FF :Time and Again Book 1 completed - Page 4

Dehradoon, 2011:

"Maithili…Maithili…who are you?" muttered Pia as she went through the newspapers of the past one year in the library. She needed to find out exactly what memories she had lost, and since everyone was hell bent on giving her half-baked lies….Pia decided she wanted proper answers, but the more she found out, the more her confusion grew. This article about the fire in the forest, for instance…apparently a princess called Maithili had been burnt alive, alongwith her lover. Pia was confused..why did the name strike bells in her mind? As though she had met her…. But how could have met someone who had died in the 1850s…? There was something very fishy about the whole thing.

And then there was Abhay. Impossibly handsome and even more impossibly rude and arrogant, she could not fathom why her heart ached for him. Her family said she'd been hurt by him, and going by his behavious towards her now…It was painfully obvious they'd been speaking the truth. So why was this spark in her heart that refused to die down? Why did she feel that this whole thing was a farce, even though it was reality? Why had she even dated him in the first place?

Questions, Questions….. Pia hated anything left unsolved.

Was it all an illusion by her mind? Maya had said they were perfect, made for each other…So what had gone so wrong? What had really happened?

That night! The night of Panchi's engagement. She'd be prepared to cross her heart and swear a million times that it was Abhay she had seen under the ice, Abhay whose voice she had heard when Neil had had an accident, Abhay who'd helped her prove her innocence to T….Abhay who'd pulled her into the freezing water when the wolves had surrounded her. She had seen him, touched him. Then why was he denying all that had passed between them? And who was this Maithili, and did it have to do with her?

"Library closed…" announced the cheerful librarian who liked Pia. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, I'll just leave," said Pia, hurriedly getting up. In her hand was clutched the newspaper where the report of the fire had come out. She walked to the forest.

Deeper and deeper she went inside the forest, her mind singly focused on finding the shack that had been burnt . When she reached the spot, she felt a strange sense of anticlimax.

There wasn't any grandeur about the place. It had been gutted, and there was barely anything to suggest the tragedy that had taken place nearly two centuries ago. She stared at it for a few moments, and then a curious hissing, spitting noice made her whip around.

Green flames were flaring up a foot around her, forming a flaming circle, the flames strangely fascinating to watch. They gave off no heat, but Pia was sweating with fear. The flames were rising higher now, growing taller and taller….She couldn't see anything. "Help!" she cried weakly, without any hope for help, but still determined not to go without trying, at least. She could see nothing except a green haze now, and then she felt her feet leave the ground. Darkness surrounded her, and then Pia felt her feet touch the ground after a few seconds. There was a strange feeling in her stomach , as though she had been spinning.She opened her eyes, having shut them from fear. She was in the forest still... Had this been another illusion of her over-active mind? Was she going insane? She got up shakily and looked around.

I think this chapter answered a few questions…LOL.😆