RiKara SS - You and I Collide [COMPLETE] pg 63(19/4) - Page 41

Here's for Ishana, because I believe they should get a proper ending. Not an argument based on half baked truths, but a proper, mature conversation. Just by closing a book, you don't finish reading. For those who do not know her, everything you should know is in here, don't worry. She is not going to be some third angle, so don't worry about that.😳

I hope you will enjoy reading this!😊

Chapter 18

The turning point

She had been kidnapped once, when she was nine. Ragav had refused to pay the ransom, probably hoping the kidnappers would finish her off. For three days they had held her captive in a warehouse where it was always night, with no food and only a bit of water that tasted metallic. Ri was back there in her mind. The shadows moved, voices rose and fell making no sense what so ever. It was kind of an abyss, of pain, loss and flickering hope. For most part of her life she had wished she was dead.

She wanted to live, when the time actually came.

"Omkara?" She gasped to no one in particular. A hand brushed over her forehead, a voice spoke in her ear.

"I'm here."

"Stay with me?" Even to herself those words sounded doubtful. He would not, after all no one had cared so far. "God, it hurts so much!" She croaked then. "Why does it hurt so much?"

"Hang in there," his voice was gentle. "It'll be alright, I promise."

"I think I killed someone," her throaty tone wondered. "Back then when I was escaping - he was trying to hold me back - and I - I smashed a vase over his head."

"He'll survive," although the voice soothed her, she caught the malice tainting it. He actually thought that person deserved the blow.

She chuckled to herself and then coughed painfully.

"Tum na bohot achche ho -"

Her voice faded away, as she fall back to her nightmares, twitching slightly as a fresh wave of pain washed over her. Omkara laid a hand over her forehead, checking her temperature. She had a mild fever, still. He sighed, as he heard footsteps behind him. There was this conversation pending, perhaps he could not prolong it anymore.

"Change your clothes otherwise you'll catch a cold," Ishana said stiffly, handing him a stack of neatly folded clothing items, her tone wary she added, "I'll watch over her."

He stood up slowly, watching the girl shift a little uncomfortably under his gaze. He was reluctant to get her help. But she lived with the only doctor he could have found in that rural area; an old man who seemed to help them only because of her word. Thankfully it had been a surface wound. Other than the loss of blood and probable infection Ri was in no imminent danger. Omkara was curious to know why Ishana helped him, why she was not holding any grudges about their last meeting.

"Take a picture," she shrugged her shoulders. "It'll last longer."

"What brought you here?" He wondered aloud.

"Have you ever wondered why I did what I did?" Her tone was bitter. "No right? Then why should I answer that question?"

"You hate me," he summarized. "Then why are you helping us?"

"Your answer is in your question itself," her tone was still dismissive. "I'm not helping you, I'm helping you two." Her eyes shifted towards Ri. "Do you love her, Omkara ji?"

"Does it matter?"

"To me no. To her, I think so. She has started to trust you, you mean something to her. That is a feeling I can connect with." She took the seat he had previously occupied and looked up at him, her eyes empty against the orange light of the room. "Wounded people always find each other." She shrugged again, as if trying to get that idea out of her head. "Loving someone is easy, being loved is hard. You have to prove yourself worthy of what you're getting every minute. Are you really ready for that?"

"To think the girl who tried to con me is saying all this ..." He mused darkly.

"My family was under a heavy debt, those people were kinda dangerous." Ishana said abruptly. "It doesn't matter - " she added hastily then. "It all ended with Baba's death. Mona, that is my sister and I have escaped for good. We're safe here, for the time being. I don't expect you to help me."

"Ishana - I" he was not sure what he wanted to say. But she let him form his reply, in the pause that followed those words. "I thought about what you said for a long time."

"Those words kinda came true yeah?" She sounded amused. "I've heard things about your family, especially you. Can't say I was pleased."

"And I understand, why you said all those things."

"I understood as well," she replied. "Why you and I can never be. You see love is not about doing the right thing all the time. Sometimes it's about being ready to do the worst wrong if it is for the sake of the other. And the two of us were never ready to do anything for the other right?"

Silence etched between them, as both refused to meet the other's gaze.

To his surprise, Omkara found that he agreed with her. Love was all about sacrifices, sometimes it can mean sacrificing your principles, beliefs too. His eyes found their focus on Ri again, who was still shivering with fever.

"Ishana," he said abruptly. "Do you have a phone, I could use?"

"I have a power bank, which might be more useful." She said with a tilt of her head. "But first change out of those clothes will you? I agree you look hot and everything, but it's seriously unhealthy."

He watched her for a moment, frozen in mid expression, her lips tugged upwards in a wary grin and he started to laugh too, despite the situation. Some decisions were easily taken in a blur of conflicting emotions.

"I want you to keep something safe for me, at a certain time someone will come looking for it, until then, no one must know it exists."

It was her chance to froze in mid laugh, her eyes looked stunned.

"Why are you trusting me?"

"Because both of us are no longer the same people and trust is the most expensive thing I can offer you."

