sas chp 7

 CHAPTER 7 - Tiara and Armaaan
The thought of Tiara being in danger made me even more protective of her than I already was. God knows why. Maybe because Armaan was making her a victim, like he’d made me. She was just a child for crying out loud! I decided I’d wait till we reached our room. We had the day off anyways. Kumar sir cut my thoughts with “Come on people get into the bus, it is time to head back to our hotel”. Everyone started  moving and wheeling, it made me a little dizzy. Maybe I just had a lot to take in today. That’s when another thought struck me. Where would I sit in the bus? I’d blown my chance to sit with John and Aksha was mad at me too. I entered the bus before everybody and made myself comfortable at the back. Okay, maybe not so comfortable, but it was better than facing my friends. I was ashamed of my actions, and I wasn’t ready to give any of them any answers. Yet.

Aksha eyed me suspiciously when she entered the bus. Thankfully, she thought better than to talk, and let go of the topic. She chose to sit alone, I’d thought she’d sit with Adhiraj. That just showed me exactly how high her temper was. I felt guilty, again. The trip back was silent and boring. Once we entered the hotel, we walked to our room. To make my day worse, Martika was already there. Uhm, on second thoughts, she just made the day lucky. Aksha would never talk about it with her in the room. Aksha looked disappointed and irritated when she saw her. Somehow staying away from Aksha felt right. I didn’t know if this soul thing was contagious, but I didn’t want any of the furious-driving evil spirit linger anywhere close to my best friend. It was a cue for me to leave, when Aksha went in the bathroom to change. I tiptoed outside and asked directions for the cotton mill. I didn’t know Tiara’s residence but I’d find the way. It was a small village. People would know her and she sure lived near the mill. I recognized a few kids still playing on the ground. That was easy, one of the kids took me to her house.

            Tiara’s house was a little freaky, frankly. The few shrubs in front of her house were dead already. They’d burnt in the sun, like nobody had taken care of them in ages. The house looked dusty and worn. Tiara seemed to be too adorable to stay in a place like this. She deserved better. She deserved a palace. Looking at her rural styled yet freaky yet roomy house made me wonder how beautiful it would look if it was actually taken care of. I thanked the kid who bought me here with a chocolate. Luckily I had one in my purse. I rang the bell of the row-house kinda home.

            It was a middle aged man who answered the door. “Yes?” he asked. He had hair similar to Tiara, and his eyes. Yep, definitely her father. “Can I talk to Tiara sir?” I asked. I had no idea what to talk to her, I just needed to see she’s safe and away from Armaan. He invited me in. I sat on the floor, avoiding a very rickety fiber cot.  I wasn’t really tired, but I wanted to sit and relax. Perhaps I was mentally tired. I looked around. Every wall was covered with photographs and a family tree which I guess Tiara must have made at school. Every framed picture had three people in it. Tiara and her parents, I assumed. One of it even had a dog. I got up to take a closer look at one of the photo. She was right. I did have a lot of resemblance to her mother. Her face cut and stature was similar to mine. Looking at her made me shiver. Unknown emotions started whirling up in me. What was it? What was I feeling? It was strange, so strange… I can’t even describe it. Agony, guilt, love so many things.

            Tiara’s father’s voice cut my thoughts sharply. “Tiara told me that she met someone today. Someone who looked similar to my wife. I thought she was imagining this since she misses her mother so much. But now I see she wasn’t. You really look a lot like my wife”. All the while he spoke to me, his eyes stayed on his wife’s photograph. There was so much longing and love in his eyes. It made his already black eyes turn even more deep, more black. “If you don’t mind, may I ask you something sir?” He nodded and I continued, “Where is she now? Your wife?” He took a deep breath and then exhaled sharply. I immediately regretted asking that question. “She died last year” he managed to speak with a choked voice.” “I’m sorry” I said, that was all I could do. That explained the condition of the house. He’d probably be sulking all the way, too engrossed to take care of his surroundings.

