Chapter 6

'I am coming with you to California for some days' said Shreya adamantly.

'No! You are safe here! I can't risk your life by taking you back!' said Jasper.

'No one is safe! He is going to stalk us till he gets his revenge!' said Shreya.

'What revenge? What have we done?' asked Jasper.

'I - I saw the attacker's face in my dream. He is the same man who was hit by our car.' said Shreya shuddering.

'What the hell are you talking about? That man is dead. How can he come back? Are you suggesting his ghost is haunting us?' said Jasper.

'I don't know' said Shreya slowly.

'Are you insane? It was a bad dream. Ed's death has nothing to do with your dream!' said Jasper.

'What about this marks then?' asked Shreya pointing at the machete wound on her arm.

'I don't know. You must have hurt yourself somewhere' said Jasper.

'No! I know it's him. I know it!' said Shreya.

'How could he come back? He was dead!' said Jasper.

'We can't forget about the past no matter how hard we try. Sometimes we wish we could close our eyes and say it was just a dream; but when Reality comes, it comes with its rude awakening' said Shreya in a scared voice.

'We are going to be okay. So what should we do?' said Jasper keeping a comforting arm around her.
'We should check if he's really dead' mouthed Shreya.

'What? Are you suggesting that we should visit that lake again?' asked Jasper.

'Yes. We'll dig up his grave and check whether he is still there' said Shreya.

'I don't like this' said Jasper.

'We have to do it. There is no other way out. The Three of us, we have to do it' said Shreya.

'Alright. We will go to California tomorrow. I'll call Amanda' said Jasper.

O-o-o-o

'Sir Mujhe kuch dino ki chutti chahiye thi' said Shreya as ACP Pradyuman arrived in CID bureau.
It was 8 pm and they were getting ready to leave from bureau.

Daya looked up at Shreya. He didn't know anything about this.
'Shreya tumhari tabiyat to thik hai na? Aur ye achanak kyu chutti chahiye tumhe?' asked ACP Pradyuman gravely.

'Haan sir main thik hoon. Main bohot late bata rahi hu aapko par mera kuch personal kaam tha. Aap agar chutti ki permission de de toh' said Shreya.

'Thik hai. Par jaa kaha rahi ho tum?' asked ACP Pradyuman.

'Mujhe mere dost ke saath US jaana hai. Wahi kaam hai mera' said Shreya.

'USA?' said Daya surprised.

Everyone turned to look at him. 'Haan wo kuch urgent kaam tha' said Shreya averting his eyes.

'Thik hai Shreya. Chali jao tum. Aur apna khayal rakhana' said ACP Pradyuman.

O-o-o-o

Daya was highly irritated by Shreya's behaviour. Without a word to her, he had left the bureau. At 10 pm his doorbell rang. He knew who is visitor might be. And he was not mistaken. Shreya stood at his door. He left the door ajar and went back to his room. She sensed his anger and followed him silently into his room.

'Daya?' said Shreya as she briskly walked towards him.

Daya pretended not to notice her and continued reading the newspaper.
'Daya main jaanti hun aap meri decision se naraz hai. Par mera jaana jaroori hai.' said Shreya.

'Main kaun hun tumhe rokne wala. Aaj tak tum wahi karti aayi ho jo tum chahti ho. Main itna important nahi hu Shreya. Mujhe kuch fark nahi padta.' said Daya.

'Daya please aise baat nahi hai' said Shreya.

'Main bohot dino se notice kar raha hoon Shreya. Infact jabse bohot ajeeb bartav kar rahi ho tum. Jaroor aise koi baat hai jo main aaj tak nahi jaanta' said Daya.

'Daya main aapse kuch bhi chupana nahi chahti. Par abhi main kuch nahi bata sakti. Par main aapko sab sach bataungi US se wapas aane ke baad. I promise Daya. Par is waqt mujhse kuch mat puchiye please' said Shreya in a pleading voice.
'Tumhare "special friend" ko bata sakti ho par mujhe nahi?' asked Daya angrily.

'Daya kyuki use already sab pata hai. Wo tha mere saath jab wo sab hua' said Shreya.

'Kya hua? Aisa kya hua tha tumhare saath Shreya' asked Daya.

'I am sorry Daya. Main nahi bata sakti aapko' said Shreya.

'Wapas kab aa rahi ho?' asked Daya.

'Bas ek week ke kiye jaa rahi hu' said Shreya.

'Thik hai Shreya. Main tumhe batane ke force nahi karunga. Jab tak tum khud nahi batati tab tak main tumse kuch nahi puchunga' said Daya.

'Thank you Daya' said Shreya.

She looked into his eyes for a few good seconds. She didn't want to take them off.
He sighed. 'Tum thik ho na Shreya?' said Daya.
Shreya nodded slowly.

But as Daya laid his hand on hers and smiled, she gritted her teeth as countless tears began to stream down her face. She immediately wrapped her arms around him and embraced him tightly.
'Kya hua Shreya?' Daya asked.

'Kuch nahi.' she said.

She was really scared. She didn't know whether she would be able to come back alive. Whether she would ever feel his arms around her ever again…

'I won't say farewell! I won't say it!' said Shreya to herself, her fingers digging into his back. She was desperately clinging to him.

Though he wasn't able to see her face he knew that tears were flowing faster now.
'What could have happened? Why was she so scared?' he wondered.

She had decided not to let her emotions overpower her but she had been defeated. She had realised that she wouldn't be able to step out of the house without telling him.

Though her voice shook as badly as her body when she spoke there was a kind of fierce vehemence in her voice when she murmured into his chest 'I love you'

Daya smiled and kissed the top of her head. 'I love you too Shreya... More than anything. Mujhe nahi pata Shreya tum kisliye US jaa rahi ho. Par main tumhe kuch nahi hone dunga. You'll be safe' said Daya.

Those words had a magical effect on her. She pulled back to let him see her face, to see the tears burning painfully in her shining brown eyes. She nodded and whispered 'I know Daya'.

He wiped her tears softly. 'Daya mujhe jaana hoga. Flight ka time ho gaya' she said.

'Take care Shreya' said Daya caressing her cheek.

She left with smile and a final nod to him. She boarded a plane to California with Jasper, dreading the future.