The peace to his storm- chapter 20 updated on Pg 19 - Page 6

CHAPTER 14- HER SACRIFICE

The conversation:

"Hello, who is it?" Paro asked bring the phone close to her ear.

"Parvati, you stay away from me for a few days and you already forget my voice?" said a menacing voice from the other end of the line.

Fear tore at Paro's heart as soon as she heard his voice. She was so scared that words refused to escape her lips. Gripping the phone tightly, she waited with bated breath for him to continue.

"We have a lot to talk Parvati, said Tejawat.

"Thakur Sa-" Paro barely managed to whisper before Tejawat cut her words saying, "So you do remember me Parvati. That's nice to hear." Despite fake pleasant facade, his voice dripped with apparent venom. "You know I recently found this young girl to replace your sister. Prakriti Ranawat, so pure and untouched, will be the main attraction at my gatherings."

"Please Thakur sa, don't do that." Paro begged with tears in her eyes. "Please don't do anything to Prakriti. She has nothing to do with Jija and me. Please don't hurt her. She is just a child."

"Well then, why don't you come take her place? Or will you send your sister? Either of you will do. Hand yourself over to me and I will leave the girl."

Paro's heart raced furiously as she tried to think straight. Prakriti had to be rescued or she would be torn to bits in the hands of Tejawat's jackals. She couldn't let her jija go back either. She finally had a proper life. She had started smiling again. Also, she was going to marry Aman Bhaisaa soon.

No, there is absolutely no way my jija will go back into that hell, thought Paro making up her mind. There was only one way to rescue Prakriti.

"Thakur Sa, I will come work for you. I will leave everything behind and go wherever you want. But you have to promise me that no harm will befall on Prakriti and you will leave her as soon as I come to you." Said Paro.

"Your wish is my command Parvati baisaa." Said Tejawat taunting her. Bile rose in Paro's stomach just listening to the man's voice. She couldn't even imagine the life that she would have to live under his feet. But she had no other choice.

"I have one condition Thakur Sa." said Paro. "I want to speak to Prakriti to make sure that she is alright."

After a moment of silence, Tejawat agreed to her request and several seconds later, Paro heard a trembling voice form the other end of the line.

"Parvati Jija?" Prakriti whispered apprehensively.

Paro breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Prakriti's voice. She was thankful that Prakriti was safe, till now.

"Prakriti, don't worry", Paro consoled Prakriti.  "Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise ACP Sir will rescue you once I do what Thakur sa-"

"No Jija" Prakriti vehemently denied, her voice teary, yet firm. "Don't listen to him Jija. Don't come here. Bhaisaa will find me, no matter what. But you have to promise me that you won't come here. Please promise me" Prakriti pleaded.

Paro could do nothing but cry, upon hearing the brave girl's words. She wished that she could promise, but she knew she would never do that. She could not risk Prakriti getting hurt.

"Jija? Parvati Jija, speak to me. Promise me you won't come." Prakriti said frantically and before Paro could reply, Tejawat spoke again, "You didn't get swayed by her words now, did you Parvati? Mark my words, if you don't come to me, this girl is going to witness a grisly fate, one from which you can never pull her out, once she's tangled in it."

Trying to control her copiously flowing tears, Paro said, "I promise I will come Thakur sa. Please don't hurt Prakriti and remember that you promised to release her as soon as I hand myself over."

"Well done Parvati. Come to the edge of Maharaja Maarg and my men will pick you up from there. Also Parvati, don't even think of tricking me. Don't get Ranawat with you. You may escape but this girl will feel the brunt of it. Understood?" Tejawat threatened her ominously.

"Ji Thakur sa" said Paro and put down the phone. For a few minutes, her mind was incapable of thinking rationally as thoughts raced through, scaring her more by the minute. She had promised Tejawat that she would hand herself over, but would he keep his word and leave Prakriti? She had to make sure Prakriti was found incase Tejawat showed his true colors. She couldn't ask Rudra, Tejawat had warned her against it. Involving the police obviously meant that Rudra would come to know about what was going on. At that point, she could think of only one person whom she could trust and who would help her, without telling anything to Rudra, if she made him promise to do so.

She had to meet Aman.

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Rudra stood at the doorway, still lost in Paro's words. She had just confessed eternal love to him and yet Rudra could still feel the waves of sadness that had crashed onto him while she had done it. Despite the sincerity in her words, there were traces of heart-wrenching sorrow to it. Rudra never questioned her sincerity. Not even when she had told him the first time. He had been and still was afraid of reciprocating them.

