Convergence - Page 3

Chapter 2:

"Why do you have to go home all of a sudden Geet?" Anjali asked her roommate who was packing her stuff haphazardly.

"There is an emergency at home Anjali. I will have to go," Geet continued to pack and replied to Anjali distractedly.

"Do you want me to do anything?" Anjali asked in concern. Geet's hands stilled. Her bent head covered her face and hid her expression from Anjali. If Anjali was standing in front of Geet, she would have seen panic on her face.

Geet shook her head.

"I can come with you if you want." Anjali said. Geet turned sharply. "You look disturbed Geet. I want to ensure that you will reach your home safely," Anjali added knowing fully aware of Geet's background.

"You won't mind?" Geet asked after contemplating for minutes. Anjali stood up and shook her head.

"Let me pack. You can tell me later why we are going to your hometown in such a hurry," Anjali said and disappeared into her own room. Geet stood in the same position for several minutes and finally collapsed on her bed. She was thankful that Anjali was going to be there with her to deal with all the things that were going to come. And not to mention that with Anjali's company, she wouldn't be scared of travelling alone.

Last time she traveled alone, she had disappeared for six and half weeks.

--o00o—

"There will be a car waiting for us at the bus stand. And from there it's one hour to my house," Geet said tying her hair and looking outside the window. Geet and Anjali were seated in bus bound to her hometown.

"So, what happened?" Anjali asked after one hour into their journey.

"My mother has gone missing again," Geet replied looking out of the window. Anjali looked at her friend in shock.

"Again?" Anjali asked her. "It has happened before?" Now it was plain confusion. It was odd that a grown woman could go missing like a child.

"Yeah. She has been at it for last fifteen years." Geet said. Anjali straightened in her seat and looked at Geet expectantly.

-- Fifteen Years ago --

"Where are you going daddy?" The ten year old girl asked her father who was packing his bags. He continued to pack without paying heed to his daughter's question.

"Mommy, where is daddy going?" She shook her mother who was sitting in verandah in a daze. "Can I go too?" She asked her mother who wasn't responding to her daughter either.

"Where are you going daddy? Why aren't you talking?" The little girl tugged his shirt and repeated her question. The little girl had sensed something wasn't normal in her family. In previous months she had heard her father shouting in middle of the night and her mother's silence in response. The voices and the silence of the night had left her terrified making her lose her sleep. She hid under the bed and begged for the loud voices to stop. Sometimes she took shelter in her closet after her father had tucked her in and bode her good night. It provided the best insulation to the sound.

She tugged her father's hand and looked at him expectantly.

"Geet, sweetheart, I am sorry that I will not be there around anymore alright? I wish there was something I could do but I really can't," he said wiping his tears. She had burst out crying after seeing tears in her father's eyes.

"Don't go daddy," she begged. She cried and ran after him as he walked out of the house and never once looked back at her. She ran to her mother and shook the woman who was staring at the sky blankly.

"Mommy where did daddy go? Ask him to come back please." She cried. Her mother continued to stare at the sky. Geet was terrified when she realized that even after twelve hours of sitting in the verandah her mother hadn't stopped her sky gazing and nor had she eaten or spoken. She simply sat and stared at the sky.

"Mommy I am hungry," Geet asked her mother shaking her as much as her tiny form could manage. "Mommy, why aren't you talking to me? You don't like me like daddy too?" Her voice broke in the end and she burst out crying. At that moment phone rang.

"Hello," Geet said amidst sobs.

"Geet? Why are you crying baby?" It was her grandfather. Hearing her grandfather's voice she let go all of her fears, scare and pain and cried harder. Her grandfather coaxed her to calm down and talk to him. After several moments, her heavy sobbing reduced to sniffles and occasional hiccups.

"Daddy packed his suitcase and went somewhere. He said he is not coming back," Geet said wiping her tears.

"Where is your mom?" Her grandfather asked gently.

"She is sitting in verandah since morning and she is not even talking to me. I am so hungry," little girl wailed.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I will ask your aunt to come to your house now okay? Till then, be a darling and close the front doors. Open it only when your aunt comes. Can you do that for me?" Her grandfather told her gently.

"Okay nana," she replied and hung up the phone.

As her grandfather promised, her aunt came to her house after thirty minutes and made her dinner. When she woke up next morning, she was surprised to see her grandfather sitting in living room. For the first time in weeks, she laughed heartily as she played with her cousins who had tagged along with her grandfather. She was however surprised to see that her aunt and grandfather took her mother out every morning and came home in the evening.

