Allure of Darkness!

62. The Shock!

Author's POV

"Mrs. Nair, I kindly request you to sit down because I don't want to use the harsh way with you..."
Mikhail said sternly when she looked at him scared and tried to run out of the house.
"Sit down! I am not a very patient man."
He gently pushed her on the chair.

She sat down and looked at him scared.
"I don't know anything!"

He sat down in front of her with madness in his eyes.
"Then why did you try to run away from me... Why are you sweating?"
His jaw hardened with annoyance.
"I want my fucking answers..."
She flinched at his tone.
"I thought we would never cross our paths again but we did and I think it's not as simple as it looks. Miguel is really important for me so just use your mouth because I don't want to hurt Devi's mother"

"Why are you people trying to find Miguel, he must be fine wherever he is now... Can't you just leave that poor child alone?"
She said sadly. She was thinking that he is from the officials and wants to hurt Miguel.
"And don't blame anything on my husband, he is innocent."

Mikhail showed her the footage where her husband was helping Miguel.
"This is your husband! He gave Miguel Devi's clothes and fake hair. He wore that to escape from the orphanage, now tell me where he is? Your husband definitely knew about his condition."

She gulped in panic.
"He didn't do anything wrong!"

He sighed when she sobbed.
"See, I am not here to hurt anyone... Miguel was my childhood friend and I need to find him at any cost. So please tell me what happened with Miguel."
It took him time to earn her trust.

"My husband was a government official, he used to handle their system and data... One day he saw his colleagues inquiring about Miguel and they were unnecessarily harsh on the kid. He didn't like it, he was scared that they might damage him beyond control. The kid was already terrified after the mother's death so my husband took the responsibility of picking and dropping the child at an orphanage."
She started explaining.

"Do you know what happened with his mother?"
Mikhail asked with hopes, thinking she has all the answers.

She shook her head.
"I don't know but my husband was sure that it was a murder because the officials were not doing a proper investigation... The kid was continuously saying that he knows the murderer but no one listened to him..."

"Is that why your husband helped him to escape?"
He questioned.

"He was dropping Miguel at an orphanage one day and he noticed something which shook his world..."
Her eyes watered at the memory.

"Noticed what?"
Mikhail turned worried.

"Miguel was bleeding and was acting weird. Sarathy got scared and brought him home to me so I can check what's wrong with him, he knew that orphanage people might not pay attention to him and he would be in trouble if anyone finds out that he takes the kid to the hospital... I saw the kid and understood what was wrong."
She sighed.
"Miguel was 12 years old at that time, I made him comfortable with me and found out that he is not a boy but a girl."

Mikhail's world shook for a minute.
"What? Miguel is a girl?"

"Yes, the blood was her first menstruation which she was not aware of... I never felt so bad about anything before. The poor girl couldn't understand what was happening to her... She was just crying in horror so I had to make her understand everything..."
She wiped her tears.
"I asked her why she was pretending to be a boy so she simply replied that her mother asked her to do that and she doesn't know the reason... I couldn't ask her much because she was already terrified... She was so helpless, her pretty hair was shorter than boys. Her clothes were dirty and torn. She wasn't fed properly and on top of that she was menstruating at such a young age. I was scared that if anything wrong happens with her then her whole life would get destroyed... There must be a reason why her mother asked her to pretend to be a boy, the men around her were not good for her..."
Mikhail was listening to her in complete shock.
"I requested Sarathy to help the girl... I had already lost my Devi so I couldn't watch another girl suffering from the pain... Sarathy accepted my request and he made an escape plan for Miguel... He explained everything to her and she agreed because somewhere she felt safe with us... He sneakily gave her Devi's clothes and helped her to run away from the orphanage. Miguel managed to get out of the place and then my husband hacked and manipulated all the footage so officials won't find out how she did it."

"And then?"
He rubbed his face annoyed.

"And then he brought her home. We gave her Devi's identity so no one could question us, only few people knew that our Devi is dead so used it for our advantage and Sarathy was also a government official so no one felt suspicious towards him..."
She informed.

"Did he tell you ___"
He shook his head.
"I mean, did she tell you what happened with her when you took her in. Anything about her mother or murder?"

"Nothing, she was a very quiet girl... She used to stay alone most of the time. We tried to send her to school but she refused, she was scared that some people might hurt her but she never disclosed who... She used to stay at home all day but one thing was very weird about her, she used to leave the house at midnight with a water bottle. When I asked her where she goes, she told me that she visits her mother every night."
She sounded confused.
"I never understood why with a water bottle."

"Because she was watering the Jacaranda tree under which her mother was buried."
Mikhail released a heavy sigh and got up. He faced Devi's picture on the wall and smiled bitterly.
"When did Devi die?"
She told him the year and  tears escaped his eyes.
"It means your daughter never was never my friend. It was Miguel who was talking to me as Devi."

"I don't know what has happened between you two but Miguel was an innocent child. She was harassed by everyone around her. She was not in her right mind when she was with us."
There was a deep sadness in her voice.
"I still feel guilty about letting her go!"

"Where did she go?"
He asked while wiping his painful tears.

"I don't know!"
She wiped her fresh tears.
"After Sarathy's death I was broken beyond everything. I couldn't focus on anything. So I asked Miguel to find another shelter because she was safe at that time, and the officials had stopped looking for her... I was not financially strong enough to take her responsibility... One night I informed her that I have found a new home and new parents for her. She didn't say anything and went to sleep. When I woke up, she was gone. There was only a letter in her place saying that she is grateful for whatever we did for her but she is not capable of finding her own home and she is living for good... I tried to find her but failed."

Mikhail shook his head. He couldn't believe that it was really happening. His life was taking sharp turns everyday.
His childhood friend was not a boy but a girl. The same girl who tortured him for years as an illusion and he was finding it out like this.
It felt so twisted. There were so many questions and mysteries which he was seeing in front of him. There were so many truths to unfold.

But the strong feeling was betrayal. He couldn't understand why Miguel just couldn't come in front of him. Why didn't he tell him the truth. And Miguel knew how Mikhail sounded then why he didn't recognise his voice while sitting behind the wall, he knew that his grandma called him Leo then why didn't he just tell him about his real name too. What was the reason that Miguel couldn't recognise Mikhail?

His head spinning with the questions but still he was seeing the one hint and he wasn't going to ignore his any doubt now.
"I know where she must have gone..."