Rikara FF - Devotion (Updated Chapter 3, p.2) - Page 2

Chapter 3:

Staring out the window, Gauri marveled at the number of stars in the sky. The world was so vast and yet here she was, trapped in this room. The weight of her jewelry seemed to have increased as the night went by, and now it was as if the weight, like chains, held her in place. Normally, Gauri had trouble sitting still, but now, she didn't have enough strength to call out for help.

The spark of hope that had arisen with Jhanvi Aunty's visit had quickly been put out by the realization that she had no one to call for help. Her aunt and uncle would be of no help; in fact, they would probably go straight to Thakur. And while Gauri was friendly with everyone in town, her mother's illness and the constant struggle to provide basic necessities always kept her from forming strong friendships.

Dragging herself away from the open window, Gauri placed the phone on the dresser. As she began arranging the items on the dresser to best hide the phone in case Thakur walked in again, the phone began to vibrate. Quickly picking it up, Gauri held it to her ear.

"Hello? Her voice came out shakily.

"Gauri beta? It's Jhanvi aunty.

Gauri let out a sigh of relief. So that's why she had been given the phone. It seemed that Jhanvi's words of comfort were sincere when they had met, but having been surrounded by people like Thakur for the last several days had caused Gauri to doubt the older woman's intention.

"Gauri beta, I wanted to talk to you before but Thakur came in and I couldn't think of any other way to keep in contact. I hope this hasn't caused any trouble for you.

"No Aunty Ji, you have no idea how good it felt to meet someone who wasn't related to Thakur for once. But, if Thakur finds out about the phone, then it could mean trouble for the both of us.

In her room, Jhanvi smiled softly to herself. This girl was definitely not the woman her son thought her to be. Even in such a predicament, Gauri was concerned about the safety of others.

"Don't worry beta, I can handle anything Thakur might do. But what about you? Why are you getting married to Thakur? I might not know you very well, but it doesn't seem like you are happy with this arraignment.

Gauri struggled to keep her voice from shaking again, "Aunty, the situation is such that I don't have a choice.

She paused, struggling to decide whether she should tell a woman she had only met a few moments ago about her condition. She could hold her silence, but she would be sealing her fate. But if she trusted Jhanvi, then she could possibly escape and save her mother.

Taking a deep breath, Gauri told Jhanvi about her mother's illness, her relatives' greed, the Thakur's vileness, and her own helplessness.

As Jhanvi listened to this young girl narrate her story, she couldn't help the tears that flowed down her cheeks. Though Jhanvi had quickly learned in her life that the world could be cruel, Thakur and Gauri's relatives had stooped to a level far below anything she had seen before. As Gauri finished her story, Jhanvi wiped her tears away and stood up to walk towards her son's end of the room.

"Gauri, you have to get out of this haveli. I don't know what promises Thakur made to you, but anything he says is false and this situation won't improve no matter what you do.

Jhanvi walked to where her son was sitting at a desk and touched his shoulder.

"But Aunty, they have my mother and I can't do anything that might jeopardize her life. I don't even know if she's had her medicine. I don't want to make things any worse than they are.

"Gauri beta, you stay in that room and call this number of anything else happens. I'm going to find a way to get you out of this place.

After cutting the call, Jhanvi looked down to see a questioning look on her son's face. Now that she knew about Gauri's situation, she had to convince her son to help the girl escape. But the somewhat suspicious look on his face meant the task would be harder than she thought.

Taking a seat on the bed next to the desk, Jhanvi took Omkara's hands in her own and began retelling Gauri's story. While Jhanvi knew that she should have asked for Gauri's permission before sharing her background, a full explanation was the only way Om would agree to help. Even she couldn't force him to do something he didn't believe to be right.

Om sat silently for a long moment after Jhanvi finished talking. His mother's words were jumbled together with images of Gauri smiling at Thakur and dancing at the sangeet. The girl's behavior and the story she had told his mother didn't make sense together, and so he told his mother.

