Intihaa

iii.

Chapter 03

•| Daksh

The night was quiet, silence covering all the surrounding, just opposite of what I was feeling. Chaos, chaos inside my mind. I could see blanket of stars circling above, ever so sparkling the beauty of this place and if I would've been calm, free from the storm brewing somewhere deep in me, I would've given priority to wandering thought about abandoning the situation I was in and completing my task. But I couldn't. Not when she was here all alone, knowing nothing what problems could arise.

I turned away from the window, staring at her sleeping form. Accepted, I was irritated with her in the starting, annoyed that why my precious trip was ruined but the anxiety in her eyes when she was lost, the fear when she saw her brother restricted me to be selfish.

I had seen her smiling, glaring, scrunching her nose and I would definitely pray her to only feel warm and happy emotions, never the bad one I had witnessed yesterday.

It was bothering me, much more than it should. She was escaping from her dark situation and pursuing her dreams, that were her priority.

It was past midnight still I did what I thought was right. Picking our bags, I stuffed them with our belongings. After completing this task on hand, I dialled few numbers and sighed when the last work was also done.

Slowly, I crept towards the bed, halting and watching her face as the moonlight directly fell upon her face. Those Illuminating radiance focused upon the curving of her lips, small black lashes decorating her eyes, few acnes rooted on the side of her cheek. Just like moon, she had those features moon also had, which was often named as flaws but as per my thinking, these so called flaws are what makes someone beautiful. For me her acne wasn't a flaw, it was a feature that enhanced her beauty.

And this led me to memory of yesterday when I somehow managed to secretly click her pictures. In some she was astonished, in some showing the smile of hers. I don't know what came in me, either curiosity or something else that compelled me to capture her every moment and gaze at her everytime.

"Arnika," I whispered, brushing away the escaped flecks of her hair from her face. There wasn't any movement from ger. I gently shook her and in seconds her eyes flew open, the raw fear in them visible to me.

"Hey, it's me." My fingers grasped hers, other free arm of mine rubbing soothing circles around her back.
"What's happening?" She rubbed her eyes, squinting in the darkness.

"We are shifting." I pulled her out of the bed, her eyes now fully open with my answer. "Shifting?" Her question was direct, "But why?"

"Cause it's dangerous here. Your brother has already entered in this city, moreover he has met with few peoples residing here. It won't take him time to find you out." I could see the hesitancy in her eyes, the confusion clouding over her features.