Nature in Hiding

17- Changing the nightmare into a sweet dream

After her hysterical act, Ahana plopped down on her uncomfortable bed. Everyone else thought she was tired of acting, but being next to her Gyaan noticed that her eyes even though closed, weren't resting.

Her eyelids seemed tightly shut, like she was focusing on something hard, and within a few seconds sweat started gathering on her forehead.

"Ahana, stop whatever you are trying. The doctors would be back soon and losing your energy right now might land us in trouble," Gyaan said bluntly.

The other elements were confused by his suddenness. Baffled by his behaviour, Neer muttered, "Gyaan...she is sleepi...," but he stopped when he saw Ahana get up with a huff.

"What were you exactly trying to do?" Gyaan asked her, ignoring Neer.

"Trying to melt these chains, what else," Ahana replied with a disappointed sigh, "They won't budge."

"They did say that the chains were made of special material," Neer said, disappointed as well. It would have been nice if Ahana had succeeded.

Gyaan bit his lips as he thought what it might be, before turning to Ahana, "It might be the metal that only melts at the extreme high temperature. I am not sure, but maybe Tungsten is used."

"Tungsten?" The other elements asked in unison.

Gyaan nodded, "It might be or it might be something else, but a strong metal is used for sure," Gyaan answered, before warning Ahana, "Don't try to melt it again. You might end up unconscious from the heavy load of energy. And even then the chains might not melt."

"At times like these, I wish we had the unbeatable powers like our ancestors," Neer said in a wistful tone.

"I know right. Our half-assed powers are only useful to land us into problems," Ahana muttered, pointing at their chained forms.

"We will think of some solution," Sameera said optimistically.

"We will," Gyaan agreed, before a thought crossed over his mind.

"Guys."

"Hmm?"

"Although we have decided to act scared, don't hesitate to use your powers in case they do something drastic," he said to all, before focusing his entire attention on Ahana, "Let's not get hit again just to hide our powers."

A small smile came over Ahana's lips as she understood his disguised worry.

Her smile disappeared when she noticed Avan sitting quietly. It was unusual for him to remain this silent. Although he hadn't totally stopped talking, he didn't seem like his lively self either. As far as Ahana could remember, Avan had only spoken two sentences after waking up. The child had gone through a lot in this short span of time.

The chains rattled, clashing with each other as she got up from the bed and moved towards Avan. Climbing on his bed, she wordlessly picked him and placed him on her lap. Avan instinctively turned, and wrapped his arms around her neck, before placing his head on her shoulder.

She started caressing his back and his head when she felt his tiny fingers tightly curl around her sleeves.

Everyone else watched the duo in complete silence. Knowing that this was the only quiet time Avan would get to recover, they all stopped their conversations. Once the doctors arrived again, it was going to be chaos.

Gyaan gestured to Sameera and Neer to take rest for the time being. Everyone had gone through so much in such a little time. They might as well take this opportunity and take rest before the evil trio came back.

They all laid back on their beds, looking aimlessly at the plain white ceiling, as sleep was nowhere to be found in this dire situation. And even if they were sleepy, they couldn't afford it. Something unchangeable could happen if they diverted their attention even for one second. They had to be alert at all times.

Out of all elements, it was only Avan who could get a few minutes of sleep and that too because he knew Ahana would protect him against all dangers. However, it wasn't a peaceful sleep. What happened at school kept running through his mind. His mother only hugged his brother and then dragged Ayaan away, leaving Avan all alone. Avan knew the reason behind it, but it still hurt his little heart. The crying image of his elder brother while he got dragged away also didn't leave his mind.

Ahana got confused as she felt her shoulder get wet. Carefully she moved Avan a bit to see what was the reason. Her heart broke as she noticed him crying in his sleep.

She went down the memory lane as she remembered Neer in the same condition, when they had been thrown out of their house in their childhood. Hoping that what worked with Neer, would work with Avan, Ahana started whispering a cute, happy story in his ears.

Gyaan's Grandpa had taught her technique when he had given them the shelter. Ahana had thought that it was bullshit.

"How will my brother hear the story? He is still asleep," the ten-year-old Ahana had asked, as she placed her hands on her tiny waist.

Grandpa had smiled and ruffled her hair, before saying, "He isn't totally asleep."

"Then he is awake? But I don't see his eyes open," Ahana smarted.

Grandpa chuckled, before explaining, "Right now, he is somewhere in between being asleep and being awake. There's a chance that his sub-consciousness would hear us if we keep repeating the positive story. And even if it doesn't happen, what's there to lose? Let's just try it," he finished with a small smile on his face.

'Please change his nightmare to a sweet dream,' Ahana prayed, as she started to whisper the story to Avan.

There weren't any fictional stories she knew, so she stuck to the real and most cherished stories of her childhood with Neer.

Time passed, her voice turned hoarse, yet Ahana kept on speaking without a single break. She didn't want to leave a single moment for Avan's nightmare to come back. But when the limits got crossed, Ahana started coughing, before completely losing her voice.

Ahana still moved her mouth to try and get a word out, before closing her eyes in frustration. However, they sprang open with hope as the stories of the twins' childhood rang through the room again, but this time in a male's voice.