Nature's Comeback

32- Camera

Gyaan stood at the place Sameera and he had parted before, waiting for the elements to come back. He had already found a safe place for villagers and researchers to spend the night. And now he was back again to guide the elements to that place.

'Guide,' Gyaan chuckled sardonically. For guiding them, they had to come back alive. He didn't have hopes for all of them to return. But he was still optimistic, thinking that at least one element would come back safely. However, with every passing second, his hopes started deteriorating at a high speed. You could say that the speed of his falling hope was equivalent to the speed of increasing intensity of the wind.

Gyaan had already started to think about the speech and consolation he had to give to Avan's parents. Sameera didn't have a family and the twins were the only family to each other. But Avan, he had his parents and brother to worry and cry for him. If he didn't return, then Gyaan would have a lot on his plate. Avan's lie of being with Sameera was going to create a huge problem for Gyaan.

His train of thoughts came to a stop when Gyaan heard the deep rumbling sound of water. And soon he saw a huge wave of water with a patch of ground floating upon it.

Looking at the scene, Gyaan clutched his hair tightly as he chuckled happily. "I surely underestimated these elements."

The water slowed down before disappearing altogether. The ground floated for a few seconds before gently settling down.

Gyaan eyed the animals and a stranger that came along with the elements curiously.

Giving a nod of appreciation and respect to the elements, he turned towards the stranger.

"You don't look like the other villagers. Your clothing style screams 'city girl'," Gyaan stated, waiting for the girl to elaborate.

"Ah yes! I had originally come to prepare a documentary on villagers and their farms, but got stuck due to the numerous disasters that blocked the way," Maanvi blurted out the answer, like it was rehearsed. The passing villagers had asked her the same question too many times to count, that the answer was on the tip of her tongue. And now it created a huge problem for her.

Maanvi palmed her mouth as soon as she realized what she had blurted out. Instinctively, her legs started moving backwards as she saw the glaring eyes of those powerful beings.

"Please please don't misunderstand. I haven't shot anything that happened out there—" Maanvi's pleading got interrupted as her leg twisted while going backwards, and she fell on the ground. Maanvi still tried to slide backwards by pushing her hands, causing her injured palm to bleed again.

"I don't even have my camera with me," she yelled out in fear as she saw Ahana moving towards her.

"Please please, you can even check. I don't have anything on me to record you guys."

"Ahana, stop." Neer gently pulled Ahana away, before turning towards Maanvi, "Get up please. No one is going to hurt you."

When Maanvi didn't move an inch, Neer went forward and extended his arm. He blinked reassuringly, gesturing to take the help and get up.

Slowly and hesitantly, Maanvi forwarded her uninjured palm and got up with the help of Neer's support.

"As Neer said, we won't hurt you. But I  would like to search for the hidden cameras. I hope you don't get too offended, seeing that it was your idea to begin with," Sameera said, as she moved slowly towards Maanvi so as to not scare her.

"Sameera." Neer had expected this from Ahana and was sure that he could stop her. But Sameera, he didn't expect this from her, nor did he know how to convince her except looking at her pleadingly.

"I don't mean any harm, Neer. Her knowing about our powers is a different thing. But if there is proof that our powers are real and that too with our faces captured on it, then you know what will happen.

"I know this is very insulting and I will apologize a hundred times for it. But I don't want to take any chances. I will not become a Lab Rat once again," Sameera said with firmness.

Neer looked away, not stopping Sameera but not taking part in that search either. He was still holding Maanvi's hand, who tightened her hold as Sameera started patting her to check for any hidden item.

Koko barked sensing Maanvi's uneasiness, wanting to run and protect her. However, Avan hugged him tightly, whispering the comforting words into Koko's ears. Telling him that Maanvi was safe. Unlike other times, Avan wasn't able to calm him down. Koko pushed past him to get to Maanvi.

"It's okay, Koko. I am fine. They are friends." Maanvi smiled at him, so he would stop getting afraid.

"Let's check the dog's collar too. Many times, there's a camera hidden there," Gyaan advised, causing Maanvi to stiffen and lose her smile.

It hadn't been intentional. The camera was put on just so she could see if he was doing okay when she was away from him. She didn't even remember until now that Koko had a camera installed in his collar.

If she had told the elements about this first then there was still a chance that they would let her go. But now they would think she betrayed them. No one would believe that she had genuinely forgotten about it.

Neer turned his face towards her panicked form when he noticed her stiffening under his hold. Her frantic eyes and the overgoing conversation was enough for him to get the gist.

"I will check it," Neer announced firmly, effectively stopping Gyaan who was on his way to check.

Neer left Maanvi's hand and crouched down before Koko. Gently patting his head and neck, Neer moved towards his collar. Neer turned a little, so only his back was visible to others.

"There's nothing," Neer declared, after standing up.

"She doesn't have any hidden camera either," Sameera informed, as she backed away from Maanvi.

"Great. Let's go then," Ahana said, gesturing everyone to move forward.

Neer hinted towards Maanvi's shivering form and wordlessly asked Ahana to go without him.

"Come soon," Ahana muttered, before leaving with others.

"Delete everything right away," Neer whispered, eyeing the elements who were walking ahead of them.

"I...I swear it was unintentional," Maanvi pleaded in a low voice as a lone tear escaped her eyes.

"I know," came Neer's instant response.

He didn't have any relation to her nor did he know her from before. Yet, Neer found himself trusting the girl. But that didn't mean he could let the video be. It had to be deleted before someone else got their hands on it.

Maanvi formatted the camera and even showed her mobile to Neer, so that he could confirm that there were no duplicate copies.

However, Neer didn't know if the camera was connected to some other device.

"Don't make me regret trusting you," were his last words, before they started walking.

The whole walk was dead silent as Maanvi was still recovering from her shock, while Neer was praying internally that he didn't make a mistake.

He had followed his instincts but if he was wrong then he would end up causing harm to the people who blindly trusted him.