|Impossible Love S2| _Akanksha_ HAS BEEN COPIED

He could see her. Just the curve of her shoulder and the spill of her hair, but he knew it was her.

Beside him, Rhea was crouched, her body perfectly still but her senses on high alert. ''All right?'' She whispered.

Abhay looked away from the shoulder to look at her. Her face was bruised, one eye almost closed, lower lip torn. But she was smiling. She'd stuck around Paul's house until Abhay had arrived, making sure no harm came to Pia Jaiswal.

Abhay took her hand and kissed it. ''You're an angel.'' He told her. ''And you deserve some fun. Go back to the freshers party being held in your college.''

''But, you-you're not planning to stay here alone, are you? If she comes-''

''I can take care of things. I brought something to protect Pia. Besides, she won't do anything until she talks to me.''

''But-''

He ran a hand on her face, healing the injuries. ''Rhea, go.'' His voice was gentle, but it wasn't a friendly urge anymore. It was an order of a lord, Abhay, the head of the vampire clan, and he was accustomed to being obeyed. He turned away from her to look at Pia through the broken window shards again.

He forgot that Rhea existed. The girl on the couch had turned. He could see her face.

Shock coursed through him.

He had known it was her, but he didn't know that she would look so much like her.

The way she had looked the first time he saw her, the first time she had been born. Although he had seen various altercations of her in all these years, he'd never seen it again. Until now.

This was the exact image of the girl he'd fallen in love with.

The only thing that was different was the birthmark.

To Abhay, it was beautiful, because it was a part of her. She'd worn it in her every lifetime after the first. But seeing the mark made him clench his fists in helpless fury; that mark was her punishment, his fault. He would put a wooden stake through his heart if it could take the mark away. Though, nothing in the human or the supernatural world could, or he hadn't found a cure after years and years of searching.

Oh, he loved her.

He hadn't let himself feel this for so long, thinking that it will drive him insane. But now, it washed over him like a flood, it made his heart pound. The sight of her lying there, warm and alive, separated by a stupid window and an equally stupid human male.

He wanted her. He wanted to step through the windows, push Paul away, carry her in his arms, and take her to a secret place no one knew existed. But he knew, from experience, that it wouldn't work. He had tried it a few lifetimes before, and she had hated him before she died. He would never risk that again.

So, all Abhay could do was kneel outside the window and watch the newest incarnation of his only love, Maithali. He didn't realize at first, what they were doing. Rhea had told him that she was visiting a psychologist. But, only now, listening to the conversation going on inside the room, did he realise what they were up to. They were trying to recover her memories. To hypnotise her. To break into her subconscious. It was dangerous. Not because the guy performing the hypnosis didn't seem to know what he was doing, but because Pia's mind was full of deadly trauma. They shouldn't be doing this.

Every muscle in Abhay's body tensed. But there was no way he could stop it. He could only listen and wait.

''So, he's not human.'' Paul repeated.

''No, he's a lord of the vampire world. He's powerful ..and evil.'' Hannah added. ''He's lived for a thousand of years. I'm the one who's reincarnated.''

''Oh, terrific.''

''You don't believe me?''

''No ..I mean-'' Paul paused. ''-I don't know what to believe in. If it's a fantasy, we gotta look for something, what it means to you. Let's take this back to the first time you met this guy. Now, I want you to go back in time, go back.''

''Wait, I, I don't know if it is such a good idea.''

''We can't find out anything until we understand who the guy is.''

Pia didn't feel convinced. She had the feeling that she shouldn't argue, she felt weak all over again.

''See yourself as fifteen. Now, go back to the time when you were twelve years old. See yourself as nine, as six, as three years old. Now, go back and see yourself as a tiny baby.''

Pia couldn't help but listen. Her mind played a movie of her pictures, she was getting smaller and smaller with each picture, until she was an infant.

''And now, I want you to go further back, I want you to go back to the time before you were born as Pia Jaiswal. The time when you first met this guy you know as Abhay. Go back to the first time.''

Pia was scared. She was being drawn into a tunnel and she had no control over where she was going. The walls around her were pitch black, and she was being pulled through it at a high speed.

