Lohit was really thankful for the dreamless, fit free sleep he had. He hadn't slept like that ever since he woke up in the hospital. He felt rested and more collected than before. He was still broken. But now he felt like he could live with it.
After he had his breakfast, he was told that the psychologist wanted to see him again for the final report. This session was even shorter. He told her that he was feeling a lot better now. Given his change in demeanour, she believed him. After the session, he was told that his parents' lawyer was here to see him. That froze his nerves for a second.
He knew what was going to happen. They were going to talk about his guardianship and his parents' will. And sure enough, he was right. It just didn't quite go as he had thought it would.
Besides Mr. Chandel was a woman he had never met or seen before, but she had strangely familiar features. Particularly her big brown eyes, same as his mother. There was something in her face that just put him at ease immediately. She looked like she was in her early twenties, and just like his mother, was quite beautiful.
"Lohit! How are you holding up my child? I hope it's not too early to talk about the legal stuff?" Mr. Chandel said in a kind voice as he took a seat in front of him in the hospital's waiting room.
"No, no. It's fine, I just want to get it over with." Lohit said looking away from the woman.
"Right. Of course. Well, as you might know, the first question would be of your guardianship. Well, the court has decided to pass it to Miss Aradhya over here. She's a distant cousin to your mother, and apparently, your only living family. Thankfully, she has agreed to take you in."
Lohit frowned at that. He had never known of this distant cousin. But he could see the similarities. It wasn't really hard to believe, but he was surprised a woman so young would be willing to take in a teenager.
"The next would be the question of your inheritance. Well, you see, there's a tiny bit of a complication. Turns out, your parents never had a will. It was really irresponsible in my opinion, and I advised them repeatedly to get one made for emergency. Nevertheless, it doesn't matter anymore. Because of this, your home would be passed on to the public. I can try and find something I could do about it but I really can't do much I'm afraid."
Lohit wasn't sure how he felt about that. He didn't know if he should be mad about his parents not caring enough to get a will made or thankful that he would not have to see that house again. He settled for nonchalance.
"It's fine. I don't wanna go back there."
"Oh! Well, that's fine but, uh, you see, in that case, you will have to move in with your guardian, Miss Aradhya, and as you might probably know, she doesn't live in Anṹpaṹ. Not even in the state actually. Are you willing to move out of here, because that would be the only alternative in case you and your guardian decide not to contest the court's order?"
Lohit hadn't thought about it. He had never considered leaving Anṹpaṹ. Not this soon at least. He knew that nothing would be same as before. He didn't know how would he feel when he left the hospital, but he knew this place would never feel the same, there would always be something missing. But was he ready to just leave everything behind? Was he ready to leave his best friends, just like that?
"I-I-I uh need time to think about that." He stuttered.
"Sure, take your time. Maybe talking to Miss Aradhya about it would be helpful. And whatever you decide in the end I will try and make sure you don't have any problems settling down. Also, with your interest in mind, the court has decided to pass on all the liquefiable assets in the name of your parents to you. What that means is that all your parents' bank account balance and all the valuables they owned, now belong to you and are now to be regulated by your guardian for your education and other expenses until you are old enough to actually acquire them."
Lohit nodded.
"Well then, that's all I have for you as of now. I guess I will see you whenever you are ready with your decision."
Lohit nodded again and with that, Mr. Chandel packed up and left, leaving him with Miss Aradhya.
"I never knew about you," Lohit blurted out after a few moments of awkward silence. She smiled.
"I was expecting the same." She had a soft but powerful voice. "I didn't expect Latika to tell you that you had family elsewhere. There's so much that she didn't tell you or your father. But that could wait for another time. Right now, there are more pressing matters."
Lohit frowned. Nearly everything that the woman spoke was confusing. Scratch that, all of it was confusing.
"What are you talking about?"
The woman sighed but didn't drop her smile.
"Lohit, I promise you will get your answers in due time. But as of now, the most important thing for you to do is to leave this town."
"What? Why? I can't just leave. There's school, and- and there are my friends and-"
"And you won't be alive to see them if you don't leave with me now." She cut him off in the middle of his ramble. And that shut him up quite effectively.
"You have seen what came for your parents Lohit, you have seen what they did. They will come for you to. They will keep coming until they get you. You need to leave here, to someplace safe, and that someplace is with me."
"But who are they? What do they need from me, and, and why did th-they k-kill my...my..." Lohit was on the verge of tears. This stranger woman claimed to know what happened to his parents and if what she said was to be believed, the same was going to happen to him if he didn't leave.
"Lohit! You need to calm down," she was by his side in a moment, engulfing him in a sideways hug, soothingly rubbing his back. "Your mother had hidden a lot of things, and not knowing them makes you vulnerable. Right now, all I ask of you is to trust me and come with me."
Lohit nodded and got up with her. She led him to the reception area, where he waited as she fulfilled all the discharging formalities. Then they went to the hospital's parking where she led him to a silver Nissan Sunny. His eyebrows raised on their accord. Whoever this woman was, she sure was quite well off.
"Alright," she said as she took the wheel, "before we leave, we need first need to get you to the police station, they still need to record your statement regarding the case. But make sure you stick to the same version as your friends. Do not tell them what you actually saw, because first, they won't believe you, and second, since they need to make your statement public, it would alert Them. Okay?"
He nodded. He didn't want to piss of the people who sent lizard assassins to kill their enemies.
"Good. Now, if you wish, I could take you back to your home, if you need to take something."
His head snapped towards her at that.
"No! I don't wanna go back there.��
She nodded slowly.
"It's okay, I understand. I will send someone to pick your stuff before they permanently seal the house once you let it go."
It did hurt Lohit to let go of the house he had lived in his whole life, but he also couldn't bring himself to go back to that place again.
As Aradhya pulled over in front of the police station, Lohit was seized by nerves. He had never been here his whole life, nor had he ever faced a police officer. They made him nervous. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Aradhya smiling at him kindly.
"Don't be scared Lohit, you will be fine. And I will be right by your side"
He nodded and stepped out of the car, Aradhya just after him. She held his hand the whole time. They seemed a bit sceptical of his statement, but didn't pry. He was thankful for that, although he felt really uncomfortable under their scrutinizing gaze.
In the car, Aradhya called Mr. Chandel and told him about his leaving the town. After that, she pulled away from the station, and started driving towards the town exit. Once they left the town limits, he peered out of the window to look back at it.
He was feeling a lot of things in that moment. Safe was probably the only good one of them. He let the tears he had been holding fall. He kept looking until the town disappeared in the horizon.
He didn't know if he will ever set foot in Anṹpaṹ again. He didn't know if he will ever see his friends again. He wasn't sure what waited for him at the end of the path he was going on. He wasn't sure what was to become of his life now.
But he knew this was his chance to forget what happened and start afresh, and if that required him to make this sacrifice, he would.
Because now, he had hope. Hope that he would be truly fine someday, without the horrors he had witnessed in the past weeks.