"But that smile Ma. How can someone who is facing such a dire situation smile so widely? Running his fingers through his hair, he stared imploringly at his mother. He knew that his mother wasn't nave, but he also knew that it could be easy for a young girl to appeal to her compassionate nature.

"Om, that is the same smile I kept on my face when you were a child. When someone you love depends on your smile, then you gain the strength you need from that love. Jhanvi squeezed her son's hands. She didn't like bringing up her tumultuous marriage with her son; she knew it pained him to think that she had suffered while he was unaware of her pain. But she knew that it would be difficult to break through his bias against this young woman, a bias that he would stubbornly hold onto unless she broke through it. He was more like his father than he liked to believe.

"But Ma, even if what she is saying is true, what can we... he trailed off, looking out the window. There was a vague shape of a person running out into the fields behind the haveli. Om stood up and walked closer to the window as the figure stopped running and was still in the empty space outside.

Mother and son watched the person closely, attempting to make out their identity. The individual began pouring liquid onto their person and in the flame of the match that they then lit, Om and Jhanvi saw that it was Nadini.

Their eyes grew wide as they realized what they were unwillingly becoming witness too. Jhanvi reached out to grab her son's arm for support as she struggled with the realization, but her hand fell through the air. She turned to see her son running out of the room. Jhanvi turned her attention back to the fields, and she watched frozen in horror as her childhood friend burn. She saw her son's figure approach the field, but even he froze after a few steps. The burning figure had now fallen and only the flames were now visible. It was too late.

Om walked back to the room in a daze. What he had just witnessed was difficult for his mind to process. He had seen his mother go through so much pain, but to be in such suffering that one would turn to burning alive as an escape, that was something beyond his understanding. How helpless that woman must have felt, how much pain her husband and family must have put her through. Jhanvi's cries broke through his thoughts and he quickly approached his mother's side. Before he could begin to console her, the phone began to ring.

"Hello? His voice broke at the end.

"Hello, who is this? Is Jhanvi Aunty there? a soft voice came from the other end.

Om's eyes narrowed as a realized who the voice belonged to. "You are never speaking to my mother again. Understood? We've had enough of your lies. Not wanting to alert his mother, he spoke in an angry but hushed tone.

There was no response from Gauri. Om laughed bitterly. "Now you have nothing to say? After all that you've done to ruin people's lives?!

Now a voice spoke sharply, "ruin other's lives? You have no idea what I am going through. So before you-"

"Save me your excuses. Because of you a woman has just taken her life and you're telling me that you had no hand in that? He couldn't believe the audacity of this girl.

"What woman? Who took their life? I have no idea what you're talking about. Gauri said, confused at these accusations. She was surprised at the harshness of his words, having met his gentle mother and thinking him to be the same.

"The woman whose husband you are so eager to marry!

A thud was heard from the other end of the line. Omkara threw the phone on the bed and approached his mother, crouching in front of her and taking her hands in his.

But before he could speak, Jhanvi looked up into her son's eyes. Though there were still tears in her eyes, she had a determined look on her face. After a few deep breaths, she spoke in a steady voice.

"Om, call Gauri back. I need to speak to her.

Om looked at his mother, confused at the request.

"Ma, Nadini aunty took her life because of that woman and you still want to talk to her? You still believe her lies?

Jhanvi shook her head, "Om, Nadini took her life because of Thakur's actions, and Gauri is as much a victim as Nadini. If we don't help her, her life will end the same way.

She could see the struggling emotions on her son's face. Placing her hand on the side of Om's face, she implored him.

"Please Om. Beta, I know what I'm talking about. Please, we have to help Gauri.

Om looked down, sighing deeply. He couldn't refuse his mother, not when she was in this state.

He stood up and grabbed the phone, dialing the last number received. He handed the phone to his mother and stood silently as she spoke to Gauri.

"Gauri beta, do you understand now why it is so important for you to escape.