            Tiara entered the room breaking the awkward silence. “What are you doing here? Seriously, are you spying on me? If you are you better be ready, I can crush you down and fight you and win. I am pretty strong” she beamed proudly. It made me smile a little. She seemed like a small fragile rabbit threatening a tiger. I played along anyway, “Oh! I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to meddle in your affairs Tiara. I just needed some company. Can you walk with me? Please?” I wished she would. “Fine. Just this one time” she said keeping her guard up all the time. It felt better that she was so cautious and I hoped she was strong enough. We walked out the door and now I was wondering what to say to her. Stupid me! I hadn’t planned on deciding what to talk. I was just so overwhelmed to find her safe and back home.

            I started talking nonsense with her afterwards, talking about school and her friends. After answering some of my questions she took a long step and stood ahead facing me. “What is it Sana? What do you want from me? You’re talking gibberish you know?” Yes, I knew that. So I had to get to the point before she got bored and turned away. “That guy Armaan. Do you.. uhm.. still remember any of the stuff that happened when I confronted him?” She enlarged her cute eyes. “Ofcourse, what do you think I have? alzheimers? You made a fool of yourself by assuming that he was kidnapping me. He’s a really nice friend. Even dad says so.” Apparently Armaan had also hypnotized her father. Damn, this was going to be tough. “Look Tiara. I need you to know something. Stay away from Armaan. He’s not as nice as you think.” For the first time, I saw Tiara laugh. She looked like an angel, but this was not funny. “Sana, everyone has that impression when they first meet him. But he’s really nice.” She held my hand and pushed me forward dragging me to his house, to meet him.

            Boy, this was bad. So bad. Ok, so just in case he was in there, I’d confront him. That was for sure. And do what? Punch him? I didn’t even know how to fight. I’d trained in self defense a long time back, but offense? Urghh I was so messed up. We stood outside his so called house. Tiara didn’t bother ringing the bell. She walked in as if it were her own residence. I followed her, not wanting to be polite to an evil spirit by banging on the door first. He was on the phone with someone. He didn’t even realize we were barging in. I shooed Tiara and held her down to get some inside knowledge. I heard him very angry on the line with someone.

            “That is simply absurd! We have to take the girl down. She shouldn’t be allowed to roam about like that. I have to start our thing. NOW!” he was arguing with someone. The rest of the conversation was mostly ‘hell no’ or ‘no freaking way!’. The only line of his that made me freeze was ‘We have to take the girl down’. No force could ever stop me from protecting Tiara. No way I would let her be anywhere near him. He slightly turned in our direction and we hid behind a jute chair. He suddenly kept the phone down and stared somewhere at the back. Behind the place we were hiding. I covered Tiara’s mouth even tighter, she couldn’t move. I turned to where he was looking and saw a mirror. Crap! He’d seen us through the mirror and came running to where we were.

“Stop Armaan! Stop right where you are. Don’t come closer to her. You might have ruined me and my soul but I’m not gonna let you hurt her. Leave her alone you monster!” I don’t know from where I gathered that much courage to yell at an evil presence, in room confronting him alone. I was so dead. He started glaring at me, confused at first and then tightening his glare. “I see” was all he said. “What are you going to see? You listen to this. Stay the hell away from Tiara you evil spirit.” I hoped he’d already known that I’d guessed what he was. After a long pause, Tiara managed to free herself from my grip and ran straight to Armaan. What the hell? He had so much impact on her. When I looked at her again, she was scared. She looked at her arms where I’d caught her. They were slightly red. “I’m sorry, but come here Tiara. I won’t hurt you again.”

She tucked herself behind Armaan. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought Armaan was actually protecting her. I took a step forward. That’s when he came forward too. Not just one step, he came and stood right in front of me. Like Dravya had said, I kept my mind open and didn’t resist. Nothing happened. Before I could say anything, he took me by surprise. He punched me in my face and twisted my neck a little. It pained so hard it sent unbearably cold chills throughout by body. It throbbed. And soon, everything went dark.

sas chp 6

 CHAPTER 6 - the story
 Dravya helped me through the stones below the waterfall, and finally behind it. I was under the impression that waterfalls only have rocks or hills behind them. But I was wrong. It really was a cave. It was dark, but some light penetrated through the water, making designs on the rocks of the cave. It looked scary, but in a beautiful way. My eyesight took some time to adjust to the surroundings. “So you were saying…?” Dravya still hadn’t told me the secret. He took a deep breath and finally started speaking.

