It was difficult for Bhairavi to accept that her sixth sense, the one she prided herself on, had proved wrong, and after waiting for longer than she had expected, Maithili's mother's patience ran out. Concluding that anything was better than just wasting her time standing and waiting for the irresponsible fellow: Dheera, to return, she walked towards the building. 

'Just what I thought.' With her doubts confirmed, she shook her head. 'It is a hospital.' Bhairavi's thoughts returned to what Dheera had said, 'I hope his acquaintance is alright.' As her feet took her closer to the establishment, Bhairavi couldn't help but pray for the health of the woman the youngster had gone to visit.

Shortly after, a familiar vehicle caught her attention. Surprisingly, it was the only vehicle in the parking lot. Bhairavi gasped as the vehicle's number plate came into view. "What is this doing here!? Unless… " She exclaimed, running her fingers over the number she had memorized the day they had boarded it for the first time.

"Did someone get hurt!? Did Mia… No. I can't…I shouldn't think like that." Then another, more sinister thought nudged her, "Why didn't Raghav inform us?" Fingers shaking, she dialed her daughter's number. 

"The number you are trying to reach is out of coverage area. Please-"

She followed it up by calling every one of her group members, only to feel defeated when none of the calls went through. 

"Fine." She spat out and called their tour guide. 

"The number you are calling is switched off-"

Bhairavi fisted her hand, "Why are you never available, ha!? Useless!"

There was only one number she could call now. If no one responded, she would be out of options. Bhairavi closed her eyes and dialed the number below directly Raghav's, and half a ring later, Golu picked up. 

"Madam-ji, Namaste."

Namaste, my ass! "Golu," Bhairavi took a deep calming breath and continued sweetly, "I tried calling Raghav bu-"

"Oh, Madam-ji, there was an accident-"

"Who's hurt!?" 

"Boss's phone," Golu replied, amused. "It fell into the spring and won't turn on."

Bhairavi spaced out for a moment. 

"Madam-ji?"

"Ah. Yes. Are you all still at The Springs."

"Well, yes and no. I am at The Springs. But the boss-man left with the van. He took… "

Raghav had apparently left Golu and driven off to The Valley to drop the Madam-jis off. Further probing had revealed that Golu had been stationed at the Springs to receive someone important. Golu had not revealed the name of that someone, and Bhairavi hadn't pushed him for it lest he gets suspicious.

Disconnecting the call, Bhairavi entered the establishment; she concluded that it must not be popular, for she didn't come across anyone, staff or otherwise. She was about to venture deeper when her eyes fell on a door with the nameplate with the words: Hospital Administrator, Dr. Sonia Raina, engraved on it. 

Alarm bells went off in her mind. 'Sonia Raina, as in Raghav's stepmother!?' her heart went into overdrive at the information. 'If she is in charge, I can't loiter around like this. If Raghav is involved, I need to not-get-caught.' She scanned the area and found the perfect place. Without wasting even a single moment, she hid in the staff restroom. She knew from experience that that was the hub of information exchange in any organization. If there was anything that was making waves in the hospital, this was where she would be able to hear it. With time to kill, she Googled the hospital: RG Pvt Limited, but before the results could show, her network vanished, turning her phone into a steel box.

How come I can't get through to anyone!? Even my phone is siding with the bad guys. Why!? 

Bhairavi felt like crying. No. She was crying. 'I am no soldier, Bhagwanta, neither am I a detective. I don't know what to do.' Wiping her tears, she wondered if she should go out and snoop around. Anything was better than occupying the loo uselessly! 

Making up her mind, she stepped out of the cubicle and bumped into a girl wearing a white apron.

A doctor. Bhairavi's mind supplied. Righting herself, she glanced up and came face to face with… Koyal!?

Bhairavi blinked. I must be dreaming… or dead.

"Sorry." The girl spoke. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead, which she dabbed with a tissue; her anxious eyes scanned Bhairavi from top to toe. "You don't work here." she stated coldly. 

Neither am I dreaming nor am I dead! Bhairavi squared her arms over her chest. "I do. My stuff is in my cubby hole." She lied confidently. 

Bhairavi's reply seemed to put the girl at ease for some reason. "No, you don't. And FYI, you are a terrible liar. Now tell me, what are you doing in the staff toilet?" 

Bhairavi stepped closer, inspecting the girl's countenance. "You are not Koyal." she blurted out before immediately snapping her filterless trap shut. 

The girl's eyes changed. Anger flashed across her beautiful features. "Who are you, and how do you know Koyal?" She demanded, pinning Bhairavi's left hand to the washroom's door; retrieving a scalpel from her apron pocket, she held it to the innocent woman's throat. "I may not be a doctor yet, but I know how to use it." she eyed the blade. "I don't have time for your half-baked lies, spill the truth, or I won't think twice before spilling your blood." 

