The Lines of Fate

11: Another?

Keshav was leaning on the door, arms crossed looking at her with a smirk on his face. He was elegantly dressed in a black and white colored costume which looked a lot like the attires worn by the royals of the western countries back in the sixteen and seventeen centuries. Seeing him in that costume made her think about someone back from her past.

"I didn't expect you to come here," Keshav said taking her out of her thoughts.

"Why?" Radhika asked trying to figure out why would he think like that.

"I heard from mam; you never attend these shows plus the investigation is also going on," Keshav said as he went inside the room. "But I am glad you are here."

"Well, it was you who invited me as if your life was dependent on it," Radhika said following him inside.

"What if it was?" Keshav turned around and leaned forward towards her. Radhika was startled by the sudden movement but soon her eyes fell on Keshav's deep blackish brown eyes. She again was feeling confused. Why was he so hard to read?

"What? You have nothing to say." Keshav said, his lips forming into a smirk again. He caught her staring at his eyes.

"Well, if your life depends on it then I think I had done well by coming here," Radhika said.

"That is sure..." Keshav said leaning back making Radhika release a sigh of relief. Her heart was again beating too much due to the proximity. "By the way can I go to the police station tomorrow to talk about the tarot cards, as you guys wanted?"

"You will do that?" Radhika asked being completely surprised. She didn't expect him to help her in the investigation.

"Of course, I will," Keshav said with a small smile.

"But why? Why would want to include yourself in the danger?" Radhika asked. She didn't understand why he would try to get inside this chaos. He just wanted to visit India but was pulled inside all of these. Instead of staying away, here he was wanting to help in the investigation.

"It's not just you Radhika......"

Radhika tilted her head in confusion to which Keshav suddenly looked away from her. She felt that the last words were not meant to be said by him. It was the second time he talked like there was more to the story. Keshav was a man of deep secrets.... she was sure of it. But what was he hiding??

He coughed, "I am a member of the Arc too. I may not have been close to Bristi but still, I want to find out who did such a dreadful thing...." His voice turned into a deeper tone at the end as if he wanted to find the murderer no matter what. As if his life depended on it.

"We lost one of our members, one of our friends, none of us want to be here today but there is no choice. I can't cancel the show now...the tickets were already sold."

"Keshav!" Radhika called his name in a soft tone. "You will be all fine." She said patting him on his shoulder.

Keshav wanted to thank her but nothing came out of his mouth. He just kept standing there looking at the beautiful lady in front of him, the lady he liked the instant he saw her. Radhika too didn't speak anything.

There was silence...a comforting silence until a voice came from outside.

"Keshav!! It's time..." Ishaan came to call him but was surprised to see his sister. "Didi!!"

"Oh! Ishaan..." Radhika turned around to meet her brother. "I was searching for you."

"Well, it is not looking like that. You are here talking with Keshav." Ishaan teased. In return, he got a smack on his head from his sister. "It hurts, didi!" he said while rubbing his head.

"You should think that before saying."

Keshav laughed seeing the little sprint between the two siblings. "Well, we should go now or else it will be late."

The other two nodded before they all came out to go to their respective places. Keshav went backstage and Ishaan and Radhika went to their seats. She deliberately sat away from her mother to not hear her lectures again. She didn't want to destroy her mood. She came there for a reason. She wanted to enjoy the show and also find clues.

Soon the lights went off and Keshav entered the stage, looking completely unreal under the laser lights which were focused on him. Radhika felt lost in the situation as he slowly started to show his magic tricks...lost in her memories.... the memories when she came to see her parents on the stage.... the beautiful memories.

Why was Keshav making her want all those that she wanted as a child? He brought back the wishes she wanted to fulfill when she was a child. Ishaan always made her think of her father and now Keshav was making her feel like the fifteen-year girl, the girl with beautiful dreams, the girl she was before all of this happened.

And like every time, whenever she wanted to again live a normal life.... something dreadful had to happen. Maybe staying in peace was not written in her life.

The next thing that happened took the freak out of not only her but all of the audience. She stood up in shock along with Ishaan who was sitting beside her. The constant claps and the sound of laughter turned into shrills of cry. Just in seconds, the soothing atmosphere in the room turned into chaos as the people started to run out of there.

Her eyes moved to Keshav who slumped down on the stage floor in complete shock...and that was when she realized she had to call the police and stop the people from going out.

She ran out of her seat to Mr. Jai and told him to close the entrances. After he went away, she took out her phone to call the police but her fingers were not working. They had gone stiff.

The scene in front of her was making her puzzled. Again, a repeat of those scenes like in the resort. Everyone was in shock and fear. She could hear the crying, the whispers.... the way Ishaan was trying to make Keshav get up who had also gotten stiff like her...not moving a single bit.

What was the reason? Why were all these things happening now? They hadn't been able to make much progress in Bristi's case and now another murder had taken place.

"Radhika!" Someone called her from behind. She couldn't hear it at first but turned around the second time to see her chief Mr. Das standing there.