Chapter-28

Hrida washed her hair, now her hair felt a little smooth and fresh, her dress was light pink with white lace at the bottom, she felt warm and light like she was freshly born. She lets out a relaxed sigh and hums a sweet tone, twirls the dress, and then lightly hits her head when she sees Tapish is still dirty.

She picked up Tapish and took him to the bathroom, pouring water over him, cleansing his fur gently while humming softly, then she gathered lather on her palm and slightly applied it on his fur, and finally, he was clean and fresh.

She dried him with the same towel she dried her hair, and after drying his body, she cleaned the towel. After 10-15 minutes, they check upon the baby boy they brought, he is asleep in the crib, looking so peaceful and relaxed, she hovers over him and whispers in a sweet tone, " Look how serene he is, Tapish. I don't understand, how can his parents leave such a beautiful baby. What is the problem if you are different from others, rather it means you are a special gift of God and I am glad to meet you, little angel. Ohhh..Tapish, the baby boy doesn't have any name right now, shall we give him a name? "

Tapish lets out a soft 'meow' and then Hrida replies in a thinking voice, " Okay, what name should we give him? Hmm?... I can't think of any name for this little angel. Ummmm! " Tapish lets out a suggestive-toned ' meow'.

Hrida glees and snuggles Tapish against her cheek," Tapish, you are a genius, I know one name which suits his presence, Aaban, which means 'Angel'. Aaban, wow, it sounds so angelic, isn't it? You remember, Tapish, named one of my plushies as Aaban because it is my childhood toy which used to make me safe whenever I  felt fear at nighttime."

The lady takes them to a small and cozy room, Hrida observes the room, her eyes darting through every corner of the room, her eyes caught upon small colorful stars drawn on the wall reminding her of a beautiful memory;

The 7-year-old Hrida was running outside her house, which dissatisfied her mother, she asked in a forced gentle tone," What are you doing? Why are you running, my pretty little doll? You know, right, dolls don't behave like this, they don't chase like those clumsy human beings. So, stop running."

The 7-year-old Hrida pouts and mumbles in an adorable tone," But, mother, I just wanted to see stars, the stars are not visible today but they were always there till yesterday. Now, when I want to see them, they become shy and run away. But, I WILL FIND THEM."

Hrida's mother chuckles," My innocent doll, they didn't run away instead they are sleeping behind the clouds and they will come out when the clouds are clear but you can't keep waiting until it happens, so for the time being, let's bring stars. Never forget, don't chase things rather create them."

The 7-year-old Hrida curiously asks her," But, how, mother, didn't you say stars are sleeping behind the clouds, if we remove the clouds, then their sleep will get disturbed and I don't want to disturb them. Then, how will we bring stars to our home."

Hrida's mother playfully smirks," I know the way, come with me, I will show you. Follow me!"  The  7-year-old Hrida follows her into Hrida's bedroom, Hrida stares at her mother with confused eyes, her mother faces the wall, takes her crayon box, and is drawing something on the wall.

The 7-year-old Hrida couldn't see because her view was blocked because of her mother's back. Eventually, she stepped aside and exposed Hrida to the wall, decorated with beautiful stars made from different color shades of crayons.

Hrida bounced with happiness, hugged her mother's waist, and claimed," You are the best. You brought stars to my bedroom. They are so pretty just like you, mother. I love stars."

Hrida felt wetness on her cheeks which brought her to the present self, she realized she was sobbing, and Tapish licked her cheek to bring her back. Hrida displays a sarcastic smile," Isn't it strange, Tapish? One of my beautiful childhood memories includes my mother. And, If I think properly she was a little bit sweet when I was quite young but then suddenly all my sweet memories became just a lie and nothing else.

Leave it! It's my past and I don't want to waste more time on my past. Now....let's sleep on this bunk bed after such a longgggg…time. But, the peace is temporary though because we need to return to that temple, I know we could live here but remember, what has been following us, and we can't risk that, so let's enjoy the warm bed for tonight. Come here, lay next to me."

The next morning, at the police station, police officers are preparing themselves, handling the normal criminals, and people coming in and out of the police station, a thick layer of tension brewing inside the police station as the case numbers are rising.

For the sake of the protection of civilians, The Additional director of General sent an order notice which Lakshman forwarded in front of media channels, he kept his face neutral and spoke with a calm and collective tone," Dear civilians, there has been something that has been bothering for awhile. At first, when we saw, heard, and experienced at a personal level, we were not informed about the matter that had been occurring for many weeks. 

We didn't inform you about this serious matter because we didn't have any solid proof or idea about the matter but now, the situation is turning into a critical state, that's why we want to relay an important and serious message for your own safety. And, please trust us and have faith in us that we will protect but for that, each one of you has to follow the message.

The notice has come directly from our Director of General sir that; After 7 pm, no citizen should wander or roam alone on the streets or outside the home, otherwise, it could invite danger to you. Only in the case of emergency, the citizen will be permitted to step outside their house but rather with another company.

And, don't act brave to test or examine the danger lurking in the shadows, foolish bravery can put you into a life-threatening moment. Please, follow this until we catch that shadow master behind this, he works in shadows, he is quite powerful and has extremely strong manipulative powers, so I advise you to not involve yourself in negative feelings, and it may invite him to your address.