As he was about to go in, he saw Nandini and Mala entering through the gate. He helped Nandini in escorting Mala inside. Once he was sure she was comfortable, he asked Nandini if something had happened to Paro today.

Nandini was perplexed too. "I don't think so bhaisaa. She seemed perfectly fine in the morning. In fact, I was just wondering where she is. I haven't seen her since we got back. She isn't in her room either."

"Woh, I just saw her leave while I was coming in. She said she was going to the market to get vegetables for tonight's dinner." said Rudra.

Nandini was further confused upon hearing him. "But we just finished cooking dinner for tonight. Both of us had gone to the market early in the evening itself and we bought supplies for tomorrow too. She could not have gone to the market again." she said wondering where Paro had gone.

Warning bells rang in Rudra's head as soon as he heard Nandini. He knew something was wrong. Paro hadn't seemed like herself when she had left. Something was wrong and he had no clue about it. Not wanting to upset Nandini, he lied to her saying that he would pick her up from the market. Asking her to take care of the house, he revved up his jeep and called Aman. He had to find Paro, no matter what. Aman picked up the phone after a couple of rings.

Rudra, now impatient, barked orders to him over the phone. "Aman, Paro is missing. We have to find her now. I bet you anything that Tejawat is behind Prakriti's kidnapping and now even Paro is missing. I know that this is all Tejawat's doing. We have to find her now. Get the men ready. We need to act NOW!"

Hesitantly, Aman replied, "Sir I do know where Pravati baisaa went. She has gone to hand herself over to Tejawat."

"What?" Rudra said thundr-struck by what he had just heard.

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Aman and Parvati:

As soon as Paro made up her mind, she ran out to fetch an auto to take her to the police station. She ran to Aman's desk. Gasping for breath, she tried to speak to explain the situation, but hardly any words escaped her mouth.

Aman who was surprised to see Paro racing in, asked her to calm down and have some water. Once Paro caught her breath, her tears started flowing again. Aman, now positively alarmed, tried his best to console her and asked her what was wrong.

Through tears, Paro explained to him about her conversation with Tejawat which left Aman horror-struck.

"You're not thinking of handing over yourself are you?" He asked her incredulously. When Paro didn't reply, he said firmly, "No Parvati baisaa, there is no way I will let you do something so foolish. In fact, I need to inform Rudra Sir about all this, this minute."

He pulled out his cellphone and before he could dial Rudra's number when Paro pulled it away from his hands and held in close to her.

"No Aman Bhaisaa, you cannot tell ACP Sir anything. I told you, that Thakur sa warned me against it. You have to also promise me that you won't tell anything to Jija either. I have no choice Aman Bhaisaa. I have to do this to rescue Prakriti. There is no other way" said Paro, now helpless.

"No Parvati baisaa, you don't have to do it. Now that we finally know where Prakriti is and who is behind the kidnapping, we can rescue her. We will find her. You don't have to do what Tejawat says." Aman said.

"You don't understand Aman Bhaisaa. I've seen the things that Thakur sa can do. He will hurt Prakriti if things don't go according to his wish. I have to do as he says. Please, you have to let me do it and you have to promise that you won't tell about this to either ACP Sir or Jija. Aaako meri kasam."

Aman, now driven to a corner, tried to reason with Paro but she cut him off before he could even open his mouth. "Shukriya Bhaisaa. Now is there any way that you can track down Prakriti's location and rescue her?" she asked Aman and waited expectantly for an answer.

Aman was now raking his brain as much as possible to decide the next course of action. Seeing his expression wither by each passing second, Paro realized that Aman was having a hard time with all this too.

"Bhaisaa, I know that this is hard for you too, but you have to trust me with this. This is the only way we can rescue Prakriti. I have to go now. I have less than an hour before Tejawat's men take me away. I need to go home and make sure that Jija and Maasa are alright. I know you will think of something. I trust you" Paro, assured him, trying to put on a brave smile, which faltered quickly.

Sighing, Aman gave in to her demands, with no option left. Going over to his table, he pulled out a small, thick, golden colored, round object in the shape of a talisman from the inside of a drawer and placed it in Paro's hand and wrapped her fingers around it.

"Keep this with you at all times. It's a charm for protection. Don't lose it even when you reach Tejawat's hideout. Keep it with you at all times. It'll protect you from anything evil." He instructed Paro.

Paro had never taken Aman to be someone who believed in luck or charms. He had made his own life, without any help, but here he was, asking her to hold onto an object for protection. Despite her confusion, Paro accepted it and raced out of the station.

