What happens when betrayal mars innocent hearts in love?
What happens when innocence is destroyed and a monster is created?
What happens when judgement is ruled by the burning feeling of retribution?
This is a Quartet (4 part book) and this one bein...
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Amar froze in the middle of the stairs the moment he heard Ram Singh's name. Quickly he regained his composure and went downstairs. Everything made sense to him now and a sudden fear of the future squeezed his heart.
"Ram Singh? What is he doing here?" Pravin Sisodia asked.
Viman shrugged his shoulder and sat down. His leg had been bandaged properly and would heal in some days. But right now more than himself he was worried about his brother.
"Pravin Uncle, we need to talk to Bhaisa," said Kabir realising that the situation was slowly going out of hand.
"Do you think Rudra is going to listen?" Pravin Sisodia asked and saw everyone hanging their head in resignation.
Amar was standing silently near the window looking out. His mind was not on the conversation at all. He could only think of one thing; now that Ram Singh was here, Rudra was preparing for the worst. And, that meant he would destroy each and everything.
He lifted his right hand and looked at the age-old scar on his hand, and instantly remembered how he got it. Scared and flustered, he moved his hand away from his vision. If this one scar bothered him so much then, what about the all the scars Rudra carried on his body. Most of them had been removed with plastic surgery but what about the ones that remained.
Weren't they a constant reminder of what happened?
Amar pressed his temples as the thoughts started to race at a break-neck speed within his mind.
"Amar?"
He turned and looked at the group and then said in a stern tone to his father, "Baba, I have given him a heavy sedative so he should sleep till tomorrow afternoon. We have to keep him in sedation till the hand heals. I don't want him ripping the bandages again. And, till then, I'll be here."
Saying this, he was about to go upstairs when Viman called his name.
"We have to stop him, Amar. I don't know how but we have to."
Sighing, Amar turned and looked at him.
"We can't, Viman. Both of us know that more than anyone else."
"But we can't just let him do this. We have to stop him."
"Were we able to save him that day? No, Viman. Both of us were there but we could do nothing. Nothing at all. Now, it's too late."
Viman looked at him angrily not able to understand why all of sudden his friend was hell-bent of seeing this through.
"So, you are just going to let him ruin everything?"
Amar looked at him and his eyes narrowed as a thought crossed his mind.
"What if this happened to you? Then what?"
For a minute, Viman just stared at him and then, his body started to shiver with the reaction of what Amar had just said. Everything and everyone just ceased and a bleak silence took over.
Radha could see the changes in her husband and was just beside him within a second.
"Viman?" she called out slipping her hand in his.
Just as she touched him, his body jerked with the bubbling fear inside.
Amar looked at Viman and saw nothing but horror written all over his face. Knowing too well the emotions running inside his friend, he gave him a weak and helpless smile.
****************
The coming days passed in a blur for the Sangawat family. Even though everyone was concerned about Rudra, but nobody could think of ways of stopping him.
Amar entered Rudra's bedroom on the 3rd day and sat down next to him. Sedated he looked at peace but he knew there was a storm brewing inside. He checked his pulse and opened his bag for the injection.
As he was pushing the sleeping draft in Rudra's veins, he could hear Scar's nervous growling and Radha's reassuring whispers. The moment Amar was done, Radha let the dog go and she jumped on the bed. Sniffing everywhere, she rested her head in Rudra's open palm and stared at him.
Amar ruffled her head lovingly and walked towards the door.
"Is Viman ok?" he asked Radha who was standing at the doorway looking at Rudra.
Radha nodded and then suddenly stopped Amar as he was about to leave the room.
"Scar hasn't eaten anything since two days."
He looked at her and then at the dog, who was still staring at Rudra's face.
"We can't help it. She won't till he wakes up," he said sighing.
"But......"
"I'll talk to the vet."
Amar continued to keep Rudra under sedation for the next couple of days and finally on the 6th day he stopped. But before he did, he finally dressed his wounded hand in a light bandage and left.
That night nobody slept in the Sangawat house for they knew as the sun would rise the next morning, it will bring with it a tempest that had been slowly brewing for long.
******************
Dr Pravin Sisodia came home at almost 3 am in the morning from the hospital and was about to go inside his room when his eyes caught the light glowing through the corridor. Realising his son hadn't slept; he silently opened the door and looked inside.
Amar was standing in the balcony deep in thought, so much so that he didn't hear his father calling his name. Pravin came inside and kept his hand on his son's shoulder.
"Baba!" Amar said in alarm turning towards him out of his reverie.
"Why are you still awake?"
Sighing, Amar looked away knowing well that his father can read the turmoil inside him.
"Don't look away. Say what's in your mind."
"You know it, Baba. I am thinking about Rudra," Amar replied moving away from him.
Helplessly, Pravin let go of him for neither he nor anyone else in this world could take these thoughts out of Amar.
"What about him?"
Amar turned towards his father and said in a low tone, "Come tomorrow and we both know what's going to happen."
"We will be there for him, Amar. He is not alone this time."
Smiling sadly, he turned away from his father and looked beyond at the horizon.
"Revenge has a bizarre disposition. It eats you up slowly from within making you hollow as it blazes inside. And, Rudra is burning with it. The day he starts avenging is the day he'll start destroying himself."
He felt his father place his hand on his in reassurance and Amar looked up at the sky as he said, "I just wish there was someone to soothe him."
