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Abhay is attacked by the vampire council and Pia feeds him her blood which makes his memories return.
Mount College :
Kshitij shook his head as he walked in the corridor. Alina had hardly seemed to be affected by his flirtations with Sama, or, indeed, the many other girls. Crushed as he was, he had a sneaking suspicion that Alina was not who- or what- she claimed to be. He hadn't forgotten the way her eyes had glowed golden, and the long nails which looked so much more animal than human. He had been stalking her ever since, but so far no luck. It had only fuelled him to get to know her better. This wasn't normal, was it? No girl had affected him like this. Lost in his thoughts, he collided hard with something warm and soft, who gasped out in displeasure. Instinctively, he reached out to help Alina upright, noticing the irritation on her face as she glared at him. "I hope your eyes are in working order," she spat. She turned to move past him, but he had noticed the worry lurking in her eyes, like a ghost. Her eyes were sunken and she looked tired, but she was beautiful to him. Alina had spent the better part of her resting hours talking to her clan members. She had come to know vampires had apparently attacked them again- this time, without the supernatural king. The fact that Abhay had not been there had made her even more nervous. She was afraid of losing more of her clan, afraid of facing Abhay, and unsure about whether they could even win. And then she had to collide with one of the most immature people she had ever met. She'd snapped at him, turning to move away, but he caught her hand, forcing her to turn around and glare at him again. "Leave my hand, you jerk," she hissed, "What the hell do you want now?" His sudden, strange seriousness disturbed Alina, and she looked at him, trying to see if this was another of his jokes. Why was he asking her if she was all right? Alina didn't know.
"Quite well, no thanks to you," she replied sarcastically. "Now if you'll excuse me-" she tugged her hand from him and walked away down the corridor, feeling slightly uneasy as she could feel his eyes on her all the way. She was tempted to whirl around and give him a good dressing down in front of everyone, but she held her temper in check. She had bigger things to do... which was emphasized by her phone as it trilled, telling her than Liana was calling. "Yeah, I'm alone," she said, locking herself into an empty classroom. "Need to talk to you," came Liana's voice. "Can you come to the woods? The usual place?" "Yeah, sure," she replied, cutting the call. Adrenaline raced through her. She fervently hoped Liana had some good news. She came out and walked out of the college, as quietly as she could, without attracting any attention. However, she failed to notice that there was a figure behind her, who was very interested in what Alina was up to. Kshitij followed Alina as she walked out, noticing that her car was left outside the college. The fog in the mountain atmosphere that day was both a blessing for him- giving him camouflage- and a curse- because he almost lost her trail twice.
He almost yelped out loud when he saw that she was meeting Liana, but took a deep breath and pressed the record button on his phone. "Is it ready?" he heard Alina say. "Almost," he heard Liana reply. "All we need is her to consent.. .. then finally, we get our freedom." Pressed behind a tree, Kshitij tilted his head, seeing the expression of relief, but his own face was furrowed. What were they talking about? "Thank God," said Alina. "When will we do it?" "Coming full moon, obviously," said Liana. "After all, our powers will be peaking then." "Right, of course," exhaled Alina. She smiled. "Well, I should go back to college, then." "Yeah, I'll go home and see to Rehan," replied Liana. They clasped each other's hands in an odd expression of farewell, then the two women left, not noticing Kshitij, a few yards away.
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"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Pia for the umpteenth time as she guided Abhay over the threshold to her house, waving away Mr. Gomes who had come to offer refreshments. She looked worriedly at Abhay. Just after telling her he remembered everything, an odd expression had come over his face, and when he had got to feet, all he had said was, "Can.. how far is your home from here?" She'd called her car, sitting on the backseat with Abhay as it drove to her house. His face reflected a strange emotion she had trouble recognising on Abhay. His eyes were closed, as though he was very far away, but his hand was clasped firmly over hers, as though he would never let go. Now, Pia guided him to her room, still trying to understand what he had remembered that caused him to act... this way. "Lie down," she said, pushing him down on the bed; surprisingly, he didn't resist. "I'll get some clothes for you," she said, moving away, but he didn't let go of her hand. "No... don't... not now. Please don't leave me." And Pia was afraid. Not because he was a vampire- who had just fed on her blood- but because she had never imagined him like this. He looked so vulnerable it scared her. "I won't hurt you, I promise," he said, obviously mistaking the reason of her fear. "I know you won't," she mumbled, getting up on the bed beside him. She pushed away the hair from his forehead. "What is it, Abhay?" she said softly. "What.. . what do you remember?" "They took you," he whispered. His arms came to rest on hers, and he held on to her tightly, as though she would be snatched away from him. "They killed you, Pia... they killed you... I could do nothing to save you... nothing... because I was human. I'm sorry, Pia.. I wanted to die with you... but they didn't let me. I- Pia, my parents.." Pia had a brief flash of an elegant woman in a black suit, telling her, "I wish you were with Abhay..."
