Nature in Hiding

26- Back-stabbed

Gyaan ran towards the way other elements had gone. Rounding up a corner, he reached a quiet alley filled with trees and wild shrubs. It was an alley that connected two major roads, but there weren't any buildings or shops in that small area, making it easier for them to hide.

Gyaan sighed in relief to see that the elements hadn't gone too far, and had chosen a perfect place to wait. But his relief disappeared in a second when he noticed what they were doing.

Sameera was pacing back and forth, rubbing Avan's back as he cried bitterly on her shoulders, while Neer had his bowed head, and one of his legs bent in a way that his foot touched the tree as he stood there with the support of the huge tree.

Walking near them, Gyaan asked them, "What happened? Were you not able to contact Ravi and Maanvi?"

"What happened to Ahana?!" Neer asked with fright, ignoring Gyaan's question altogether.

Gyaan was not able to see from afar, but now that Neer turned he could see Neer's red, teary eyes.

"Is didi alright?" Avan asked in a hoarse voice, looking concernedly at Ahana's unconscious form.

"Don't worry, she is okay. It's just loss of energy, nothing else," Gyaan reassured, before making Ahana sit on the ground, carefully letting her head rest on the tree trunk.

Gyaan made sure she was okay, before turning towards others and asking them about the reason for their condition.

"Everything is over," Sameera whispered in a broken voice.

"What?" Gyaan looked at her confused.

"At first we were being hunted down for experiments, but now we are 'wanted'. They have turned us into criminals," she replied, wiping off her stray tears.

"What?"

"Do you not know any other word than what?" Neer bursted out, glaring at the parrot who kept repeating the words.

"Not the time," Gyaan said with gritted teeth, glaring back at Neer, before turning to Sameera, "Explain what happened entirely."

Sameera opened her mouth to speak, but closed it as a new wave of tears appeared. "Sorry," she whispered, before putting Avan down from her arms and turning away from the guys.

"I will tell you bhaiya," Avan said, before telling them what they found at the only shop that had a PCO booth.

"Sameera aunty went into the shop to call Ravi uncle, while we stood outside waiting for her. There was a T.V in the nearby small shop where everyone was smoking," Avan said, remembering the scene vividly.

At first, he was so shocked to find so many elements with Ahana Didi's and Sameera Aunty's power. In fact the power of those men was stronger, they were creating fog from their mouths while Ahana Didi and Sameera Aunty had to join powers to create the fog.

"Neer Bhaiya, see they have powers just like us," Avan had said excitedly, pulling Neer's jeans to gain his attention.

Neer chuckled at his innocence, "They are smoking, and not creating a fog," he informed, before letting him know what smoking was.

Avan had face-palmed at his stupidity, but still looked at the smoke creating men in wonder. However, his wonder didn't last long when he saw his mother and her colleagues on T.V.

"Yes, you are correct, we were together in that village. And we also took their help in creating the technology that helped save the world," Reyansh, the team leader of researchers' team, said to the multiple reporters surrounding him.

Lots of questions and angry shouts sounded when he uttered those words.

"However," Reyansh shouted, raising his hands in surrender position, "However, I can swear on my daughter's life that we didn't know that they had powers. We weren't aware that they weren't humans."