When she reached home, she saw that Mala and Nandini had not yet returned. Realizing that precious minutes to an hour were slipping away, she decided it was best that she didn't meet them since she wouldn't be able to answer their questions and that would make them suspicious. Making her mind up, and clutching the talisman that Aman had given her, she wiped away her tears and proceeded to leave the Haveli when the door opened and infront, of her stood Rudra.

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"What are you talking about Aman?" asked Rudra. "What do you mean she has gone to hand herself over to Tejawat?" Paro's words kept echoing in his head

For the next few minutes, Aman explained the situation to Rudra. Once he heard about it, Rudra erupted on Aman over the phone.

"What the hell were you thinking when you let her go Aman? Why didn't you tell me about it the moment she came up with such a stupid idea? Prakriti is already missing and now Paro. Why didn't you tell me all this before Aman?" Rudra yelled into the phone.

"Sir, I apologize for my actions. But Sir, we will know of their location soon enough. Please trust me on this. All we have to do is wait." Aman said earnestly.

"How will you find it out Aman?" Rudra demanded, exasperated beyond control. "All their hideouts are wiped clean. Tejawat is untraceable. How are you ever going to find out where he is holding them captive?"

"We can Sir. Soon we will now their location, because I have placed a GPS tracker chip on Paro."

As always, please ignore grammatical and spelling errors. Do rate and review. I enjoy reading them immensely. Thanks a ton again!! :)

CHAPTER 15- EVE OF DESTRUCTION

All Paro saw before her eyes was blackness. The cloth tied across her eyes prevented her from seeing anything. All see could hear was the steady thrum of the moving vehicle.

She had barely made it to the temple in time. She had run so fast that she had to double up in pain holding the stitch on her side. Hardly had she caught her breath, when a black sumo arrived, rising the dust off the road along with it. Four scary looking men had gotten out and had pulled her inside at knife-point. As soon as she was inside, her hands were tied up and she was blindfolded before the sumo started its journey back.

She could feel the vibrations of the moving vehicle, but she shook and shivered mostly due to fear. It had been more than an hour since they had been on the move and Paro felt her arms ache which had been wrenched behind her and tied up with brutal force. Moving was a bad idea, as she could feel the cold blades against her skin on either side. She had tied up the charm given by Aman bhaisaa tightly in her palu and tucked it into her waist before the vehicle had rolled in. Just like Aman bhaisaa had told her, she planned to keep it safely with herself. He had said that it would protect her. As farfetched as it sounded, Paro chose to believe it with all her being. She had tried to keep up with the directions, in case she had a chance to escape, but after the first 10 turns, remembering the route got messy and Paro gave up. Instead, now her thoughts were on Prakriti. She prayed fervently to Bholenaath to keep her safe. She knew her jija was in safe hands with ACP Sir and Aman bhaisaa. Her thoughts then wavered to Rudra.

Despite herself, she felt a smile tug at her lips. She knew she loved that man more than her own life. She recalled the moments with him and surprisingly, they seemed to calm her. She hated herself for leaving without telling him the truth. But it had been a tough decision for her too. Prakriti's life was at stake and despite misgivings, she told herself that what she was doing was the right thing. She knew Rudra would be angry once he found out what she had done. She only hoped that he would, one day, forgive her and remember her as a fond memory. The calmness, now long gone, was replaced with heart wrenching sadness as she thought of Rudra. She already missed him. His deep voice that always assured her, her safety, his awkward attempts to break the ice with her, his care, his fierce personality, his efforts for her birthday, the depth of the memories seemed to engulf her and for that one moment, she forget that she was on her way to the devil's lair.

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At the police station:

"Where is the vehicle now Aman? Have they stopped yet?" asked Rudra impatiently. He kept pacing back and forth behind Aman, who was staring intently at the computer screen, tracking the movements of the the dot, which had been crisscrossing across the lanes on the map for the last 40 minutes.

"No sir, they are still on the move. Like Parvati had said, after leaving the haveli, she reached the temple at Maharaja Marg and since then, she has been on the move. They are almost on the outskirts of the town by now. Knowing Tejawat, he wouldn't be anywhere close to a populated area cause the police of all surrounding areas are also on the lookout for him. We will have the location soon sir." Aman replied.

For a moment, Aman turned around and looked at Rudra's haggard form. He had been the same way since he had heard about Paro leaving. Aman sympathized with his superior, but his work ethics prevented him from speaking to Rudra about it. He knew there was something going on between the two of them. He had witnessed their stolen gazes when he would come to the haveli to meet Nandini.

