The Mystery Girl

Chapter 22: The Dark Figure

Now that everything was gone, loneliness struck me. I am all alone now, with no companion in this trap, with nothing but myself. Although I was surrounded with trees, fertile soil, I felt the soil dry as sand, the trees absent as an open area and the rain felt as dusty wind. I felt deserted, with no form of life around me. Although I was drenched in water, I felt shrivelled, just like a leaf. (Pun intended)

I sat under a tree, my knees near my face, hands and head over the knees. When I looked up, I saw a shadow, darker than the dark grey shade, almost black. The pitch dark shadow dominated most of the angle of vision I had.

The shadow was of a human, specifically a man. The figure that stood in front of me lifted his right hand, as if it told me to hold the hand and get up. I gulped, and asked, crackling in my voice still evident,
"Why me over your victory?"

It was quiet for few seconds, then it spoke up.
"Responsibilities I have over my head, which weighed more than a victory"

I chuckled, hearing the familiar words from a familiar person.
"You're crazy to leave the teleport and come here to save me, Sahil! You know you're not getting it back easily, right?"

He sighed, his lips slightly curved, hearing me chuckle after a long period of 480 minutes, his ears being blessed.
"I know. But it would be boring if I go back, because the time will be paused until you don't come back or die."

I laughed with teary eyes.
"Can you stop acting like you don't care for me?"

"I. Won't!", he said.

And again, my spirits rose. My cheeks flushed red, as I felt joy flowing down my eyes, silently. For a moment, I forgot whatever had happened a few hours back. Just living in the present, my delight intoxicating me and joy washing over me like waves.

I tied his hand with mine, never wanting to let go of it. I rolled my arms across his neck, gently but passionately.

Shocked with the sudden hug, Sahil said,
"You're really out of your senses."

"I'm. Not!" I said, copying his previous tone.
I unwrapped my hands, to look into his eyes. They shined vibrantly in the grey surroundings, just like diamonds. The tears that blurred my vision for a while went unnoticed by Sahil as the rain had covered them up.

Maybe, we both had tears in our eyes, it was just that we couldn't see each other's...
The clear crystals in our eyes blurred out the feelings that flowed down our eyes.

It suddenly clicked my mind, that Sahil had wounded me on purpose just to keep me safe from tribes. My cheeks flushed red again from the realisation, another evidence that he cared for me even when he wasn't with me.

I then asked him, trying to get back to my normal cool behaviour.
"How did you know that I was going to be attacked by the tribes?"

"You did? I purposely wounded you as a counter-measure."

I said back, a hint of teasing in my words.
"Your foresight is something really useful for me. But I still don't like you."

"I never asked you to like me."

Suddenly, anger and disappointment rose in me, hearing his statement which was a mix of rudeness and teasing.
"You know what? Shut up and keep walking."

He teased me more,
"You're the one talking..."

Frustrated, I didn't find words.
"Uhh..."

We were walking like it was an evening walk. While walking I realized that the army commander had given orders to catch the ones who were disguised in different clothes. If the soldiers saw me, they would have caught me too. I would be declared as an intruder in the Queendom and would be killed. Sahil was the one who saved me from being killed at an early age. He tried to tell me, but I was the one who stopped him. I was sorry for him, or maybe myself.

We were completely drenched so I didn't realize where we were walking, when a small thorn pierced a toe of mine. It didn't hurt, because it didn't go deep, but I wished to create some drama. I sat on the ground and scream,
"Oh no! A thorn pierced my leg! What should I do?
Kaata laga~"

Sahil looked at me like he had lost hope on this world. He sat down and gave the first thing he did was to give me a disclaimer,
"I'm not going to pick you up home for 2 reasons. Firstly, if I take you like that then Sheetal and Nishant might think something wrong. Secondly and more importantly, you're heavy!"

An evil plan struck my mind,
"Ohh! I never told you to pick me up. Are you that eager to do so? Hehe."

He let out a sigh, and then looked at my foot. The wound was not deep, and Sahil got the thorn out easily. He said in a low voice,
"Drama girl!"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, don't kill me, okay."

He then got up and told me to stay at the same position and ran off somewhere in the north. I was confused. Was the thorn poisonous? I looked at my toe.

At that moment, I thought I had seen a bright flash towards the west. It went very fast so I couldn't realize what had happened. I looked in that direction for a while but didn't find anything. I looked at my toe again. It didn't bleed, just a tiny red dot was visible. I wondered why Sahil went off for my tiny wound. Sahil arrived.

I looked back and asked,
"Where did you go?"

"I had seen a medicinal plant while I was finding the teleport. I brought some turmeric."

"Turmeric grows under the soil, how did you identify it?"

"It's not that difficult. Get up and let's get going."
His voice lowered to a whisper.
"I actually don't want to go back."

I got up.
"I know, even I wish to go home. But we still have 6 days. You look too eager to get back."

"Hmm. Because these 6 days is the actual survival test, and I'm not even joking this time."

"What? Why? Death sentence is after 6 days, right?"

"Yes. And before that, it's going to be a wartime."

•••••

#SahilCares ahh moment 😍!
Haaye main marjavan!😣

War?
The climax begins!😈

So that's all for today, folks!

Next chapter releases on Monday, until then,
Stay tuned! 😊💖