The Present - Chapter 5

          Heyo guys! Sorry ia all that i have to say... Sorry for a late update... And a bigger sorry for this boring one! If you all can really bear with it please go ahead and read!

                             Chapter 5

*Marine drives*

              Far away on the same road a man was talking on phone...

Man - Haa boss... App chinta mat karo boss... Sab ho jayega!... Woh samne hi hai mere... Haa dikh rahi hai... Haa haa jata hu mai...

             And cutting the call the man left from there to complete his work...
__________________________________________

             Arya was staring at the calm sea... Duo had not yet returned and she wasn't complaining about it... She was enjoying her own company and pleasant weather when something caught her attention... In between the rocks there was lying one glass bottle... Inside it there was a small LED light glowing. The light was what had caught her attention. She wondered what it was. Who keeps a light in bottle!? She was looking at it from top when she saw a small paper kept in it... It looked like a letter... On top of it something was written in red... When she tried reading it, to her shock it was her own name... She bent down and picked up the bottle... Inspected it from all sides and then opened the cap... Pulling out the letter she opened it... Inside it was again written in red ink...

So much success at such an age
Is it all real or fake?
Is it only the clients you deal with,
Or are you really the soldier who is guardian of justice?
Is it only your profession
Or is it indeed your ethics and philosophy?
If u really are what u pretend to be,
What extent will you go to give someone a long awaited justice?

Malhotra Mansion
Laxshmi road
Rajguru nagar
Pune

Come alone
The way no one knows,
Cause presence of people
Ruins those!

              She wondered what this ment... Who wanted justice? And what kind of way to approach her was this? She wondered if she should go to the address or not... What if it's a trap? But why would anyone trap her! She was new in this country and hardly anyone knew her... What if it was her father's enemy? But what if someone really waited for justice? She was busy in her thoughts when from behind someone tapped her shoulder... Looking behind she saw duo standing there looking confused

Abhijeet - Kya soch rahi ho? Aur yeh haat mai kya hai tumhare?

Arya - (hurriedly keeping the paper in her pocket as bottle had already fallen down before duo arrived) Ku... Kuch nahi hai bhai... Chalo na ghar chalte hai... Bohot late hogaya hai na

            Duo understood that she was hiding something but ignoring it they started walking...

Daya - Chalo...

             All the way back home Arya was all silent... And this was very unlike her... Duo wondered how on earth did this chatterbox become silent in a span of few minutes? Maybe she is tired after a long day they answered themselves. Soon they reached ACP sir's house and dropped Arya... It was already late and so they left towards their home directly without going inside. While Arya entered inside as Shyam opened the door for her. She saw ACP sir was busy watching news on TV... Actually he was waiting for her to return

ACP - Aa gayi! Maza aaya? Aur dinner kar liya na?

Arya - Haa papa... Ajj bohot thak gayi hu... Neend aa rahi hai...

ACP - Ab din bhar ghumogi toh neend toh aayegi hi na... Chalo jao so jao... Mai bhi bas jaa hi raha hu... Good night

Arya - Good night papa... Sweet dreams

           Wishing each other good night they both left for their respective rooms... Changing Arya lied on her bed still busy in her thoughts when she felt something kept below her pillow... She got up and checked to find a small box kept there... Switching on the bed side lamp she opened it to again find a note waiting inside... In the same red ink with her name written on the top... She opened it and started reading... It said

You don't trust my words?
You will have to pay for it...
It will not be you
But an innocent who is denied justice
A buried secret
And an unjust act
All dead silent protecting a man
You join those culprits,
If you don't be here
Why are you so worried
If you say you fight for the truth?

Arya - (talking to herself) Kon hai yeh! Aur kya chahta hai mujhse? Aur yeh ghar mai bhi ghus gaya! Kaise? (Loudly) Shyam dada... Dada?

Shyam - (entering her room) Ji madam?

Arya - Dada ajj ghar mai koi aaya tha kya?

