Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-73(Part-2): Dive Into the Past.

The tiny pebbles crunch under my feet as they barely touch the ground before they take off again. My breath hitches as my lungs beg for air. I try to breathe as I sprint, struggling to maintain my pace but refusing to give up.

My parents' past has taught me that love doesn't happen in an instant, it is like the flowing rivers that are unaware of the vast sea ahead but they gather together for the journey towards the unknown destination, but realization does. Realization happens in a moment, a moment in which you allow yourself to see the reality. It was at this moment that I gave myself the chance to look past the fog obscuring my vision. To see the shackles on my hands that wouldn't let me reach out for her. The shackles of those inexplainable dreams and the unanswered questions. This moment was long due and I was the one responsible for the delay. Ranav Birla or Abhir Sharma? I am a man of unknown origin, one who couldn't decide his identity for half his life. One who always sat on the fence unable to get on either side. After 25 years of living, I finally found the ground I wanted to stand on and it was the ground beside her. And this was the moment I decided not to live in those shackles so attempted to wiggle, to break through with certainty and answers.

When Ranav finally reached Rajvansh Sadan he neither stopped nor slowed down. He charged forward and up the stairs, towards her room. As he sprinted up the stairs, the corridor came into view and so did she. She was sitting in a wheelchair, which made his heart plummet with concern. He only slowed to a stop a few feet away from her. She looked at him with a frown of confusion. He heaved in a breath and cleared his throat which felt as dry as the Sahara desert.

"Are you hurt?" He chokes out, still trying to catch his breath. She shakes her head 'No'.

"What are you doing here? And why are you running?" Instead of answering, he bends clutching his knees with his palms and balancing his upper body as he properly tries to breathe. After taking a few breaths he moves forward towards her and gently kneels in front of her.

"You are safe." Maya could not tell if it was a question or a statement, but nodded anyway. He looked at the wheelchair as he felt his heart being squeezed at the sight.

"Amish Bhayya panicked." She explained. "I told him it was nothing and that I can walk just fine, but he is stubborn. So, I am just playing along." Ranav took a breath of relief.

"Good." He tells, more to himself. "Good." He slowly gets up and winces. Maya observes silently, curious as to why he looked like he just fought a million demons to be here. "I'll go then." He's about to turn around to leave when Maya calls out to him.

"Are you leaving so soon? You can stay a bit, you know?" She suggests. Ranav would more than love to obey her every demand, but he knows better than to let an ambiguous dream take control over his conscience.

"I have to leave." He answers. Something in his voice makes Maya question if he was just talking about going back home.

"Where are you going?" She asks with a heavy heart as she remembers how he left last time. It was months before she finally got to see him again. It was probably because of the special friendship she believed they shared that his departure not only saddens her but also brings her fear. Ranav doesn't turn around but turns his head to the side to speak.

"Not too far." He says as he leaves. Maya wanted to call out after him but she didn't because he said he said he won't far and she trusted him.

As Ranav walked down the stairs, he promised himself that the next time he'd be here, he would have answers. At the time, he didn't know that the answer he was looking for would only make him question everything.

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The journey to the location sent by his friend was not an easy one to get to. Ranav took a train to Ahmedabad and then transferred two buses to get to Thivalner. The place that has been haunting his dreams. The journey itself took him 3 days where he often had to the night at a lodge or a hotel and then began the search. He searched for any place he had particularly seen in his dreams. He then stumbles upon a warehouse that he could remember from his dream. This is where she climbed the wall. The fact that the place actually exists lifts his spirits but also burdens him. It exists, which means what he saw was not a piece of his imagination but could be something that happened in real life. But to whom and why is he connected to all this? Of course, there are some obvious conclusions that he could draw up considering that he and Maya were the spitting images of the people he sees in his dreams. Yet he doesn't want to assume things he could not explain. he walks around the abandoned town like a madman searching for something but not knowing how exactly would he get his answers. He then finds the mansion.

It stood over 30 feet from the ground dominating the faded high walls guarding the land. Suddenly, Ranav could feel something shift in the air, as he took every step with great consideration towards the front gate. There was this pull in the wind that passed that seemed to call him in. He steps into the grounds, looking around the barren land and the burnt mansion. There were flowers like he saw in the dream, only broken twigs and burnt trunks. He enters the mansion as a terrible smell catches his nostrils. he looks around the hall that once looked grand in his dream, but now is soulless.

He moves further into the house, to look around. He steps on something and looks down to find a chain lying on the ground. He picks it up to find a locket- no, it's a white stone with a pearl embedded in the middle. He grazes the surface with his thumb. He doesn't know why but as if knows what is there, he looks up towards the crown of the stairs and... freezes. There was a huge portrait of a woman sitting in a chair, with her back straight and posture majestic as she looked forward, looking prideful. The portrait was burnt half and covered in dust, but he could still recognize that sharp gaze. The only difference is the look of a woman who has seen enough in life, unlike the fire of youth that is reflected in Maya's gaze. This must be Akriti Ghoshal. The name of this woman is engraved at the back of his mind, taunting him and his unawareness.

As if a bullet was piercing his skull, sharp pain shot through his head and he held it with his eyes shut tight. He bends in half, unable to hear anything as the pain only intensifies. White noise fills his ears as the smell of heliotropes surrounds him. he has no idea how he knows the flower or its fragrance but he can't care less now. The excruciating pain is more than enough to distract him. Though he doesn't know why his head seems to burn, he can comprehend its source. So he runs out of the mansion with as much strength as he can muster. he runs for a long time, not knowing if he is even going in the right direction. he finally halts as he reaches the banks of a river. He looks around to find that it's well past evening and the sun is dipping at the horizon. He also realizes that he is lost.

There is some sort of river in front of him with a lone tree standing on its banks. A broken swing hangs under the tree, like a hopeless soul hanging to its fate. The sight in front of him looked so devoid of any life that it somehow made him sad. He walks towards the swing as if his legs were being pulled. He gently touches his fingertips to the weak rope holding the broken seat of the swing as an unknown sense of connection ignites in him. He slowly walks past the swing to the very edge of the bank and looks into the water to find his reflection looking back at him. He crouches to the ground, as his heart grows heavy. A gust of wind grazes the back of his neck, sending a shiver down his back, startling him out of his body. What happens next is completely unexpected. Ranav loses balance as he turns around in surprise, his body pivoting down with the force of his weight as his back touches the water's surface.

He falls into the water like a coin, being dragged down by his weight as he struggles and writhes to resurface. The air in his lungs leaves him in the form of bubbles as he looks at them in horror in the dim light underwater. Ranav knows how to swim but his body refuses to obey him and he ends up gulping in the terrible dirty water of the river. There is no light to guide him to the surface as he sinks to the bottom, unable to move his limbs as the darkness of the water engulfs him and his vision goes dark.

He remembers his dream where he died in the fire, and now he was dying in water. Was it his fate? To be taken by the elements? There was one thing common with that dream, he realised. At the very last breath he took, he wished to see her one more time.

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Hey Readers,

I know I am late, irregular and unfunny, but due to a very busy schedule, you'll have to bear more of that. I apologise but can't promise to do differently. I can not compromise the book or my schedule so let's enjoy together each chapter at a time. If you enjoyed the chapter, vote for it and leave your thoughts in the comment section. I gives me great motivation to see people expressing their opinions on my story. Thank and have a great weekend. See you in the next chapter...

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