THE LORDS OF JUSTICE

14 : A SHOULDER TO LEAN ON

Darshan had taken the first bus to Utkalgarh as he wanted to reach as early as possible . Sitting on the window seat , with headphones on , he relaxed , felt excited . A call entered his cellphone on its new number ; it was his mom asking about his whereabouts . When he assured that the bus had already left the depot and he was alright , she hung up .

Darshan's cheerful mood had been ruined , the song began to play automatically but he wasn't paying attention anymore . He started thinking about his home trip which made him more frustrated than the incidents of last month . His mother's behaviour was not normal at all . She always used to ask him about his vision of any new ghost or how he handled with them ; but this time she didn't even utter any topic about ghosts , though she knew her son had taken the Death Lord's name on the phone . He even took the initials to tell her about the whole incident bit by bit ; but his mom's expression was not surprised even an inch as if she was hearing a recap of some casual story . This matter ended with such an indifference from his mom that Darshan decided not to talk much about it .

He very soon got used to the carelessness of his mom which confirmed a fact that his mom was leaving him alone to choose his way of life which every young man's mother does . He knew there had been nothing about him , that his mother didn't know and last night's talk was one of the vital matters . All of a sudden she started to advice him about love relationships ; how much important was that in one young man's life , she didn't lecture on what type of person he should date but said to choose wisely .

He had never been intimate to anyone , question of love was more far away . He knew his mother was talking about Yash , which he did not know how she could find out . He himself was confused with his own feelings . This kind of feeling was totally alien to him and more confusing matter was that he was having this for a man , whom he met only twice yet he had felt strange familiarity . He wasn't frustrated or shocked at all to find out that he was interested into a man . It was a common matter in their society to choose life partners , whomever they had found perfect with them . So he tried to go out for other men too , but one fact got cleared to him that it was just that one man for whom his heart had been approaching as if it had found a long lost mate .

It was a long journey from Paraj City to Utkalgarh ; with random music buzzing and scattered thoughts , Darshan fell asleep and a dream hit his mind . He saw a forest not so much dense but the scene was so much clear that it seemed as if he was present there , he tried to get out of the dizziness but something magnetic pulled him back . The scene changed ; he saw a golden-black robe swirling in the gentle morning breeze , the person wearing it , was walking . The dream suddenly changed its course ;  he had gone back to the day of his last exam . The appearance of the Death Lord striked ; the golden-black robe , the black skull sign , the Whip , the glowing pendant and again the scene changed --- Yash's breathtaking smile which he saw in the restaurant took away all his worries and his restless posture calmed down . Still sleeping , he leaned to one side , the daydream continued ; he saw himself being dragged by Yash and his face reddened for real , a shy smile appeared on his face and with that his sleep was completed , he slowly opened his eyes .

Still in daze , his eyes were yet to adjust to his surrounding , more importantly to see the person on whose shoulder he leaned on and kept his head .

A known voice talked very close to him , "you should not sleep in a public vehicle , specially when you're travelling a long journey . What if you get robbed ? Or if you miss your stop ?! Then what will you do ?"

"You're a cop , right ? So it's your job to........" Darshan stopped . He finally came out of the embarrassment and remembered his last meet with Yash ended in rudeness .

Seeing Darshan's hesitation Yash said
"it's okay . I know you aren't interested in me but if we keep talking casually that won't be a problem I think . And of course I'm a cop , I can protect you ."

They already had reached the depot , Darshan decided to stay silent as well as Yash too . When they got down from the bus , Darshan noticed that Mr. Gupta was already waiting there with Yash's jeep . He was about to turn to the taxi stand when Manohar called him
"Mr. Sinha how come you and senior were on a same bus ?"

Darshan didn't know how this coincidence happened , he suspiciously looked at Yash who was abusing Manohar under his breath .

When Yash realised that Darshan too wanted to know the fact , he answered "Chitragupta , did you notice from where the bus came ? Yes , he was already in the bus and I took the bus from the Garh Forest Pass "
then looking at Darshan he added
"I went there to investigate some weird circumstances and for the forest soil's collapse no vehicle is allowed to enter."

Yash knew since he talked about weird things Darshan would have thought something , so he again talked "the only weird thing was that there were numerous owls , maybe they had some kind of meeting within them , natural thing . Someone from the guests was really scared and called me like she was on a hot pan and I had no choice ."

"If you didn't tell me to stay at home , I could have given you a ride so that you didn't have to take trouble with travel . But it seems that it turned out to be a good coincidence ."
Manohar said with a teasing tone .

Darshan was thinking about his mom's words , once she told him
"watch out for eagles at day and owls at night , as they are appointed Watchers ."

Darshan didn't take that seriously though he noticed eagles and owls randomly in his surroundings in past six months . His mom had warned that for his power he would be watched by supernatural beings . After the encounter with the Death Lord , he pretty much guessed who were these supernatural beings , but he didn't know what was going on with the owls in Garh forest . Manohar's voice brought him back to reality , he was offered a ride . He looked at Yash who was intensely looking at him , he felt uncomfortable under that gaze .

He politely said "That's very kind of you that you asked me , but I don't think that will be proper , sorry . I should leave now ."
Then he left .

Manohar was surprised to have this cold behaviour , he stared at Darshan's forwarding figure and then at Yash whose expression was pained .

"What did you two talk about ? He simply turned so cold ! I thought you would try your best to makeover for your previous meet . You're so........."

"Manohar ! Let's not disturb him for a while . He can decide what he wants . It's just that he is confused with himself now and he will overcome it "
Yash firmly stopped Manohar by saying that . Then , staring at Darshan's back , he thought to himself "I hope you still feel the same for me in the deepest core of your heart ."

Manohar suddenly remarked
"It seems that Fate has decided to disturb him through you ."

That brought Yash's focus back
"and what made you say that ? Whatever the reasons are , keep those to yourself . But remember to watch your words always or you'll suffer severely one day . Now , should we leave ?"

Manohar knew Yash never liked talks about Fate , so he kept his reasons to him and silently went to start the jeep .

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Hey, readers!
Hope you all are doing well and enjoyed reading it 😉

Fate is all game with these two , right? ! 😁😁😁

Let see how they resolute their feelings and finally become a couple, in the upcoming chapters! !!😉😉😉

Till then stay home, stay safe and enjoy reading 😊 😊 😊 😊

Don't forget to VOTE , COMMENT and SHARE 👍 ✒ 👉 🙏

                 ...............Anasuya Raj

13th July, 2020