|Impossible Love S2| Note:Pg70 - Page 40

Pia was in the dark again.

And she felt weaker. Drained emotionally and physically.

And she felt alone.

The cool voice that had become a part of her now whispered, ''Don't panic, girl. Think. She is not coming back until tonight, think.''

Pia felt around with her hands for the lantern. Nothing. She tried her feet, she lifted a leg and gently patted her feet up and over the ground. Her foot hit something that fell over. She nudged it towards herself.

''Got it!'' Pia reached out and grabbed the lantern, she switched it on and looked around.

The cave she was in had uneven walls, and rocks hung above her. It was a silver mine. There were posts around her, like the one she was tied to.

The wall on her right was beautiful. It wasn't just rock, it was rough grey rock with pale pink quartz. Silver comes in quartz sometimes, she had read that somewhere. But that didn't do her any good.

She started to panic again. She had light, but nothing to work with. Suddenly, her whole body was shaking. Her breath stopped and her skin felt electrified. She had quartz.

She put the lantern down. She picked up a piece of quartz from the ground. Crystal. Fine. Workable. She knew how to make a tool out of this. She'd never done it, ofcourse, but Maithali had done it all the time.

It was easy. There were rocks all around her. She picked one up with a rounded surface, and started working.

When her weapon was ready, she jumped up, forgetting her weakness. She picked up her lantern. She used the sharp edges of her weapon to cut the ropes, and walked back where Maya had come from. The walls were so narrow they touched her shoulders, and so low she had to duck her head. They all led to a dead end.

She was walking along a pathway when she realized how Maya had gotten in. She was standing underground, a hundred feet from the earth. It was like a giant chimney, except that the walls were not close to each other. They weren't even parallel. No human could get out this way.

She shouted, staring up at that little ray of sunlight.

The voice inside her whispered again. ''Nobody is going to come and rescue you. You have to rescue yourself.''

Pia stood there for a minute, clutching the lantern tighter before running back where she came from. She improved her weapon, fashioned the tip, making it thin and sharp. She used the quartz to maximize the smoothness and sharpness. She held out the finished tool.

She had a stake. A very good stake.

Pia sat down, switched the lantern off and waited.

-

It was late Monday afternoon and the sun was streaming through the windows of the farmhouse. Raj was wearing a new shirt that covered the scars on his throat and arms. ''There was a rogue werewolf in this town.''

''Right, what did you do?''

''I took care of that.'' Raj bent over and took the quilt off the wolf. It was a charred and contorted corpse. It had given Misha shivers when Raj had insisted on pulling it out of the car.

''Sorry, it does smell like burnt hair, doesn't it? I had to keep him in the fire..''

''You burned him alive?''

''Well, it is one of the traditional methods-''

''Just put the blanket back, all right?''

Raj put it back. ''So, you see, everything's taken care of. No humans involved, no killing necessary.''

''Yeah, all right..'' Shankar was still looking at the quilt.

Raj paused. ''And, by the way, Rhea knew about this wolf. She wanted to hunt for herself, and she helped me finish this thing off. Nothing illegal about that, is there?''

''What? Oh, no.'' Shankar looked back at him. ''So, she's coming back now that she's learned it?''

''Well, not yet. She is staying.''

''Staying?'

''Right. Look, I am the head of the family after dad, and I say she is staying.''

''Raj..''

''It's about time there is someone responsible in this area, don't you think? You see what's happened without one. You get families of werewolves wandering around killing people. Somebody's got to stay here and hold down the rules.''

''Nobody will agree, Raj. Nothing but animals to feed on, nobody but humans to be with-''

''it's a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Is living your whole life isolated on an island any better?''

''This isn't much better, either.'' Shankar looked away.

''Then it serves Rhea right. Maybe she will start appreciating the island more. And then we can hand over the job to someone else.''

''No one else is going to come here.''

''Well.'' With the battle won, and Shankar looking around as if he wanted to get back to the supernatural world as soon as possible, Raj allowed himself a small truth. ''I might come visit her someday.''

-

It was a very long time before Pia heard footsteps again.

The cool wind voice was gone, and she was scared. She was going to be dead. She had a weapon- so did Maya. Maya was faster and stronger. She was no match for Maya, she was week and feverish.

She thought about the Circle Unity people. They were good people. She wanted to know them better, to meet them, to help them. They were doing something important, something good.

