Chapter-40

Both of them land at Navya's apartment one after one, first Shashi's family arrives, and then Soma's family reaches Navya's door, Shashi has already rushed into Navya's bedroom while his mom follows behind him, his feet halt when he sees Hrida after such a long time.

But then, he observed she lay pale and unconscious, her fingers were swollen red and her face appeared tired and dull. Shashi's eyes drooped down, he slowly paced towards her with guilt hovering upon his chest.

Shashi's mom bolted next to Hrida's side on the bed, she placed her palm on her forehead, her eyes darting around her injuries, her heart twisted seeing so many scars and injuries on her whole body, and prayed to God for Hrida's fast recovery.

Shashi sat next to her, firmly holding her left hand in his hands while rubbing soft circles on her hand, he uttered with a hint of melancholy in his tone," Hrida, you have slept enough, now it's time to rise and shine, and I know, you were hurt because I broke our promise but I broke our promise for your safety.

But I hurt you still, so, I am ready for whatever prank you want to pull on me. But please, don't stay unconscious, I missed you, and I can't wait to see you awake. Mom, why don't you scold her for sleeping for long hours?

You used to..scold me...whenever I used to sleep for.. long time. Hrida, wake up, yaar. If you wake up soon, then we will play the latest videogame I purchased recently and it has amazing characters, you would love it and I..please...Hrida..wake up. Mom please tell her to wake up, she listens to you."

Shashi's mom placed her hand on his shoulder and told him to not disturb Hrida, otherwise, she would scold him instead. She reassured him that Hrida was very tired, she needed a lot of rest, so let her rest and just be there for her.

In the meantime, Soma marched into the room with an anxious look on his face, he noticed Shashi and Shashi's mom, and he greeted Shashi's mom by joining hands together, and then Soma's mom appeared behind him.

Soma sat opposite Shashi, hesitantly held her hand, and gently patted her hand while controlling his tears from expelling out of his eyes. Soma's mom squeezes his shoulder and consoles him to stay strong. Shashi observed her dried injury marks and scars; suddenly he felt wetness on his cheeks, his tears cascading wetting the yellow-colored blanket covering up to her waist. 

Shashi's mom leans her head on her head and faintly whispers," Be-ta, come back to us. Without you, our house has become silent and Shashi too has been behaving less like an idiot, which is more annoying.

Hridaa…open your eyes, and see your aunty and Shashi are here. And not only us, Soma, his mom, Lakshman, and Navya, all of us are there for you. We love you, I love you, beta. I won't spare those demons that put you in torture…I won't…* sniff* *sniff* "

Shashi gasps in an astonished tone, " Mom…..Are you crying? Mom, Hrida is going to wake up soon, I know it, I just know it. She won't disobey you, she always listens to you. Mom, she is strong like you, and strong ladies don't give up. Right, Kimaya Aunty?"

Soma's mom cheers up, lifting off the dullness gripping their minds," Correct, We, strong ladies don't give up. Such a gentleman's act to remind us of how strong we are. Soma, you too, wipe your tears and cheer your friend."

Shashi's mom placed a kiss on her forehead and whispered with a hint of longing in her voice,     " Hrida, my sweet little Hrida, I believe you, just follow my voice and wake up. Hridaa..!"

Out of the blue, Hrida starts rambling in a vulnerable tone with eyes still closed, "Mother, I am the pretty doll that you adored. I used to love hearing this phrase from you but still why I am just a pretty doll to you?

And what were you saying to that Manan Bhaiya? You were saying something like- You will sell your pretty doll. But mother, I am not plastic rather I am a human and not some doll to sell off. 

Why…..why did you ruin my dollhouse? Why did you keep me in a dollhouse?

Aahhh...I loved you..till..now and I was unable to hate you and I hate myself…..for that. I hate myself.

Wait, Shashi and Tapish! Where are you taking them? Please don't hurt them, Kali. Oh no, Navya Didi! LEAVE HER, KALI! Please leave them.

I will not let you win, I will not...Nooooo * sob* ". Suddenly, she woke up in a panic state, Hrida's eyes opened wide, her breaths were heavy and fast, and the people surrounding her were shocked by her sudden ramble.

And suddenly, she woke up, Shashi's turned glossy hearing her rambles and then her sobbing but when she suddenly woke up, he felt relieved and a little better.

Hrida's eyes fell on Shashi, she was surprised seeing him near her, automatically her weak and happy smile took over her lips, Shashi felt his lips lift into a smile, and then her gaze landed at Soma, who kept his head down on her bed.

She whispered with a weak smile," Soma, I am fine, don't hide your tears from me. I am your friend, right? Look..how..how boldly Shashi is tearing up but why are you all sad, I am alive and strong, aren't I, Shashi's mom? I would sooonn…"

Then she again fell unconscious, Shashi shook her arm gently and called out her name desperately while Soma was just staring at her, her face seemed pale and dull again, he fought his tears and mumbled under her breath, " I like you better when you are awake but not when you are unconscious."

