The real Killer

Fourteen

"Dadi,can you tell me what happened to Sristi after Dev and Sanjana were arrested?"Arnav asked.

Subhadra Devi was brought out of her thoughts. She looked at Arnav thoughtfully. The way he addressed her made her think of something..What it was,we all would know..

"So you have read all her diaries,except the last box?"The old lady asked,but it was more of a statement..

Arnav nodded..

"That day,Dev and Sanjana had said much more than what is written. She forgot. She forgets everything so quickly that is why her baba had told her to write. She had to work extra hard on things she liked. She would stay awake nights after nights to finish her lessons. We never understood why her memory was like that. At first we could not notice. Yet gradually it showed. Even simple answers,she had to read again and again to remember. Her friends called her nerdy. Yet we knew her heart lied with the butterflies. She wanted to fly along,freely. Yet for her parents she studied hard. Comparison comes so easily yet it Rob's a child from her/his childhood. Dev and Sanjana were brilliant. Kamini would often provoke me. And I would put pressure on her. When I realised it,it was already too late. Our butterfly's wings were broken. She could not dance,sing,do things she felt like. Only thing she could do was write..

Few days after Dev and Sanjana were arrested,Anand came. Sristi was sleeping. She woke up,when he arrived. She called her near. Asked him to sit close. Made place for her on her bed. Anand reluctantly sat there. I was there. Sristi had called me there,so that Anand would not feel bad. She took his hands in her. Gently putting it above her heart,she had asked him,to feel it. The beating of her heart. Anand had sat quitely..

Neither he pulled his hands away,nor he told her anything. Just silent. She was smiling. Her body was dieing. Yet her eyes were bright,for she was happy. Happy to be freed,from us,from everyone. It was like she was born only with pain. Yet found happiness in pain. What pained her,nobody understood..

Anand told her,how the same poison runs through his body. He gently told her,how he had confronted the Raichand siblings. She laughed..

"You are really a fool Anand.."she had told him..

He looked at her silently. Still his eyes had accusations. She is the cause of his pain. What more did she need ..

"Sanjana loves you Anand.. She does.. And do you think she would kill you like that? Just to hurt me? No. If she wants revenge from me,she would leave you alone,all healthy,to remember me and her,and to not let me rest in peace.. Now tell me,all knowing Anand Gupta,what did she do? Did she poison you?"she asked..

Anand was silent.. Sristi asked me to come closer. I picked up a file from the bedside table,and she handed it to him.

It was his reports. The day Dev had his men,beat Anand black and blue,she had asked someone to test his blood. In that file was the test reports of everyone of his family. Even slightest cold of his sister Madhu was in there.

Anand looked up from that. She was sti smiling. Yet her eyes,they had dimmed. She had lost in the end. Till the very end that man loved Sanjana. He felt good,when she had told him,the cause of his pain was Sristi..

"Anand.. One day,if this heart is true,if my love is true,one day we would meet..When I donot know. But we would. That day,you would know,how it hurts.. This love,this heart,this existance of self,I hate it. Thank you for making me hate myself..Leave"she said and turned away..

I know she wished for him to stop. She had hoped he would at least stay,even if silent. But he got up and left ..

I sat there with her whole night. She blabbered about many things. I never knew she had kept so much in her. She told me about her diaries. The boxes. Told me to put them where you found them. I did that.

That night she slept alone. I thought she was heartbroken. It was her healing process from the very beginning. She was always alone,even in crowd. She healed alone. Yet when I went to her room,the next morning,she was not there. She had left. With a letter telling her final Goodbye to me,to her brothers. And to her love.. Where no one knew. She had forbade me to try finding her. She wanted to leave everything alone."
Subhadra Devi told as she wiped the uncontrolled tears in her eyes..

Arnav was crying too. But why he didnot understand..