A/N: Hellooo!!!! *Waves frantically*
*Looks right, looks left*
*Sees no one*
*Waits for sometime*
*Sees a reader passing by and drags her over*
Me : Hey!! I know u...You are a reader of ACS, right?
Reader (baffled) : ACS?? What's that?
Me (rolling eyes) : 'Along Came She' of course...Arey, haven't u recognized me? I am federized2210...That FF writer!! Ring any bells?
Reader (realization dawning) : Ooohhh...You!!! Achha...woh wali ACS. What about that?
Me (taken aback) : What do u mean 'what about that'? I have my update ready...but where are all my readers?
Reader (laughing aloud) : Readers? Update? Seriously? U think that updating a 'murder mystery' after 'god-knows-how-many-days' will still keep anyone interested? Huh! Forget it!
Me (pouting) : But...but...I have typed a long chapter...don't u atleast want to glance at it? I was having exams u know *makes sad face*
Reader (considering) : Fine...may be I'll read...But what do I get in return?
Me (eyes narrowing) : Abbey...I am giving u the update...what else do u want?
Reader (pulling face) : Listen miss, don't think so highly of urself. The fact that we are still here should mean a lot to you! So stop with your ego! -_- And fine, we'll read, but don't expect too many comments and likes this time.
Me (mellowing) : Okie! Sorry I got late. Here you go *hands over the update*
*Reader takes the update and goes away saying "Be sure to update the next one on time*
*Me smirking like Vidushi and thinking "Update toh mein tab karungi jab aap logo ke sarey 'Res-ed' comments 'Un-res' ho jaye" *
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Shiya1206, Happy Birthday!!! This one's for u and anyone else whose birthday it might be today! God bless u :*
Excuse the typos! Read & Review
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CHAPTER 14 : The Departed
"Not all love stories are conventional. Sometimes you lose something to realize the value of some other thing. But each one has it's own lessons to teach!"
-Anuradha
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She stood rigid, her fists curled into balls and clutching his shirt. She didn't dare meet his eyes. She had experienced this proximity before as well, but it still never failed to unnerve her. Her face was flushed, ears burning hot and her legs felt like they would give away any second!
He had his right hand on her face, caressing slightly, drawing smooth patterns. His left hand was snaked around her waist, holding her in a tight embrace.
Sanyukta Agarwal and Randhir Shekhawat didn't need to speak to express what they felt. Their silence was the key to their soul.
He was the first one to step away, slowing letting go of her waist and taking a stride back. She raised her eyes and in a fleeting glance caught the expression on his face. His eyes held a certain hesitation...an anticipation...an unspoken plea.
"Randhir" her voice came out in a barely audible whisper. Her lips felt dry, her throat felt unused!
He took another step backwards. She suddenly felt alarmed. Guilt was one emotion she didn't want him to feel. Panicking, she caught his wrist and spoke, "Randhir...I..."
But she couldn't go on. What was she supposed to say? They had just shared their first kiss. What next? She was novice when it came to matters of romance. And to make it worse, he had a girlfriend who had no idea of any of this.
"Your dad will get well Sanyukta. Don't worry", he said, not looking at her.
And with a jolt Sanyukta remembered her father and reason she and Randhir were talking in the first place. The kiss had momentarily made her forget everything.
"Yeah" she uttered, "You know...For a second I...I forgot where we were...It was just you...me and you..."
He looked at her as she spoke those words, his eyes going soft. He took a step towards her, cupped her face gently in his hands and planted a soft kiss on her temple. He then left wordlessly.
Sanyukta looked on as he walked away, her hand unmindfully touching the spot where he had kissed her. And she smiled, a genuine smile, for the first time since her parents had left.
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After a lot of thought, Ishita decided that the best place to hide the book for the time-being would be an abandoned store or something...a place rarely visited by anyone! So she decided to place it the abadoned store near the lab. She carefully sidetracked everyone and proceeded towards the room. She was about to enter it when a voice called out, "Arey Ishita...What are u doing here?"
