𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑫𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑫 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻.

𝑯𝑯𝑯 𝟐𝟏

In the early evening of a Friday, an Escalade drove through Delhi's streets to the majestic Raizada mansion with two teenage girls dressed in their school uniform.

Lucrezia and her cousin sister Khushi were beaming from their victory in their basketball game against another rival school, but her cousin Lucrezia was eerily quiet, which was unusual for her given that she had been excited when she was chosen to join the basketball team only two days after arriving at the school.

She was supposed to be happy because she had shot the winning shot for the school, but she appeared lost, which a blabbering Kiki noticed when she realized her cousin was not responding to excitement.

Kiki touched her shoulder, jolting Lulu out of her reverie.

"Lulu, are you alright?" She asked with worry and concern and Lulu shook her head letting put a heavy and loud sigh. "Is this about what happened on Sunday?"

"Yes, and so many other things." Lulu responded and picked up and Stanley Cup and took a sip of her energy drink.

"Dude, it was just a misunderstanding ..... Advay was just playing and purposefully hiding under the bed...... You know he enjoys playing hide and seek a lot." Kiki said in a dismissive tone.

"I know, but I can not get Mama and Papa's reaction out of my head..... When we all got down, Mama was nearly in tears, and Papa looked like the life had been sucked out of him....... He was as white as a ghost, screaming out Advay's name...... We immediately knew Advay was playing hid and seek and within seconds we found him under Mama and Papa's bed giggling....... They are aware that he does this frequently, but why did they panic and hug the three of us? Something is not right.... Something really terrifying is going on, and they do not want us to know."

Kiki realised her cousin was right , especially when she remembered Arnav chanting "I will protect all of you" while hugging them that day.

It was a Sunday evening, and Lulu and Kiki were beaming with excitement for the next day, as it would be their first day of school, and Kiki was showing her all of the teachers and faculty at the school, pointing to the ones she liked and disliked, which made Lulu laugh, recalling their childhood when Kiki did the same with family members.

Khushi and Arnav's screams broke their reverie, prompting them to jump out of bed and run outside, only to find them screaming Advay's name and looking around frantically.

"Mama, Papa, what is wrong?" Lulu inquired, and Arnav and Khushi dashed to her side, looking terrified.

"Lulu, have you seen your brother?" Arnav asked, desperate, but Lulu shook her head.

"He was with you, remember...... You wanted to spend some time with him." Lulu replied, perplexed, as did Kiki and Nani, who waddled out of her room after hearing the commotion.

"What is wrong, Chote?" Nani asked.

"Advay has gone missing, and I can not find him...... I was playing with him a few minutes ago and only stepped out to take a phone call at the poolside...... I walked into the bedroom after the call to find the door open and Advay nowhere to be found." Arnav explained frantically, while Khushi, who was in the kitchen at the time, looked around frantically.

But Khushi paused, and Arnav frowned as Lulu, Kiki, and Nani burst out laughing.

"What makes this so funny?" He asked angrily, and they all stopped, but the girls continued to snicker as Nani smiled and approached him.