After an hour of afternoon nap, the little treasure of Sharma House woke up in his usual mood. Without needing anyone's help, he washed himself up nicely and put on his clothes. It was four in the afternoon, meaning it was his play time.
The whole house was built on huge land of 50,000 square feet. In the late sixties, Mr. Raj Sharma, the pioneer of the Sharma Family, bought that huge piece of land and later built himself a minimalist home for his living. In the past sixty years, the house had gone through many changes and now there were several houses on the said land, each belonging to a member of the Sharma Family.
A children's park was built near the main family's building which had all kinds of fun things for Aryan Sharma aka the little treasure.
With his hands gripping his bag in which he had kept his small bottle of water, Aryan walked in slow steps all the way towards the park. Two nannies along with two guards accompanied the young master of the house. Though normally they never do anything except stand or sit and keep an eye on the young master. After all, their young master was smart and sensible, never getting into trouble or accidents.
As usual, Aryan first hopped on to his little slide. He gradually walked all the way to the top and the slide down gently. The force of wind against his face made him happy, and a faint smile crossed across his lips. He repeated the same process again and again until he got tired of the slide and headed towards the little tunnel. Going in and out of the tunnel for a few times made him tired, and he sat on one of the chairs to cool himself down. Drinking a few sips of the water, he closed the lid and put the bottle inside his bag.
Now it was time for him to visit his little garden. There was a huge garden consisting of different types of flowers and fruit trees, and he always took a look around like a little inspector.
The patches of sunflower shone brightly as they faced west and the patches of roses and marigolds looked lively. The huge guava tree was now filled with ripe guavas along with new flower buds covering the whole three.
The big black plum tree was now covered with fresh plums, and he looked at his nanny. As if understanding the little master's longing gaze, one of the nannies along with a guard climbed on the tree quickly to pluck some fresh black plums.
The garden consists of 4000 Sq feet of land and the young master roughly looked around every corner. On his way back to the house, he did not forget to play with the swing.
It was half past five when he returned and, as usual, he went to his room to freshen up. His evening routine followed being around his family members, and he was supposed to spend some time with his first uncle in the evening.
As usual, knowing his second uncle, he knew they were going to some fancy places.
"Let's go Aryan. Today your uncle will buy you the whole mall."
Avinash Sharma, the 21-year-old's cheerful voice made his nephew scrunch up his nose as he drove his car away.
City lights flickered as they turned on, illuminating the path and their car raced against the wind. Avinash got out of the car, handing over his keys to the valet as he picked up little Aryan. The pair of nephew and uncle had masks on since they had handsome faces and were bound to attract some attention and, though Avinash loved attention the most, he knew his nephew did not like to be in the limelight.
Signature store, one of the most affluent, trendy and go-to places for celebs, stars and rich people. Avinash's big eyes twinkled in joy as he watched his own shop prospering. Though technically it was not Avinash's own shopping mall but a franchise under the Sharma Corporation, it was the same thing.
The fancy elevator door chimed in and both of them stepped inside. Avinash looked at the girl wearing a mask, who seemed a bit out of blue, but he had already seen many weirdos. He did not pay any attention to her and stood beside his nephew protectively. The children's section was on the seventh floor, and he pressed down the button.
Avinash watched as they had just crossed the fifth floor and were about to reach the sixth floor. Just then, the lights started to flicker, and the floor shook for a second. Before he had any idea about what was going on with some weird mechanical stopped the elevator stopped and the light continued to flicker.
The instant panic hit him for the very first time in his life and he forgot to breathe for a second. It was only when he felt someone tugging his fingers and sleeve that Avinash realized he had his nephew with him. His nephew had already been through two accidents and did not like unpredictable things at all.
"Shh.. it's okay baby, it's okay."
He knelt down on the floor consoling the baby and, to his worst luck, the flickering light went off, turning the whole place dark as a new-moon night.
******
It was not until the lights went off that the frozen girl seemed to get over her shock. The bags in her hands fell down to the floor, and she took off her mask. Going through her purse, she found her phone and turned on the flashlight. Seeing the little child almost in a panicked state, she immediately knelt down and pulled the child close to her, making Avinash more shocked than ever.
"Ssh... it's okay Bun Bun. It's okay. Everything is okay."
"Don't be afraid, baby. It's fine. It's all fine."
Her sweet voice continued to assure the child as she told him to keep looking at her. Seconds turned into minutes and even ten minutes later there was no hope or response. Aryan snuggled closer to the strange lady and kept watching her angelic face as she hummed a few lullabies.
Avinash on the other hand, tried to push the emergency button, finding a signal to call for help or shouting for help. With each passing minute, the three of them felt their blood level decreasing and their bodies turning cold.
Avinash's cries for help and the strange lady's lullaby harmoniously echoed in the elevator.
Aryan did not even blink as he kept looking at those beautiful eyes and memorizing the angelic face.
The stranger, on the other hand, looked like she had lost every hope to live.
After fifteen minutes of agonizing pain and waiting, the lights were suddenly turned on and soon after, the familiar sounds of mechanical wheels echoed. The elevator started to move and Avinash breathed a huge sigh of relief. However, that relief did not last long as the lullaby suddenly stopped, and he looked back to see the weird stranger fainting on the spot with the little treasure on her lap.
He cursed out loud and immediately pushed the button for the sixth floor. The door opened and he shouted for help. Fortunately, the security personnel were already present and they safely rescued the three of them. After initial treatment and confirming the lady had actually fainted from shock, Avinash breathed a sigh of relief. Still, he decided to take the lady to the nearest hospital and on the way he called his big brother. He knew very well he was going to get an earful from everyone in the family about what happened but at first he wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with his nephew or the stranger who suddenly became their savior.