Nandini was also annoyed with him. By now both Nandini and Mala knew about Paro's disappearance. Nandini had been aghast when she had found out that Aman had known about it all along and yet he had never told her about it. Aman sighed thinking about his most recent conversation with Nandini. She had looked at him with eyes that said he had broken her trust. She had accused him of not protecting her sister. When Aman had painstakingly explained the situation, she had composed herself a little. She had asked him to help Rudra and rescue both the girls. Despite her assurance to him, her behavior had been distant. She had not spoken to him since then. While it pained Aman to be away from her at such a crucial time, he knew that he had to devote all his time in rescuing Parvati and Prakriti and catching Tejawat for good.

Aman turned back towards the screen as the thoughts continued to muddle in his head. Behind him, Rudra continued with his pacing. He continuously kept running his hand through his hair, now at his wits end. He was furious at Paro. How could she have just walked away without telling him anything? He was going to give her a sound hearing when he would find her. There was no way he was letting go of her this easy. She would escape Tejawat's clutches, but nothing would protect her from facing his wrath, thought Rudra furiously.

"Aman let's just take the route they have taken and follow them. They are almost out of town. We'll track them on the way. The more time we take to reach them, the more their lives are at risk in that monster's hands. Make the server mobile and alert the men. We'll surround the area and take them down. His men will be there in huge numbers and tackling them will take a toll on us, so take as many men as we need. Get the jeeps and the ammunition ready. Explain to them what they are up against. We leave in the next 10 minutes." said Rudra giving out meticulous and crisp orders to Aman.

"Sir!" answered Aman and left the room after saluting Rudra. Rudra, meanwhile, took the chair Aman had vacated and stared at the moving dot, never leaving its course as Aman prepared the troops.

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The vehicle came to a sudden stop causing Paro to lurch forward from her seat. Unable to hold onto anything for support because of her tied hands, she fell onto the floor of the car, landing herself in an uncomfortable position. Before she could even try and push herself back, a pair of hands roughly pulled her out of the vehicle and made her stand outside. The iron grip of her captor never left her as they continued to walk on loose gravel, on which Paro stumbled once and again. Paro had absolutely no idea where she was being taken, she was still blindfolded and was being dragged along by the man whose hand were biting into the flesh of her arm.

After what seemed like a life-time of walking, the entourage finally came to a stop and Paro felt the knot of her blindfold being loosened. As her eyes adjusted to the sudden burst of light, she heard loud footsteps nearing her. The men behind her drifted into shadows, from where they watched the spectacle unfolding before their eyes, waiting for next set of orders from their master.

"Long time, no see Parvati" said Tejawat in a drawling voice, finally stepping out of the shadows. His smug expression portrayed his thoughts. He finally had the upper hand. He had won.

"Where is Prakriti?" asked Paro in clipped tones.

Tejawat stood smiling at her for a few seconds and then turned around and pointed towards the corner of the musty, barely lit room.

Paro gasped at the sight of Prakriti in the cage. Her face looked terrible, with her bones almost protruding from her cheeks. She had been starved for all these days. Her frail form was asleep, wound up tightly. Even from far, Paro could make out the blood red lines that ran around her ankles and wrists, from being tied up.

Paro took a step towards Prakriti. She had hardly taken a few steps forward, before Tejawat's hand came out to hold her arm tightly and stopped her in her tracks.

"What's the hurry Parvati?" he asked her, feigning innocence. "We have all the time in the world now." His grip on her hand caused Paro to wince as she tried to pull away from his fingers.

Tejawat lunged forward and caught her with both hands and pushed her towards the wall. Paro yelped in pain as her head hit against the wall with a sickening thud.

"Pains, doesn't it Parvati?" asked Tejawat, his blazing eyes glaring at her face. "Well, your sister and that police officer hurt me more and they are going to pay. Did you really think that I would really leave the girl after you hand yourself over to me?" He asked, his smile sinister.

"Both of you will be my prisoners. Both of you will rot under my feet till the day you die and both Ranawat and Nandidni will blame themselves for your destiny. Your life will become so gruesome that both of them will curse themselves, every moment of their life for not rescuing you. Vengeance will be mine." He hissed at her, a manical gleam dancing in his eyes as Paro looked at him horror-struck.

Paro pleaded with Tejawat to leave Prakriti. She promised that she would do anything he says as long as he left Prakriti, but Tejawat didn't listen to her. He ordered his men to lock her up in the cage along with Prakriti, before leaving the room to plan his escape.

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A sudden thud outside brought Paro back to her senses. She had been lost in thoughts of her grim future when the noise jerked her to reality. It had been close to an hour since they had been locked up. Or was it more? Thought Paro, unaware of anything around her. Looking down, she saw Prakriti curled up with her head against her lap, sleeping.

