Chapter-26

Hrida knelt down beside Ela's unmoving body, she then noticed a beautiful sunflower-like flower lying next to her palm, her cries escaped her lips and she leaned over Ela's body and repeatedly blurted," Sorry, Ela. Sorry..sorry. I didn't know you would take my statement so seriously. Your intentions were pure, so why life was unfair to you..and your parents?

I am sorry, sorry... Your Didi is sorry.. If you could forgive me, please do forgive me. I..The flower was not more important than your safety, Ela but now this flower is the most important for me because it is your gift. I will preserve it eternally. I AM…sob..sob…sob "

She then wipes her tears when she realizes that Ela's death had made their parents blind in anger, they won't suffice Tapish for this when he didn't have any fault in it. She held back Ela's parents from reaching their hands over Tapish.

Hrida pleads in a weak tone," Aunty and UNCLE, Tapish is not to blame for her death. He is not at fault. Please, explain what happened, when Ela exited the house and how this happened?" Hrida was buying time to think about saving them both and also helping them vent all their emotions on her and not Tapish.

Ela's mom glanced at Tapish with disgust and vented all out with a hopeless tone," Hrida, your cat brought our daughter to death. You should not keep it with you, whatever you have gone through as well is only due to his evil presence. He is only a trouble. You must surrender him to us, then we will together to teach him a lesson, and then it would be justice to all of us, especially Ela. 

You want to know what happened, right? THEN, LISTEN! When I first woke up at 5: 30 am, I heard Ela's cry for help, my heart stopped beating for a second, then I woke up Ela's father, we both rushed outside, there, we found a black snake withdrawing to its bill, Tapish hovering over Ela, she laid motionless, her body painted frozen blue in color and the last word she whispers the name of Tapish. You, say, what does all this indicate? Simple that this cat dragged our beautiful daughter to death…sob...Sob…sob

So, we have decided to punish him for his sin, this cat would be thrown into the snake's burrow and he will face the same fate as their daughter and then, our daughter will rest in peace and she would get justice.  Let us go and command your cat to surrender him/ bring him to us."

Hrida withdraws from them and slowly paces towards Tapish, who lets out a 'meow' seeing her neutral expression, he constantly 'meows' explaining his innocence but Hrida doesn't stop till she nears him. Ela's parents snicker watching this and suddenly, she sweeps Tapish in her arms and runs inside the home, which confuses them, they wait for a few seconds but no sound comes.

They casually walked inside and found the room vacant, suddenly they heard a loud door *click* sound, and when they turned back they realized that the door was locked. They furiously banged the door asking Hrida to let them out but she refused with a hint of melancholy, " Sorry, UNCLE AND Aunty, I had to lock you inside but you were so eager to punish my innocent brother, he is not at fault. I am the one to blame."

She narrates the whole story, then remains silent but she doesn't hear any sound, which makes her nervous, she unconsciously rubs her palms. She took a glimpse through the window. She screams in horror, as she sees them giggling and laughing weirdly and talking to air while referring to the empty spots as Ela. 

Hearing her scream, they made eye contact with Hrida, they slowly crept up a smile on their lips, and that made her step back far from the house, she grabbed the flower while Tapish was in her arms and her backpack hung on her right shoulder, she crashed into the road. She sprints faster and faster, piled all her body strength into running, the energy depleting fast within her body despite that she didn't let her legs rest.

At some point, they had come far from that cottage but she still kept her feet running till her knees gave up and she fell on her face. She groaned and stood up again, panting heavily.

She raised one foot forward, but her body couldn't take it anymore, the piled-up anxiety, fear, sadness, pain, and repressed emotions took over her body, her world started spinning, and ultimately she crashed upon the ground and faintly muttered out, " Tapishh…Shashi...Save me."

Tapish 'meows' while licking her face to wake her up, Tapish pokes her face with his paw but she doesn't wake up. Tapish looked around, his sharp eyes searching for help but the road was still and empty, he kept licking her face and 'meowing'.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the 'Find Hrida' mission plan of Lakshman, Shashi, and Soma begins today. Shashi and Soma had prepared everything in order and sent him the prepared fake news to Lakshman bhaiya.

Then, it was time for Lakshman to play his role, he purposefully spread the news update declaring that they found an important clue regarding Hrida's case, which sets the high percentage of finding Hrida. He informs them that they have found a shred of relevant evidence: a large ripped part of the shawl, which belonged to Hrida, and it is not just a simple shawl but the recorder of the things Hrida went from.

This ripped fabric is stained with blood particles, soil, dirt, and hair strands and we might be able to identify a hooded person in a shawl through CCTV fitted in the streets. This evidence was found at an old construction site and we are planning to inspect the ' Parvati Hill temple' as well with granted permission since we have been informed by our sources that some passers and visitors saw a  girl wrapped in an orange shawl roaming in the temple. Now he is assured that they will find Hrida quite sooner than they think.

Hrida whines with a faint tone, " How... They….How did they recognize that ripped fabric as her?  How is it that they tracked my footsteps so fast? I don't…want to go back home. I don't like doll houses anymore. Tapiiii_ Aghhhh. This headache is killing me, I don't understand why these things are happening.

