The address to Meera's home was given to Abhijeet by Daya. The two, along with Meera, were heading towards her home.
When Abhijeet stopped the car a little away from her bungalow, Daya asked her, "Kya yahi hai tumhara ghar?"
She nodded and said, "Gaadi yahi chhod do. Aur tum mere saath chalo. Akele." Daya gulped in fear. Abhijeet noticed that and asked him, "Kya baat hai?"
Daya looked at him and shook his head negatively. "Kuch nahi. Aap gaadi mein hi baithe rahiye. Mai akele hi andar jaunga."
Abhijeet, in surprise, "Magar Daya tum akele kaise-"
Daya interrupted him saying, "Mai manage kar lunga. Aur vaise bhi, iss ladki ko yahi chahiye ki aap mere saath na aao." Saying so, he looked at her for once and then got down from the car. Abhijeet had no reason to object since Daya told him that's what the girl wanted.
"Daya," Meera said as she walked beside him, "Hum saamne vaale gate se nahi, bangle ke piche vaale gate se andar jaaenge."
Daya nodded, confused. "Tum mujhse kya karwana chahti ho?"
She smiled at him as if assuring him. "Mai meri behen ko bachana chahti hun."
"Kya?" He frowned, but she just kept smiling so he didn't ask anything else. Voh bas vahi dekhte hai jo voh dekhna chahte hai aur vahi sunte hai jo voh sunna chahte hai. He sighed, following her to the backyard of her bungalow.
He could see that the backside of the bungalow had two window and a ladder was fallen nearby. He glanced at her to know what was on her mind, and she said, "Yeh sidi lo aur dae baju mein jo khidki hai, uss kamre mein chale jao."
He looked at her in shock. "Agar-agar kisine pakad liya toh?"
She smiled creepily. "Voh mera kamra hai Daya. Aur ab mai nahi rahi. Issliye ab voh kamra khaali hai. Koi nahi hai vahanpar, jaa sakte ho tum andar."
He stared at her in fear, but she didn't react. So, he picked up the ladder, placed it against the wall and started climbing it. When he reached the window, what he saw left him stunned. That girl Meera was already present inside that room. It was so shocking for him that, he would've fell down from the ladder, if he wouldn't have gripped the windowsill.
Trying to calm his uneven breathes, he hoped inside the room. The first thing he saw after getting in were the dolls scattered everywhere. He furrowed his eyebrows, the room wasn't dusty at all.
Meera who was standing beside her bed, calm and still, said, "Iss bed ke niche ek laptop hai. Use bahar nikalo aur shuru karo. Mai tumhe password bataungi."
He ran a hand through his hair, glanced at the door for once and then did as per told. She told him the password and he opened it.
"Maine mere puppets ki ek video banai thi," Meera told him, "files mein jaakar voh video kholo."
Daya nodded and opened that video. Hesitantly, he asked her, "Kya play bhi karu..?"
"Nahi." She said. "Bas kholke rakh do bed pe aur niche utar jao."
Daya was confused, but he found in better to not say anything. He opened the video and placed the laptop on the bed, then climbed down the ladder.
When he was on the ground, he found Meera staring at him from the window. He was going to say something when she motioned him to leave. He felt so confused at that but she said, "Tumhara kaam hogaya hai Daya. Thank you."
He cocked an eyebrow at her and left the place reluctantly. Whereas, she stayed back.12:00am. She glanced at the clock.
In a few minutes, a man, her father, entered the room. He was shocked to see the laptop kept on the bed. "Kya yahanpe koi aaya tha?"
He looked around incase there was someone else in the room, but there was no one. Bewildered, he went near the laptop to close it when saw that a video had been paused. "Yeh kya.."
He played it. It showed his daughter, recording her small puppet show. A smile spread across his face watching that. The video further showed that someone knocked on the door, so Meera immediately took her puppets, threw them down the study table and layed on her bed. A woman, her stepmother entered the room with a food tray.
Her stepmother placed the plate on the study table and asked her, "Ab kaisa lag raha hai? Dawaiya kaam toh karrahi hai na?"
He heard Meera's voice from behind. "Haan mom. Ab pehle se behtar hai."
He smiled again as some tears welled up in his eyes, but the next thing he saw had him stunned. His wife had a small bottle in her fist. She had opened it and mixed some pills in Meera's food. Then she had went to sit beside Meera and feed her.
