Under the Stars

The Hunt

" Dreams come true when we start living them. "
                               -Paulo Coelho
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Mohit slowly opened his eyes, hoping all this would just be a dream.

"Take no tension...breathe in breath-"

The sentence was discarded even before it could form properly. The scene in front of him was a total anticlimax to all his hopes.

Ajay was sitting right in front of him yawing like usual, lazily examining him.

"How did the deep slumber feel like, Mohit?" he taunted in his jovial tone, adding extra sweetness to the name.

"As good as sleeping on a cold tiled floor without a blanket would feel," Mohit replied grumpily, stretching himself.

The words from the letter were still circulating in his mind, making him very nostalgic.

However, this nostalgia was rudely interrupted as Ajay started to speak again.

"Well, a girl named Diya called you." he said yawing yet again, much in resemblance of a whale.

"HECK ! I PROMISED HER TO BE BACK SOON, AND HERE I AM SITTING 3 HOURS AFTER MY DEPARTURE FROM HOME." Mohit screeched internally, looking at his watch.

"And did you reply, Ajay?" he asked, composing himself little bit.

Ajay smiled seeing his baffled expression and casually replied,

"Yeah, I did. She was worried about you. Really worried. I just said that you are in my house and that we are childhood friends....you know, the type sappy story everyone likes."

For the first time that day, Mohit cracked a smile. He didn't know Ajay much, but he kinda liked him now.

Lazily walking to the chair next to Ajay, he slumped on it with eyes closed hoping to melt into the soul of the world and be at peace.

But the night was over, the story wasn't. Passing a minute or two in the uneasy silence of the room, he finally voiced the question that pestered him since reading the letter.

"Umm....do you really believe Aahana is alive?

I mean, all these deductions are just on the basis of guesswork... so you never can be sure, right ?"

Ajay smiled.

And the smile was more of a smirk, a smirk that he often gave to people who were skeptic about his theories.

He slowly opened the letter again with Mohit beside him this time.
Then pointing at a certain line in the letter he started to speak again,

It all had a pattern.

"This line is our first clue. It shows that she is hinting towards a pattern. Not necessarily it needs to be associated with her husband.

It can also be hinting about a hidden message in this letter," he finished off excitedly.

Before Mohit could even object to this theory, Ajay moved on to the next, with authority in his voice this time.

"I just wish to put an end...

He killed people indirectly...

So, accompanying him, I am planning to go on a road trip...

You can see these lines are unique, because there is a hint in every line.

She hinted the first letter, then the second and then the third.