No, she didn't want to do this. But she couldn't stop. It was all happening too fast.

''Back to the first time.'' The voice echoed itself in her mind.

''Go back, you will see yourself, maybe in a strange place. The first time.''

She had a feeling of crossing a huge distance, she was terrified. And then, she exploded into darkness. Silence. And then a picture. It seemed to be unfolding itself until it was everywhere around her, and she was in the middle.

''What do you see?''

''I see ..me. It looks just like me, except the fact that it doesn't have a birthmark.''

''Where are you? What are you doing?''

''I don't know where I am.'' The scene was so incredibly real, and yet so unfamiliar. She was amazed. ''I am holding something 'a rock. And I am wearing animal skins, my pants and shirt is made of animal skins. And there is a cave behind me.''

''Sounds like you're really far back.'' His voice came lightly.

''And there's a girl beside me, she's wearing animal skins too.''

''You're doing something with a rock, you're wearing animal skins. People who want to imagine themselves in the oldest days, but don't know a thing about them.'' Hemuttered to himself.

''But you didn't tell me to be the person, you told me to see it.''

''Okay then.'' He stood up. ''Be that person.''

Wait. She was dissolving. She was becoming herself, the girl in front of the cave.

''What?'' He asked.

''Mother's going to be furious. I am supposed to be sorting food. There's not much left and it's mainly rotten. But we have spent the whole morning knocking the teeth out of the animal and making a necklace. Weird, I'm scared all of a sudden. My mother wants me to get married, and she keeps telling me that I will meet someone at the gathering. But I don't think so. I don't want anyone. She can't see my future, and she is worried. She wants to be a Shaman so that I can fight back if spirits have something bad in store for me.''

''Pia, let's make sure you get out of there safely. Now, when I clap my hands, you're going to wake up, completely refreshed. Okay?''

''Pia? My name is Maithali. And I'm already awake.''

''When I clap my hands, you're going to wake up. You will be Pia Jaiswal from Dehradun.'' A clap. ''Pia?'' Another clap. ''Pia?''

''It's Maithali. And I don't know what you are talking about, I can't be someone else.'' She stiffened. ''Wait, something's happening at the river.''

''When I clap my hands-''

''Shh. Be quiet.'' Something was happening, she wanted to see it.

-

Maithali stood up.

''Something's happening at the river.'' She told the girl sitting next to her. ''I want to see what's going on.''

''Well, if you insist, wait for me.'' The girl stood up.

There was a stranger crouching in the bushes. That was very exciting; there were hardly any strangers here. But the stranger she saw wasn't like anyone she'd ever seen.

''He's a demon.'' The girl whispered, awed.

It was a young man ' a guy a few years older than Maithali. He was really good looking, he had brown hair, he was only wearing a brief loincloth. That didn't bother her, everyone wore clothes like that in summer. But this wasn't summer, this was late spring. And no sane person would go travelling without clothes.

But that wasn't what shocked Maithali, what made her stand there with her heart pounding so hard that she couldn't breathe. He was clearly a demon.

His eyes were wrong, they seemed to throw the sunlight back at you when you stare at them. But his eyes were nothing compared to the teeth, his teeth were delicately carved. They came to a very sharp point.

The boy was covered in mud, his hair ruffled crazily, his eyes looking from left to right. There was blood on his mouth and chin.

''He's a demon.'' There were five men standing near the boy, with spears in their hands. ''What else could have a human body with animal eyes and teeth?''

''A spirit?'' Maithali offered. ''Whatever it is, a demon or a spirit, you'd better not hurt him. It's Mother who will decide what to do with him. It's a matter for the shamans.''

''You're not a Shaman yet.'' The leader of the hunters spoke up, she didn't like him.

And she wasn't sure why she had spoken up in favour of the stranger, there was something in his eyes. He looked lost, frightened, alone.

''She's right. We should take him to the Mother. Should we hit him on the head or tie him up?''

But at that time, they heard a thin voice. It was a woman screaming.

''Someone, help, Rita's been attacked!''

Continued in the next part.