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The next day, the haveli was again filled with smiling people as the priests began setting up for the wedding ceremony. Omkara looked around and grimaced at the nauseating amount of joy that people were expressing. Yesterday, they were only smiling through the idea that a woman was being replaced as a wife. Today, their happiness was to cover the reality that the same woman had committed suicide just the night before. Just when he thought people couldn't be more deplorable, the surprised him. He glanced up to the top of the staircase, hoping to see his mother give him the signal. As soon as their plan was in place, they could leave this godforsaken town, albeit with one extra passenger than when they had entered.

Though, if their plan failed, they could be here for far longer than planned. And all for the stupid girl, Om thought. We still don't even know for sure whether she is telling the truth.

But Jhanvi was convinced of the girl's story, so Om had no choice but to assist his mother in this insane plan to help Gauri escape Thakur's clutches.

Looking up once more, he sighed with relief when he saw his mother. He quickly looked around to locate Thakur's whereabouts. Seeing him next to the bar, surrounded by his goons, Omkara navigated his way through the crowd and towards the men. It was probably not a good idea to willingly surround himself with the same men who would probably chase after him once they realized Gauri had escaped, but he had been told by his mother to distract them.

Jhanvi had weaved her way into Gauri's room with the excuse of helping her get ready. Not wanting to make Jhanvi suspicious, Thakur had agreed to the arrangement, with the command of wanting Gauri downstairs at the mandap in 10 minutes.

"Aunty, are you sure this is a good idea? What if he catches us or does something to my mother? Gauri was pacing in front of her bed, hands frantically playing with the end of her dupatta.

Jhanvi stepped in her path and stopped in front of her, placing her hands on Gauri's shoulders. "Everything will be fine. Om is distracting Thakur and his bodyguards right now and we'll make sure you mother is safe too.

"But how? We don't even know where Thakur is keeping her! As much as Gauri wanted to escape Thakur and the same fate as Nadini, she couldn't do it if it meant putting her mother in danger.

"Om will locate your mother once we are all safe and on our way to Mumbai. Don't worry, you trust me right beta? Jhanvi placed in her hands on both sides of Gauri's face, hoping it would be reassuring.

Gauri slowly nodded and gave Jhanvi a small smile. That spark of hope rose again, this time remaining steady as Gauri followed Jhanvi outside of the room.

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The plan had worked almost perfectly. Thakur and his friends had been kept occupied by the copious amount of alcohol Om kept on pouring in their glasses and the stories he insisted on hearing again and again. But as Jhanvi lead Gauri out a back entrance, one of the servant had caught sight of a jewel that had fallen from her lehenga and alerted Thakur. After that, all hell broke loose as Thakur demanded to know the whereabouts of his soon-to-be bride. Not wanting to subject to any line of questioning, Omkara quickly fled and hurried out of the haveli. But his escape was noticed by one of Thakur's goons and the entire gang followed Om to the car.

Currently, Om sped the car down the highway, keeping an eye on the rear view mirror for any sign of Thakur and his men. Jhanvi sat in the back seat with Gauri, who still had a worried expression on her face despite her escape from Thakur.

"Jhanvi aunty, what about Ma? Have you found her too? We can't leave her with Thakur, he will definitely do something to her now. Gauri's voice shook as her mind raced with images of her mother wounded by Thakur in retaliation for her escape.

"I was able to get Thakur's men to tell me the location of some empty warehouses that he owns. I'm having men search each one of them now, we'll find your mother. Om tried to keep the harshness out of his voice, but his words still held a sharpness that caused Jhanvi to sigh and smile reassuringly at Gauri, hoping her son's tone wouldn't frighten the girl.

Gauri looked down at her hands, and began praying for her mother's safety when she heard a soft curse from Om. She quickly looked up and as Om looked in the rear view mirror, their gazes met. Om was taken aback at the overwhelming fear in her eyes and quickly began to explain himself.

"It's nothing. I thought I saw some car following us, but it turned at the last intersection. He cleared his throat and looked up through the mirror, catching sight of Gauri's bowed head. He could see her lips rapidly moving and her eyes closed.

Noticing the direction of her son's gaze, Jhanvi lighted coughed and Om quickly looked back to the road, his hands tightly clenching the steering wheel.