Shyam - Nahi toh... Ajj toh koi nahi aaya!

Arya - Acha app kahi bahar gaye the? Tab koi aaya ho?

Shyam - Mai toh din bhar ghar par hi tha... Kyu kuch hua hai kya madam?

Arya - (thinking for a minute) Nahi kuch nahi... App jao... Thank you...

          She read both the notes once again... There was no clue that she could find... And at the end she decided to go to that address all alone tomorrow morning... She had to get to the core of this and there was no other way to get there she concluded... Keeping away all her thoughts she went to sleep mentally getting prepared to face whatever came her way tomorrow.
__________________________________________

*8:00 am next day*

            Arya was scribbling some note sitting on her study table... It was a note to ACP sir telling him everything that was happening with her since yesterday... She was ready to leave for the told address but if in case something would happen to her she wanted to make sure somehow ACP sir came to about her so that he could find her. Done with her work she got ready... Kept tye note below a photo frame, grabbed some necessities... Kept a pocket knife in her pocket and left her room.
            By now ACP sir had already left for beauro while Dai maa was busy in kitchen... Shyam was out with some work too.

Arya - Da maa mujhe kuch kaam hai... Mai chalti hu... Sham tak aa jaugi

             She shouted it all from the drawing room... And hearing her Dai maa came outside hurriedly wiping her wet hands with a napkin.

Dai maa - Kya hua beta? Kaha jaa rahi hai?

Arya - Woh Da maa ek dost se milne jana hai...

Dai maa - India mai kon dost hai ab tera? Tu toh yaha kisi ko nahi janti!

Arya - Nahi woh US ka hi ek college friend hai... Kuch dino ke liye India aaya hua hai toh mai usko mil kar aati hu

            She left the house and raced away in her car towards Pune... After a drive of about 3 hours she reached her destination... Coming out of the car she stared the large mansion present in front of her eyes... The mansion that was abdoned now. It's outer paint had faded away and it was all covered with dust... The ground being filled with dried leaves of trees... The iron gate in front of her eyes was almost rusted. It had no lock on it and she pushed it open after waiting for a moment... As she entered the now empty lawn of the house she saw a watchman's cabin located near the gate which was again empty.
              It was a windy day today and the wind was blowing fast... Trees making a rustling sound surrendering to the power of wind... Some unattended creepers had grown all around... Aware and alert she moved ahead looking around... She reached the main door of the house... It was a big wooden door with a metal handle. But it had a big lock on it... She tried opening it but it won't open and so she started moving by the sides of the bungalow looking for a way inside. Maybe an open or a broken window! After a moment or two she found a small window big enough for her to go inside... Glass of that window from broken from one corner. She removed her kerchief from her pocket and tied it on her knuckles and then with help of that she broke the glass... Carefully she entered inside and looked around... The smell of a closed house filled her nostrils... All around there waa dust and spider webs... No covering of furniture and this told her that the owner of the house didn't leave with planning... There was a big couch present in center of the room and on the center table some old books were kept... Going near she saw that those were some mystery novels... Suddenly her gaze got shifted to the wall in front of her... It had one huge painting hanging on it... It was too dusty to see something... And slowly with her kerchief she wiped the dust from the faces of the people in the photo... Dust subsided revealing three faces in the photo... Of a lady in her early 30s and of a man of about same age... The lady was holding a small child in her hand... The child was a baby girl and her pretty pink frock indicated that. The child was about only a week old.
              Arya felt something different looking at the photo and she kept staring at it for a while... When suddenly she heard some voice from behind the closed door of a room upstairs. Sensing danger she took out her pocket knife and started moving towards that room...

To be continued...

          So what's going on? Who called Arya in this mansion? Why? Who wants justice? Or is it all just a trap in which she has fallen? Who is this photo of? From where did that sound come? She is all alone in this bungalow without knowledge of anyone! Will she be safe? Keep reading to get all these questions answered...