RiKara SS - Laal Ishq Pt 3 pg 8(10/7/17) - Page 5

When words heard are not spoken

Red...it was a color that neither belonged to light, nor to darkness. So was the emotions it represented be it love or passion. There was a hint of selfless sacrifice, and a streak of selfish possessiveness. Like souls with their own vices and virtues, like dawns with day and night...Omkara thought as the rosy hue around him thinned, leaving his vision clearer than before. His eyes found what he had hoped to avoid and his heart skipped a beat for no reason.

The temple was lit with hundreds of flickering oil lamps, their orange glow a mere smudge in the moonless night. The villagers were celebrating their legendary veneration at the Durga temple, the drums, the dancers, the clouds of vermillion thickening the atmosphere none of them could distract his traitorous eyes, as they feasted upon her.

Gauri...she was dancing in the center, clad in a pristine white saari tainted rosy with vermillion, hair plaited and falling past her waist and bells of her gungroo ringing like a droplets of rain amidst the thundering drums. She seemed to be lost in a world of her own, yet her moves flawless and her elegance effortless. Like a bolt of lightening, she was fast and brilliant, he held his breath unknowingly as he watched her.

He wasn't supposed to be here, a tiny voice muttered in the back of his head. Omkara's original plan had been to take a walk to clear his head from the unwanted thoughts that haunted him. Ever since their first encounter, she had not left his mind. He was not a man who often second guessed himself. But there was something in her eyes that had kept him awake for the past few days, a stinging memory of how those eyes gleamed with unshed tears of frustration made his insides burn for unknown reasons.

He couldn't help but wonder, what was the story of those eyes?

And the thought itself reminded him of his brother Shivay, thousand miles away, tucked in the busy city of Mumbai and the last conversation exchanged between them.

"I'm sorry Om, his tone had been silent, yet full of an screaming agony. "I always thought, I'd never let any trouble touch you two. But I couldn't stop this from happening...I failed you. He had not replied, trying to block the pain wrenching his heart with some loud music, Omkara buried his head in his hands with a sigh. Shivay griped one of his shoulders, forcing him to look into his stormy gray eyes, to acknowledge the sheen of tears they shone with. "Mujhe maaf kar de! It hurts a lot doesn't it?

He tried a faint smile, but ended up twitching his lips painfully.

"It did, at first, he said honestly. "But it faded away, now there's only a dull ache somewhere deep inside my heart. It will probably never go away.

"Nothing will happen,

"I know...I'm going to make sure of that. His voice was determined, stronger than he felt. "I'm going to keep her away from everyone, I'm not going to let her suck out any more happiness from our lives. As soon as I find her price... Shivay opened his mouth to say something and with a simple gesture Omkara silenced him. "No, Shivay. I don't need your help, it'll only make Mr. Oberoi more haughty...that I had to turn into his world of bargaining at the hour of need. I don't need money from his empire. I can earn for myself.

"How?

"There is a man, he stopped for a moment. "Whom I refused to work with. He is ready to pay any sum I quote. The hint had been enough for Shivay to start his protests.

"What about your principles? His brother presented his final argument. This time Omkara managed a weak smile.

"If you're drowning you have to let go of what drags you down Shivay, no matter how cherished or valuable they are. You have to survive first. In the pause that followed, his brother's stormy eyes bored into his, searching for something that no longer existed in their depths. "If old Omkara can't protect his family...he has to go. He has to grow up.

What he said to his brother, he believed in deeply. But something inside him ached after meeting her, something was pulling him down, back to those pits of emotional weakness, of naive trust and blind faith. Something about her was turning him back to what he was and Omkara hated it. He wasn't supposed to fell for her act of modesty and ask her to wait inside...but he had done it, her tears had made him do it. With each passing day the realization of how she had made him dance to her tunes sank deeper into his conscious and he hated her very existence...but here he was, unable to tear his eyes away from her traitorously alluring beauty.

Omkara closed his eyes forcefully, denying them from her vision and turned away, his hands buried in his pockets and breath hitched in his throat, the sound of drums still throbbing against his pulse he started to walk away. He was already in the desert and she was a mirage, he knew better than to follow her.

For a moment he thought he had gone blind, the drums missed a beat and silence crept in uninvitingly. Then a scream was torn from somewhere behind him, a sound of pure terror and agony...and he could walk no more.