And, after this message, you will be shown a video through the help of news channels, which will show you what we were talking about. But don't panic after seeing that rather be more alert and cautious. And, civilians, we will be everywhere in the public places safeguarding your lives and at night time, our few police officers will thrice patrol for your safety and well-being. Thank you for patiently listening to us. "

The civilians were scared after watching the footage of the abnormal criminals, their eyes couldn't believe such things were really happening. The civilians became alert and focused, the public places were now less crowded still the hustle and bustle hadn't completely disappeared.

The case numbers dropped down suddenly within these 2-3 days, the civilians were regularly updated about the facts and details and they were relieved that case numbers were being reduced but some percentage of civilians were still not convinced that the problem was being solved because they feel that something is off and it doesn't feel right.

Similarly, at different branches of the police station, most of the police officers were convinced and relaxed about the matter but there was still a small percentage of police officers who were aware of the delusion fogging their logical brains and they kept their guards and barriers still intact on the areas of the city. And in this small percentage, Lakshman, Kimaya, Dhansi ji, and Kritak are also included.

It is not necessary that always majority wins, sometimes minority wins too and that is the case in this matter also, their gut instinct were on point, Kali was two times ahead of them, weaving the biggest and inescapable trap in a similar manner of knitting silk threads into desirable shape/form.

And, a good amount of prey had already been caught in his trap but he wanted only Hrida to be the bearer of his essence because she had the most radiant and enchanting light that distracted him even from forming his powerful shawmys( Shadow army). 

Kali found about the cameras fitted everywhere when Ojas ( The Drinker) pointed at the beautifully hidden cameras with his eagle-like vision. Kali uses their strength as their weakness with his trickster mind, his shadow crawls like a snake and covers the camera and forms a layer of delusional image, which will portray an expected image to the police officers/ anyone trying to spy on them.

Kali snickers loudly with a dark mischievous aura, the shawmys whistle and make out creepy hooting noises, which could send someone in shock if sighted this nightmarish view. Meanwhile, the police officers were looking through the same camera, but they were shown a different image than actual reality, which appeared believable to most of the police officers except 4 officers who felt this was a perfect façade/ something else but they couldn't pinpoint what it was actually.

Lakshman and Dhansi ji felt wrong in their bellies, this didn't feel real, it was like a moment when the dark stormy clouds loom over the sky but the ocean became silent for a while. Within the next few seconds, out of nowhere, an ocean storm takes them down deep within the layers where breathing becomes difficult, exactly like what, the current situation feels like. 

On the other side, Kali being daringly bold, revisits Vidyut's house and is amused when he finds him still alive, he circles in rounds on the ceiling above Vidyut's head, he hisses with a sharp-low tone, "  Aren't you some kind of protector kind of this era, then why are you suffering hopelessly and restlessly on the bed, let me liberate you from this restless and bring you to my side as a member of my shawmys. Hhhehee."

He tried to extend his flexible arms onto him but he couldn't even reach him and instead got shock bolts on his arm like an electric shock. He then notices Vidyut's wrist adorned with intertwined red threads filled with powerful beads protecting his body and a small idol of  Lord Hanuman located near his medical equipment set up that is keeping his body awake and stable.

Kali is pissed off and leaves his home, and skates through the walls, and roads to find his next target, he finds Hrida among the crowd seated on the stairs of the temple while soaking the sun's energy and a smile spreads on her face seeing small sparrows flying around the temple. Kali snickers with a prideful tone, " What an entertaining sight to watch…"

Hrida inhaled the fragrant breeze carrying the essence of incense sticks, flowers, and sweets mingling inside her body, she had been staying for the longest time in the same place for at least more than 3 days and the priest even provided her meals two times a day, which is cooked in the name of God and Goddesses, and she found the temple's meal to be the most delicious until now.

She did a lot of reflection work within the last two days but still, she didn't know what to do next. She is waiting for the next clue from the above sky. She is also glad that the priest doesn't dislike Tapish because of the black cat's superstitious belief, instead, he is kind to Tapish.

Hrida really respects him and feels indebted to him for his compassionate nature. Her thoughts get interrupted when she sees Tapish being pushed away and mistreated by the visitors, she protects him from them and scolds him a little," I told you to wander around, Tapish, they...Not all are nice and kind, did you see how they reacted upon seeing you?

I can't see you being misbehaved. Now, quietly sit on my lap, and then no one will be able to hurt you. I know you love to stroll, so, once the crowd gets reduced by half number then you can wander freely. Till then, rest on my lap." Tapish obediently listens to Hrida and rests on her lap, whereas Kali is thinking of creative twisted ways to break her peace, to be near her but he can't at the moment as he is waiting for the right opportune time, so he vanishes into the ground. 

She closed her eyes and focused on the sounds near her, the bell chimes, the hustle of leaves from the smooth sway of winds dancing in the air, voices of kids playing around. Suddenly, her ear caught a familiar voice, her eyes opened, scanned the surroundings, and there, at the bottom of the stairs, Shashi and Soma taking their shoes off, her eyes widened in shock.

She immediately stood up and ran behind a pillar and peeked from the pillar, watching them climb upstairs, she observed their faces and noticed how closely they stood as if they were best friends, she was surprised at this remark, she didn't know that they had become close friends.

But then her attention shifted to their faces, how happy and relaxed they seemed, she felt good seeing them content especially witnessing Shashi being goofy and adorable like usual times. Shashi smiled at Soma's comment, and his infectious smile spread a smile on her face as well. Meanwhile, Tapish is observing both of them and purrs happily seeing Hrida's full smile.