FF : Curiouser and Curiouser!(Ch17pg104)DISCONTINED.See Pg106 - Page 37

Piya did not have the courage to look into Abhay's eyes. She had hardly ever felt so much shame. Just because she herself was a bundle of nerves, she had hurt him by sidelining him. There had been so much bitterness in his voice when he had spoken to her. He must have felt terribly betrayed, yet she didn't even have the guts to apologise, and neither did he ask her to. They were silent as they walked into the chamber, the metallic doors clanging shut behind them. "They will not shut us here, will they?" said Abhay quietly, but she saw the agitation in his bearings. He was not sure of this place, and the very fact was worrying for him. She pushed away a stray curl from her head, then she pressed a finger on a needle. A drop of blood spilled out onto it. "Accessing shortly," said a cool female voice. "Please be seated, Seeker." "Seeker?" repeated Abhay. "Me," said Piya. "The person who has sought their memories." She sat down gingerly on a straight backed chair. " Do you want me to leave?" said Abhay awkwardly. "It's not safe for you," she said at once. "And I don't know where I'll find you then. They'll catch me and take me back to the palace. And I don't want to go back there. Ever."

"Transmitting images..." the voice intoned. "Initializing sounds..." Abhay glanced at Piya, who was sitting bolt upright on her chair, her lips pursed and her eyes closed tightly. And then the white light in the chamber dimmed and went off. There was a slight gasp from Piya as a thin stream of light- or perhaps it was something else- beamed onto her. Abhay felt suddenly panicked. What if something went wrong? What if she couldn't handle it? Impulsively, he reached out and took her hand.

And then, suddenly, he was standing in bright sunlight, blinking. He saw Piya laughing , in a place that resembled the castle grounds slightly. It lasted for only a second before the scene dissolved into another, another Piya, this time in a ballroom, as a handsome man came and asked her for a dance..he saw them sway on the dance floor, her yearning for him, clearly reflected in the orbs of her eyes. He was walking through her memories, Abhay realized. He saw her grim face as she dueled the man, then her triumphant laugh as she won. "See, Vikrant?" he heard her say, her voice light and teasing. "I won!" Abhay felt sick. His insides seemed to be writhing, as he saw the blatant admiration in the young vampire's eyes. And yet, he could not take his eyes off her. The scene dissolved into darkness, just as he heard Vikrant call out, "You defeated me a long time ago, Princess." The memories flew by faster and faster, some so blurred he could only make out a faces. He knew he was intruding on something private, but the temptation of wanting to know her past, combined with the desire to see her uninhibited, happy, stopped him from releasing her hand. He saw Vikrant confess his love for her, he watched as she returned it, her eyes shining in happiness. He had never seen that on her face, and his breath caught at her beauty, even as the something hard lodged in his chest refused to moved, as he saw them kiss, and then- He let go of her hand abruptly, unable to watch anymore. He could not, would not, see it happen. He stood next to her, as Piya remained in her seat, her eyes open now. She looked happy, happier than her had ever seen her, and he'd thought he'd seen her happy with Kabir...but it had been nothing like this.

Slowly, her face changed, from blissful to strained, to grim, to angry. He resisted the temptation to share her memories, fisting his palms to avoid reaching out to her. But as he watched, the beam transmitting her memories thinning, and Piya's face was now contorted into an expression of terror and fury. He started, his hand coming out to touch her shoulder. Piya's face contorted into sudden agony just as his hand touched her, and abruptly, he was jerked back into her memories. He glanced around. There was a battle going on around him. The sky was clearing, dawn breaking over the horizon. And the young vampire he had come to recognize as Vikrant lay twitching slightly in the ground below him. His handsome face was streaked by red- no, blood. A stake protruded from his chest. Abhay glanced around : where was Piya? And then he saw her. She was running towards him, her hair flying back behind her, looking very different in armour, a unicorn glinting on the front of her steel tunic. She dropped to her knees in front of Vikrant,her body shaking. "Please don't cry..." he heard Vikrant gasp. Her face was obscured to Abhay by a curtain of hair. "Smile for me, Piya...one last time?" He didn't know if she smiled, but the life went out of Vikrant's blue eyes, even though they were still open. And then he saw them : other warriors came forward pulling Piya to her feet, helping her up, while Vikrant's body was lifted onto a litter. And Abhay stared at the deadened eyes of Piya, empty, like Vikrant's had been. Horrified, he let go of her, but Piya in the chamber, too, was staring ahead, just like she had in the memory.

"Princess!" he whispered urgently. "Princess! We need to move- and fast. Please- please get up!" His words were followed by the dim light in the room going off, leaving them in total darkness. Abhay cursed. Using his other senses, he somehow coaxed Piya out of the chair. She saw shaking silently as she clung to him. "What-what's happening?: she asked, panic in her voice. "Vikrant-where is Vikrant?" "Let's get out of here, Princess," said Abhay , leading her out of the room and into the corridors. "Vikrant," she choked out. "Where is Vikrant?" "Damn in," Abhay cursed I his head. What was he supposed to say? "He's fine," said Abhay finally. "I'll take you to him. Come on." He hurried her along the corridors, keeping his eyes and ears open.

He didn't know if they were being watched now. It seemed almost too easy that they were about to walk out of the place-just like that. He rounded a corner, fully aware that their topmost priority was to get out of the place. The Omnius was a veritable maze, but Abhay remembered every turnthey had taken. Piya began to whimper for Vikrant, and he shushed her hastily.The lights were dim in the corridors, so it was only when he saw Mark's coal black eyes in the darkness that Abhay stopped dead. Mark pressed a finger to his mouth,then made the sign for an X followed by a finger along the base of his throat. He saw the real fear in Mark's eyes as he nodded and slunk away into another corridor. "You're not taking me to him," said Piya fiercely. "Take me to Vikrant!" Abhay didn't answer. He took her heand and broke into a full out sprint, because he had understood Mark as clearly as if he had spoken the words aloud. Danger. There is threat of death. They are watching. Be careful. Piya was getting impatient. The moment they were outside, she screamed. "Vikrant!" She could not complete the sentence, because Abhay covered her mouth with one hand, his other arm maintaining a firm grip on her, even as she struggled futilely against him. In desperation, she bared her fangs at him, clawing at his neck- And then, Abhay lost it.