The video showed her saying, "Chalo ab khana khalo. Aur yeh mat kehna ki khaane ka swaad kuch alag hai. Tum bimaar ho na, issliye tumhe aisa lag raha hai."
Meera smiled and hummed as she ate her food.
Meera's father was shocked. He paused the video and replayed it to know what kind of pills had his wife given to his daughter. When he learnt what it was, he gasped. "Slow..poison." His eyes widened as a realisation struck him. "Kahi Neha ko bhi-"
He stood up immediately and ran towards his younger daughter's room. When he reached there he saw his wife inside with the food tray. "Ruko!" He yelled at the top of his voice as he ran towards her and threw away the food tray.
Neha, in shock, "Papa aap yeh kya.."
He ignored her andoand just looked at his wife in extreme rage as he shouted again, "Kya daala hai tumne ismein? KYA DAALA HAI?!"
Both the ladies were scared because of his actions, but he could care less. He went ahead and jerked his wife by holding her shoulders. "BATATI KYUN NAHI TUM?!"
As he jerked her, a bottle fell down from her hands, catching everyone's attention. He looked at it and stumbled backwards.
His wife was a frightful mess. Even after being caught, she tried to explain herself. "Rajan..mai toh bas...yeh dawai.."
"Tumne maara meri beti ko." He looked at her blankly. "Use tumne bimaar kiya. Aur.." he glanced at Neha who was so afraid, he hugged her immediately, "tum Neha ko bhi vahi sab-"
She shook her head immediately. "Nahi Rajan maine toh bas.."
He gave her a deadly look. "Mai abhi police ko phone karraha hun. Bachogi nahi tum."
Meera, who was watching all this, smiled peacefully. If only she'd known that her stepmother was trying to kill her before she died, maybe she could've saved herself. But now, at least she was able to save her younger sister.
...
Here, on the otherhand Daya sat inside the car. When he saw Abhijeet's questioning gaze over him, he said. "Ho gaya hai uska kaam, shayad. Hume chalna chahiye."
Abhijeet nodded and started the car to go home.
...
Abhijeet stopped his narration for a moment as he realised it was already midnight. He asked his sir, "Aapko sona nahi hai kya, sir? Kaafi der hogai hai aur aap toh kitne jaldi-"
"Abhijeet!" Pradyuman sir interrupted him, irritated. "Tum jaldi se aage ka batao mujhe. Aisi adhuri kahani sunkar sone jaunga, toh neend nahi aaegi mujhe."
Abhijeet chuckled at that. "Okay sir. Aage toh fir bas hum ghar wapas chale gae. Lekin pohochkar dekha toh Daya ke school se ek notice aai hui thi."
...
Daya had told Abhijeet about what happened at Meera's home. When they were back home, they saw Rahul sitting on the couch, half angry, half tensed. Daya and Abhijeet shared a look and Daya approached his brother.
"Bhaiya?" He called Rahul, "Aap theek toh hai?"
Rahul stood up in anger and came towards him immediately. He placed a letter in Daya's hand and said in anger, "Padho ise. Tumhare college se aai hai yeh notice. Kitne dinon se nahi college nahi gae ho tum, haan?"
Daya lowered his head as he held the letter in his hands. Seeing him quiet, Rahul clicked his tongue in rage. "Apni padhai ko lekar tum kab serious hone waale ho? Agar aisa hi chalta raha toh ek din college se nikalna padega tumhe. Aise toh sabse piche chhut jaoge tum! Apne future ki tumhe koi chinta bhi hai ke nahi?"
Daya's lips quivered, "Bhai-bhaiya, mai-"
Rahul raised his hand to stop him. "Mai koi excuse nahi sunna chahta. Teen din baad mom London se wapas aarahi hai. Unke aane se pehle yah toh tum college jana shuru kardo, yah fir mom se kya kehna hai yeh mai achese jaanta hun. Tab tum mom ko hi jaakar apne excuses batana."
Daya stared at him for a brief moment before leaving for his room with fast steps. Abhijeet, who was watching all that quietly, told Rahul in a low tone as, "Rahul yaar, use thoda waqt toh do."
"Please, Jeet." Rahul said in irritation. "Tum yahan jiss kaam keliye aae ho, vahi karo. Tumhe inn mamlon mein padne ki koi zarurat nahi hai." Saying so, he jerked his head and walked away from there.
Abhijeet traced his steps till he disappeared as he sighed and murmured, "Apna kaam hi toh karraha hun yaar."
A/N Three chaps to go!
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Janhvi.