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."
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