**

When she woke up again, Ri desperately wanted it to be a nightmare. A splash of cold water had rudely pulled her to wakefulness and her eyes opened to the harsh sunlight and the leer of Kali Takur. She sucked in a breath, struggling to free herself, only to realize he had her bound to a tree, and the ropes would not give away.

"Bohot bhaag liya nahi?" He asked her softly, "but you should have known I'd eventually catch up. And when I do," he clicked his pistol. "I won't be happy."

Her eyes slowly roamed the surrounding, they were still in that forest area. There was another young woman she did not recognize, pulled into binds with her. But there was no trace of him. Her heart stilled for a moment and her breath quickened. Where was Omkara?

"Who are you looking for?" Kali chuckled. "No one is about to save you this time my dear.."

"What did you do with him?" She snapped, her eyes boring into those of her captor. "If something happens to him, trust me it's not going to end well for you."

The man started laughing, bending over, clutching his stomach. Then he stopped and slapped her.

"Are you really threatening me now?"

Her mind was reeling and her mouth tasted metallic as the inside of her cheek split with his blow.

"It's not heroic to hit a woman who is bound to a tree Kali Takur, are you so worried that I might actually do some damage?"

"You -!" He gritted his teeth. "Wait till your father turns up."

"Oh, so you admit you're his lapdog?"

**

"Are you enjoying our hospitality again Mr. Oberoi?" There was a dark humor in Ragav's tone as he took the seat opposite. However he did not feel as victorious as he had been. Through the young man was injured, there was a gash down his cheek which was still bleeding and he was tied to his chair, still, as their gazes met; he watched the older man as if mildly amused and that calculative gaze made him shiver inwardly.

"Come to the point will you, Mr. Khanna, I don't really appreciate this way of negotiating." His tone was casual.

"You shouldn't have helped her to elope Omkara," Ragav said bitterly. "You called this upon yourself."

"You shouldn't have tried to kill her either."

The old man laughed.

"So you know? But what can you do, there is no proof."

Omkara knew that was true. Everything this man had done, including the attack on Shivay, there was no proof that linked him to any of it. The most they could, they would send Kali Takur behind the bars, which was not sufficient at all. He sighed inwardly, to trap this man, who was an eel of sorts, a different kind of game had to be played. This was where Shivay went wrong. He had no idea who he was against, fortunately Omkara had. He knew how this man operated.

"What do you want?" He asked finally, careful to keep his rage off his tone.

"Now we're talking business," Ragav chuckled. His eyes bore into Omkara's. "Where is that document?"

He didn't play around.

"It's lost." He said shortly. Ragav banged his fist on the table.

"Don't lie to me!"

"Why should I?" Omkara raised an eyebrow. "It's gone. We jumped into water, I'm sure your minions would have told you and it was entirely destroyed in the process."

"I don't believe you!" He hissed.

"That's your problem. But I thought you'd be happy, this was the one thing Kali had over you right? Now it's no more. Kali Takur has no power over you anymore Ragav." He paused and watched the effect of his words on the man's purple face. His gray eyes had narrowed. "Now he is just an obstacle in your path, a man who knows too much; don't you think? The last person who can testify against your crimes?"

"What do you want?" Ragav snapped, purely to stop his alluring words. Omkara smirked.

"Now, we are talking business."

**

He kicked her in the gut and Ri splattered blood. Kali had untied her just for this, his eyes shone with a maniac malice as she collapsed on the dust. Sizing a handful of her hair, he pulled her to face him, the pain mirrored in her face, only adding to his satisfaction.

"You said a lot," he hissed in her ear. "I hate women who talk too much." He pressed the cold barrel against her temple. "They have to be silenced, one way or the other."

"What else do you know, but to kill people?" She found energy to snort.

"Oh, you have no idea.." his tone was dangerous. "Perhaps you might get one, when I'm done with you." He was too close for her comfort, his breath fanning her face. Ri winced, as the man shifted his hold and pressed her fresh bullet wound. Tears springing to her eyes, she closed them, as the man's rough lips found the skin of her throat. She struggled, a scream silenced against the waves of pain engulfing her. This cannot be happening, not to her, no!

There was a gunshot and then everything went blank.

The hands picking her up, were gentle, that embrace warm. She collapsed against those arms, a soothing hand running through her hair. Someone cupped her chin, making her look into that familiar dark gaze.

"It's over, you're safe." Omkara touched his lips to her forehead, his tone a mere whisper in the wind. She clutched to him, still shivering, her vision still hazy and gasped for air.

"He - he was," Her voice broke.

"He is no more." His tone was bitter, and his eyes focused somewhere beyond her shoulder. She turned slowly, a hand still clutching a fistful of his collar. Her bloodshot eyes swept over the limp body of the dead man - why was his men watching this drama, doing nothing - the answer came almost immediately. In the edge of her vision stood Ragav, his gun still drawn, pointed at her feet, probably where Kali had been a moment before.

Instinctively she moved closer to Omkara. Ragav with a gun was not the best case scenario after all. He met her questioning gaze and smiled faintly.

"We're getting married."

**

This is hardly the happy ending, that means we are not done.

See you with the next part soon, in the meantime, share your take with me.

Sorry for any disappointments.

Thanks for reading!

Love,

Sakura