Losing Echoes [Complete]

27. Over

Main to jaisa bhi hu khush waqt hu

Kaisi hai tumhari dunya

Tum ne jis daon teeta hai

Issi baazi mein hari duniya

(No matter what I'm contented with my time

What about your world

The cost you paid to conquer it

Lost it in the same move)

The air around Duraid house mimicked that of a ruin. Or it gave the vibe of a graveyard, buried where was the happiness this house used to get illuminated with, the laughter which echoed inside it, the pleasant hustle of love and warmth. The immersed in dark ambiance was whispering of what it was, without any evidence of how true the claim was.

Zaviyar closed his car door looking straight ahead. The watchman hadn't tried stopping him. He wasn't used to doing this for the family members. No matter there was no family left.

Passing the lawns, Zaviyar stood at the entrance. The door was opened. No matter it had closed for him the moment he was pushed in the basement in an unconscious state. The ghosts of his happy life in this house were dancing around him. Vivid yet intangible. Zaviyar blinked and dragged his vision on top of the stairs where Yahya Duraid was standing. He had been informed of Zaviyar's arrival.

Zaviyar took determined steps towards him. He stopped on the foot of the last step on wanting to go any further. This was the limit he had put on himself. This wasn't his house anymore. He wasn't here to reminisce about old memories. He was a stranger here and strangers don't wander around freely.

"I'm surprised. After turning this house to what it is today, what are you even doing here?"

Zaviyar ignored his mocking tone. He stared at the profile of his grandfather. This face had been closest to what he had as a father. Abu. Someone who was both a grandfather and a father to him. That's what Zaviyar had always called him. But how insignificant the word meant now.

"Honadir Sahni. The mastermind. The brain behind your little oldie gang. Am I right?"

Zaviyar pushed the photograph in Yahya's feet. To say Yahya was shocked would be an understatement. Honadir was supposed to never come in Zaviyar's notice. How did this happen?

"Don't think too much. You also got exposed, what were the chances Honadir Sahni wasn't going to?"

He raked a hand through his hair. Even after discovering something so important, Zaviyar wasn't looking one bit smug, instead he was conflicted, pained even.

He looked at Yahya Duraid's still shocked form with bloodshed eyes.

"Do you remember my father, Mr. Duraid?"

Yahya's expressions had hardened.

"I'm just making sure because you are pretty good at forgetting your blood relations."

"Don't school me on relations, Zaviyar!"

"I don't have to. You've established they mean nothing to you."