The Vile.

Chaptrr : 67

Brother.

7.15 PM, displays on the phone screen. Locking it, Ekansh keeps pacing around the open veranda. They should've been back by now. What's taking them so much time? He thinks to himself. There is something unique about Vasudha, something different that's pulling him towards her. Her eyes have a puzzling depth. Her body language is not like the other girls he has met before. She is collected, organized and extremely sensible. She might talk less, but her eyes talk more than her mouth. There is this aura of mystery that surrounds her. It makes her more appealing, more beautiful. He knows he has never felt something quite like this before. He wants to unwrap the puzzle that the girl is. He wants to get close to her, wants to touch her and feel her warmth, wants to know her more. The first day he saw her, she seemed extremely beautiful to his eyes and he has an attraction towards things that are beautiful. He was adamant to include another piece of beauty into his collections. But now as he thinks about her he feels, feels something in his chest, a flutter, a strange excitement. Something close to liking a person rather than liking it's mere beauty. What is it?

He keeps pacing around worriedly, ignorant of the grey pair of eyes that's tracking his activities with a hawk like concentration, from the terrace of the old mansion. The darkness has covered his physical presence but the pain, the hurt in his eyes could be visible to the whole world, if only they could see him closely enough. Danuj looks at his younger brother pacing around the open veranda. He is worried about something. It's strange, that even after so many years he knows his body language like the back of his hand. If only he saw into his soul, if only he saw  the darker parts hidden deep inside of him, he could've changed the incident. He could've saved his little brother from turning into downright evil. The more he looks at him, the more the pained memories come alive.

¤¤¤¤¤

He cannot feel any pain at the lower part of his body. Partly because he cannot sense its existence anymore. Who knows, if he gets to live, he might as well lose his ability to walk, for forever. But the realization of the truth that his father is dead is suffocating him. The fact that just a few hours ago they were happy, they were laughing, they were alive is even more painful. Yes, now that his father is no more, he doesn't consider himself to be alive. He is as good as dead. But he needs to survive. He needs to find out the truth. Why would someone do this to them? Why?
He remembers his father's last words,

"It's a trap D'. They trapped us."

He even told him not to trust anyone, not to go to anyone other than Deshpande uncle. Why? Who trapped them? Did his father mean Ekansh? He is still growing, to him he is still a child, his little brother. His father died with such a huge misunderstanding? Who would've inflicted this kind of thoughts in his mind? Ekansh can never hurt anyone. He knows how much he is loved. Why would he do something like this? Sitting against the huge stone with the tiredness, the profuse blood loss and the inhuman pain in his face and other parts of his body, he feels his eyes drooping closed. That's when he hears a shuffling sound from behind him. He slowly turns his head, it has to be some wild animal and he is in no position to defend himself. He can barely move his head. He readies himself for the inevitable but to his surprise out comes a known figure. Ekansh, his brother. Relief washes over him as he takes in his worried appearance. He is worried, he might have been looking for them. The moment he comes close to him, his own face breaks into a sad smile. Hope sparks in his eyes.

"Ansh." He utters, panting for air.
"I knew, I....I.... I knew, baba misunderstood. You could never hurt us." He says expectantly.

"Baba said that I tried to do this? He thought so low of me?" Ekansh utters, furrowing his eyebrows. That's when Danuj's eyes fall into the woods behind him once again. There stands a group of people, who seem local. Ekansh might have taken their help. But right behind them stands another person, who is deliberately trying to hide himself from the men but as if wants to make his presence visible to him, particularly him. He knows him, Dwarka ji's son, Ojas. A nice guy. But why is he hiding there?