The Lines of Fate

3: The Horrifying Past

T/W: Some parts of this chapter may be slightly triggering. However, it is necessary for the plot.

"I am telling you he is lying...." Radhika said as she walked out of the interrogation room along with Vaarsh. Earlier he handed her a file about a suspect the police brought for a murder case of a girl. After carefully reading the file and discussing it with Vaarsh she decided to go and see the suspect once. After a complete observation, Radhika was sure he was lying.

"I am telling you...he is lying. He is trying to protect someone." Radhika said again as she walked towards her office.

"Are you sure?" Vaarsh asked, running his hand through his hair.

"I am. He is not the killer. He was nervous, he kept on taping the floor with his leg. The way the victim was tortured indicates a cold-blooded murderer. He can't be this restless. "

Vaarsh nodded. "I will have to say this to Dhruv when he is back."

"Sis...." Rishav called her from the canteen. He was getting out of there and saw Radhika and Vaarsh. "Sis...we need to leave now or else we will be late for the party...."

The moment Rishav mentioned the party, Radhika looked at her wristwatch. It was past five. She got so indulged in her work, that she lost track of time and almost forgot that she had to attend her brother's birthday party.

"Damn it!! I almost forgot." Radhika swore.

"She will kill you if you are late," Vaarsh deadpanned.

"I know...I know and I should leave now." Radhika said.

"Okay fine I will meet you there. I need to submit today's progress to the chief and then I will leave too." Vaarsh said before going to his office.

"Come first. I will be waiting for you at the parking area." Rishav said. Radhika nodded before turning toward her office. Taking her belongings, she came out of the station after seeing off Vaarsh and Ansh. She was in such a hurry to reach the parking area that she didn't notice while turning at the corner of the road and collided with a person coming from the other side.

"Ohh! I am so sorry." Radhika kneeled beside the person who fell in the impact. "Are you fine? I am sorry." The person was a man, maybe in his late seventies. Wrinkles on his face and dirt-covered shirt and pants clearly said that he was not from a well-off family. There was a deep scar on his face, that peeked through the strands of hair falling over his face.

Radhika quickly held him when she saw he was facing a problem in getting up. No sooner had she touched him than sudden images flashed in her mind making her stumble back.

Horrifying images...

A room with people chanting some prayers or something appeared which turned into a person who was being stabbed vigorously by another wearing dark black clothes....and then finally into a posture...the very same posture her father was murdered. Tied up.... upside down across wooden pillars.

She gasped remembering the horrifying incident she experienced when she was just fifteen. She experienced such memories flashing in her head, other people's memories whenever she came in contact with someone. Not always but sometimes. It was from her childhood.

Due to this, she was able to read other people very easily and that was the reason behind her not having any friends, and feeling out of place. People called her crazy and she hated that. What not she and her family suffer because of this?

But why? Why did she see that while holding the old man? Right! The old man. And that's when she came out of her thoughts, back into reality but the man... was nowhere to be seen. She quickly looked around the whole area but he was not there.... he was gone...

"Where did he go?" Radhika huffed, with her hands on her waist. She was feeling restless. It was about to be ten years but nothing...absolutely nothing was found during the investigation. The culprit was not found. Even the thoughts of her father's murderer still walking on this planet boiled her blood.

She knew very nicely why her aunt was so afraid of letting her join the police. She was right, Radhika's actual reason to join the police force was to find her father's killer no matter what......and that old man was her first clue. She had a feeling that somehow he was related to the case.

And she was never wrong in her intuitions.

"God!! I didn't even see his face properly. How will I find him?" Radhika said to herself.

"Who will you find?" A familiar voice erupted from her back. Turning back, she saw Rishav with a curious expression on his face. She realized that she said that aloud.

Would she tell him?

She decided to do it. After all, she knew that the first person in this world to believe her would be Rishav. He was always beside her in times of need. He was the best elder brother she could ever have. A source of security, comfort, and happiness.

She needed him. Vaarsh didn't know about her condition and Ansh...she had just met him. There was no one other than Rishav and his parents who would believe her. She started experiencing this from the time she was seven years old after her parents separated. Even her mother didn't know about her condition and she was also not going to tell her about this. They didn't share a very good relationship.

After listening to Radhika... Rishav's face turned from a curious expression to something else. Was it concern or was he afraid of something? She couldn't decipher.

"We will find him out but now we need to go to aunt's house," Rishav said with an assuring smile.

Radhika nodded and followed Rishav towards the parking area but not before throwing a glance at the place once more. A deserted road was all that she saw.........