First, I fainted out of a sudden, and you had to worry because of me, you even got your tail injured again because of me. The Kind stranger told me how you jumped in front of a car and thankfully he was able to halt the car in time but your tail screeched beneath the heavy tire.

I am sorry, you had to suffer because of me. You have been through so much because of me. I am sorry, Tapish. Don't worry, Tapish, I won't let your pain go in vain because of the police officers, I will take back what's mine if present at the temple although I am alright now still I feel coldness in my arms."

Tapish curled up in her lap, his tail wrapped in white clothed bandages, she faintly smiled seeing him relaxed but she knew he was in pain because of her. She caresses her fur and swings him gently in her arms like a baby while humming ' Hope for a Day' lyrics of her own. She places a long kiss on his forehead and covers him in her shawl.

Hrida fell into their woven trap, she walked from the tea stall, where Hrida insisted that a kind stranger leave her and her cat there, the person refused but Hrida remained stubborn, so he drove away because he couldn't force someone against their will.

Hrida walked with confidence while carrying sleepy Tapish, she had the map to the temple printed in her mind, so she arrived way earlier than they assumed. The situation turned out in her favor as she did find an item of hers, her favorite headband that she wore on her birthday but lost it here. 

She stood before the ' Goddess Parvati's' idol, joined her hands, and prayed with heaviness in her tone, " Maa (Mother), I am clueless right now. I don't know where to go next. And, maa, so many things have been happening till now, that now I don't what to expect. I am losing hope, I don't know if I will ever find my truth.

Not only that, Ela, she..was..she didn't deserve this. I hope she is liberated from this world in a peaceful way. I-I couldn't save her. I don't know... My heart feels heavy, please help me let go of all this pain and return my hope, please."

Hrida hid her face in her hands, knelt her head on the ground, and remained like that until she heard a loud meow, she instantly raised her head and found Tapish standing with the bandage loosely hanging over his tail. She gently uncoiled the wrapping and she muses in happiness because the injury was fully healed although scars were present. Tapish casually waved his tail without any hint of pain in his face.

She swiftly embraces him within her arms and showers him with soft delicate kisses on his head; she loudly thanks the Mother Goddess Parvati before her, resting on her pedestal with kindness radiating from the idol.

After some time, Lakshman, Shashi, and Soma plunged into the temple, but they were a bit late as Hrida was already gone. Shashi lets out a tired sigh, Soma bumps his fist expressing his regret while Lakshman has still smile on his lips, which both of them notice.

Shashi asks him before Soma could, " Bhaiya, why are you still smiling? We missed the chance again. I am here worried for her and you are smiling as if nothing happened. Hrida is gone, sometimes I wish I had behaved maturely at that time, maybe we could have convinced Hrida until now. *Sigh* "

Lakshman lightly hits their heads, making them whine, he reveals the secret," I kept one surprise for you. I was well aware that Hrida is a smart girl, she acts swiftly and smoothly, so I prepared a backup plan in case our primary plan failed. And I was right, it did fail, but we might have a grasp of important clues through the help of shiny lights decorating this holy place. See around."

Shashi and Soma keenly observed the temple, and then they discovered small CCTV cameras gracefully hidden behind those bright golden lights fixated at every corner of the temple. Lakshman also reveals, " There is a camera at the entrance door outside but these were not present earlier, so I fitted in with permission from the temple's priest and government and they agreed as it is beneficial and for security purposes. Now, the CCTV footage video will be transferred to my phone as soon as I make a call to our police station. Don't worry, this time, we will not go empty-handed, Shashi."

Lakshman made a call to Soma's mom, then she sent him the footage video to his phone within a few minutes, meanwhile, Lakshman rode back them to his house. In Lakshman & Soma's room, they comfortably sat on the chair and transferred the video to Soma's laptop, the video played;  The trio watched her enter, anxiously searching for something, she found something; a headband that Shashi could recognize, a small smile carves on his lips watching her glee upon finding her headband.

They also noticed Tapish lay asleep in her one arm while she was searching, Tapish's tail clothed again in bandages caused creases in Shashi's temples, Soma shared the same feeling but he closely observed Tapish, whom he didn't see at the railway station when they met but now he knows her brother whom she cares deeply about. Soma noticed pain and guilt in Shashi's eyes while staring at Hrida, and then he discovered why he was gazing in that way.

They all noticed her ripped blood-dirt stained shawl, through which her bruised arms were exposed, her knees were scraped, her sunken face, and her messy braided hair but her eyes still hadn't lost the sparkle, as she admired the lights with child-like curiosity, otherwise, she totally appeared weak, devastated and exhausted, this disheartened them.

They also watched her praying to ' Parvati Maa' while Tapish lay next to her, suddenly Tapish woke up and his bandages loosened, and then they watched how happy she was seeing Tapish healed, she was pampering him with kisses and hugs.

Shashi missed their random hugs whenever she used to feel happy. But they didn't miss the gaze of longingness, tiredness, hopeful, faint warmth in her eyes when she closely gazed at the lamp above her. They uttered at the same time with determined gaze,  " Hrida, I will find you no matter what."