And she thought about Abhay.

He will probably go back to wandering again. He didn't have a happy life. She wanted to take that sadness out of his eyes..

When she heard a noise, she froze. Footsteps. Coming closer and closer.

She's coming.

Pia shifted position. She crouched near an adjoining pathway and took a deep breath. She wiped her palm on her jeans and got a better grip on her stake.

She figured that Maya would shine the flashlight towards the pole where Pia had been tied, and take a few steps inside, trying to see what was going on. That was when she'd do it. She'd come out of the darkness behind her. Jump and push the stake right through her back.

The light came closer. Pia watched it. It wasn't a flashlight beam, it was a lantern, she had another one.

Maya was walking in. Walking quickly. She didn't check the pole yet. She didn't even need to check on Pia. She was that confident.

Her plan in ruins, she stood up. She heard a crack in her knee that sounded as loud as a gunshot. But Maya didn't stop. She kept going. She was almost at the pole.

As silently as she could, Pia followed her. All Maya had to do was turn around to see her, but she didn't. She stopped and looked around.

Pia was behind her.

Now was the time. Pia knew how to stab, to throw her weight in the push so that the stake went in under her left shoulder blade. But she couldn't.

She couldn't stab somebody in the back. Somebody who didn't even know they are in danger.

A voice inside her whispered, ''You're not a killer. You can't do it.''

Frustrated, Pia inhaled sharply. She was crying. Her arm dropped. Her muscles collapsed. She wasn't doing it. She couldn't do it.

Maya slowly turned around. She was staring at the stake. ''You are the strangest girl I have ever met. Why didn't you do it? You were smart enough to get yourself out and make yourself a weapon. Why didn't you have the guts to finish it?''

She was going to die now, she thought. Maybe die for good- because she didn't have guts. Because she couldn't kill somebody who is completely evil and determined to kill her. That is not ethics. That is stupid.

''Oh, well, it really doesn't matter why.'' Maya said. ''It all comes down to the same thing in the end. Now. Let's get this over with.''

Pia couldn't even move her muscles anymore. She was too tired. Every part of hers hurt, her throbbing head, her raw fingertips, her bruised feet.

''Don't touch her!'' Abhay shouted from the mouth of the cave.

-

''He did a beautiful job. We heard it all from the kitchen. You would have loved it.'' Panchi grinned.

''Shankar can't wait to get away.'' Rhea smiled, intertwining her fingers with Kabir's.

The big kitchen was warm and bright, but the windows were darkening. She couldn't see anything in the darkness, in the last two days, the effects of her blood exchanged had faded. She was an ordinary human again.

''Are you sure you won't get in trouble?'' Misha asked.

''No. I will tell our dad the truth ' mostly. An outlaw werewolf killed some humans and that I killed the werewolf. And Rhea is better off here, hunting quietly and watching out for other rogues. There has to be some record of the Chauhan family, he can check all the history he wants.''

''A whole family of outlaw werewolves.'' Panchi shook her head.

''Crazy werewolves.'' Raj corrected. ''They were as dangerous to the Vampire Clan as any vampire hunters could be.''

''And it was my fault you didn't know.'' Rhea's brown eyes were troubled. She looked at Misha. ''I told you he couldn't be the killer, I am sorry.''

Misha held her gaze. ''Rhea, you are not going to feel guilty for this. You couldn't have realized. He wasn't killing for food like a normal werewolf. He was killing to protect his territory.''

''And it might have worked.'' Kabir shrugged. ''Except that you guys didn't have anywhere else to go.''

''Well.'' Raj looked at Kabir. ''Speaking of the territory, what about you?''

''Me, uh.. well, when you get down to it, I am kind of a hamburger guy. I don't need territory..''

''I tried to take him hunting last night.'' Rhea interrupted. ''Just to show him. He threw up.''

''I didn't, actually-''

''Yes, you did.''

''So, I take it you're not going to become a werewolf or a vampire?'' Raj asked.

''Let's just say, not anytime soon.'' Kabir answered.

''So, everything is taken care of.'' Panchi leaned back on the sofa.

''Seems like it.'' Raj hesitated. ''Shankar is waiting down the road. I told him it would only take a couple hours to finish making arrangements and saying goodbye.''

Silence. ''I'll see you off.'' Misha looked up.