**

She did not believe in miracles anymore. Neither did she pray for any. Though her devotion was still there, Gauri no longer believed her god could save her. There were some places the gods did not set their foot in, not because they were afraid of demons, but because they were simply too disgusted with the ways of evil. She had ended up in a place like that, no god would come for her help. She had accepted her fate and immersed her dreams a long back.

But what was she to do, if he had stepped directly out of those teenage fantasies of hers? It's not like she could stop her heart from flattering the moment their gazes met, right? He could have been evil, dark enough to break her heart, drag her back to the reality where the world was far too cruel than her fairy tales. But no, he had to leave her confused and torn between gratitude and hatred.

And he had that look of utter disgust when he looked at her that made Gauri repulsive of herself. She couldn't sleep for many nights that followed and whenever she did, that expression in his god like face haunted her mercilessly. It was that torment which made her dance the way she did, surrendering herself to the vibrations of the thundering drums, to the memories that burdened her conscious- finally finding a release to all the pain brewing inside her. It felt good, although the vermillion burned in her eyes and her muscles protested against the effort, the pain felt good...when it was she inflicting it on herself. For the first time she felt she had control over something and that feeling was as soothing as it was destructive. She twirled around uncaring of the eyes admiring her, unmindful of the whispers that littered the atmosphere.

She had not noticed her pallu brushing against the flames or catching fire and when she did an unconscious scream was torn from her throat. It even surprised Gauri herself, for she had no will to live, the struggle to get herself rid of those flames stretching forth had totally been a one of her brain and body driven by its survival instinct, her mind watched numbly from a faraway place...selfishly wishing everything to end once and for all. Perhaps it was all the blessing the goddess could grant upon her.

**

Water, stinging with cold as the flames had stung with their warmth ran down from her head, taking down the adamant flames and leaving her trembling and drenched. The silence was still thick and her mind still numb. Gauri was frozen where she stood, amidst the crowd now gathered around her, a strange sense of emptiness that tasted both of fear and disappointment crept around her heart and her eyes refused to lift and meet those of her savior's as two hands grabbed her shoulders and shook her out of her trance.

She was still alive. Still cursed. Still as dirty and pathetic as she was.

She blinked twice, and finally coaxed her heavy eyelids to move upwards and looked into two burning swirls of darkness. They reminded her of that verse about beginning from Rig Veda, where there was nothing but darkness...an endless night. His eyes were just like that, bottomless and infinitely dark. Their gleam was like a fire that burned itself, their pull was magnetic, like that of a black hole. For a moment she found herself helplessly captivated.

His lungs started to fill with burningly frosty night air, as her trance finally broke and she looked into his eyes. He hated her, it was a fact, but there was no denying of the hold she had over his subconscious. It was as if she was the key to that vulnerable self of his, locked away beneath the cold indifference he wore in defense. For a moment he had stood there watching the struggle between her heart and mind, realizing slowly that she did not wish to survive, no matter how much her brain tried to save itself...her heart had long wished for the ending.

He wondered why...and knew only she could answer that question. Omkara could not let her go without getting those answers.

He had distantly noticed none of those people surrounding her had stepped in to save her, they simply watched with varying degrees of critical observation, not daring to move and wide eyed. But his focus was on none them, it was on her eyes...how they seemed to have that aimlessly unaffected look in them... She had not blinked even when he emptied an entire barrel of water over her head, extinguishing the flames licking her figure. He shook her violently, in a desperate attempt to get rid of that emptiness plaguing her eyes.

That drenched saari hugged her frame like a second skin and highlighted her curves. Wet tendrils of dark curls were plastered to her creamy throat, she wrapped her arms around herself, noticing the lingering glances the crowd gave her, but still did not move, her wide eyes remained focused on him, forcing him to read the emotions flickering through them.

The look she gave him had him stumbling back in shock, the silence between them suddenly filled with many unspoken words. There was a silent plea in her eyes that had his heart wrenching against his ribs. In a moment of thoughtless frenzy, he wanted nothing but to save her, whisk her away from that cursed existence. In that moment she had him under her charm.

Omkara removed his jacket and wrapped it around her tiny shoulders, gathering her against his taut frame and she started to tremble as warmth seeped through his skin into hers. He pursed his lips with a hint of annoyance and picked her up in his arms, still holding her gaze and walked out ignoring the crowd that had started to whisper as they parted to make way.