“Okay. Here it is… A long time back, at the time of dungeons and magic and castles, there were some people who could switch souls. Imagine, you are in somebody else’s body and someone else is in yours. At first, it was a fancy. Initially it was done to make sure everything was orderly or merely for fun. But then, there are two sides of every coin. Some of the evil gained this knowledge and started exercising soul switching for their own selfish purposes. Getting into someone else’s body and committing a murder, leaving eye witnesses and then switching back to your own body was a common crime. It was discovered later on however, that the murderers who switched souls, couldn’t remain in one body for a long time, until the body accepted the soul fully. Their own bodies would reject the souls, so they had to find and trick other humans in believing that giving their body to this soul was beneficial to them. The word spread worldwide, and most of the souls were destroyed by ‘soul destroyers’. At a certain period of time, all the soul destroyers were mysteriously killed, all at the same time simultaneously. We, the guardians have some of their knowledge, but not all. And as for the souls, some of them still exist. Right here in this forest. They are captive here. And we make sure they stay here. But last year, an incident happened and one of them escaped. With all our efforts we managed to smuggle him back, but the threat has been powerful ever since.”

For a story, this sure was pretty interesting. Given the kind of person I am, I wouldn’t have believed in any of this stuff. But there was something. Something that made me believe in it all. We’d reached mid-cave by this point of time. Dravya looked like he was feeling lighter, getting this out of his system. We walked a few minutes in silence. It took me some time to digest this. Seriously, if a soul entered in mine, and I was caught at the crime scene, I’d have no proof saying that I was innocent. “Can you?” I asked him, doubtful if he would answer. “Can you switch souls?” The question made him uneasy, just like I thought. But the curiosity in me was at its highest by now. “I… I can, in theory. But we’re not allowed to. We believe that it will start the riot again.” It made sense. “How do you do it?” I wanted to know more, but he replied with “It takes years and years of practice and knowledge. You can’t just learn it overnight.” Hm. Makes sense, again. The thought of someone entering my body chased me again. “Is there a way one can resist a soul from entering in?” “I was coming to that.” He said, his eyes wide and sparkly now. “The only thing you need to do, is do not offer resistance. I don’t know why, but it works.” Well, now that didn’t make any sense. He continued, “We guardians can spot a soul even from a distance. But humans can’t see it.”

His voice was the warning type, “Be careful. You’ll never know if you’re with a soul host. If you are, it can get pretty dangerous. The soul may choose you as a host, if it wishes for your body. It makes you do anything, be anyone. It can hypnotize you to believe in anything it wants.” As he completed his sentence, he pointed towards something ahead. I could feel my surroundings brighter, windier. Yet, I felt uneasy in my heart. He was pointing towards an opening. I started walking towards it and realized that I was walking alone. I turned back to see that he was standing still. “Come on” I nudged him forward. He refused. “This is where we part. You go to your world, I’ll go to mine.” He simply turned away and left. He didn’t even let me say good bye. I yelled “thank you” after him, but I’m not sure if he heard.

I started walking towards the opening. God knows where it would take me. As soon as the cave ended, I saw trees. Huge trees. I made my way through the monstrous leaves and saw my group! Looking back at the way I came, no one would ever have guessed that there is anything beyond the plants. I silently joined my friends from behind. “Thank goodness you’re here. Where were you?” Aksha said, more angry than worried. I shrugged it off with “I got lost”. Aksha knew I was avoiding the topic and she let go. The last student came abseiling and we started moving forward. No one noticed my detour, again, and I was safe. That’s what mattered.

“We’ll have lunch here, under the shade of the trees. That’s how it was in old times” Kumar sir informed us. Finally the guides distributed food to us. It was ordinary, except for the taste which was rural-typical. We’d gotten used to that.  “Where had you been?” John asked me silently. “I noticed you were gone.” He’d observed that. Shit. “I was lost” was the only excuse I could think of. He wasn’t completely convinced, but a cute smile changed his interest. “We have the remaining half day off today. What are you planning to do?” he asked, impatient. I wasn’t really aware of that. And frankly I had no plans of going out anywhere. He offered me in joining me anywhere I wanted to go. It seemed fun, but I didn’t feel like going anywhere. I just wanted to snuggle in my warm cozy bed sheet in my room. “Do let me know” he said again, and this time I grimaced. He suddenly seemed so irritating. “Tell me that one more time and I’ll have you out of the camp I swear” I snapped at him. And I walked away, briskly.

