was unable to hold…. her body shivering from the cold, exhaustion, hunger and thirst disabling her to scream and cry out for help…..her mouth dry, her lips parched…
….
….
hours…. days without water, without any food…. her body felt too heavy, her legs and feet hurt from the crunched position she was in…. the closet too small to stretch her body…. her eyelids felt too heavy to lift… she didn't open her eyes… not even when she felt those things back on her body exploring her form….. her sobs, and cries for help ceased….. she knew it was futile, knew there was no one out there to hear her cry of help… she knew her family had already left for their one week trip…. she knew it was her end… she knew she would die before her family came back….
….
….
….
Three days….
…..It was nearly three days later when the darkness was suddenly broken by a dim light and she heard her brother 's voice, trying to wake her from her slumber, she felt him lift her tired body in his strong but gentle hands…. he kept her steady in his arms as he climbed up the stairs towards his room… She couldn't see, her eyes felt too heavy, she had no energy left to lift her heavy lids and see the distressed look on her brother; but she heard his soft cries, his soothing words, felt his gentle caress as he wiped her tears and brushed the damp hair from her face….. she slipped into the deep slumber that called to her… no longer able to hold on to her consciousness…..
…..
…..
…..
"Baby?... Geet?... Baby…. Please, open your mouth, Baby"
Her brother's soft commanding voice penetrated…. Disturbing her from the peacefulness she had been embraced in…… She struggled to return back to her tranquility but her brother's insisting voice brought her back to consciousness…. His soft voice urging her to open her mouth, demanding her to drink the fluids; she didn't open her mouth… she couldn't… every part of her body felt too heavy move…. But she still heard her brother's voice asking her to open her mouth... moments later she felt something warm being pushed between her dried lips… she felt the liquid fill in her mouth and slip down her throat…. it seemed like the process continued on forever as she half consciously swallowed the liquid that was pushed into her mouth continuously…
….
….
…..
Minutes…. Hours…. Days…. She didn't knew how long she stayed unconscious, drifting back into the deep slumber… but it wasn't a peaceful sleep…. her body convulsed, her screams and pleadings echoed in the room as she relived the terror over and over again in her sleep…. ….
….
….
"Ma-nne-e" Geet whispered in her cracked voice when she felt her brother wipe her face, her hands and her feet but this time with something soft and wet and in quick, gentle strokes, probably trying to wipe the tears and the blood away. Every time her senses returned, she felt her brother beside her, his hand patting her forehead, or wrapped around her waist as he held her close to him, calming her quivering body, assuring her, comforting her.
…..
…..
…..
Sometimes she woke to feel her hair tousled and damp with her brother's tears…. "Oh! baby, baby, I'm sorry; I didn't know you…Geet? Please forgive me…. please….baby?" Geet heard his soft cries of apology….. "Please… don't hate me… please…. I am so sorry….I should have come sooner… I shouldn't have left you there in the first place…. I am sorry, Baby… sorry… sorry…."
Her dreamless sleeps were ceased after that incident for she never slept a peaceful sleep again…. they were filled with the terror she had experienced….. it never left her…. the terror of dark, lightening, lizards, and loud voices only deepened more after the incident….. No one realized the torment she went through…. no one could understood the mental trauma she suffered after that experience… they would never know how much the experience had scarred the eight year old girl's life…. never again did she speak to any of her family members…. they never heard her raised voice again.... she never defied anyone again…. only answered when questioned…..and never did she touch anything that she wasn't allowed to……
***********
"Geet… it's only dream….you are safe… Pari" Naintara whispered, holding the girl tightly in her arms, placing a kiss on her head.... rubbing her back till her screams ceased….
"Maan!" Kirty called out as she stepped into the room carrying her ermergency case… she quickly observed Naintara holding Geet in her arms….
Maan looked up at hearing his name, still in a daze from the shock… "please get Geet settled on the bed" Maan nodded his head at Jiji, leaned down and tentatively lifted his wife in his arms; placing one hand over her shoulders and another at the back of her knees…
He walked up to his bed in long strides, leaning down to gently place his wife on the bed but she quickly wound one arm around his neck while the other clutched on his shirt collar. He looked up at Jiji, not knowing what to do.
"Just settle yourself with her" Kirty said, her eyes staring intently at Geet.
Geet's screams subsided into sobs as she cried against Pati's chest. She was murmuring incoherently as she leaned into him, clutching Pati's shirt. "What?" Maan whispered.
Geet gasped for breath, face still buried in Pati's chest. "I - " She choked through her soft sobs. "Not supposed to... shouldn't have….. not allowed…." she whispered brokenly through her sobs which only increased in volume.