Shashi and Soma stayed by her side while the rest of them gathered in the hall room and they had deep conversations regarding Hrida's health with Navya, then Navya assured them that she would be fine soon and currently she had a fever due to experiencing extreme pain. After 10-15 minutes, Shashi's mom peeked into Nvya's bedroom to check whether Hrida was fine or not, but what we saw inside made her smile.

In Navya's bedroom, Shashi squeezed the warm water from the wet towel, placed it on her forehead, pressed it against her forehead for a few seconds, and then continued repeating the action; meanwhile, Soma held her hand delicately in his hands and patted softly.

The next day, at the police station, Lakshman, Kimaya, and Kritak decided to look upon the past CCTV recordings of the solitary jail confinement building, the recording plays; inside the cell chamber, the prisoners were behaving normally and nothing seemed to move, the prisoners remained still and moving in a certain pattern in the past recording till the current live recording.

Kimaya's eagle-like eyes caught this loop pattern in the past recording and then compared it with a live recording, she snapped her fingers to draw their attention towards the discovery she found. She pointed out using her hand with a hint of realization in her voice, " Look here, in this current live footage and past recordings, the prisoners seem to move and act in the same pattern as if they are stuck in some loop.

And the previous month's recording, all the prisoners were communicating with each other through some kind of weird ritual and after that day, in the recent past videos, the prisoners appeared to be stuck and behaved normally and refrained from unusual wild behaviors, which is truly suspicious."

Lakshman stared at Kimaya with a confused gaze, he informed her with a neutral tone," But Kimaya ji, if something had been wrong/suspicious then yesterday evening's conversation with the special jailers residing along with prisoners would have been weird and abnormal but they sounded confident about the prisoners being in control and the cages being strong and invincible.

So, if something is wrong, then why would they lie, Kimaya ji? I am not getting, what you are trying to imply."

Kimaya face palmed and spoke with an emphasized tone, " Lakshman sir, I am saying that this all indicates one thing, which is something wrong is going on there. Look closely, at the mall's CCTV recording, here, Hrida was mumbling someone's name when we came to her rescue.

She was rambling about someone's name, and then when we visited her, she again mumbled her name –like Kali. I think I heard this name somewhere…."

Lakshman focus shift to his inward thoughts and his surrounding blurs, he analyzes the points in his brain," Hrida and Navya, both of them mentioned this name-Kali. KALI, Kali, I have heard this name somewhere, this sounds very familiar.

Where did I hear this name? Where, where, where..hmmm? ....Oh yes, I remember, I heard this name from Soma's mom and Soma, who were discussing Kaliyuga; The Origin of the current era, so after all, it is a mythological essence that uses the human shadow self against one another and raises its gang but I won't let his evil plans succeed at all."

Kimaya called his name many times but he didn't respond, her face became tensed as she noticed a deep frown on his face, she then immediately asked Kritak to bring Dhansi ji, Dhansi ji bolted inside, his stance froze when he saw the same unmoving posture of Lakshman.

He internally panicked inside but still, he approached him with anxious steps, Kritak placed his hand on his shoulder, still Lakshman didn't notice their presence. Dhansi ji suggests with a firm tone, " Kimaya ma'am if you don't mind, can I take Lakshman sir to the hospital right now, he looks unwell. Shall I ?"

Kimaya nods her head. Lakshman felt his shoulder being placed on someone's shoulder, he came out of his thoughts and noticed Dhansi ji uplifting him from the chair, Kritak and Kimaya ji's faces were rigid and dull.

Lakshman declared in a confident tone," I am fine, I was just analyzing something in my brain that's why I couldn't hear any of your voices. I am sorry for making you worry but I realized an important fact due to Kimaya ji's keen eye. Thank you, Kimaya ji. Now, hear me carefully."

Then he explained his theory and also described the details with a background story and Kimaya ji shared the fact that Hrida had a book related to the matter that she narrated to them when they met her at the railway station. So, Kimaya Ma'am suggested that once Hrida recovers, we need her help to understand Kali's pattern, weaknesses, strengths, etc. Until then, they need to figure out what's happening inside that solitary confinement building, and that duty's in-charge was given to Kritak.

At Navya's home, Hrida is still weak and pale but slightly in better condition than before, she hasn't woken up yet and it's been two days, and Shashi and Soma have been visiting Hrida in the evening hour these two past days. Shashi and Soma used to talk about their day in school and Shashi often cracked some jokes in the hope that Hrida would wake up and laugh at his joke. 

Within the past few days, Navya shifted her clinic to her apartment for a temporary period until Hrida became well. On the third day, inside the solitary confinement, the reality growing within the cell chamber contrasts with the duplicate CCTV forage being displayed to the police officers, the outer building looks normal and dull-white in color whereas the inside is pitch black, the walls, the floors and everything is completely black and not a single ray of light survives inside the building.