Ishita stopped dead in her tracks and quickly stuffed the book in her bag. She turned around to come face-to-face with Dr Dinesh Shekhawat. She heaved a sigh of relief.
"Ohh, hey uncle. I was just wondering around...Looking for spare instruments if any..."
Dr DS smiled and replied, "Spare instruments are in the lab. This room is abandoned.."
"Yeah uncle , i hadn't realized it!" said Ishita sheepishly, trying to act innocent.
Dr DS however didn't stick around and left soon. As soon as he left, Ishita took out the book and entered the room. She hid it carefully beneathe a shelf and left quietly. Unbeknownest to her, a pair of eyes followed her every move. And as soon as she left the store, Dr DS entered it, a frown on his face.
Dr DS looked around the store. He was sure Ishita was upto something. She definately had looked jittery when he confronted her. He scanned the room, looked in the shelves, behind the racks of instruments and in the drawers. That's when his eyes fell on a book under one of the shelves. He took it out carefully and opened the first page.
"Belongs to : Randhir Shekhawat" it read.
Dr DS turned the pages of the book and his mouth fell open.
"This is it...this is the book...The guide to the experiments..." he said to himself, "So it had been them...The Mittals...it had been the Mittals all along...Randhir must have had this book with him and Ishita must have stolen it from him...Mittals..."
He fished out his phone and quickly dialed a number. The call got picked on the third ring.
"It's the Mittals...Ishita has the book...she just hid it and it's with me now...This is bad...We have to do something quick and we have to keep Ishita away from Randhir..." said Dr DS.
The person at the other end replied something and Dr DS agreed saying, "Yes, sounds fullproof. I will see what I can do!"
And they hung up.
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Parth, Karan and Smriti were studying in one of the empty classrooms for their upcoming exams.
"Where are Ishi and RD?" Smriti asked.
"I don't know yaar...Ishi wasn't there in class as well...and Randhir...God knows where he has disappeared to!" came Karan's reply.
Parth smiled and said, "Maybe those two are romancing somewhere without us interfering..."
The other two laughed at this and Smriti said, "Typical of them to take off without informing any of us!"
As Karan and Smriti joked about Randhir and Ishita, Parth's thoughts drifted off to Sanyukta. He became a bit sad thinking about how she didn't even text him after their conversation in the canteen.
"Kahan kho gyaa?" Smriti called out to him and he snapped out of his reverie.
"Nothing...just thinking about exams!" he lied, "Listen guys, I will catch up with u both a bit later...Ok?"
The other two nodded and Karan said, "Randhir aur Ishi dikhe toh bol diyo hum yahan hain..."
Parth nodded and left.
He wanted to talk to Sanyukta and ask her if she was avoiding him.
He searched for Sanyukta and found her in the corridor, pacing towards the staff-lobby.
"Sanyukta.." he called out and she halted.
Sanyukta turned to see Parth and her face faltered slightly. Yet she managed a smile.
"Hey" she said.
"Sanyukta, are u avoiding me?" Parth asked bluntly.
Sanyukta was taken aback and replied, "No no...nothing like that. I am in a hurry. I have been called by Prof DS for some scholarship related work...I will see u later ok?"
Parth was disappointed, but hid it and smiled instead, "Ok! Go ahead! Catch u later"
Sanyukta hurried away. She reached the professor's lounge and peeped inside Dr DS's room. But the doctor wasn't there. She decided to wait for him and wondered why she had been sent for so urgently. She looked around the room and that's when her eyes fell on the professor's desk.
It was her book...The specimen copy that Randhir had given her.
"What the..." she muttered as she closed in on the desk and took a better look. She turned the pages and her doubt was cleared. It was her book!
"What in the seven hells is my book doing here?? How did it land up in DS sir's room?" she thought. And she decided that she must have left the book in the lab or something and it was found by the prof!