What was happening to me, seriously? I had no right to talk to John like that. I had to apologize. I went back to where I was. He was still there, slightly shocked. Similar to what Aksha had been, the first time I snapped at her. “I’m so sorry” I said, putting so many emotions in those three words. I’d hoped he’ll behave exactly like Aksha. Instead he gave me a cold look and said, “I don’t know who you are anymore.” And walked away. I should’ve felt guilty looked down and walk away. But I had changed so much in the past few hours. I held his collar and dragged him near a tree, pinned him to it and glared. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that” I gritted through my teeth. I expected him to throw some words back at me but he looked scared. Scared like hell. I loosened my grip and he ran away. Towards Aksha. I was sure he told her the entire scenario. Now I felt ashamed, Aksha always confided in me. I wasn’t sure how she’d react this time.
I went towards another tree. A little far away from the others, but within the periphery. Dravya’s words were still echoing in my ear. “Soul hosts” he’d said. A series of images started playing in my head. My behavior. I wasn’t like this. It was almost like someone was possessing me. And then out of the blue, I pictured Armaan. Tiara thought he was a friend. But their age difference was almost as much as me and her. He’d hypnotized her. Armaan could be a soul host. An evil spirit. He must’ve gotten into me when I entered the forest for the first time, without letting me even know about it. It was him all along… it was just a theory, but it sounded about right.

sas chp 5

 CHAPTER 5 - phargadh forest

I climbed in the bus, believing that the world will spin; I'll fall into some black hole and disappear for life. Thankfully, and to my surprise I reached our rappelling spot- safe, sound and alive. Aksha was uneasy the whole way too. She was concerned about me. Frankly, without her having constantly distract me, this journey would have been damn scary. The rappelling point was a few minutes’ walk from where our bus was parked. There was a small river, which we were first supposed to cross, midair, with the help of a rope, and guidance of course. Once we crossed it, the other activities followed, but we couldn't see the other end.

It was first John's chance for the river crossing and abseiling. He fastened his safety belts and started his adventure. It was chilling yet enthralling to see him up there. I could hardly wait for my turn!  "I'm so scared guys, I think I'll puke up there" Khushi whispered. Aksha immediately started telling her about all the enthusiastic details. They were supposed to get Khushi excited, instead it only made her nervous and she ran back into the bus. Aksha and I exchanged looks, and she followed her to convince her.

"Miss Khushi please come forward. It’s your turn" Kumar sir called. I went stiff for a minute. I couldn't tell him what just happened. It could mean trouble for both Khushi and Aksha. So I decided to lie. "Sir, actually Khushi forgot her purse in the bus so she has gone to get it." He looked more annoyed than I expected him to be. I suppose my group was slowing down the trip a lot of times.  "Sir, Khushi and I could exchange places, I'll go first." I suggested. I'd hoped I could make up for my earlier delay. But Kumar sir disapproved at the same instant. Instead, he sent Adhiraj. Couldn't He just send me? Anyways, thankfully in about five minutes, both my girls were back while Kumar sir was busy with the setup for the next student. "Mission accomplished!" Aksha said giving a radiant winner-smile. I quickly gave them an overview. Aksha was a little mad. She wanted to see Adhiraj doing his turn, but she was glad they weren't in any trouble.

"Sana, come forward." I was really excited to go, but the moment my name was announced, my anxiety kicked up. Sweat started dripping my forehead. My friends smiled at me, showing they were pretty confident I could make it. This gave me a boost. I moved forward.

The guides fastened the security belts around me. The descender was tied on the harness at my waist, which was a friction hitch device. "When you get to the other side of the lake, there will be another guide who will help you get down. There onwards you will climb down a small hill in a similar way." Kumar sir's instructions were clear, straight forward and so low that only I could hear his voice. I clutched the rope with my gloved hands and started moving forward. It was really exhilarating. I dared a peek downwards, knowing I was never afraid of heights. It looked beautiful! In an upside-down way, since I was upside down, but this was going to be a memorable experience. I could tell.

Just like sir had told me, the other guide was standing, ready to put me down. As my equipments moved back for the other students, I moved forward to spot the hill. Sir had asked me to make it downhill, so I started going in that direction. I was hoping Adhiraj will be there, but maybe he was fast and went down the hill already. Well, I was on my own then.

