Search For Supernaturals

Chapter- 10

Arav

I came back when she left in the taxi to make sure she doesn't try to proceed with her Jungle Safari plan. She seems to have a thing for them. We met twice in the last 24 hours, both times in this forest. As much as I have inferred till now, she is a passionate and smart journalist.

Though she was stranded in an awful situation, she paid full attention to the murder case scenario yesterday and I was quite surprised by how she remembered each bit of information that my colleagues and I mentioned in her presence, without any written notes.

And not to forget the reason she entered the forest in the first place. She was trying to help a kid she never met and is still trying to find her to make sure her safety even after my constant reassurance. This shows how good of a human being she is.

Yesterday I came to this 'freaky forest', as Sameera calls it, with 3 of my colleagues, one of them being a forensic expert, other one was my partner for the said case and the 3rd was our superior officer.

I just transferred to the local police station a couple of months ago as a junior officer, making it the first murder case I am assigned to as until now I was only dealing with local thieves and con artists.

It's been 2 and a half years of my service in the police department of Goa, my hometown. My parents always wanted me to become a police officer like my chachu (paternal uncle), my dad's younger brother. Despite having a well established family business, my father encouraged us to be productive for our country, not just our own family.

Both of them had been a great source inspiration, for me and my elder brother. My brother joined army the same year I graduated from college. Even though Shiv Chachu (Uncle Shiv) wasn't with us, his teachings guided me throughout my journey to this day.

He died as a hero during a terrorist shootout in Mumbai, when I was only 12. And here I am in the same place, following his footsteps, making my family proud.

I was so excited about this and did the best I could to look for clues. Along with some wild dog's claw marks, I found a fair skinned girl with average height, straight jet black hair, reaching few inches below her shoulder, that match the black colour of her irises.

She was lost in the forest to find a 5 year old girl who she claimed entered into the forest. That got my attention along with the information that she heard howls of animals in the forest, whereas I heard none since the time I had arrived.

But I believed her thinking that maybe I wasn't paying attention being too much indulged in finding any trace of the murderer. Plus her eyes and other nonverbal expressions gave out the fact that she wasn't lying.

I checked her ID card to avoid being fooled. It was authentic and to double-check, later that day, I investigated her background which proved the truth in her words.

I offered her help and acted all calm and composed around her but she caught me off guard when she asked for my ID.

Did she not believe me? Don't I look like a police officer in my uniform? I questioned myself and frankly speaking,I was a bit angry.

I mean I was looking for a murderer and she seems to be a perfect suspect at the time but I believed her and even promised to help her, even after she lied to me at first. Then why would she think of me as an imposter?

But then I realised her profession and current stranded situation really don't help with trusting a stranger claiming to be a police officer in the middle of the forest, near a slum full of various anti-socials.

I only checked her ID to get even with her. I wanted her to feel the hurt I felt by her words of disbelief. Though I still can't understand why her lack of trust in me hurt me so much? It's not like I pay much attention to what a pretty stranger thinks about me. Maybe I felt so because I trusted her words and expected the same from her.