[A/N: Thank you so Much, folks, for making this Book a success. It has reached 500 reads, which is really great for me. Here I present you another chapter, The Black cat, which lemme warn you prior reading, that it will be very short compared to the rest, because of the Big thing going to happen in the next. So be patient and keep guessing. 

I have read some of the comments on earlier chapters and I must say you all are quite good at predicting plot twists. So as much as you are enjoying solving these puzzles, I am equally enjoying creating more for you. So let the chapter begin!]

[Also, if you haven't played the music provided above, then please do! It will help you in visualizing the story in a better way!]

24 Dhiwan Road

Chapter 5

The Black Cat

* * *

AYUSH

The Girl in the Cafe.

She was sitting there alone, reading some book, her white bag resting calmly on her left, and the cup of coffee on her right. She was there, and it was as real as the winds I felt and...

...and then I headed to the café, putting all my thoughts and superstitions at rest.

She wore her usual black kurti, and a crimson Dupatta rested around her neck, and a tiny black Bindi shone gallantly on her forehead. Her white bag looked stuffed and dirty, and I wondered what she could be hiding. She wore a slit knee skinny jeans which perfectly matched with her brown Oxford lace-up shoes.

I thought and realized the twisted situation I was in. Detective Kaizan found a dead body, and the deceased girl looked exactly like hers, and until this moment, I believed her to be the mystery cafe girl, but it was not the case. The perplexity of the situation drowned me completely in the ocean of uncertainty.

"It's going to rain tonight!"

I grabbed the vacant chair and sat in front of her, and tried to read the title of her book, though I knew which book it was.

"No, it won't!" She spoke without even looking at me. She then turned the page and sipped her coffee, and spoke, "I don't like random people disturbing me for no reasons!"

"Even I don't like familiar people not recognizing me no reasons!"

This caught her attention. She closed her book, and looked directly at me, frisking me with her gaze, and then she spoke softly, "-have we met before, Mister-"

"Ayush!" I coughed, "Ayush Prajapat and we are meeting for the third time today, and I don't mean to call you a psycho, but you never recognize me! What's wrong with you?"

I wished I could eat my words before they came out.

"-then maybe yes, I am a psycho, and you go to hell, eggface!" She stood up and cursed me, her anger blowing trumpets on her round pink cheeks, and her eyes burning with fury. I certainly stepped into a wrong territory and before I could apologize for my misbehavior, she left the café in hurry.

I followed her, not only because I wanted to apologize but I wanted to know her story. I found her standing on the other side of the road, hiding her face in her hands, and maybe feeling sad. I waited for the traffic to settle down, before crossing the busy street.

"I'm deeply sorry, dear, but I was not in the right mind when I said it!" I approached her and calmly apologized.

"I don't know what's happening with me!" She broke down into tears. The evening was fading into a beautiful night. The crowd was getting thicker and I could see an army of dark clouds ascending the sky, "I don't know why it's happening, but I can't, I can't, oh, I don't know how to explain this to you!"

"It's okay! I can be your friend, and if you want we can go somewhere else! Aren't you feeling cold?" I always carry a sweater in my bag, so I quickly offered her one. She wore it silently, looking at me, with puzzling eyes or maybe she was trying to remember who I was. She thanked me for the sweater, but I never heard her thank you, I was just too busy in realizing how gorgeous and amazingly pretty she looked in that sweater.

"So, where do you work, Ayush?" She asked softly tilting her neck towards left, "-or you don't want to tell, fearing that I might forget it again."

I actually explained her about the previous meetings, and about our plan to meet Kaizan together. Surprisingly, she had no memories of any such thing. She kept saying repeatedly, Owlet café is the only place I can be. She was afraid of going far from the café, but she trusted me enough and soon we headed to Bangla Sahib. It's a famous Gurudwara in Delhi, at a very short distance from Connaught Place, a place where I often went for praying.

"Work-" I looked at her flawless strands of hair, and smiled without letting the actual smile appear on my face, "-I work at an education center, and no, I don't teach students, but I take care of all the scheduling and file work there-"

"-and do you like it?"

"I like Wednesdays when Mr. Vishwas takes his usual leave, and I get a chance to teach his students. He has a brilliant golf course, where his rich friends get together, and..and it's almost impossible for him to come, so I-"

"-so you teach his students when he isn't available, don't you? So, what subject you teach?"

"Philosophy, or sometimes history, but don't call it teaching because I know nothing of it, but, yes, I tell stories to them, and they luckily like it."

"Would you tell me a story too?"

"Aren't we already in one, miss-" I stopped walking, but she didn't, "I'm sure you must be having a name, don't you?"

"I do have a name, stupid!" She turned and laughed. Her laughter felt like a scent of fresh rose, "-but I am not gonna tell you, but wait, you can call me Ekanshi."

"Who is Ekanshi?" I looked at her with intrigue, "Sounds like a made up name to me!"

"Ekanshi is, of course, a character from one of my favorite novels, and don't even try to guess, because I'm sure you haven't read it!"

"How can you be so sure? I have read a lot more books than you!" I had to walk faster than usual to catch her pace.

"-but the book has not been published yet, and don't ask me how did I get my hands on it!"

"So you steal unpublished works in your free time!"

"I didn't steal it-" She looked at me with big eyes, "-technically."

"Alright, I believe you Ekanshi, and yes, it's a beautiful name! It rather suits you!"