The Ground was a little moist. It made getting a grip difficult. My fears came true when I slipped over a pebble making the hill a bumpy slide. It hurt, real bad. But at least I cleared a big patch faster. There were supposed to be other students here but I was alone. Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere. According to what sir said, to the right there was supposed to be a waterfall. My GPRS tracker said the same. Hoping that the others were there, I took off to the right. It was a relief seeing the waterfall. But alas, no students. However there was one face I knew, the face that I could identify anywhere, the face I’d seen on the night that still haunted me. It was Dravya.

"I told you Miss Sana. I told you not to come here. I told you about the dark forces. Don't you love yourself enough to stay alive?" Well, Dravya was wrong this time. "I'm not technically in the forest. Just it’s outskirts. Our group is hiking and trekking and stuff." To My surprise he gave me a bitter laugh. "You Are in the midst of the Phargadh forest Miss Sana."

His words sent a chill through me but I didn't believe him. But unfortunately my GPRS tracker agreed with him. It showed me a waterfall right in the center of the forest. No. This can’t be, I said to myself. Not again. I wish Aksha was here with me. She could wipe away all my tears without letting me know how bad I was crying. If John was here he'd change my mood within seconds. But I was alone, alone with Dravya. I realized I had to snap back to reality. He sensed my mood and offered me a gentleman smile. “I can’t change the fact that you’ve risked your life, but I can definitely help you with the way out. Follow me.” “Thanks Dravya” I said but didn’t move. “Can I ask you something?” I asked. He was in a tux similar to what I’d seen him wear last time. “How is it that you’re in the forest every time I’m here?” He chuckled. “Are you under the impression that I’m following you?” I didn’t have that in mind for sure. I replied, “No, I was just curious. I’m sure it was a co-incidence, but aren’t you afraid? You warn me not to come here, but you linger here all along. How come you’re not scared then?” He gave me another quick chuckle, like he was laughing on some inside joke. “Uhm” He hesitated for a minute and then replied with “I live here”.

“Here as in the forest? What are you, Mowgli?” I didn’t mean to make it rude. It was more like a snide comment. He didn’t seem to mind, so I didn’t bother apologizing. We started walking. “No, I’m definitely not Mowgli” he said, still laughing. “I’m not sure whether you’ll believe me.” He now had a serious tone. “Please tell me Dravya.” He was making me really curious. He peeked at me analyzing if I was serious and finally gave in.

“We’re the guardians of the forest. We’re humans that nobody outside our little world even recognizes. We stay here to save any humans that wander off in the jungle. We want them safe and happy in their own lives.” His voice was so heavy with emotions. He spoke every word distinctly. He looked at me trying to judge whether I was buying it. Somehow I did trust him. Every word that he said, every sentence. His voice and expression said it all. He continued, “The humans need to be safe and away from even the knowledge of what exists here. Ignorance is bliss. These dark forces are bad enough. With science and technology, it can go up to heights you cannot even imagine. Some things are better unknown.”

“What is it? What’s the secret of this forest?” He looked at me sternly and said, “Like I said, it’s better unknown. It’s a secret hidden for the best.” Somehow his denial was only half-hearted. It was like he wanted to tell me. I pushed him on the topic a little. “Come on please? I promise I won’t tell anyone.” I tried making a puppy face, and I suppose it worked. “Fine I’ll tell you. But you have to keep that promise.” I agreed. I only stopped when I saw where we were going. “Are you crazy Dravya?” I screamt out loud. He was walking right towards the waterfall. I was in no picnic mood. He gave me a look that said ‘Can you handle it girl??’. I crossed my hands and looked at him a little angrily. He replied, doubtful if I would listen and said “Behind the waterfall is a cave that links the jungle to your highway.”

sas chp 4

 CHAPTER 4 - the misunderstanding

It was a guy dragging her. Tiara did not look aghast, only annoyed. Like she knew him, but didn’t want him to take her away. I kept track of how far I was from my bus, but eventually I couldn’t tell. I ran until I finally reached him and yanked him away from Tiara. “What the hell are you doing? Forcing this kid to come with you? You can’t kidnap her. I’m reporting to the police.” I said, very sternly. All I got from him was a confident smirk. He had a good build, fit for a gangster. “What? You think I’m gonna let this go? This isn’t an empty threat.” I took out my cell phone to prove my point. Urgh! That smirk again. What was wrong with this guy? Wasn’t he scared? That was it, I couldn’t take any more of his super annoying expressions.