"Auntie, can we go get my new uniform and books from school? My new school year will start soon," she asked her aunt. The looks that were exchanged across the room were not missed by Geet.

"Geet, mommy is sick sweetheart so I have decided to take her back to the town. She needs someone to take care of her," her grandfather told her softly. Geet was confused. Whenever she was sick she coughed or sneezed or her throat hurt. Her mom looked alright and not in pain.

"Is it stomach ache?" Geet asked her grandfather seriously.

"No baby. Something is wrong with her mind. She needs lots of rest now." Her grandfather explained. She nodded.

"Your other cousins will be there with you at your grandfather's house Geet. You won't be alone," her aunt added. Geet looked moderately happy as the van that carried all their belongings pulled away from the driveway of the house she was born and raised for ten years. She looked at her mom who was seated in the backseat of the car along with her grandfather while she sat in the front with her aunt. Her mother hadn't changed and was still out of everything.

It took her four more years to realize what exactly was wrong with her mother. It was when her mother tried to kill her.

-- Present --

"She is mentally ill Anjali. Sometimes she runs away from home chasing her hallucination or lost in her delusion and makes all of us worried. She is generally found after couple of hours of searching after wandering around in our estate and finally collapsing due to exhaustion. But this time she has been missing since last evening. So this has gotten my grandfather worried and he fears something really bad has happened." Geet said tonelessly. Anjali looked on.

"Do you know why she runs away?" Anjali asked hesitatingly.

"Last time she ran from home was around eight months ago. She said that the crow that was sitting on the tree told her about a cave where a woman lived with several ravens. My mother wanted to see that woman so she set on foot to that cave."

"She went in search of that cave?" Anjali asked. Though she had known Geet for couple of years now but she was surprised how little she actually knew about her friend. Sure she knew almost all members of Geet's family as they took turns in visiting her but she was surprised that her mother never visited her nor did Geet talk about her mother ever. She presumed that her mother was a sensitive subject and thus avoided at all occasions.

"Most likely she went in search of that woman. All the workers at estate know about my mother's condition so they are on the lookout constantly." Geet replied.

"What happened this time?" Anjali asked.

"She was in her room last evening when her caretaker brought her supper. An hour later when the caretaker came back to the room to pick up cutlery and give her a bath, she had disappeared. My mother isn't really chained or locked in a room Anjali. She is given a room and is allowed to move wherever she wants. She has her bodyguards and couple of caregivers who look after her all the time." Geet answered the questions that were brewing in Anjali's head. Anjali patted her hand.

"It's going to be alright Geet. Why don't you take a nap? I'll wake you up once we reach, okay?"

Geet nodded and closed her eyes.

-- o00o --

"You are stuck again girlie – between here and nowhere." The crow told her smugly. "Being neverwhere is also kind of fun, isn't it?" The crow was now talking to her sagely.

"I don't know what you are talking about," she replied smartly. Arguing with a crow, no a raven, was never a good idea.

"Darling little Geet, I was a human before I decided to become a raven. When I tucked you in bed every night you used to ask me if I was fighting with your mom. I would always lie and say that I talked loudly and there was nothing to worry about. Even during those times you preferred neverwhere didn't you?" The raven accused her.

"I don't know where neverwhere is wise raven. Or should I call you father?" She asked innocently. The raven croaked in disgust at his human reference. She shrugged simply.

"You are in neverwhere sweetheart," the raven cooed.

"I thought I was in dreaming?" She looked confused. (Author's note: "In dreaming" is not a grammatical mistake. Dreaming is a place where dreams are created, as per "The Sandman")

"Pfft…that's what you dream of," the raven flew away croaking. She chased the raven and asked the raven to tell her more about the place and tell her why she wasn't in dreaming. She became breathless as she ran to match the speed of the flight of the raven, her lungs demanding for oxygen burned and she turned red as her heartbeat accelerated.

"Geet….Geet…wake up," She opened her eyes to see Anjali and rest of the patrons in the bus looking at her. She had fallen asleep and was thrashing in her sleep.

"We are here," Anjali said and got up. She nodded and sighed deeply.

She was home.

To be continued

Quote: All Bette's stories have happy endings. That's because she knows where to stop. She's realized the real problem with stories -- if you keep them going long enough, they always end in death. ~ "24 Hours"