"Guess that's why he called me" she thought. She was about to take back the book when something stopped her. She wondered if she would be reprimanded for taking the book without permission. And so she decided to wait for the professor to arrive!
She kept waiting for half an hour, but the professor never showed. Finally, Sanyukta decided that she would visit Dr DS some other time and left his chamber.
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Ishita Mittal had just got off the phone with her parents, assuring them that the book was safely hidden and that she'ld visit them the next day and bring it over. She hung up and was about to put the phone away when it buzzed again. This time it was a text, from an anonymous number.
"We know you have the book. If you want answers then come to 'Sanjeevani Complex' within an hour."
Ishita Mittal's heart skipped a beat on seeing the text. The book!
She rushed towards the abadoned store and searched frantically. But the book was nowhere to be found!
"How? How did they know?" her brain couldn't process the situation. No one knew about the book. Not a soul.
"No...she knew...it's her book...Sanyukta...she must have realized the book is missing...she must have followed me here...and the text...OH MY GOD! Sanyukta...Sanyukta Agarwal...she is related to it all...No wonder she wants to get close to Randhir...She wants to know my secret and now she has it! " Ishita's thoughts ran wild. It all fitted perfectly - Sanyukta getting close to Randhir, Sanyukta going to Masjid Road, sanyukta having the book and now the book going MIA!
"What do I do?" she thought feeling helpless, "What am I going to tell mom and dad? Oh goddd...I will have to deal with this myself...I can't tell dad that I lost the book...No I won't do that. I will go to Sanjeevani Complex and see for myself as to who's behind it all. Sanyukta Agarwal, I will crush you!"
Ishita steeled herself. Her sub-consciousness told her that she should be scared, but her heart told her to go ahead. Deep in thought, she started to proceed towards the FMC exit when she bumped into someone.
"Ouch...What the-.." she paused as she came face-to-face with Randhir.
One look at his face was enough to tell her that he was guilty about something. His face was flushed and he was suddenly stammering.
"Is-ishita...Where were u? Everyone was worried..." he said.
Ishita rolled here eyes and replied, "I am not a kid Randhir. I was just busy with some stuff! So how's my hero?" she asked him smirking.
Randhir smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. Ishita saw how fidgety he was.
Randhir, on the other hand, was feeling awkward after the whole Sanyukta-thing. He knew he should tell Ishita the truth. He knew he shouldn't drag the relationship anymore. He knew Ishita too, like him, was barely in it for time-pass. And yet, that didn't make it any easier.
He was about to tell her something when he got called.
Sayukta had just arrived there and said, "Randhir woh-...ohhh...ohh...M sorry..." she paused seeing the two of them.
Ishita was glaring at Sanyukta, her eyes filled with disgust and spite. Randhir however, didn't turn around. He was still looking at Ishita. Sanyukta took the cue and started leaving. But not before making a backward glance to see if Randhir turned or not. But he didn't.
"He's not your boyfriend Sanyu...Sure you kissed...But he still has to explain to Ishita...But...will he confess to her? What if he feels guilty now?" the thoughts clogged her cranium and made her heart squeeze! She willed herself to move forward and not turn back to watch the couple.
"Ishi..." Randhir started. Ishita, whose eyes were fixated on sanyukta's retreating figure, suddenly felt weak. She didn't want to hear what Randhir was about to say. She knew what he would say.
"Not today...please Randhir...Not today..." she pleaded.
He started at her in shock. How did she know? But the pained look on her face told him to keep mum and not break her heart. Not today atleast!
"Okay...shhh...Come here..." he said and pulled her into a hug, "What's wrong? U seem fatigued."
But Ishita didn't reply. She merely buried her face in his chest and stayed there for sometime. Randhir soothed her hair and back, while she remained unmoving.
After what seemed like ages, she finally withdrew herself, got to her toes and kissed his cheek.
Randhir smiled and gave her a piggy-nose! She giggled.
