●Pain come to those can scratch the wounds to see the depth of the veins●
Sun rose faster than anticipated. Shivani tried to dive into sleep, back to those hiding demons that have been haunting her imagination ever since they entered the Ratri but any effort to pave the way back was inutile. Now the only option left was to get up and explore rest of the house, and then town.
Shivani detached herself from the tilled floor of old dusty house with no room, just a hall she was already in.
Guess nothing to explore here, Shivani thought and turned to the door when the air thickened, white light of the sun coming through the open door and crack in the roof turned extreme ultramarine as the world outside the door turned almost invisible in the brightness of altered light.
"Missing me? Human." The familiar cold raspy voice echoed in the suspension of blue nothingness.
Shivani squeezed her eyes shut unable to bear the piercing brightness but the voice was sharp and clear as if coming from within.
"It's fun isn't it. Playing with puppets like you, just smarter and special than many."
"Why me? Why can't Ray see you? Why only me?"
"Cause you're special hooooman."
Shivani's attempt to open eyes failed terribly as the bright blue light suspension filled her head and then entire body turning every muscle and bone diamond rigid.
"First attempt to fight my potency and already frozen, not as special I guess. Banshee was accurate about your soaring madness and absolute null senses." Martha took a deep breath and chuckled before continuing, "Everything you did was planned, everything that happened was planned. Even this fight you are trying to put up against me is planned. I will always be a step ahead Shivani."
Shivani's mind was going blank, unable to process the word from the mouth of woman in front.
She tried to form the word "Martha" using a few working muscles in her mouth.
Suddenly the air around cleared and weight inside and outside diminished. Shivani took a deep breath, taking in maximum oxygen possible and slowly opened her eyes.
"Enough of this hide and seek Martha. See you on the other side." Determination to find Martha overcame the fear Shivani was dreaming of. At this point she didn't have a dime to loose and had an advantage of hint.
Martha was watching them, each and every second.
It has to be somewhere here, the way has to be right here but where, why can't I see it, please Goddess let me find the way to that demon. We can't escape unless we face her. Shivani was rummaging around the medium sized hall, behind the curtain, under the rug.
Throwing herself all around the house Shivani desperately looked for a secret pathway that could lead her to the other side.
(Dadi, Zoya, Diya, Mikesh and Zoya's brother Imam are on way to find Shivani, determined to beat all the odds to reach ultimate destination.)
"The road splits here Dadi. Which way now?" Imam, Zoya's Astrophysicist brother asked from behind the wheel.
"Go right." Diya snapped.
"What? How do you know?" Asked Mikesh.
"We don't have much time. Imam, go right."
"Alright homie. Peace out."
"What's wrong Diya?"
"Zo I can feel it, I can feel it getting closer. Shivani might need help very soon and we need to be there."
"What's getting closer? Diya please explain."
"Dadi I might be responsible for whatever happened. I..I ignored it. I was warned before these guys left for Pune that something might go wrong but I ignored it." Diya clutched tight onto her head trying to cease the cold wave of guilt passing through her nerves, chilling them.
"Diya calm down please. We'll get through this." Zoya was unable to find the right words for the perplexed situation.
"I thought it was nothing, it's always nothing."
"Diya we're going to find her. Just listen to your intuition and guide the way." Imam said as the car raced through some unknown, zig zag muddy path, nothing but bushes on either sides.
"Path's converging, there's no way ahead." Mikesh panicked, his usual humour gone.
"Go straight, don't worry about bushes. We are close."
"Are you sure Diya? We can't even see where we're going."
"I'm sure Zo. This is the only way."
They went straight, crushing the bushes without knowing what lays a centimetre ahead. About half an hour later the car stopped.
"Why did you stop? I told you this is the way." Diya released her head and looked up to see mountains blocking their path.
"This is a dead end." Mikesh said as he jumped out of the car followed by Zoya, Dadi, Imam and finally Diya.
"No, this can't be. This is the way. Look around there has to be some kind of path, underground tunnel or something." Diya said. Everyone started looking for a path through the mountains.
"We can climb it." Dadi said looking up at the forest covered mountains, doubting her own words. Not that age was an issue but the idea of kidnappers using the rugged path of mountains seemed lousy.
(Beating here and there for long enough, Shivani was almost drained. Way to Marth was not going to be so well paved, challenges were nailed deep).
" How was your trip?" Shivani's voice startled Ray as he entered the single hall house.
" You scared me buddy. No good, these people live in total isolation from entire world. I did bought these grapes though. Hungry?"
"No, I ate."
"What did you eat?" Ray plucked a grape from the bunch and threw it into his mouth.
"Peaches. You changed clothes." Shivani noticed his baggy pants with multiple pockets and green raglan shirt and then eyed her own dirty casual pyjama and and t shirt from the night they were kidnapped.
"Had to get away from blood. You got peaches, I love peaches. You have some left?"
" I saw something today, met someone."
"Again? I told you, you should go out, distract yourself from all this. We had a tough few days."
"I'm not making this up Ray, you don't believe me cause you haven't seen it yet, I saw that intense blue light, clouding me, choking me. Voice of that woman, so chilling as if..as if its inside me."
"Cause its inside you Shivani. I know something's wrong with this place and that's why you are seeing things."
"I'm not seeing things, I'm not seeing things. They are there" Shivani screamed the second time.
"C..calm down please,"
"No, you have no idea what I'm going through. This. I can't shake off this feeling of being watched, I feel something around me all the time, something familiar but not specific. You are such an ignorant man."
Shivani broke down there on floor, sobbing with exhaustion and fatigue of last few days that bought nothing but restlessness and anxiety.
In a few minutes in front of his eyes, Shivani relaxed on the floor, head on the wooden board she plunged into the calmness of far side of consciousness.
Ray was all ready to storm out, disturbed by the sudden outburst, but instead he squated beside Shivani and noticed her shallow breathing.
"You haven't been sleeping Shivani. I really hope things get better when you wake up."
Looking at the only picture of hope, the sky with millions of stars, Ray too stretched on the cold floor dreaming of this horrible dream to end.