THE PRINCESS

Chapter 6

Susan made the plates & motioned the siblings to table. They had somehow ate it & drank some juice.. Bcoz they couldnt afford to fall weak, they had to search Preeta.
"Bhayya, what are we gonna say to Srishti?" kritika asked Rishab.

"Just explain what had happend... She would understand it" Rishab consoled his sister.

He himself was not sure, Arora sisters were unpredictable, he had understood it. He thought back to when first time he met Pragya Ji, He thought her to be calm & polite. But when that Thanushree Mehta had came & accused Abhi of a murder, He had seen a lioness in Pragya ji. & Speaking of Preeta ji, then it is also same, Then about Srishti? unpredictably unpredictable. She loves her di. 

When they were about to move from dining, there entered Sherlyn. And Kareena had rushed to her asking of her mother's health & complaining of her being looking week. The trio couldnt control it, they rolled their eyes at them.

Here, they didnt know where Preeta was & she had never bothered to ask about her even once. The three felt immense disgust towards her.

Kritika was wondering, why her mother hadnt said anything till now, otherwise she would be starting her middle class puraan. When the trio reached living,
"Puthar, Kyaa aap theeno Arora house jaa raha hain ?" asked Raakhi , She had overheard their talks when she was taking water maa.
"Haan mom.. Hume usko bathaana tho padega naa?"  asked Rishab.

"Hmm.. I.." She wanted to go there.. but she cant leave maa here. Her bp had already been high.
"Mom, Hum jaa rahi hai naa.. abb daadi ka tabiyat teek nahi hain, aap yahan ruk lo!"
Rishab knowing his mother's predicament told her. He had been told by Girish that last ni8 daadi's bp was high & he had called doctor.He couldnt take any risk. He walked up to his siblings who were waiting for him at the front gate.

"Agar aapko usko manaane mushkil hain toh mujhe call karnaa mein aajaavunga" Rakhi told him when they were leaving.
She knew Shrishti would be difficult to handle. She had seen it many times.

They just hmmed & had gone to the car. There was tension inside the car. Rishab had opted to drive, & beside him sat Sameer, Kritika was in backseat looking out of the window. Even though they had looked for Her here many times, they still hoped to see her here somewhere. The entire ride to Arora house was silent..

There was one question hanging on Kritika's mind and she voiced it out
"Why was mom soo silent today?"
she had observed it when maami and bhayya was talking, it felt like her mother was feared of something, if she opened her mouth.

"Ohh that.. Its Chachi's kaalimaatha  avtar" Replied Sameer humorously.
"Huh?" It was Rishab who thought it to be a jock. When they were questioning Karan, Bua was not there.. then how could she have seen it.

"ohh yeah, when i was coming from my room, i heard the workers saying"
and then he started to fill them up what all had happend when they were sleeping.

Flashback

"He knew it he was driving car, kritika was sitting beside him.. there was flash lights on his face which disturbed his driving & the car was rolling around.. Everything was moving past.. 'kritikaaaa' he reached for her hand..  but she was slowly fading away, when he turned around looking for her, he saw there at the distance there is a crowd, 'kritika?' He broke the window & jumped out. 'AAa' he couldnt help it his eyes teared, PAIN, that was what he felt,  his entire body is paining.. he gritted his teeth & walked front.. towards the crowd, 'Kritika... no.. no.. she is alone! Panick.. she would have panick attack.. run.. run.. save her..' a voice said him.. wasnt it his voice?!. He didnt have time.. He neared the crowd, people began to move out of his way.. there lied a couple.. this seemed familiar.. he looked around. It was the same spot where they had been stuck for more than half hour.. What was he doing here? movement.. He felt some movement...when he stared, he was frozen, a girl dressed in red bridal lehanga stood there showing her back.. she bagan to move.. CHILL.. thats what he felt, it was chilling, his already pained body began to hurt again.. it was scorching him.. He felt breathless.. His surrounding had changed.. he was standing in middle of bridge, the girl stood on the rail.. he could feel her pain. He need to save her.. but he couldnt, something was gripping his legs, looking down his legs are frozen on road.. He shouted her to Stop.. The girl had jumped.. He used his entire energy to go after her, to save her.. suddenly he was falling, something strong pushed him. He closed his eyes.. kritika's face came infront of his eyes.He opened his eyes, He need to search his sister. He looked around it was the same river bank, where the body was layed. He had been here just before a hour.. what was he doing here? first the accident, now this?  He searched for his sister, when he saw someone there, it was that girl, he walked upto her, she was there laying, when he looked up to her, her red bridal lehanga was suddenly white, just like Preeta's.. "

with a start he had woken up. 'its a nightmare' he said to himself. He drank some wate. He knew he wouldnt get any sleep now. He made his way to bathroom.

Getting dressed up, he was walking to stairs, when he overheard the maids

"Arey chintu, Aaj aap kyo late ho gaye? Agar kuch dher se yahaan aayi toh aap ko voh  Kareena ki bezzati dekh sakthe thei"

"Arey Munni, meine bhi sun liya tha.. Lekin hua kya thaa?"

"Arey sunaa hai ki kal Preeta ji went missing.. Aur sab chote luthra toh usko search karne gaye thi.. lekin mili nahin hai-"

"kya? Arey Preeta ji kahan gayi hain? Arey bhagvaan aap usse sahi salaamat se waapas uske ghar chod do"

"Haan mera bhi yahi praarthana hein. Aur chintu ab dobara mujhe beech mein nahi kaatna-"

"ji.. ji.."

"Meine sunliya thaa ki Jab preeta ji missing hai.. yeh sunkar koi yahaan soyi nahi hain. Sivaay uss Kareena..
Aur kal bade memsaab ki tabiyat bi teek nahi thaa.. doctor ne aakar check kiyaa hai! Aur aaj subah jab Bade memsaab ne Rakhi maam ko preeta ke baare mein poocha, woh Kareena ne preeta ji ki beizzathi karli.."

"kya bola woh?"

"Kareena keh rahi thi ki, Preeta ji yeh sab iss gar ke paise ke liye kar rahi hain,.. woh sun kar Rakhi maam ko bohot naaraaz ho gaya.. itnaa naaraaz ho gaya ki woh Kareena ko zorr se thappad maarliya. Woh bhi uske muh pe! Aur kehbi diya ki agar uski beti ke kilaaf kuch bhi bhola tho voh uske iss ghar se niklunga..Aur badi memsaab ne Kareena ko warn kiya ki woh sabse dur hi rahe wo hi usske liye acha hai"

"Arey waah.. Raakhi maam tho aaj Kaalimaatha avtar liya hein.. woh kyu abhi bhi kareena ko iss gar me rakti hein? Kaash usse yahin se nikalthi toh.. Haaay!"

He was shocked knowing his Raakhi maa had slapped two persons in a timespan of just 10 hours.

                               ****

Ofcourse sameer didnt told about his nightmare. But listening that Raakhi Luthra had indeed been a kaalimaatha devi, they were shocked.
They knew She loves Preeta, but this was something. Then again every one of them loves Preeta. They all had their own shares of treasured memories with her.