I started dialling when Tiara spoke. “Stop. He isn’t kidnapping me. This is Armaan. He’s my neighbour, and my friend." Friend? He looked my age. “Why are you forcing her to go then?” I asked, unable to interpret anything. All he said was “I’m not letting Tiara close to any impure souls”. And he left. Just like that. Did he just call me an impure soul? There was something in the way he confidently said it, and in his expression that was fierce. Whatever arguments I had in mind, I kept them to myself. He didn’t know me at all and the hypocrite had already decided that I have an impure soul. Whatever the case, I could see he cared for Tiara and wasn’t as harsh to her as it seemed from the distance. She wasn’t hurt. But I had a strangely strong anger build in inside me. I had the urge to twist his neck hard enough for him to die, or strangle him some broad yet pointy object. I wanted to see him down on his knees, begging for life. No! I said to myself. I was becoming a devil. What the hell? One line. One line of his made my worst side come out. I wasn’t that monstrous. First the drama in the morning with Aksha and now this. I felt ashamed. I turned back to leave and bam! I was lost.

            My heartbeat sure picked pace, but it wasn’t all that scary as it would have been, if it was dark out here. There weren’t many people on the road, but there was a small mart. Hopefully they’d give me directions. “Excuse me? Can you tell me the way to the cotton factory?” I enquired at the counter. I was pretty sure that was a big landmark. I followed his directions and my gut told me I was on the right track. Things slowly started seeming familiar and I spotted my bus.

“Where were you Sana?” Kumar sir’s voice sounded heavy and angry. I realized I’d slowed down the trip. My JHAKAS group looked really relieved on seeing me, but also worried at the same time. I gave everyone a recap of what happened, except for the part where I’d been called an impure soul. John was the only one who burst out into laughter, while others had an angry glare fixed on me. The misunderstanding was clearly amusing to him, but eventually everyone started laughing, including me, easing the tension a little. Kumar sir strictly forbade me from wandering off again, and I was happy he didn’t know anything about my night trip to the forest.

Once I got into the bus, I noticed Khushi glaring at me. The glare had nothing to do with my detour of course. I went to sit beside her. “Hey”, I said. No acknowledgement from her side. This was going to be tough. “What is it Khushi? Just say it.” “You know what this is about Sana, no need to act all innocent.” I knew what she meant. I clarified immediately, “Look I’m not dating John. And neither is Aksha with Adhiraj.” “Reeeeally?” she finally said with a friendly teasing smile, emphasizing on the ‘e’s. Anyways, it wasn’t official. I was glad she finally accepted my say. I didn’t want her to feel left out. We didn’t want to hide anything from her.

 We had our activities lined up after lunch. Aksha asked me once we were alone, “You look upset about something. Everything okay?” She was still careful while talking to me after my outburst this morning. She was my bestie and I couldn’t hide this from her. I told her about me being called the “impure soul” and my reactions to it. She was definitely mad at Armaan, though she didn’t even know him. Obviously, I would feel the same way if we exchanged our places, but she was concerned about something else. “I didn’t know you have a violent streak miss softie” She was trying to joke about it, but I could see her unease. I shrugged it off.

Our next stop was a scientific research centre tour. It was very interesting. Or maybe it was just me, because everyone else seemed quite bored. I guess I was very satisfied because it was something normal. Given the past few hours of my life, normality was something I was really looking forward to. We left from the science centre and headed back to our hotel. I needed sleep so bad I actually fell asleep in the bus. It wasn’t even night time, just about early evening. Aksha’s voice woke me up. She seemed uncomfortable and confused. What was the matter?

            “I’m not sure whether I should tell you this…” now she was making me extremely curious. “Just say it already Aksha”. “No I’m sorry I shouldn’t have brought this up” she said while slipping her cell into her pocket. “Go to sleep. Want me to tell you a bed time story?” I was in no mood for her jokes. She was hiding her cell from me? Why? “Just tell me Aksha please?” I supposed a request and a little emotional blackmail would suffice. And it did. “Please Sana, don’t get very angry.” She seemed like she was bracing herself for something.

