|~WILD LOVE~| - SanDhir SS {CHAPTER 2 - DAY 1; UPDATED @PG18} - Page 6

Originally posted by: sonu-monu

this is really nice &interesting.. Continue soon...

Originally posted by: adventure_gurl

looking forward to more, continue soon please

Originally posted by: PrussianBlue

Hey Somya! This seems interesting! Please continue soon!

Love! :**

Originally posted by: avni775

intresting!!!
update soon!! n pm me if possible😳

"Love is like wild flowers; its found in the most unlikely places.."

Sanyukta Agarwal, a rich brat from the United States leading a perfect life, and Randhir Singh Shekhawat, a dark, mysterious and temperamental guy, end up stuck together in what seems to be some cosmic twist of fate. Lost in the dense forests of Kashmir they must survive constant threats of danger and complete isolation while they gradually unearth each others minds and their mendacious truths.

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|**INDEX**|

Me and my Biggg mouth - Page 9 {below}

DAY 1 - Silent Conversations - Page 18

Beautiful, Peaceful, Serene.

I sighed and the corners of my lips lifted in an involuntary smile as I waited for the bus to arrive. I would miss this place. It really was heaven on Earth. These past two days I had spent wandering in gardens, splattering water and getting wet in the waterfalls, clicking pictures... just ideally passing time, exploring the new place around me. Something I had never done in my entire life. Back in Arizona I didn't even have the time to visit the nearby children's park. But here... here I had all the time in the world. For the past couple of days I hadn't been bothered by any annoying phone calls, reminders of meetings, mom and her several stylists, nothing. Visiting India was the best decision of my life. Away from work, away from family, away from everything. I was here all on my own and it gave me such a high. Staying alone and spending time amidst nature and beauty... it was like being born again. Like I had finally achieved the freedom that I longed for. I wanted to sing and yell from the top of the mountains that I was finally freee!
Of course I missed being taken care of. I wasn't used to doing things on my own. The first day here I had noticed that none of my clothes were worth wearing as they were all jumbled and tangled together in my Tourister because for the first time I had packed for myself. Bless the old lady who was staying in the room next to mine. She helped me with the iron. I missed my morning orange juice. I missed the fuss around my breakfast. I missed my bed. I missed my room. I missed my personal library. Basically, I missed all the luxury my home sweet home provided. But I guess this was all for the best. Because when I would get back to Arizona I would still miss out on all of this. I would be leaving all of it behind and starting afresh with everything new. I would be moving in into a new house, with new responsibilities and a new roommate. Husband, to be precise. Marriage. Might as well practice from now. I was going to get married in a month to Sameer Mittal. My boyfriend for three years and dad's business partner's son who had proposed to me two months ago. I looked at the ring on my left hand. It sparkled even in the minimal light and I sighed looking it. My gaze then landed on my watch. 10:30. I looked around and suddenly noticed that I was the only person sitting on one of these cots of the Dhaba. This slightly alarmed me. I remembered that only a few minutes back I had turned and looked at a couple and another man sitting on those chairs. Where had they gone? I looked towards the kind man at the Dhaba's reception who had told me about bus timings... only to see that he too had vanished. Where was everyone? I took out my cell phone; no network.
I gulped and tried to push back the irrational panic building in my mind.This happens all the time. So what if there wasn't any network?! This was Kashmir. I'm sure this happened here all the time. There is nothing scary about this situation. I'm just being jumpy. The bus would arrive in a few minutes, I would board it and then off to Darjeeling.

I tried relaxing and convincing myself all I could, but my patience was wavering. When I looked around all I could see was loneliness, darkness and three feeble street lights, out of which one kept flickering. There was not a single person in sight. I waved my hand through my hair and realized that my forehead was covered in sweat. And it was December.
Jeez! Get a grip on yourself Sanyukta!

After about 10 minutes when nothing happened, which I was quite relieved about, I picked up my suitcase and contemplated going back to the side of the city where I had stayed and get myself another hotel room. I wondered how I would do that as there weren't any rickshaws in sight anymore. I decided that if the bus didn't come in another two minutes I would be out of here. I would walk back.

I was watching the Titan on my wrist and its needles move in precision. After one minute, seven seconds a movement in my periphery caught my attention. My eyes darted to find two men standing behind me. Where had they come from? I didn't see them coming. When I looked at them, they quickly looked away in opposite directions. I heaved a sigh of relief. Alright, I did have company. Maybe they would know when the bus will arrive. I looked up to them and opened my mouth to speak.

So soon that I couldn't even understand what was happening, one of the men had caught hold of both my hands and locked them behind my back. Just as I was about to scream his other hand came over my mouth and covered it, muffling my shriek. I struggled in the man's arms but nothing happened. It only made him tighten his death grip further. My eyes were wide in horror and I kept struggling. The other man then came in my view. He came closer to me and I immediately stilled. I was chanting in my head for someone to miraculously appear and help me, save me. The man was looking at my shoulder and then raised his hand to touch it. In that fraction of a second i realized that no miracle was about to happen and that I had to save myself. I wouldn't let him do anything to me until my last breath. I waited for him as he came closer and touched the sleeve of my top along with the strap of the bag preparing to remove it. Mustering all the courage and strength I then kneeled him in his groin and simultaneously bit hard on the man's hand covering my mouth. Both of them cried out in pain and that was all it took me to dart away from then.