In this void darkness, there is an even darker figure that is spread all over the room, his lingering sharp-razor-like fingers, his void black eyes, and hollow mouth reaching up to his eyes but his body is outlined by a thin layer of beige golden light. The prisoners were fully transformed into a demonic form. Kali reveals his plan and gives a role to every prisoner and reminds them of his motive; To rule over the entire human kind's brain.

The other prisoners outside the prison caged in the beautiful mental prison are having the slow spread poison effect, which is occurring under the nose of the supervising lookers.

 On the 4th day, at Navya's home, Dhansi ji, Kritak, Lakshman, and Soma's mom in civilian forms came at mid-morning hour, since the day was Sunday, Shashi, Shashi's mom and Soma had already come just after them.

They gathered inside Navya's bedroom to check upon Hrida's health state, she still stayed unmoving and asleep but her injuries had been healed. Tapish was now awake and had fully recovered, he lay by her side and hadn't left her for even a second since he had been awake.

Navya playfully utters," Woaahh! Hrida has a lot of people who love her dearly. Hrida, even your dearest brother has awakened and patiently waiting for you to break the spell of sleep that you are under, sleeping beauty.

Maybe, our sleeping beauty needs her prince to wake her up from slumber. But who that might be, do you know, Shashi….No...Umm…. Soma, do you know then ?...No...Hmm. Where is he ?"

Suddenly the bell rang Navya walked up to the door, opened the door, and found the manager of the orphanage carrying Aaban and Divit at her door. She welcomed them into the bedroom because they came to visit Hrida. She only informed them about Hrida's state since Divit was insistent upon learning about Hrida's well-being.

All of them are looking at the new guests with confused and curious gazes and then Navya introduces them properly.

After the introduction, Divit dashed by Hrida's side while carrying Aaban delicately in his arms and sat on the bed near Hrida. Shashi and Soma are suspicious and find it strange how he is invading her space. Shashi is scrutinizing him with a piercing gaze whereas Soma feels irritated by this new boy's entrance.

Divit is unaware of both boy's glares but the rest of the people present in the room can sense their annoyance, especially their mothers. Meanwhile, Divit brings Aaban closer to her face, and the baby suddenly giggles, everyone melts at his voice but Hrida stays motionless.

Then, accidentally the baby's fingers caressed her cheek, Hrida woke up with a long gasp, wide awake, her eyes glowing with new hope, her face appeared vibrant and livelier, and she immediately rose from her bed.

Her eyes darted around, and she saw all of them gawking at her like they had seen a ghost, then a bubbly giggling sound drew her attention towards Aaban, who was smiling at her and making adorable baby sounds, her heart felt alive again.

Hrida felt different inside as if she had recently been birthed into existence, her body felt lighter and better, a newfound strength and compassion growing within her heart. She took Aaban in her arms gently, kissed his forehead, and whispered in an audible tone, " Thank you, Aaban, my little angel. I was somewhere in black and grey space, I was trying to grab the thread of hope but my hands were too short to grasp it.

Then, suddenly your small baby hands appeared out of nowhere in that hopeless space and swooped up in your humongous baby hands, and then with a snap of a finger, I was back to my reality. Thank you so much, Aaban. You are really an angel." She showers him with a light kiss on his face, and she gently embraces him.

Navya comments with a bright tone, " I told you, she was waiting for her little prince, and here he is, Aaban, whom she saved."

Hrida denies with an honest tone," Navya Didi, I didn't save him instead god did and for that, he led me to the temple not only for his safety but mine and Tapish as well. TAPISH..Oh.Is Tapish alright? TAPI-"

She heard his cheery meow, then the manager lady took back Aaban from her arms so that, she could properly meet with her dear ones. Tapish jumped on her lap, and Hrida giggled, she cooed,  " Looks like Tapish missed me a lot. Aw! How cute my elder brother is, don't worry, I would never leave you alone again." She fondly caressed his fur and snuggled him close against her torso.

All of them were surprised for a moment then their expression transitioned into the happiest ones, especially Shashi, Soma, and Divit. Tapish didn't want to leave her lap but he could sense their longingness for Hrida, so he simply jumped next to her side. Before Shashi and Soma could greet her, Divit beat it to them and surprised Hrida by hugging her tight.

She chuckles, hugs him back and gently pats his back, then whispers with a sweet tone," It's okay, Divit. I would never leave my friend alone, after all, I belong to my friends and myself as well. And since Tapish had already forgiven you for your past behavior and you are in his good books, then how could I stay away from my friend for a longer period? And, you and all of my dear ones brought back to my reality, so I would never any of my dear ones alone. Hmm, so don't worry, I will always be there for you."

Shashi's brows raised in annoyance, Soma also had a deep frown on his lips, which didn't go unnoticed by her loved ones present in the room. Meanwhile, Shashi and Soma's mom mumbles the exact same sentence under their breath, " Oh God, It seems Hrida has many admirers. Give strength to my son, God."