“I searched for it online. For the Phargadh forest. About its stories.” I was afraid I’ll snap at her, like I had in the morning. However I managed to control my temper which seemed to be rising every second. This is what she was afraid of. When she noticed me taking this cool, she continued. “And the stories are not good. They say it is… abnormal? I don’t know. Something like that. Like its bewitched or something. People who go there don’t come back and stuff like that. Similar to Bermuda Triangle. They just disappear. And some stories say that…” “Stop Aksha stop it!” I couldn’t control my anger now. I was curious. I wanted to know about the forest but I was yelling at Aksha to stop. Why? It just happened. Aksha was taken aback too, but she understood. “I’m sorry” I whispered. She was my best friend. Why was I acting like that with her? Urgh. I hated myself for this. We quickly changed the topic and moved on to something…. Normal.

            We reached our room and I loved seeing my bed empty. It was so tempting that I climbed on without even removing my footwear. Within seconds I was fast asleep. I must have slept really well because when I opened my eyes, I felt sunrays touching me softly. I was glad for that. Aksha and Martika were still asleep. I smiled, happy that I slept carefree. Here I was, awake, alive and smiling. I liked it.

            A knock on the door, woke the others up. The volunteers were asking us to get ready for breakfast. Sounded good to me. We were supposed to have an adventure today, starting with rappelling. “Where are we going?” I asked Kumar sir. He seemed excited about this. “On the Firuki mountains” he said. I used my GPRS tracking to know its location. It told me that the Firuki mountains were right there, right where I dreaded to go. It was beyond the Phargadh forest. And the only way to reach there was through the forest…

