Nature in Hiding

69-Punishing the Culprits

**Trigger Warning**
No matter how much he tried, Neer couldn't come to terms with the fact that Maanvi was getting blackmailed. He started pacing around the room, while trying to make sense of it.

"Why? And how? What does anyone have on her? She is a simple girl. She doesn't even have any enemies. Then why would anyone...," Neer trailed off.

"The fictional video was faux," Hritika said, making Neer stop in his tracks.

"What? What do you mean by that?" Neer asked, his voice taking a dark turn.

"The authorities weren't interested in the video at all. It was just a means to get into Maanvi's house.

"They were the ones who provided her with the camera as Maanvi didn't have one with the needed quality.

"Muttering something about safeguarding it from sunlight and all, they managed to convince Maanvi to keep the camera in the place with most the shade- her bedroom."

Hritika gulped as it was hard for her to think and talk about the thing that had actually happened with Maanvi.

"Maanvi believed them, and kept the camera in her bedroom, not knowing that the pause/stop function of the camera was defective. She didn't realize that the camera was still rolling."

Hritika closed her eyes, before letting out the truth, "The Camera had shot something more than the fictional video that day."

"Noooo!!" Neer yelled, as it didn't take much to understand what video was shot in Maanvi's bedroom.

"No! No! No!" He continuously punched the wall, as tears ran down his eyes. The pain in his hands was nothing compared to the pain of his heart.

"Neer, stop it," Hritika pulled him back by clutching his elbows.

She too was crying, but they needed to understand that this wasn't the time to sit there crying.

"Stop it," Hritika whispered pleadingly.

Neer's chest heaved, as he breathed through his mouth. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to gather strength. before turning to Hritika, and asking, "There's more."

She nodded, before asking him to sit as she brought a first-aid box. She started to speak again, while applying the medicine on his hands.

"They blackmailed her through the video to make her do what they wanted. She was stuck in a bad place. You must have noticed her lack of communication, before you all got attacked and exposed in that school fiasco."

"All this happened before our kidnapping," Neer asked in a whisper, guilt hitting hard ten-fold.

It was already killing him that he wasn't there for her when she needed him the most. Yet he could still pacify himself thinking, he had no choice. He was kidnapped and chased at that time. But this happened way before that. Way before he became incapable of saving her.

"The school fiasco came as a ray of hope to her," Hritika said, earning his attention.

"Your powers were exposed for everyone to see. They immediately recognized you and remembered the video Maanvi had shot. It was a big deal to the authorities. This was like a jackpot for them.

"Unfortunately, they had discarded that video thinking it to be useless. They all had thought that whatever you did was through the effects. They realized it too late that it wasn't technology but your real powers.

"That fictional video was the one that saved Maanvi. She received that dreaded tape and freedom from those blackmailers in return for that fictional video."