Updating earlier than I thought. 😆 Also, just a mention here.
We writers put a lot of effort into our stories. So don't just up and steal them and publish them under your own name. Plagiarism is the worst thing you can do to one of our kind.
That said, on with the story.
I've been standing here my whole life
Everything I've seen twice
Now it's time I realized
It's spinning back around now
On this road I'm crawlin'
Save me 'cause I'm fallin'
Now I can't seem to breathe right
- Adam Lambert (Runnin')
Chakor stood there, still, after listening to Suraj. It was like the Earth had shifted from below her feet, but somehow, she had remained standing. She looked around helplessly, her hands clenching and unclenching, beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She kept taking in sharp breaths, and finally, met Suraj's gaze.
"Toh... toh... hum kya kare Suraj Babu?" She collapsed on the ground, her hands on either side of her face in shock. Suraj just stood there, sighing. He wanted to comfort her, but his brain was busy thinking of ways to end his father's rule. He exhaled, picking her up from the ground, and she instantly draped her arms around his torso. He kept his hand on her head, patting it slowly, at a comforting pace. He could hear her sniffling, and it killed him inside, because even after all these years, he had got to see only this side of her.
"Don't cry," he breathed out, his hand moving from her head to her shoulder and enveloping her in a brief hug.
"Bohot raat ho gayi hai, main tumhe gaon waapas le chaltha hu,"
That sounded forced, as if he didn't want to let her go. Quite truthfully, he didn't. But he had to. He picked up his discarded overcoat, handing it to her. It was chill outside, and she could definitely use the warmth, he thought. Chakor smiled at his gentlemanly gesture, also wishing inside that he never do this for another woman. She was quite possessive, if she admitted so herself. Suraj buttoned his shirt, unfolding the sleeves and letting them drop to their full length, covering his arms. He put an arm forward, and she complied, clasping his hand as he walked her back, slowly.
The way back was quiet. One couldn't say it was an awkward silence, but it wasn't all that comfortable either. Suraj kept looking around, and Chakor thought he was familiarizing himself with the roads and the places and how they had changed in all these years.
Suraj, however, had no such waves of nostalgia hitting him. He cared less about all the material things around him. This place suffocated him, brought back memories he had wanted to get rid of, but he never admitted it to her. Being truthful, the only change in him was physical; inside, he remained just as hurt and desperate to free himself. The vengeance in him had grown day by day he was away, and now, it was a full beast.
Suraj exhaled slowly. He hadn't expected things to go smoothly, and he was quite okay with that, but he hadn't expected friction from his Beloved. He looked up at the full moon, and then at her, and back up. Silently, he prayed that he'd be able to get away from this place soon, and leave all the bad memories behind.
***
Taking a few files from his desk, Suraj walked out of his room briskly. He was about to descend the stairs, when he suddenly stopped, lost in his thoughts. Tapping his finger on the railing, he stood on the same spot for a few seconds, looking at the other end of the corridor, before slowly walking that way.
It seemed like time had stopped, or it had at least slowed down, the way Suraj made his way toward the room at the end of the corridor. He rested his hand on the door knob for a few seconds, contemplating whether to open it or not. Drawing in a deep breath, he finally pushed the doors open, immediately attacked by huge waves of dust spiraling upwards. Suraj covered his face as he coughed, using the other hand to blow the dust away from his being. He looked about the gigantic room, his eyes finally resting on a huge portrait above the queen sized bed.
Suraj's eyes got watery as he stared long and hard at the portrait, not moving from his place. He walked ever so slowly towards it, resting his arm over it, causally wiping some dust off it. Light brown eyes stared back at him, and Suraj halted his hand, drawing in a sharp breath as he let a few tears fall.
"Dadi," he whispered, his forehead resting on the portrait, "aap bhi humein akela chodd ke chali gayi. Kyu, Dadi?"
Walking a few steps back, he sat down facing the portrait, his face in his hands. He snorted suddenly. "Nahi, humein toh khush hona chahiye ki aapki koi nishaani ab bhi hai iss haveli mein. Maa ki toh..." he turned away suddenly, wiping his eyes. "Aapko pata hai Dadi, hum aapse bohot gussa the, ki aapne humein yahan se door bhejna chaha. Humein kuch bhi samajh nahi aa raha tha tab, ki aap humein kyu apne se door karna chah rahi thi. Do saal baad, jab aapki chitti mili, tab samajh aaya ki kyu aapne humein London bhej diya... humare baap se door."
He ground his teeth. "Kaash hum aapko bacha sakte the, Dadi! Hum zaroor aate, aapko bachane! Sach mano, toh kabhi kabhi vishwaas nahi hota tha ki woh raakshas apni Maa aur biwi ko maar sakta hai! Itna neeche girr sakta hai woh!"
He shook his head from side to side, running a hand through his hair, remembering the contents of the letter he had received almost 10 years ago, right before his grandmother passed away... or rather, before she was killed.
His grandmother had told him all about how his father had tortured his mother, finally pushing her to her limits, killing her and then claiming it was a suicide. She had sent him away for fear of his life. Somehow, it seemed like she knew her fate, that her son would kill her next.
'Ho sake tho, kabhi laut kar math aana, Suraj beta.'
He never forgot the last line of the letter.
"Kaise nahi aata Dadi?" He looked up at the portrait, his eyes pleading. "Har din, har pal yahi sochtha rehta hu ki apna badla kaise pura karoon. Uss raakshas ko apni karmo ki sazaa kaise du. I will take away from that man everything he has taken away from me. And I won't stop till then."