"What- what happened to them?" she asked fearfully. "Why-?" He closed his eyes briefly. "I don't know... But I'm sure they killed them, too. They killed Mom and Dad... they must have... God, Pia..."
"But why?" she whispered. "Why... why did they kill me?" "They wanted revenge," he said softly. "Because of you, I turned human... because of your love, I turned human... and they wanted revenge... because you thwarted them."
Everything seemed crystal clear to Abhay now. Everything fitted: the Council letting him and Arnab Dobriyal go alive, without a single condition... Of course- of course they had wanted payment for that later... why had he been so stupid? And of course, they had got the ultimate revenge... they had made him into the monster he had despised. Pia looked back at him, so fragile and yet so strong... she had come back for him. Yes, even after all that happened, she came back for him. Today also, it was her who saved him. He looked at her, wanting to say something, but she seemed to read his mind, leaning over and hugging him tightly. "I don't care," he heard her say, her voice muffled against his chest. "I don't care what they did... I love you... I've always loved you... even when I hated you..." He pulled her closer, wanting to bury himself in her scent, wanting nothing more than to forget what he was, forget everything, till the only reality was Pia...
She pulled away, smacking him lightly. "You... you one track minded... vampire!" she exclaimed, pushing his hand away. He felt himself almost smiling, but Pia soon grew serious "Go to sleep," she said, pushing him down on the pillow. "I'm sleeping in the other room. You need to rest, and if you keep that up' you won't be getting any." She pulled away from him and got off the bed.
She reached over to press a kiss to his forehead. "Promise me you'll sleep?" she said sternly, crossing her arms. "Yes," he lied.
But Abhay couldn't have slept. The face of all those nameless people he had killed, directly or indirectly... he was prepared to swear he could see them now, haunting him. All the witches he had killed... and Alina! All those times she had tried to reason with him, begged him to listen to her... there had been so many times he had almost killed her, furious at her so called 'defiance'. He had almost wiped out her clan. And what had that werewolf- Rehan- told him about him killing his mother through some minion?
Abhay felt sick, unclean. He was a monster- a monster in the true sense of the word, and not just because of what his species was. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the cries of the countless humans he had killed... he had revelled in their pain, enjoyed it. It wasn't just thirst for their blood. He had actually relished seeing them in their pain. He felt like the character of a play he had a long time ago... wanting to wash the smell of blood from himself. A humourless smile tugged at his lips when he remembered the many times he had told himself he was going to kill Pia... right from the day she had called him names at the airport they had collided in. How weird it was? He had wanted to kill the very person who was the reason for his existence and see the twists of the fate, she remained the only person he could not kill despite wanting to kill her so badly. Maybe God was there, and maybe he wanted to give him a chance at redemption and maybe that's why he had been kind enough to send Pia back. Or should he thank Advik for that? He wasn't sure of Advik's role in this whole mess even now. But he could hear Pia's dying words as she reached out for him in a haze of blood and pain... "I will never leave you Abhay... never... Death will not part us..." Why, WHY had they taken his memory? At least he would have known... at least.. .. .
Pia knew nothing of the kind of monster he was. She knew nothing of the amount of creatures he had killed in cold blood... not to satisfy his thirst... but because he had enjoyed it. The memories filled him with shame and disgust. He felt that fate was toying with him and Pia, to see how long they'd go on before one of them cracked and they would be separated forever. But Pia- she'd always been stubborn, hadn't she? She'd defeated death to come back for him. He acknowledged that now they were in more danger than ever before. What if the Council got to Pia again?... No. He could not, would not allow it to happen. He would make sure they wouldn't get to Pia- or heaven forbid, use her blood... and he knew first hand exactly how potent her blood was... Abhay stared up at the ceiling for a long time.
Pia frowned as she cut the call. Liana had just invited her for a puja at her house- apparently, she'd only invited relatives and close friends. Pia didn't want to leave Abhay, but she had been touched by the gesture and agreed. She wondered if Abhay would approve, though. But then, had she ever sought his approval?
P.S: For PMs please send buddy request to PKYEK2-DFL.
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