Nature's Comeback

44- Revenge?

The villagers who had been rushing so much stopped abruptly as they saw their fears come true. The house of the monsters' parents was on fire.

"I told you those kids were back for revenge," one of them shouted in agony.

The people tried searching for the owners amidst the crowd.

"They...they are inside," Dhara, a 20 year old girl informed in a pained voice. The old couple had not been feeling well for a few days. She had been the one who assured them to rest, promising that she would bring their share of water too.

"What are you doing?" A man yelled, pulling back his wife who was rushing forward.

"Didn't you listen? They are inside. We need to help them or else...." she stopped before saying 'die', not wanting to jinx it.

"I know. I want to help too. But understand, the monsters have done this as a revenge. If we go and help them, then we would also come in their line of vision. Let's not risk it," the husband tried to make his wife understand. For him, his family was most important.

Other villagers nodded and a series of affirmations were passed. No one wanted a curse upon themselves. All except Dhara. She wasn't part of the family of the old couple but they had treated her as such. They helped her with so many things after she had lost her father, the only earning member of her family. From clothes to school fees, they did so much for her. She couldn't just leave them to die.

Dhara was determined to save them but she wasn't foolish to not understand that she alone wasn't enough. She quickly called her friend Aakash, from the neighbouring village to ask for people and water.

☯☯☯☯☯

Gyaan had been healing Sarah and Sarika when Aakash got the call. Aakash's shocked voice gave him the intuition that something was seriously wrong.

Aakash informed Gyaan and the researchers about what had happened to the twin's house, making everyone worried.

"We should go and help them," Avan said, wanting to save their home.

"We can try but we need the twins to put out such a huge fire," Sameera pointed, although they all had already started running.

"But how will we contact them?" Sarika asked, "We didn't even think of taking their phone numbers."

"Glad to hear that I am not the only idiot here," Gyaan muttered under his breath.

"Let's not dwell upon what's done and over with and just think about what we can do," Reyansh said, picking up his pace.

"Why aren't we taking the bus?" Sarah yelled out while trying her best to run with her injuries. Gyaan was only half done when they received the news, causing her body to still ache.

"The routes are smaller and the bus might get stuck if some vehicle comes from the other side. It is better to run," Tej informed, before scooping her up.

Sarah screamed at the suddenness, before tightly clutching Tej's shoulders. "Thanks for the help but inform a person before picking them up," Sarah scolded, whacking his head.

"Ow!" Tej cried, making Kriti laugh.

"Serves him right," she yelled out laughing, but internally she was proud of him for helping Sarah.

"Sameera, listen," Gyaan pulled her to the side, "as soon as we reach there, start trying to reduce the smoke. People mostly die because of smoke inhalation and not due to burns."

"I don't know if my powers are strong enough for this amount of smoke or whether they will work at all, but I promise to try my best," Sameera said with determination.

She parted away from the group as they ran towards the river. Sameera directly moved towards the burning house and willed all her strength to protect the parents of her young friends.

☯☯☯☯☯

Dhara sighed in relief when she saw Aakash and other people with him. Dhara had already removed all the obstacles between the cursed river and the house. She also made sure to get all the buckets the villagers were carrying before convincing them to go somewhere far.

Making a fool of them wasn't hard. She just needed to tell them that not being here would save them from getting noticed by the monsters and they all disappeared within a minute.

She had already started filling up buckets while waiting for Aakash and his people.

"Thank you so much for coming."

Researchers picked up the filled buckets and went to put out the fire. They made a few rounds and it became clear that this wasn't enough. Not only the quantity was lacking by a lot but the force was missing as well. Sometimes, it wasn't about how much it was poured but in what force it had been thrown mattered.

"What are we going to do?" Dhara cried when all their efforts were going down the drain.

There was no change in the fire, but they all were tired. Even though the distance wasn't too much, going back and forth from the river to the house with water wasn't easy for them. Aakash and Dhara were still doing okay. Being villagers, they were used to physical work and hence their strength was far better than the researchers.

"Please don't give up," Dhara pleaded.

Nodding slowly, they tiredly went to pick up the buckets and go back again when Avan stopped them.

"Wait a second," he requested before nodding at the trees beside the river.

Dhara and Aakash were left open-mouthed when they saw the branches bending.

"Hang the buckets onto the branches."

No one questioned Avan and followed his instructions. Although they were highly confused, Dhara and Aakash too did what was asked.

Avan closed his eyes, praying and requesting the trees with all his might.

Having taken all the buckets, the branches dipped towards the river, effectively filling all the buckets. The branches swiftly moved from the river and turned towards the house, throwing all the water at once.

Some startled screams were heard from the researchers as some water fell upon them, but they all were happy that their plan worked. The force with which water had been thrown, it managed to put out some of the fire. There was still a lot left but a new hope had risen.