Abhay

"I didn't believe that he would come", I whisper to Papa as we stand at the main gate of our mansion.

Ready to welcome Mr. Ashok Rane.

Sarcastically.

"He would do anything to prove, that he still remains in power and is superior to us in many ways", he whispers back maintaing a warm smile on his face.

Rows and rows of cars arrive at the front gate.

"Is he someone special?" Mumma asks as she stands with us.

"Really special", I can hear the mockery in my father's tone.

The sirens nearly burst my ear canal. As if demonstrating the power Ashok held.

Ashok gets out of his car, in a white khadi kurta pajama with his sunglasses on. The bodyguards and his other partners accompany him.

His wife Radhika too walks to us, staying beside him.

One by one Papa and I put garlands around him and his other party workers. One happens to be former chief minister of Delhi as a special guest.

He is also under the protection provided by the Delhi police. DGP uncle is also here but in casuals, as a mutual friend from Ashok and our family.

"Thank you Mr. Rane. For saying yes to this new beginning. Happy Holi."

Papa wishes Ashok and he gives a proud nod. And urge to crush him under my foot comes and I have to clench my jaw in order to have some control.

Ashok then turns towards me and smirks.

Whore!

I wish him Holi too, with a green gulaal. Put a garland around him too.

Just like a goat which is ready to be sacrificed.

"Can't see your wife anywhere Mr. Nair."

I remove my eyes from his face, looking at him would make me hit him. Instead I looked at his joined hands, at his index finger which had a tattoo of Mahadev's damru.

So its true then, even demons worship God.

To turn against God.

"Will be joining us shortly." I say inviting him inside.

"Glad she will."

Fuck him!

Papa introduces everyone to our family. Later they engage in a conversation.

More guests arrive engaging and crowding the party. I instruct the party manager to offer drinks and snacks to our guests.

There are colours everywhere, now that the party has begun. I command my men to get ready for the action.

"I'm sorry, Abhay", Rishi follows me as I march in the entire garden managing the party.

"Get lost Rishi." I'm already preoccupied with everything right now.

"Abhay", he throws a fistful of colour at me. "Happy holi."

"Done?" I ask as he tries to gain attention from me.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you, and to Neitra. But....I wasn't wrong either. Maybe I couldn't explain my part well but I didn't have any wrong intentions."

"You heard what Ashok said to Neitra right? What would you have done if she was your sister."

If he wasn't wrong, I wasn't either. I'll pluck the eyeballs out of people who would dare to raise their eyes at my wife.

"Kill him perhaps", he casts his eyes down.

"Rishi....", i exhale. "What happened with your family was really unfortunate. But we can't close our eyes when watching other people getting tormented like us, out of fear."

He nods his head. Still looking at the ground and then asks.

"The plan would go as we decided right? It won't backlash?" His eyes search for validation in mine.

"Everything would go according to us. Don't worry."

He nods again. And I send him to have a discussion with our men.

"Can you please tell me where the washroom is?" I hear Radhika ask one of our house helps. She leads her inside of the mansion.

I keep a special eye on her. Noone could be trusted at this moment.

I'm soon bathed in a pool of colours, I wish my Neitra could be out here, playing our first Holi while I chase her in the whole garden with a water gun.

Only if the circumstances were different.

It sucks out all the joy from me.

I look at the balcony of our room. To find out if she is looking into the garden. But she isn't.

I roam alone disappointed.

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.

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It's 12 pm when the enthusiasm towards the festival is finally subsiding. I help my tired mother and sister into the home through the back door.

"Why are you locking the door at us?" Shubhangi questions.

"Shubhangi, their are bunch of people intoxicated in bhang. Who knows who might misbehave."

She and Mumma both gives me a weird stare.

Because they somewhere know that it isn't the true reason of locking them in our home. I pass a cranky Priyanshi to her mother, sending them inside.

These uneducated intoxicated bunch of politicians didn't scare me. My family finding out what would happens now does.

"Make sure all the gates and windows are locked", I shout over the call, going far away from dancing people and loud music.

"We have better preparations for our special guests", Papa talks to Ashok trying to get him into the backyard.

I see Radhika ji come out of our house, with eyes full of tears.

Did something happen?

A doubt rises in my head. Did Neitra have a fight with her?

"I'll be honoured", Ashok says excising himself with Radhika for a moment.

Papa comes towards me.

"You know what you have to do right?" He asks.

I nod and exactly after an hour, I ring a call.

But all of a sudden my phone drops from my hand and we find ourselves running to save our lives as a loud gunshot is heard.

"We need to find Ashok!" I yell at Papa and Rishi as chaos surges in the crowd.

They all run out of gate.

Ashok's bodyguards run towards the source of the gunshot outside our home.

"Where is Ashok god damnit!" I say getting impatient as I am not able to find him anywhere.

I push people around as the crowd tries to put me down.

I hold my hair in frustration.

All his other political allies have left in a narrow escape, Ashok's bodyguards are trying to find him too.

"Did you find him?" We all gather as the garden empties.

"No!"

"Did he leave?" Rishi asks.

"This fast? No way!"

I see our plan getting into mud.

"Hold on hold on! We need to go inside out house for now!"

Papa says and we rush in to make sure everything is okay in there.