Suraj's eyes turned into a deeper shade of red with every passing second he stared at the portrait. He stayed like that for a few minutes, before swiftly turning towards the door on hearing footsteps. Getting up and dusting off his jeans, he picked the files and walked out of the room, closing the door after him. He walked a few steps forward when he saw a young woman dressed in a gaudy chaniya choli walking, no jogging as she looked around. All in all, she looked like a funny and suspicious character.
She almost bumped into Suraj, stopping at the last minute and looking up at him shocked as he raised his eyebrows.
"Suraj Babu! Aap hi ko dhoond rahe the hum!"
"Par tum ho kaun?" He asked bluntly.
"Hum? Hum Bijli!" She answered almost immediately, and Suraj rolled his eyes. He deduced himself that she must be Girija's niece who had come to help her aunt.
"Toh humein kyu dhoond rahi thi?" He asked casually, walking ahead while going through the file, the girl running after him. "Woh... Maalkin ne aapko neeche bulaaya hai," she answered, and Suraj stopped abruptly in his tracks, frowning. Half glaring at the shocked girl, he stomped his way downstairs, breathing fire as he saw his 'step mother', or better, who was his previous Chachi.
"Arey Suraj beta, aageye aap!" She smiled at him widely, a plastic smile that made him feel disgusted. "Aapke bete nahin hai hum." He grit his teeth, glaring at her. He could see her jaw tighten by his words, her smile disappearing. He crashed on the diwan, crossing his legs, glaring up at her the whole time, challenging her to speak.
"Kaise baat kar rahe hai aap humse! Agar aapke Papa ko pata chal gaya tho...!"
"Tho kya kar lega humara baap?!" Suraj shouted back, standing up. Ranjana clenched her fist, glaring at him. "Battameez!" She raised her hand to slap him, and Suraj caught it with ease. Growling lowly, he was about to speak when a gasp from the front door stopped him.
Turning, he saw Chakor, standing by the doorway, her body stiff. He let go of Ranjana's hand, sitting back down on the diwan to calm himself down.
"Arey Chakor beta, aao!" Ranjana smiled again, and Suraj almost felt like puking at that fake smile of hers. Her jaw tightened as she brought Chakor in front of Suraj, looking down at him. "Yeh hai Chakor," she said slowly, and Suraj just started back at her, least bothered. Like he didn't know who she was.
This seemed to have ticked Ranjana off. She caught hold of Chakor's shoulders, pushing her towards Suraj, as she looked at him with a challenging smirk on her face. "Vivaan ki hone waali patni."
Ranjana had expected at least that statement to get Suraj mad, but he just stared at her coolly. She ground her teeth at his indifference, clenching and unclenching her hands by the side.
Suraj stood up presently, towering over the woman. Grabbing hold of Chakor's arm, he pulled her towards him, draping his arm over her shoulder and shifting her close. "Yeh hai Chakor," he addressed Ranjana, and she just blinked up at him, while Chakor looked up at him confused.
"HUMARI hone waali patni!" Suraj literally roared at Ranjana, and she flinched, taking a couple of steps back. Chakor also looked up aghast at him. "Kya socha tha aapne? What did you think?! That you would be able to break me by using her as a weapon?! Apne naalaayak bete ka rishta Chakor ke saath pakka karke? Did you really think that would be enough to shatter me?! Do you really think I would submit to you so easily?!" He shouted at the top of his voice. In a fit of rage, he broke the vase next to his hand, and it barely missed hitting Ranjana.
"Tera saal! 13 years I have been away! Aur aish nahi kar raha tha main London mein! Har din, har pal yeh soch raha tha ki apna badla kaise lu." Suraj cornered Ranjana, and she kept backing away, hitting the pillar. "But don't worry, you're the first on my revenge list, Chachi," he slurred, "Heh. Nahi, Chachi nahi. Koi apni Maa ki souten ko aise thodi bulaata hai," he literally was breathing fire as he said those words.
"Suraj Babu!" Chakor spoke up, pulling him away from the aghast Ranjana. "Aap kaise baat kar rahe hai..."
"Kuch galat nahi keh rahe hai hum! Aur tum kyu unki taraf daari kar rahi ho? Vakil ho kya unki?!" Suraj's voice was hoarse now from all the shouting. He turned towards Ranjana with the same wild look as before. "Ek baat kaan khol kar sun lijiye aap. Aapne jo bhi shadyantr racha hai na, Chakor ko apni bahu banane ke liye, gaon waalon ko Bandhua banaye rakhne ke liye, hum sab jaante hai. Buddhu nahi hai hum! Aur hum safal nahi hone denge aapke..."
"Bas kijiye Suraj Babu!" Chakor stepped in between the two, glaring up at him. "Aap kahan ki baat kahan le jaa rahe hai!"
"Tum hume kyu suna rahi ho? Kya iss aurat par vishwaas hai tumhe? Itna vishwaas ki hum par ungli uta rahi ho?!" Suraj stared at her, boiling mad.
"Ek baat tum bhi sun lo, Chakor. Zaroorat pade toh uss Mandap se uta le jaayenge tumhe, par Dulhan to tum humari hi banogi!"
"Humein yeh manzoor nahi hai!"
Precap: "Sach mein. Bohot kuch badal gaya hai tera saalon mein," he paused. "Except the fact that my father killed Maa and Dadi.
Tho Chakor, tum humara saath do, ya na do, I will surely exact my revenge from them."
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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