Prejudice

32. Never-ending Struggles

The pressure was too much to handle.

One fine evening, Pranav came home, hoping to find his brother in his room. As usual he tapped lightly on Jay's bedroom door and as usual, he received no response. He pushed opened the door with furrowed eyebrows and closed his eyes briefly in annoyance as the room was empty. He checked the entire chamber to make sure that his brother was not really in there. He sighed in defeat and stepped down to walk towards his car again and bring the shattered self of his brother back home. He was sure, he would find his brother seated on the ground, in front of the burnt banglow.

"Pranav?" a feminine voice called from behind and Pranav halted in his tracks.

His wife was standing at the top stair, stroking the back of her baby in her arms.
He looked at her and his heart was filled with pity for the young woman.

She was not yet out of the fears. She would look forward to his presence in the villa. She would find herself looking forward to the evening when he would come home. She would find it difficult to sleep.

Pranav was burdened with the responsibility of not only his shattered brother, but his scared wife too. She would no more protest for the closed doors of Charu Villa. It was an eternity that she had stepped out in the open garden. The small baby was restricted to the confines of her floor. She would not let the baby away from her sight, even for a moment.
Pranav had to take time to feed both, first his brother, and then his wife. He had to stroke her to sleep and then look for his brother's undisturbed sleep.

Shraddha would hold onto his shirt tightly when he tried to put her to sleep. He was not aware that, in all this, his mental peace and physical health was getting compromised. The pressure was too much to handle.

He walked up the stairs towards his wife and she did not waste a moment before clinging to him and holding onto his shirt tightly. He wrapped his arms around her and protectively held his baby too.

"Where are you going?" she asked looking up at him.

"Did you see Jay around?" he asked back.

She shook her head in denial.

"He is not in his chamber. I will go and quickly get him back. You eat and go to sleep." He said stroking his sleeping baby.

Though she nodded in affirmation, he was sure, she would not be able to sleep.

Pranav was on his way to get his brother and Shraddha did not waste a single moment, before closing herself again in the confines of her room.

Pranav pulled out his car and maneuvered it towards the banglow in the dark night.
Through the entire drive he was thinking on the mode his life had brought him to. He was not sure of what his future had in store for him. One after the another, he had lost the woman in his life and he could do nothing about it.

He was watching with open wide eyes, as Shraddha was deteriorating mentally. She was terrified to the core. The sudden death of the young pregnant girl had shaken her to the core. She was able to connect the dots and had realized that she was restrained in the confines of Charu Villa, and that was the reason she was alive. She dreaded the fact that, she might have been in place of Diya.
She had stopped trusting anyone around her. She would flinch at the smallest unexpected sound and would find herself awake for long nights. She would instantly wake up whenever Pranav would leave the room to check on his brother. He would find her awake and waiting for him, whenever he came back.

He did not know how to help her.

Once or twice, Siddharth had given him an advice to take Shraddha and Kabir for a short vacation. He was of the opinion that change of place would prove to be a nice distraction. But Pranav did not dare let Shraddha step out of the house.

Still lost in his thoughts, Pranav's stopped his car in front of the banglow  absentmindedly. He stepped down and was taken aback as Jay was not at his usual spot. He blinked and looked around. He took a moment to walk around the haunting bunglow, in search of his brother. But Jay was nowhere around the burnt house. With a mind to check inside, he switched on the lights on his phone and walked towards the bunglow's entrance.
Focusing the flash light everywhere, he called out Jay's name.

He looked around for some time, only to realize that Jay was not there.

He came out and instantly tried calling Jay's mobile, but much to his dismay, it went unanswered.

He raked his fingers in frustration and tried calling it again. He did not receive any response. He did not think it was worth to waste any time and speeded towards home. He did not forget to call Siddharth and inquire if Jay happened to call him.

Pranav reached home and every staff present in the house was on toes to search for every possible corner of the Charu Villa. The staff informed that no one had seen Jay after the lunch that was served in his room and the plate came back untouched.

Siddharth, being the friend in need, had rushed to the Charu Villa, and tried to connect with his sources. Both the friends were on their toes, trying to get in contact with Jay.

Charu Villa was once again drowning into the pool of darkness.

Pranav sat down on the sofa with slumped shoulders and his face hidden behind his palms.

Siddharth looked at his tired and exhausted frame. He did not know when will misery in his friend's life would end.

Upon tracking Jay's number, everyone was shocked to realize that, Jay's mobile and his car, both were present at the Charu Villa, but the owner was missing in action.

There was no way to reach him. There was no way to know if Jay left on his own or someone else had caught hold of him.

----------------------------------------------

Another chapter up.

Vote.....
Comment.....

Love.......