"What noise was that!" Mumma demands horrified as soon as we open the doors to our house.

She rushes and hugs Papa.

"Bhaai! Are you okay?"

"Everything is okay everything is okay!" I say.

"But what was that sharp noise." Priya bhabhi asks handling a crying Priyanshi.

"Might be a random political attack. Are you all okay?" Papa tries to cover up.

They nod in fright.

But absence of one person makes me stumble.

Neitra!

I rush upwards to make sure she is okay.

The entire room is upside down. The mirror destroyed. Things and furnitures broken.

Fuck!

My heart starts beating fast and I'm soon running in the whole house to find my wife.

"Where is Neitra!" I shout at top of my lungs.

The other family members are trying to find her too.

"Bhai! My car isn't parked the place I did." Shubhangi says.

"Where did she even go?" I hold my head.

"Ashok is missing and so is Neitra!" Papa whispers.

And I feel the shortness in my breath.

Papa and I rush out of the home, after securing it with bodyguards. My hands fumble as I ring her phone.

Network unreachable.

I constantly get to hear.

Please let her be okay. Please let her be okay.

"I'll talk to the tech team to find her location. Just keep your focus on the road." Papa instructs me pulling his phone out.

I take deep breaths to keep my calm while my eyes wander on the deserted roads to find any traces of my wife.

Did he do something...... something to...to her?

It frightenes me.

Then it angers me.

"I'll kill him if something happens to Neitra!" I blurt out in rage.

"Didn't we plan doing it today?" Papa asks frequently switching to numbers over the phone.

And it turned out pretty bad!

To kill someone as powerful as Ashok,the first step was to lure his bodyguards, alibis and co workers away.

As a best option a mirage had to be created in the name of political attack from the opposition. When the only reason behind the gun attack was us.

Everything was just fine untill we couldn't find Ashok in the crowd. He had escaped.

But that doesn't concern me now.

My prime concern is to have my wife safe and sound in front of me.

"The GPRS isn't even working!" Papa says and my only hope breaks.

I ring her cell with my other hand. It isn't reachable again.

God! Help me!

Dad files a missing complaint online. Our men and the district administration are on their toes.

"Would she be fine?" I ask tiredly.

It's now nine in the night. We are out finding Neitra since quite an long.

"Shut up Abhay. Be strong."

Next she would be lying next to that girl.

That line begins to haunt me.

And I start to tear up in helplessness.

I ring on her phone again.

Please pick up. Please, I beg.

This time it is reachable and scream out in happiness, but it's only short lived as she doesn't pick it up.

"Her phone is ringing. But she isn't picking up." I tell this to my father.

"I'll ask people to trace her location", my feet dance in anticipation.

The full moon hides behind dark clouds as it lightens and threatens a downpour.

Papa looks at his phone a little confused. "The location is tracing towards our home."

We jump into our cars and I drive madly towards my home. Madly really means madly.

Neitra please be fine.

I park the car at the entrance and ring on her call again. It rings inside a car at the entrance.

It is Shubhangi's car.

It's hard to make out in this darkness when only frequent lightening falls and moon isn't shining.

"Neitra!" Papa and I call.

But no response comes.

She must be inside then. I turn on the flashlight of my phone to see our way to our house from the garden.

In the darkness that surrounds us and the little illumination that my flashlight provides, I can see drops of liquid falling on its way to the mansion.

My blood runs cold.

"Neitra!" I shout again.

Within a span of second both of ours feet are frozen.

"Neitra is ....that ..you?" My voice breaks.

As I see a figure move towards to door to our mansion.

"Neitra?" Papa questions.

Still no response.

In a brief moment a huge lightening falls. Neitra's long dense hair is the first thing that comes into my view as she has her back facing towards us.

"Why isn't she speaking?" Papa whispers se we slowly walk towards her frame.

A sudden lightening falls again and my phone drops in horror. Neitra slowly faces us.

Her face red. Not with colours. But with blood. Some even dripping from her eyes that wasn't hers.

The gajra I put in her open hair, now in worst condition. Just the thread lies  with two flowers on one of her shoulders.

"What did she do?" Papa flinches at the sight of her staring at both of us with extreme anger.

It lightens one more time. And I see her bloody hands, her left hand holding a thick long hammer dripping in blood and my eyes travel to her other hand which remains fisted.

Fisted as if holding something too tightly. And dripping with blood. Her white saree....red now....hinting towards a big tragedy that took place.

"I killed him!" She seethes and glares at us unblinking.

Her own self long forgotten, that's how Neitra looks to me right now. She is no longer my Gauri, but Kalratri herself.

Who was here to take the darkness away.

Papa looks at me horrified.

I step towards her. "Neitra calm down." 

Her breathing lowers and she shakes like a leaf. I rush towards her.

"Neitra are you okay?" I hold her close.

" I killed him", she starts hyperventilating and colapses in my arms. My father rushing towards us with his phone.

Just then her fists open up and a thing falls down her hands.

A part of perfect horror movie.

A cut finger falls down her hands as she succumbs to unconsciousness.

A cut index finger which has a tattoo of Damru, at its stem.

I turned my face away at the flinching at the sight.

"She k...killed.... him", I hear Papa stutter. "She killed..... Ashok?"