I ran as fast as my legs would carry me. Vaguely, I was aware that I didn't have my cell phone anymore as it had crashed on the road somewhere behind me. I didn't know where I was going. But didn't stop. I knew I was still being chased. I was panting and my legs were protesting painfully but I couldn't stop. I didn't dare turn and look behind. I didn't want to know how close they were to me. I was running at a blinding speed and could see nothing around. Just then I realized that I was surrounded by trees. I still kept running and running until thick black darkness had engulfed me. I knew that if they were close by I would hear their pants and footsteps, but I didn't. I slowed down and turned but couldn't see anything. I decided that I needed to hide. My body was shaking due to the adrenaline coursing in my veins, my brain was in a daze and my heart was thudding painfully in my ears. I noticed a particularly broad tree and then reached behind it and sat down in a fetal position. I couldn't see clearly. And I knew they wouldn't be able to either. I tried not to make any noise and just sat there. The fear was unbearable. My mind was not in a condition to think about anything else beyond my safety. I had no idea how long I sat there. I just kept waiting for I don't know what. I prayed that those men wouldn't find me. I prayed that I wouldn't have to see them ever again. A huge sob erupted from my chest. Tears were falling from my eyes into my face, neck, drenching my top. A shiver would still run down my body every now and then. My chest was heaving because of the unvoiced sobs and the haunting fear. I didn't dare move or even stretch any part of my body.
I waited there for what seemed like hours until finally I saw that the surroundings were becoming visible. My heart jumped into my throat. What if those men had been waiting for the morning sitting around somewhere? The panic overtook my brain and I began shaking again. I waited for some more time, crouching behind the tree like a wounded animal. I couldn't hear a thing. No footsteps, no sounds of breathing. The silence was positive but the fear of what might happen if I leave the tree and meet those two men was huge. I couldn't afford to move. I waited and waited but nothing happened. The optimistic voice in my head told me that maybe they were fed up and had gone back. I wanted to believe it but...

I'm not going to sit here forever, I decided. Taking deep calming breaths I prepared myself to move. My body was stiff and an ache was spread from my scalp to my toes. I turned my neck and peeked behind the tree revealing as less of my head as possible. Nothing. Alight was falling in between the canopy of trees now and had made everything clearer and visible. There wasn't any sign of a human around. I scanned the area as far as I could. All I could see were huge trees standing close by and greenery. Taking deep breaths again I sat up in a crawl and slowly moved across the tree. I waited for any likely danger but it was all eerily calm. I stood up then but immediately collapsed on the ground. My knees weren't holding me and my legs had gone numb. Taking the support of the tree I tried again. Holding it, I stood there for about 10 minutes, doing nothing but evaluating the situation I was in. I realized that I did have a watch and looked at my wrist. 5:15. My bag was still hanging from my shoulder. If anyone dangerous was close by they would have seen me by then and probably done something about it, so that meant I was alone in the forest, and safe. Now I had to get back on the road. I removed my hands from the tree and stared at it. Tears filled my eyes again. And knowing that I was alone and no one was watching me, I cried. I cried and let all the pent up emotion and fear come out of me. My body shook as I continued crying for several long minutes. Why was this happening to me? Where was I now? What had I done to anyone to put me through this? I was upset, angry and scared.

Finally when my sobs became dry heaves I looked at my watch again. It now said 5:45. I took a step away from the tree. I looked at it and felt a strange sorrow. This tree had helped me. It had protected me, saved me. It was there for me when no one was. Somewhere in the back of my mind a voice reminded me that this was foolish and childish, but I ignored it. Reaching up, I plucked a small leaf which was a lighter shade than most in colour, from its lowest branch, and kept it inside my bag. Tears were falling from my eyes again.

"Thank you." I silently whispered into the tree. Then with sigh I turned around and walked away.

It was 7 am and I still couldn't find the way. I was wandering into the forest with no sense of direction. I thought about last night, replaying the events in my head several times. The hair at the back of my neck stood. I was struck by what I had thought about Kashmir then. Beautiful, peaceful, serene? I scoffed mentally. My views about this place had drastically changed in the past eight hours. I often fell as I continued walking on the uneven ground. Sometimes when the panic took over I would almost start running to find a way. I wanted to get back to the city as soon as possible. But then the panic would slowly ebb away and my steps would become tired. Compared to what could have happened last night this was safer. Because being lost was so much better than being raped. I knew that if I could get out of that situation, I could surely find a way. I was just beginning to wonder what if this was getting me deeper into the wrong direction when suddenly at a far distance I saw something which didn't look like a tree. I gasped and quickly hid behind the closest tree. It was a man. He was far away and wasn't looking in my direction. He had a sort of backpack over his shoulder. I tried to make out from the distance if he was one of them or if he looked dangerous, but he was alright. He looked like a local who had come into the forest for a camping trip or something.

And then I was running. Running towards him. I had never been happier on seeing anyone. He was here, he probably knew the way and he would get me out of this forest. The guy, hearing my footsteps, turned and looked at me. I could see that he had a shocked expression on his face.

When I was near enough to him I saw that his hand was outstretched as he said "Watch out!"
Of course I didn't, because my foot caught into something and I stumbled across. I saw him roll his eyes and then come forward and grab me before I fell. My head was on his chest and I was panting. His hands were on my sides holding me to him. I looked up and saw a pair of light brown eyes gaze back at me with annoyance and also a hint of amusement. I quickly scrambled away from him and his firm hold.
"Are you alright?" his voice was soft, gentle and almost musical, but his tone curiously irritated. His jaw was hardened, taut.

Instead of answering him I question back. "Can you get me out of here?"

He speaks nothing but continues looking at me, probably thinking something. He seems to be in his early twenties like me. He is tall and has a lean but strong built. His hair is decently cut but disheveled like he had been pushing his hand through it.

Then he suddenly speaks, his voice ringing with certainty, "We are lost."

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