Prakriti had woken up from her fatigued state to realize that Paro was locked up with her as well. Despite her torn state, Prakriti apologized to Paro profusely for causing the mess, while Paro consoled her saying that it was not her mistake. Cradling Prakriti in her arms, Paro whispered that everything would be alright, while she didn't believe the words herself. After a while, Prakriti had drifted back to tired sleep and Paro held onto her closely.

The sounds from outside continued and Tejwat's men were on total alert. Tejawat came into the room to ensure that the girls were still locked up before sending two of his men outside for the source of the noise.

When the men didn't return, he sent more outside, his jaw now set in a tight line and his expression murderous. He knew the reason for the commotion. Ranawat had arrived.

He sent more of his men outside to fight the police while he stayed inside with his other goons guarding him.

Moments later, a loud voice boomed into the room. "Tejawat, you cannot escape", Rudra shouted. Your men are already down. My force is coming inside. Before things turn into a bloodbath, leave the girls and turn yourself in and make things easier for yourself."

Raging at the words he just heard, Tejawat walked towards the cage and Paro saw him approach towards them like a carnivore. She pushed the barely conscious Prakriti behind herself and waited with bated breath, before he unlocked the door and lunged at her.

Grabbing her by a fistful of her hair, he pulled her out of the cage and held a knife against her throat as he heard footsteps come in. Paro screamed in pain, as she felt her hair ripping from its roots.

Hearing her shriek, the pace of the footsteps increased and a troop of men came in with Rudra and Aman in the lead. Rudra whipped out his gun as soon as Tejawat came into view. While Aman and his men took care of the other goons, Rudra slowly walked towards Tejawat, who took one step behind, pulling Paro along with him, with each step that Rudra took forward.

"Don't you dare come any closer Ranawat, or I swear to God, this knife will be down her throat the next minute." Tejawat said, the knife dangerously close to Paro's throat, while Paro looked at Rudra with alarmed eyes.

Rudra calculated his next move. He had to be very careful, or Tejawat would use any means to escape and that meant killing Paro in one stroke. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw an unconscious Prakriti, breathing labouredly in a cage. His blood boiled, seeing his sister's condition, but he knew he had to calm down to rescue both of them. Any rash movements would put both their lives at risk.

As Tejawat looked around, he saw that he was losing the battle. Most of his men were already unconscious and the rest would soon give up. He was cornered. Before his eyes, Rudra walked slowly towards him with the gun pointed his head, his eyes never leaving the knife against Paro's throat.

Both the men glared at each other like wolves, ready to lunge at each other's throat. Panic had started to set in for Tejawat. Behind Rudra, he saw the rest of the police force slowly joining him, after capturing his men.

"Give up Tejawat. There is no escape for you this time" Rudra ordered Tejawat. While his words were firm, Rudra's heart thudded loudly in his chest as he viewed the shiny blade in Tejawat's hand. The men behind him, stood tensely, waiting for his orders, their fingers firm on the trigger, just like his.

Knowing that there was no other way out and his stance now that out of a helpless prey who would soon be devoured, Tejawat lost his senses. He started laughing manically still roughly gripping Paro's hair.

"I will have my revenge, Ranwat." He screamed at Rudra, pointing the knife at him. "I am going to steal away your happiness and peace, just like you did to me. You don't get to have a life, after you have ruined mine." Saying so, he plunged the knife deep into Paro's stomach, causing her to gasp inaudibly, as her eyes widened.

No sooner had Tejawat attacked Paro, a bullet struck him right between his eyes, killing him on the spot. Rudra dropped the gun he had just fired and ran towards Paro, who was now lying in a pool of dark blood. Aman rushed towards the cage to rescue Prakriti.

"Paro, Paro, look at me" said Rudra, petrified, cradling the barely conscious Paro in his arms. "Don't do this to me Paro, wake up." He tried to stop the bleeding, but the knife, still lodged inside of her did not allow it. He shouted at his men to call for an ambulance, as he held her close to himself.

Paro was slowly getting drowsy. Fighting for her life, she looked up at Rudra and asked him if Prakriti was okay. Assuring her that Prakriti was fine, he asked her to hold on to him and that he would make sure she would be alright too.

Parvati barely heard him as he fretted about her. Prakriti was safe, so was her jija, which was all she had wanted. She had seen Rudra's face one last time. She didn't know if she would make it out alive, but she had no regrets. As the thoughts slowly left her, so did her consciousness leaving her limp in Rudra's arms.

I know the ending is sad ladies :(( but I promise, things will turn uphill from now. :))

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