The Dangerous Love

Drowned?

I suppressed my urge to scream harder by holding my mouth tight with my hands seeing the trail of blood on the floor as I entered inside the house followed by Richard. Instantly Richard pulled me back, hiding me behind him and taking out his gun and keeping it ready to attack anyone who'll be found suspicious in that house. I stood close to him, I did not intend to outsmart and be careless in that situation. Deep down I knew Richard could save my people if that meant keeping me happy and safe.

"Kritika, stay behind, be aware." Richard whispered a warning and I just hummed, still feeling frightened and shocked. My heart continuously beat hurriedly as the fear of losing my brother and family engulfed me. I've only met them recently and I still haven't fulfilled my promise of bringing chocolates for my only niece, Nayana.

We moved carefully forward by checking each and every part of the house and then at last in the living room what awaited us was another piece of parchment covered in blood. "You're late. But one more chance, the bridge!" Was what was written on the paper. After reading it out loud, Richard crumbled it and threw it around the house looking at me with his captivating eyes.

"There's a bridge nearby." I admitted depressingly with my half dead hopes.

"I will save them, Just for you!" Richard growled. And somehow it brought some relief to me. He did not care that who he was going to save was the people he wanted to kill but in front of his obsession over a woman, he wished to do anything and everything that could make me happy.

The wide unrecognisable multiple paths in the forest surrounding the house could not help and tell us exactly where the bridge was located but with desperation and faith we kept moving forward to nowhere and fortunately we came in front of a bridge after taking a questionable and concerning amount of time. The bridge seemed to be built very long ago now looking weary and unused.

"What's with the bridge?" My mind suggested a question. I stood clueless but Richard seemed well known what and how to do. He went and checked the stream flow under the bridge.

"Kritika!" His sudden shout with a stunned yet impressed expression made me run up to him and change my gaze at what he was pointing at. And the thing I saw broke my heart even more and filled it with excruciating pain and tragic helplessness. Under the bridge my unconscious sister-in-law and niece were tied up all over with separate two strands of ropes which were going upwards and was securely tied up somewhere unnoticeable but what worried me was the slight cut on both of the ropes which were getting stretched due to the weight it was holding and the rope could break at any moment after its extending capacity runs out and that will let the people hanging, fall straight into the water. My eyes enlarged in horror seeing the rope at last losing and giving up from holding on. I fell down on my knees as both of my family members fell down into the water below. I felt completely devastated with what I had to witness and it all happened just because of me.

"I fa-il-ed!" My whisper came out in bitter broken pieces. I faced the ground with no strength to look up or stand up. All those hopes I had were getting extinguished. I lamentably started sobbing, I could not even scream. But suddenly I felt someone jump off from the bridge making me lift my head up and realise it was Richard. "No!" I mouthed before standing up and jumping off from the same bridge following Richard with my mind that stopped working and I could not analyse what my body was doing. I lost all my senses.

***

Nick on the other side was continuously trying to reach up to Kritika through phone but there showed no response which made him grow more distressed for her. Kaira was present in front of Lucas's room praying hard to God desperately asking to save everyone. Shruti was sitting in the chair before the room where Agni was getting treated. Shruti was feeling emotionless but there was something she planned in her mind and decided to do no matter what. They all had no idea what Kritika was going through but all of their minds predicted that something miserable would happen again.

***

My absent mindedness changed as soon as I hit the cold surface of the water. I drowned and then regained myself and swam upwards. When I came above the water I looked around to find Richard. Luckily I spotted his completely damp pale red shirt in the water. He was carrying both Aarya and Nayana to the bank of the river but the moving water left both of us in misery. It was hard to swim in this water but I could not stop swimming either as I did not intend on dying at this moment in this way. I knew Richard was struggling harder to save two lives along with his own. He seemed not to know I too had jumped into the water. He would not have expected that I would have done something like this but how could I sit still when the lives of the people I love the most were at the brink of death?

I tried to swim towards Richard to give him a hand of help in leading both the unconscious people to a safer place. I got a hold on Nayana's little frock and dragged her to me, holding her close with me and that is when Richard noticed my presence. He looked frustrated and furious at what I had done but we both had no time to argue about it in the middle of chilling water which at any moment can drag us along with its currents to an unknown end.

We both pushed the water harder behind and leaped forward. I could see Richard getting closer to the land but I was still left behind. What happened to me? I was worried because I've swam across deeper, terrific water numerous times carrying people during those days when I lived as Fairy but now after becoming Richard's Fairy, what has happened to me? Have I gone soft because of love? And this burden of responsibilities, guilt, pain and regret, they all were trying to drown me.

To make the situation more unfortunate, Nayana suddenly came back to her senses just to find herself half immersed in the deadly water. She panicked and so did I? I held her tighter trying to ignore the anxiety and hurry she showed. I kept on moving and moving but by now my legs started hurting. Richard reached the bank and layed Aarya on the ground and looked at me. I, at any moment, was ready to stop swimming but the little innocent life in my hands, I could not lose it. My leg cramp increased to an extent where I had to completely give up. It felt like my death was near. I was almost close to saving Nayana but what will I do now? My body has given up.

***

As both the ropes completely broke and the people tied to it fell down into the water, Kritika too fell down on her knees pathetically depressed. I could not see her sadness. It was a promise I made to her that I will never let her be sad. Sure of my plan, I jumped off the bridge undoubtedly leaving Kritika safely behind but my wicked woman again proved she's my girl by jumping along with me having no idea of how unbearable and unmanageable the water was going to be. This is why I love her, that brave, unstoppable attitude of hers could attract anyone but I did not at all want her to perform such a stunt right now but she did it with no hesitation.

I caught both her sister-in-law and niece and was heading to the bank of the river. I only noticed Kriti when she pulled the little girl's body towards her and held her tight and started moving along with me to a safer place. I was angry at her for the senseless behaviour of hers. I soon reached the river side regardless of the fact that the river was trying its best to carry me along with it but fools are those who think they can defeat me. The unconscious woman in my hand, my rival's wife, seemed unharmed. Nevertheless she was still unconscious due to the high dosage seductive given to her. After securing one life I searched for my life, my woman who was still in the water. She seemed exhausted yet was keenly trying to save the little soul in her hold which seemed dear to her. Did she jump in the water for them? Or for me? I wondered but I had no time to think further when I noticed my Fairy had stopped moving as well as the little girl had regained her consciousness making it more troublesome for Kriti to keep swimming to the edge. The flow of the stream was strong enough to let someone move across it as well as move them along with the flow once they stop moving.

I jumped back into the water swimming towards Fairy and when I got closer to them she extended the kid to me while struggling to stay on top of the water. She wanted me to take the kid and save it first but I couldn't leave her behind in such a condition. But understanding and accepting the seriousness of the situation, half willingly I took the child to safely lay her down beside her mother. The kid too was extremely tired and did not question the situation and silently stayed beside her mother. I wanted Kritika to not lose herself. I prayed for the first time asking God to keep my woman, my love safe. Ignoring how tired my body was, I was still ready to jump into the water again because something very precious to me was still in there. But when my eyes roamed all over the surface of the water, it could not find the woman I was searching for.