"Stop looking at me like that!" She said finally sitting on a bench, as we took so many turns unintentionally during our conversation and we were now in a beautiful park. It never looked beautiful before, though. I remember coming here when I was new to Delhi. It was really silent here, and calm. Not many people come here, and even if they do, they just walk around like zombies with their headphones on.

I sat on the front bench, and not adjacent to hers. 

Maybe because I wanted to see her as much as I could.

"-like what? How am I looking at you?" I asked notoriously.

She blushed a little which she thought went unnoticed.

"-like you are in love with me!"

The words that I would have said, dried up in my mouth, and we both embraced a sedating silence for some time. It didn't feel awkward or forced but very comfortable. We casually exchanged glances and smiled for no reason, and then further laughed because we both didn't know what exactly we were smiling about.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, taking out some of the cookies from my bag, "Try these!"

"I never feel it," She said but took what I offered, "the hunger or...or...anything!"

"I am always hungry, so I keep em with me all the time!" I said making sure to offer her more if she needs, but then I glanced at my watch, and surprisingly she did too. We both looked at each other with urgency and stood up.

"I've to get back, and it's really late!"

"I guess so. I am taking Metro to home, but before that, I need to buy some fruits, for Amma, you know and-"

"-and?" She hung her bag and started walking, "-and what, Ayush?"

"What if I want to see you again?" I said trying my best to suggest what I wanted to, but she looked clueless, "I mean even if ever meet again, say tomorrow, at the same café, you would not even remember me or the fact that I gave you some of my favorite cookies!"

"Ayush, please!" Her voice clearly hinted her helplessness, and I did not want to make it harder for her.

"I have an idea, and can you-" I gently touched her hand and handed my bag to her, "-hold it for a moment, please? I'll be right back!"

I ran like a deer, away from her, towards the array of trees, where I used to spend a lot of time in the past, but her gaze followed me. I could feel her gaze running with me, but I didn't stop. It was the only thing I could do for her, and I really hoped it would work.

There are times when I like to believe that impossible things can happen if you just allow your inner self to get rid of beliefs and faiths the world has thrust upon you.

I ran. I ran. I ran.

I ran to absorb all of it, like a snowball on a roll, the moments I spent with her, and all the moments that were now buried in the past. 

I tried to make some meaning out of it, the things that were happening with me and I knew somewhere, deep in my heart, that there was some connection between us. 

My heart shyly accepted the beautiful thought of this mystic connection, and it stayed there like, without demanding any explanation. 

More I think about it, more it gets complicated. And I was getting tired of running. I had been running all my life, from people, from situations, from everything.

So I stopped, and then I turned back. For a moment, I couldn't breathe, and when I did, I got what I came for. A wide smile embraced me and I returned back. Half of me didn't expect her to be waiting there on the bench, and other half knew that the other half is miserably wrong.

So, yes, she was there. Eagerly waiting to see what I was bringing. Her eyes widened in amazement as I came close and she heard her first meow.

"Wait!" She broke into laughter, "Whose cat is this?"

I grabbed one of the benches and grasped as much Oxygen as I could.

"So you are a cat thief, aren't you?" She commented but I could feel a sense of excitement in her voice, and a strange, rare happiness, "but god, she is so gorgeous, hello!"

I saw her taking the black cat in her arms, and blowing sweet kisses on the cat, and when then she cuddled the cat warmly, "So, Mr. Ayush, are you going to tell me, how is this little blacky gonna help me, remembering what I'll assumingly forget!"

"You will find out, girl, soon!" I took my bag from her hands and touched my cat on her ears. I knew she loved it, "She can talk to humans! Not to everyone, but only a few-"

I knew she didn't believe me.

"But wait-"

"-so next time when we will meet, she will tell you everything about me, and believe me it's gonna work, ah but I can totally see it in your eyes that you don't believe me!"

"No, I believe you!" She controlled her laughter, "She is like my memory now, which I guess has lost its meaning, Meow!"

"Very funny!"

"No, I am not kidding!" She tried to look serious, "But on a serious note, seriously thank you! I really needed a pet, and now I got one! I am so glad that I have you in my life, Mister Ayush, and yes I was right, it's not going to rain tonight!"

"It will and it will!" I said confidently and with a bold smile, "Now one thing! She doesn't like mice at all so don't even try doing that! I am gifting you a pack of these cookies because she loves them a lot, trust me!"

I said one, but I gifted her three packs of cookies, which she shyly put in her bag.

"So I guess it's a goodbye then-" She first hesitated but then shook my hands firmly, and I felt they were strangely warm, or maybe the air I felt was immensely cold, "-it was really nice meeting you. Again. And uhm, what should I call her, I mean, this beautiful cat must be having a name, right?"

I ignored her question completely, "I really felt great with you, Ekanshi, and I wish to see you soon, but now I have to leave and you should also head back-", I was about to say, to your home, but I didn't and slowly walked away from her, trying to hear her footsteps, and when I heard the first one, going in the opposite direction, I suddenly spoke, a bit louder so she could hear.

"-and her name is Roohi!"

With that, I felt the first drop of the rain on my cheeks, and then all of it. I wanted to turn back and to see her again, just once, to run in circles around her and to tell her, that I was right about the rain, and she was wrong, but it didn't matter. She was gone, disappeared before the rain could force me to hide under a shelter.