"dark…. too dark.... please….. not the darkness… please….please…. Mannee…. please…."
"There is no darkness Geet… open your eyes sweets, Dekho yahan sirf roshni hain…. Geet?" Maan whispered, rubbing her back and caressing her hands that refused to let go of him.... her hold only seemed to tighten as she held herself close to him, burying her face deeper into the curve of his neck. She refused to open her eyes and see her surroundings… refused to come out of the trance she was buried in…
Maan didn't understand her strange frightened behavior, why was she speaking of darkness when they were surrounded in light?......what nightmare was she dreaming of that held such a power over her that she refused to come out of it?......
"Mannee… please… don't leave me… Ma… please… it hurts… please… the pain... Mamma…. Mannee….. please… make it stop… please…." Geet pleaded through her sobs, she wanted her mother…. she wanted Mannee… she wanted out of her darkness…
"It's okay… Geet, you are safe now… there is no pain… no hurt… you are safe… safe with me" Maan whispered tightening his arms around her, brushing her hair away from her face. He didn't know what else to say, it wasn't something that he did every day, he was not one who could give comfort to others. But he felt a deep pain in his heart seeing his wife of nearly two days sobbing in his arms…. hating himself for not knowing what had caused such pain to his wife….
Geet lifted her head up and gazed at Pati's face, tears casting down her cheeks, her honey brown eyes looking into the dark ones with hopefulness. Maan breathed in upon facing his wife… tears smudged her makeup, hair stuck on her damp face, eyes clouded with tears, lips quivering in fright…. she held such anguish in those eyes that made Maan want to protect her from every evil in the world…
"no pain?.... no more hurt?" Geet asked her voice barely audible as she gazed into Pati's eyes.
"Yes… no one will hurt you now…. I will keep you safe" Maan whispered fiercely, wiping her tears with his thumb.
"You won't whip me?.... will you?" Geet asked in a low whisper.
"No! I will never hurt you" Maan assured, shocked at her question…. he could never think of hurting her…
The door slammed closed, loud click of it being locked…. the noise had Geet moving closer to Pati, startled by the noise "Please… didn't mean to… not suppose to" Geet cried out breaking into sobs once again. Maan glared at his sister as she turned after locking the door and stalked up to them.
"shh… it's fine… it's okay… every things okay" Maan murmured close to her ear, rubbing her arms and continued to whisper comforting words till her sobs subsided.
"Naintara!" Kirty warned hearing the loud bang of the door and seeing her marching towards Geet and settling herself on the other side.
"Please… no loud voices" Naintara nodded her head at Kirty's order.
"Can you please move so I can examine her" Kirty asked staring at Naintara who didn't want to leave Geet's side.
Naintara sighed, placed a comforting hand on Geet's arm before moving away to let Kirty examine her. Geet cringed away from her touch burying her face deeper into Pati's chest, clutching onto his shirt tightly. Puzzling Maan and Naintara both at her actions… minutes ago she had clutched on to Naintara crying out loud sobs and now cringed from her touch….
Kirty moved on the bed, settling herself beside Geet's form. She brushed Geet's hair back from her shoulders, her fingers dabbed on the girl's chest, moving over to her neck and gliding down her arm and stopping at her wrist, to feel the girl's pulse.
Geet cringed away from the touch, leaning into her pati. Her body shuddered in repuls at feeling the hand gliding on her body, reminding her of the things that had explored her body in the dark closet…..
Maan felt Geet's body shuddering and moving closer into him. He forced his urge down from wanting to stop Jiji from her examination, knowing it was for the best after all Jiji was a doctor. He spoke to Geet instead. "Geet, come now. It's only an examination… it won't hurt you at all…. she is just checking your pulse rate" He encouraged, whispering into her ears, his lips touching her skin, his breath fanning on her jaw and ear.
"Her heartbeat is low" Kirty said, drawing Geet's attention on her. She stared at the girl, her hand still on the girl's wrist.
Geet shifted herself in Pati's arm, drew back her head and turned, her eyes staring at Kirty…. she blinked, her eyebrows creased….. as she studied the new face…. and then suddenly she was staring into darkness…. she felt the same dawning, suffocating sensation again… the same panic and horror she had felt nearly ten years ago in the dark closet…her neck pricked with gooseflesh, her throat and lips suddenly dry, her breathing erratic….
"Geet!" Maan cried seeing his wife. "Jiji, kya hua isse?" Maan asked, his voice vibrating with worry.
Kirty moved forward, grasping Geet's face, clamping her fingers over the girl's chin and tilting her head up. She gasped staring at the girl's eyes, they were hazy and blurred, and her irises suddenly appeared twice their usual size….
**********Angel**********
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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