Cloaked Intentions

Chapter 19

Sanskar opened his eyes that he had squeezed shut on hearing the gunshot. He saw a whiff from the gun that was still pointed at him. The bullet had whizzed past his ear and splintered the wood of the desk it had penetrated through. He looked at the person in front of him.

"Don't assume I am a bad shot. That was just a warning" the person said his voice cold as steel "Swara, if you don't come out now, I wont miss, on purpose or otherwise"

He removed the safety that he had put back up on the gun "Well I guess Swara doesn't love you then" he voice said, reading the gun, pointing it at firmly at Sanskar.

There was a noise by Sanskar's side as Swara tumbled out of the bottom shelf in the cabinet right next to him. She rushed to Sanskar, holding his arm tightly, seeing the pool of blood that was slowly but steadily accumulating behind him.

"Sanskar!" she said panicking

"I am okay" Sanskar said even as pain was overtaking him and the blood loss draining his energy.

"The proof Sanskar" the voice said "give it to me" as he now pointed the gun on Swara

"What proof?" Sanskar asked, his forehead showing beads of perspiration from the pain his body was enduring.

"The one that Roy let for you in the post office box. You didn't think I wouldn't have you followed did you?" the person said "Be quick before I loss patience and pull the trigger. I am sure you wouldn't want to risk Swara's life for the proof"

"No Sanskar. Don't" Swara pleaded with him

Sanskar reached into his jacket in-pocket and pulled out the papers and the diary. He threw it by the door. The person didn't bent down to pick it up just then, keeping the gun pointed still at Swara

"Why?" Sanskar asked

"He killed Ram uncle. I saw him" Swara said through her tears

"You saw me did you?" the voice said calmly, its cold sinister vibe still intact

"I saw and heard everything. You will pay for that and for hurting my Sanskar" Swara said anger rising in her eyes and she glared at the person in front of her.

One hour before

Swara was at her house. She was feeling restless. She had promised Sanskar she wouldn't venture out alone to meet Kamala bai, but she also couldn't sit on the sidelines. How could she? She was the one person who had all the answers in her mind already, trapped behind some veil that even she was unable to remove or too scare to anyway. After her last attempt at it, she was sure Sanskar wouldn't allow her to put herself through that again. But she needed to. She knew Sanskar would be very upset and angry with what she was planning, but she had to give it a go.

Swara left the house and reached his. Following on his footsteps, she went to the shed. She looked at a few places where she felt he would have hidden the key. Finding it, she slowly opened the back door and entered into the house. The house felt eerie, with its current set-up, but mostly because she didn't have Sanskar by her side. She wrung her fingers, clenching them into a fist once to give herself some strength.

She took a few steps towards the study, before stopping. A different approach suggesting itself to her. Following her thoughts, she made her way to Sanskar's room, trying to retrace her steps. He had said she had disturbed him while he was playing video game, that is where she would start. She hadn't been up these stairs the last few times she was here. With a pang she realized the last time she had climbed these was on the day of the incident. Taking a deep breath, she ventured on.