Chapter 3

'How can he do that to us? Why does he need anybody? Why can't it just be the three of us?' asked Sara pacing impatiently in the room.

'Do you know her?' asked Aryan.

'Yes. Her name is Shreya. I think they are colleagues. I saw her for the first time that day when the hooded criminal had held me at gunpoint' said Sara.

'Look we can't jump to conclusions just yet. They might be just good friends' said Aryan.

'Good friends? Then why didn't he tell us? Why did he lie that he was going for a meeting?' demanded Sara.

'Look what I am saying is don't bombard him with questions about her once he comes back. He will know we broke the rules and then we will be grounded' said Aryan.

'That's so selfish of you Aryan! You care only about yourself? Aren't you worried that we might get a new mother soon? How would she treat us? Will dad love us the same way he does right now or will he ignore us now that he has a companion in his life?' asked Sara.

'Don't be stupid! How can dad not love us? And it's his life really. How can we interfere in that?' asked Aryan.

'Look we are a part of his life! And I expect that he would at least tell us before getting us a new mother!' said Sara.

'You are just being possessive. And maybe he didn't tell us because he might not be sure about his decision himself! I beg you please don't ask him anything.' said Aryan.

'But I want to find out all about her. What does she do for living? Does she have any kids and all that' said Sara.

'There are other ways to find out ok? We will think of something. Please don't do anything stupid and land us in unnecessary mess' said Aryan.

'Fine! But you better think of something and that too fast! Good night I am going to bed!' said Sara and went to her room leaving her brother standing in the living room.

O - o - o - o

A few days later

Sara was walking back home from school. They had basketball practice and she was tired. It was past 6 o' clock. The basketball practice had run up late and her school bus had left. Now she had to walk all the way home. As she approached a familiar fork road, she took the path on the extreme right. It ran through the thick blanket of trees and her father had warned her not to take that route. But she felt exhausted and the path was a shortcut to their house.

She stopped on her track as she heard a slight rustling of the leaves. She looked around cautiously but spotted nobody.

'Maybe some animal' she muttered and moved on dismissing her thoughts.

A minute later, she heard the rustling sound once again, this time a bit louder.

As she peered through the gap between the trees, she spotted a human figure. The lady was wearing jeans and a bright green shirt. The face seemed very familiar.

'That - that's Shreya! I wonder what is she doing here' Sara whispered to herself.

Sara quickly hid behind a huge tree and peeped from behind the bark to look what Shreya was up to. She could see Shreya clearly.

It seemed that Shreya couldn't stand steady on her feet. She took support of a huge tree bark. Her face was etched in pain. Her skin had a tinge of blue.

'That's weird. Why does her skin appear like that?' Sara muttered to herself.

Shreya was writhing in pain. She took a few deep breaths as if to calm herself down. Then she withdrew something from her pocket. It was a syringe.

To her horror, she saw Shreya inject an unknown liquid into her vein. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She gasped and screamed in pain.

'Gosh! She is on drugs!' Sara said in a loud voice.

Shreya heard the voice and she panicked. Had someone seen her?

'Who is there?' Shreya questioned in a shrill voice.

Sara hid behind the tree and gulped. 'God! Help me! What if she finds me? How on the earth am I going to get out of here?' she thought.

A few minutes later she cast a look around her. Shreya was nowhere to be seen. Darkness had settled around her. It was a cold full moon night. Sara looked around her once again and set off a sprint. She didn't stop running till she reached home. She sighed in relief when she saw Daya hadn't arrived home yet. His car was missing.

'Aryan? Where are you? Come here at once! I have to tell you something very important!' Sara yelled.