Petrichor to his Heart

3.2

To say her heartbeat stopped would be an understatement. She has heard about princes of dark and thieves of Baghdad only in her childhood stories, those silhouettes gave her the same feel of those long heard stories.

She started chanting the holy mantras and sat on the seat silently, he has told her not to leave the car whatever happened but how to keep calm when such dangerous-looking men have gone behind him.

She was afraid of ghosts and spirits but the fear of cold-blooded killers was the biggest fear.

Her husband was himself a dangerous man when he wanted to be one but this was something else, even the thought of such dark mighty men caught her nerves in a fizz.

She looked for her phone and searched for Farhad's number to give him a call and save them.

She was about to make the call when all of a sudden someone tapped on the window and she shouted, dead in fear.

She didn't want to look anywhere and had closed her eyes hiding her face between her knees... to say the death would be reaching her in no moments would be no lie.

The glass was tapped again and this time it was rather urgent.

She peeped a little from behind her palms covering her eyes. She could not see anyone and it increased her fear ten folds, why wait for death, kill her already.

A few moments passed but neither did her shivering nor the utterly horrible atmosphere.

Suddenly she heard a familiar click and at the same time some holy bells in a nearby temple chimed, she prepared for her death and tears turned vigorous.

"Pallavi, what happened?" she heard his voice but didn't look up afraid of who it was.

"Pallavi, what happened..look at me." he nudged her at the same time opened the back door of the car.

She heard anklets and bangles and her mind started working ... he was back and somebody else was also there.

"what happened ..." he asked her again when he closed the back door and she looked back but other than a shadow in the car she could not see anyone.

"i was afraid ..."

"that I can see, but what happened?"

"someone tapped..." she looked back when he turned on the light and sitting behind his seat on the back seat was a lady who has hidden her face behind a big veil... " the window." she forgot what happened with her and focused on the lady.

"whatever I understood from her gestures, some men wanted to kill her," he answered her unasked question and turned on the air conditioner.

She wanted to say the car was starting to freeze but didn't say anything, thinking he might be feeling sweaty after all the running.

"who is she?" she whispered lowly still looking back at the lady who had turned her gaze towards the woods.

"maybe some tribal woman... she would be coming with us and step down when she reaches a safe place. Highways are never good," he commented as he started the car.

She could sense he was hesitant about something but she brushed it away citing her overthinking.

"i saw ..." she started but suddenly the woman turned to them and it terrified her and she dropped her words and the rest of the ride happened in silence.

As far as she could see he didn't look disturbed or upset after one such episode... perhaps him being a man and being a regular to such road incidents was the reason he was nonchalant about it.

She also had been feeling slight pain shooting inside her lower belly after short gaps, she could not understand the reason cause it was not that time of the month for her.

The air conditioner was starting to kill her, so she wanted to turn it off but when she looked at him, he seemed perfectly calm and focused as if he enjoyed the ride.

Unable to fight the cold she turned and grabbed his jacket from the back seat and it surprised her how the jacket was lying close to the lady.

Telling her brain to stop such thoughts she covered herself with the jacket and was about to put her hand inside the packet when the lady tapped the window and her bangles cluttered together.

Raghav stopped the car as if he knew what she was saying, this ride was already all kind of weird element in it and she looked out, their car was standing out of a big fort-like building, the barren garden in front of the house was hiding the building but the light inside the building was enough to make it lit in the night.

She was still in awe when Raghav left his seat and proceeded to open the back door and the lady came out.

So her safe place was here but didn't he say she was a tribal woman then why did she stop them here, Pallavi was puzzled and when the lady passed in front of the car, the headlights showed Pallavi a glimpse of her face.

Whether her brain played with her or she was seeing actually something like that, she covered the gasp that left her mouth.

How could Raghav accompany her, how could he not see her hidden behind that veil when he helped her, what happened in the forest, who were those men clad in black and who had tapped the window?

She shifted inside and tried desperately to call or notify her husband about it but her breaths hitched when the lady made her way to her side of the window.

___________________*_________________

When grandma told you to keep your distance from dark forests, they were not wrong.

dark is not always good for your mind and your sanity.

The third and last part coming by May 15.

i am enjoying this one and cant wait to reveal the climax but the suspense is good once in a while.

stay home and stay safe.

sitting by her window and gazing into the dark is...

 Morusya...your storyteller.