This was her mission, her idea, her problem. He was the one who made everything possible for him- and after his use was over, she wanted to attack him? A wave of hatred swept through him, at all vampires, and at himself, for not recognizing what she was.

The next second, Piya was pinned against the wall, her wrists bound by one hand, a palm still over her mouth. "Vikrant. Is. Dead." He gritted out. "You b***** well know he's dead. You came here so you could get back memories of him alive!" he snarled softly, his own fangs bared. He let go of her abruptly. "Now that your job is finished, why don't you just finish me off and become a heroine for everyone else? It would be great to have a useful death. I don't know why I thought-" he broke off. Something had changed in Piya's face.

It had felt like a slap on the face- or rather, a sword slashed across her face- when he said those words to her. Vikrant was dead. Anguish gripped her for the man she had loved0 and with her memories, she felt as though she had lost him all over again . She drew a great, shuddering gasp, forcing herself to accept the facts Abhay had thrown at her. He had frightened her then, when he had stared at her with such intense loathing...and betrayal. Suddenly, everything began to make sense. She blushed with embarrassment and guilt as she thought of how weak she had become? What had she done?

He dropped a bag at her feet and moved away from her, his eyes still on hers. She saw the resignation on his face and wondered why...and then she heard them too. Running footsteps. The Strategists had caught up with them. Bile rose in her throat, and she had to force it down. Mechanically she picked up the bag at her foor. It was her potion supply... "Too scared to kill me yourself, sweetheart?" he said softly, mockingly. She forced herself to look away from him, towards the Strategist who was lifting a gun...pointing it at him. Time seemed to freeze. Piya found herself running forward, tackling Abhay to the ground, and the silver bullet aimed for his heart embedded itself in an acacia tree behind them. Piya had a second's deep satisfaction of seeing Abhay well and truly shocked into silence. "Get up! Dammit, we have got to run!" she hissed. She could hear Strategists calling her.

Abhay's reaction was faster than she'd thought. He hauled her up to her feet in less than a second, and then he was pulling her, both of them sprinting away from the Strategists. "Where-the-hell-are-you-going?" She panted, her breath painful. "I don't know!" he retorted, moving inside again through a set of doors that were open, and then they were hurtling across empty corridors, taking random turns that neither of them knew where it would take them. And then, suddenly, Piya stumbled and would have fallen if Abhay hadn't caught her arm, steadying her. He glanced at her, then inhaled sharply. "My god. Damn it, Princess, why didn't you tell me your ankle sprained?"It was several seconds before Piya could answer, as she gasped for breath, leaning on him for support. "Piya," she panted. Abhay looked confused. "What?" "My - name," she wheezed. "I think we've been through- enough that you can use my name." She saw surprise flash in his face, followed by something tender. "Come," he said finally. "We have to keep moving before they can find us." Seeing the strain return to her face, he added quickly, "It's all right. We don't need to run- not now, anyway. I can't smell any of them around." "Okay." Her voice was still shaky.

"Where do we go?"

Abhay narrowed his eyes at the fork in front of him, trying to decide which one of them was the best one to avoid getting caught. He felt uneasy about the lack of Strategists. Was it a trap?

"The right one," he said randomly. "We'll take the right one." She nodded , and they walked silently through the long corridors. And then he smelt them...at the end of the corridor they were in. he almost groaned out loud. Of course it was a trap...of course they were being suspected. He went very still. Piya looked at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but he shook his head a fraction to the left. Comprehension dawned in her eyes, followed by fear.

Swiftly, Abhay pulled out a small spray can and squeezed the nozzle gently. Piya watched, amazed, as grey fumes began to form from every side of the corridor. "Abhay-what shall we do?" she choked out.

"We run," he replied, his voice quiet.

He took her sweating hand and they began to run- but Piya stumbled again. Her hands clutched at the wall for support. She couldn't see anything now, and so it was a shock when she fell anyway, as the wall gave way. She heard Abhay curse, and then she felt herself lifted up in his arms, and a few moments later, she was breathing fresh air. She looked around. They were in a large glass room. "Are you all right?" said Abhay. "Yes-I-can you put me down?"

He lowered her gently to the ground. She winced slightly as the sprained ankle came into contact with the ground. "Congratulations," he said with a small smile. "Looks like you found us a way of escape."

Piya glanced at the wall behind her, which had concealed a door. "They could be coming any minute!" she said. "What are we going to do?"

Abhay looked out of the glass walls of the room they were in. He could see trees outside. His brow creased. "Let's get out of here," said Piya, tugging on his arm. "Come on, just break the glass already-"

But he was shaking his head. "I don't know, Prin- Piya...I think...I've been here before." There was a strange note in his voice.

"Come on!" said Piya, grabbing his arm and dragging him forward.

Abhay walked forward gingerly, against his better judgement. They had reached the middle of the room when the floor suddenly gave way under them. Piya's scream rang in the sudden pitch darkness that enveloped them as they fell into nothingness...

NOTE : So. This chapter was written a month ago at least. However, I was on the edge of discontiuing this FF because the response hasn't been the best. Anyway, I changed my mind because I love the characters way more than anything else and I want to tell their story. Hence, I won't be PMing anyone from now on. If anyone wants to be PM-ed, please do mention it in your comments and I will do it.