sas chp 3

CHAPTER 3 - Tiara

To Sana’s relief, the sun was finally up. She could now lose her pretence on sleep and get up. She was still confused whether what she had seen the previous day was real, or was it just a dream. “Hey Sana! Good thing you’re up!” Pack your stuff, we’re going down for breakfast. We’re going to a factory remember?” Sana needed a distraction to get back to normal. Aksha was very careful while taking to her, she didn’t want her to be scared again, so she asked her softly “Are you feeling ok Sana?” Sana snapped her head so forcefully that it scared Aksha. “How many times should I repeat?” Aksha had never seen Sana so angry. “Aksha, you need not tell me what I should do, and what not to. Let me live my own life.” With that note, Sana banged the bathroom door and went in for a bath. Aksha was left horrified. She had never seen Sana like that. So rude, so angry, talking so disrespectfully. Tears welled in both their eyes. Aksha was standing right where she was, when Sana came out after her bath. Even Sana looked miserable. “I’m sorry Aksha, I don’t know what happened…” They both gave each other a friendly hug, crying this time. “I guess I’m just so scared after yesterday, my head’s not straight”. “Your head was never straight!!” Aksha giggled through her tears. She was happy their friendship was strong enough to survive silly fights.
They went downstairs for breakfast and joined their friends. “I’m excited to go to this village, Phargadh with you Sana” John exclaimed. As he realized the “ahem-ahem” sounds and stares that everyone was giving him, he added, “I mean I’m excited to go with everyone!” Sana couldn’t resist the small playful smile. The breakfast was so different in taste. “I didn’t know rural food tastes different!” Hemant said, “Oh what did you expect? A McDonald’s burger??” Khushi was always all about teasing and sarcasm. With all their witty comments and gossips, they boarded the bus. Sana and Aksha sat together as usual. John wanted to sit with Sana today. So he made up a plan. Instead of sitting with Adhiraj, he secretly texted Aksha, “Hey… Adhiraj is sitting alone. Wanna join him? Ya, ya I know you like him and all! I’ve seen the way you look at him. An exchange of seats is all I want. You keep it mum, so will I”. Immediately after he texted her, he started looking at her for her reactions. But Aksha was so busy talking to Sana, she didn’t even realize her cell vibrating. “Uhm Aksha?” John interrupted, “Can you please give me your cell? My balance is over, and I need to call home.” John hoped that this trick would work, and it did. Finally she read his text and nodded in agreement. She was horrified though that John knew the truth, but she made a quick excuse and went to sit beside Adhiraj.
“Hey Adhiraj” Aksha greeted him. He was a little startled at first, but then welcomed her with the cutest smile Aksha had ever seen him wear. Her heart was literally floating in the air, when she turned back and winked at Sana. Sana was laughing at Aksha’s expressions already. That’s when John broke their eye-to-eye girl gossip. “You look really tired Sana, is everything alright?” It reminded Sana about that damn night trip again. Her mood instantly fell as she replied with “No, nothing. Just didn’t sleep well last night.” That part was true. However, John was successful in bringing her mood back to normal in just two minutes. Sana liked the fact that he’d chosen to sit with her today.
Their bus passed the jungle in a few minutes. It sent chills through Sana. But she avoided seeing outside so that it didn’t bother her much. She was talking with John when she suddenly heard Dravya’s voice. The same rich guy who she’d met in the jungle. She looked everywhere, but couldn’t anticipate the direction of his voice. Since she was passing the jungle, she guessed that he’d seen her through the window or something. But she ignored the thought successfully. Sana was feeling better now with the daylight, friends and excitement.
After some time, the bus reached the village. They got down and were supposed to visit rural houses and a cotton factory. They started off with small houses. It fascinated them as to how cute the small huts were. Though they were small, they were comfortable. The students had questionnaires which they had to fill. The kids of the village were pretty excited too. All students were playing with the kids, enjoying themselves. Sana and Aksha were playful as it is. They were the first ones to join the kids. As they were about to move to the next house, Sana spotted a small girl looking intently at her.
SANA’ S POV:
               The little girl was staring at all of us, especially me. She was such a cute little doll. Just about 6-7 years old. I walked towards her. “Hi sweetie, what’s your name?” I expected her to give me an innocent smile and tell me her name in her amazingly cute voice. Instead, she said, “I don’t talk to strangers” and looked the other way with her chin up. She looked so cute as she showed me some attitude, I felt like adopting her! “Okay, but tell me your name at least… Where’s you mom?” As soon as I said that, she turned back with something in her eyes. I couldn’t make out what it was. Agony? Plead? Tears? Hope? A mixture of something like that. It made me want to hug her. This little stranger was making me feel so attached to her.
               Just then Kumar sir called, “Come on guys. We need to visit the factory.” I got up, extremely unwilling to go. As I turned back, I heard her voice, “My name is Tiara.” I looked back and smiled, “Bye Tiara.” I said before leaving. Such a perfect name. Tiara meant a crown and she did look like a princess fit to wear her name. I joined the others to the factory and told them all about Tiara. John said sheepishly, “I saw you with her, she was really cute. But not as much as…” he left the sentence trailing, incomplete, but I knew what he would say. “Not as much as me…”. Every time he did something stupid, I smiled. I couldn’t believe I was falling for him. He wasn’t my type but still special to me. We proceeded to the cotton mill, walking! That was too much! But there wasn’t a road wherein a bus could enter. So that was the only option left.
We realized we’d almost reached there when we could see buds of cotton hover above us. Occasionally one of us would catch it in the air, and blow it on the other. I hadn’t thought this factory thing would be cool, but here we were, enjoying ourselves thoroughly! We went inside the mill. After a long interview on pillow and sofa making, we left the mill. Aksha was so happy here. She liked spending time with Adhiraj. And for a change, he was enjoying her company too. I was happy for her. And for me too! A little space from Aksha let me spend time with John. Khushi was eying us with suspicion. I think she’d guessed the whole thing. Moreover, we were going to tell her sooner or later.
We were about to get in the bus when I saw her. Tiara. Had she followed us? She came to me and I automatically smiled. She surprised me by saying, “Don’t be so happy, I’ve not come here for you. I stay nearby. I only came here to tell you that… that… you look like my mom, that’s why I told you my name. Please don’t tell it to anyone else. I don’t want anyone coming and pulling my cheeks saying ‘Tiara is soo cute!’” My God! I was just in the final years of my teens and here was a kid telling me I looked like her mother! Although I loved her cutely annoyed expression! I promised her what she asked for. I saw her until she walked away. As she approached the wall, I saw a hand pulling her mercilessly dragging her away. This, I couldn’t bear. And I started following her and the stranger…