"There's my girl" he said, as she giggled some more.
"Randhir..."
"Hmm..."
"You are really special" she said and waved at him, "I will see you later ok?"
He smiled at her, a bright smile, "Okay!" he replied.
And Ishita walked out of the FMC campus and towards 'sanjeevani complex'.
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Sanyukta was leaning onto the railing when she saw Ishita walking out of the main gate. She observed her carefully and realized that Ishita was looking rather nervous. She was glancing here and there and kept checking her phone. Sanyukta, on an impulse, came downstairs and went towards the exit as well. To her utter surprise, she saw Ishita boarding an auto and going somewhere.
"What the...Ishita and auto? She never goes anywhere without her audi! This is strange..." thought Sanyukta. She went to the auto stand and asked a driver to follow Ishita's auto. Sanyukta was suddenly having a bad feeling about all this.
"What's this girl upto? Surely can't be anything good..."
After about 20 minutes, Ishita's auto halted outside of a huge complex that read "Sanjeevani".
Sanyukta too boarded off her auto and followed Ishita from a safe distance. Ishita entered the building. It looked like no one was inside. Sanyukta followed suit. The building was just like the warehouse in Masjid Road. It was a mini lab with skeletons and cadavers and scalpels and other chemicals. Sanyukta saw Ishita take a turn and disappear and took quick strides to catch up with her. As she neared the area that read "Level 1", Sanyukta could hear voices. She saw Ishita take the stairs and quietly tiptoe up. She waited till Ishita was on the 1st floor and followed her. Once on the first floor, Sanyukta saw an entire lab full of doctors, working away briskily.
"What is this place? And why is Ishita here?" thought sanyukta.
Ishita paused outside the lab and peeped inside. Sanyukta decided to hide behind a wall and watch what ishita was upto. Suddenly, ishita jerked and jumped backwards. Sanyukta's heartbeat paced wondering what was wrong.
She saw Ishita hiding behind a shelf and fiddling with her phone.
"Shit! No network" she heard Ishita murmer.
The words made Sanyukta panic. No network meant no connection with anyone. She quickly took out her own phone and found that there was no network coverage. Sanyukta stood rooted to the spot behind the wall, afraid of drawing attention and giving herself up!
As she hid, she saw a doctor come out of the lab. Sanyukta gasped. It was one of the same doctors whom she had seen in the warehouse and who had ran after her while she tried to escape.
"OH.MY.GOD...It's them...the murderers...Ishita...is she a part of this?" Sanyukta felt fear grip her. Where had she landed herself?
She remained glued to her spot as she watched ishita now come out of her hiding place and try to peek as to where the doctor was headed.
"You're here" a voice said.
Sanyukta froze. Ishita had been discovered. The man who had just spoken was the same doctor with a kind face whom Sanyukta had seen in the warehouse.
Ishita froze and looked petrified.
"Uncle...You?" she said, her throat dry.
The bespectacled doctor however didn't reply, but merely looked on with cold eyes, disdain and hatred etched in every lining of his visage.
And before sanyukta or Ishita could process anything, the doctor took out a revolver and fired a shot straight at Ishita. Sanyukta watched in horror as the bullet punctured Ishita's heart, blood spilling onto the floor while Ishita clutched her chest in shock, her eyes bulging, her face going pale. She stumbled backwards and hit the floor as she tried to breathe, but in vain. A few seconds of struggle and Ishita Mittal moved nomore. She lay in a pool of blood, becoming the first victim in Randhir's gang of friends who got involved in his past.
The doctor merely took her pulse to ensure her death and left the place.
"We are done here...Let's go..." he called out to the lab workers, all of whom immediately started scrambling out.
Sanyukta Agarwal still stood leaning on the wall where she had hidden. Ishita's limp form lay right before her eyes and there was nothing she could do about it.
"She gave up her life for Randhir...Or did she?" choked Sanyukta in utter disbelief.
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Love,
Anuradha.