Bhairavi felt parched all of a sudden as the scalpel dug into her neck without breaking the skin. "I am Bhairavi. I am a music teacher, wife, and mother- in that order. I came to the Valley with Maithili, my… my daughter. We got separated. Somehow I ended up here instead of at the Springs because of Dheera, that rascal. He promised to take me there. Instead, he left me outside with a promise to return shortly. When he didn't, I found the vehicle my group has been using to get around...the one that took my daughter to The Springs early in the morning. I got worried and called everyone. None of the women on our tour are picking up their phones. I was about to snoop around and probably get caught- I am useless at such things- when I saw that Sonia Raina is the Head Administrator. Did I mention I am a music teacher? And this-" Bhairavi flung her free arm all over the place. "-has nothing to do with it. I wish Ashutosh was here. He would know what to do. He is pretty resourceful, you know. Not like me-"

"Stop." The hand pinning her to the door landed on her mouth, cutting off her rants. "Who's Ashutosh?"

"Muhubun." Bhairavi spoke into the palm. 

"Oh. Sorry." The latter fixed her with a calculating gaze. Though her question hadn't been answered, she was sure that the woman in front of her wasn't someone who could or would harm her. "I am going to step away from you now, but if you move... "

Bhairavi bobbed her head; with the hand wrapped around her phone, she raised a barely recognizable thumbs-up sign.

"Talk. Don't ramble."

"Ashutosh is my husband. I am here on an all-women's tour with a company called Dream Weavers. A friend I made in the group told me about Koyal and how she and two other women died under unusual circumstances after returning from this very trip. It intrigued me, but I started investigating earnestly only after I snapped a picture of who I thought was Koyal at the time." Bhairavi paused and studied the young girl. "I see now that I was wrong. It was you I caught on camera in the tulip garden. You look like Koyal, but you are not her. Are you?" Without waiting for the young girl to answer, the amateur detective lowered her eyes to the semi-clean washroom floor; she added in a small voice, "I am so stupid." 

"You are right. I am not Koyal." The girl said matter-of-factly and asked, "Have you found anything?" 

That was not what Bhairavi expected to hear from the apron-clad girl's mouth, but she answered her nonetheless. "There is definitely something fishy going on. Someone told me that The Valley, and the neighboring towns, are all owned by The Rainas. The women who are taking care of the property seem like they-"

"They are working for The Rainas." The girl finished for her. 

"That's not possible. I saw-"

"It's a facade; they all are in on it!"

"I don't -"

The girl placed a finger on her lips and pressed her ears to the door.

Bhairavi followed suit. 

"We found three matches." A man's voice spoke excitedly. 

Golu!? 

"Boss said we can only choose one. It's too risky to harvest more." It was a woman. 

Boss!? Who is that? Raghav or Sonia? 

"That sucks. In that case, this one is our best option." There was no mistake. Bhairavi was sure that the man on the other side of the door, speaking to the woman amidst the shuffling of papers, was their driver, Golu. 

What is he doing here? Didn't he say that he was at The Springs? 

"We have ordered her to be wheeled into the OT."

"Umm. Looks good, but I won't be able to proceed today. There was an accident in the lab. Monkeys."

"Damn it. The boss won't be happy. What about Raghav? Do we have enough for him?"

"No. The accident happened just before I was about to prepare the dose." The pair fell silent for a few, and the only sound the two eavesdroppers could hear was that of pages being flipped with zest. 

Bhairavi held her breath and waited for either of them to go on. She didn't have to do it for too long, for less than a minute later, the woman questioned in a concerned tone; her voice laced with doubt. "Are you sure Ma'am wants us to use Raghav? I know he is not her biological son, but he is technically the heir to the Raina empire." 

Golu laughed. "Come on, doctor Sarita, do you think Sonia will let Raghav replace our boss? She is as smart as she is beautiful. Moreover, you should know by now that it won't be long before we start reporting to doctor Sonia directly."

"Are you saying what I think-"

"Absolutely, Mr. Raina's days are numbered. If I were you, I would do my best to get on her good side." Golu suggested. "Raghav thinks he can save them. Poor chap doesn't know that his name is on top of the list." he chuckled and went on, "Can you believe he was planning to steal the girl from us and take her to the airport? Had it not been for me threatening him with the other's lives, he would have done just that." 

"Your cover is blown then. Is it not?" The woman giggled, "How was it like, playing their driver for the better part of the week, doctor Gupta?"

"It wasn't bad. A nice change of scenery, I must admit. It would have been more pleasant if Raghav wasn't trying to think of ways to derail our plans. Lucky for us, we still control the Nans. If it hadn't been for them, he would have managed to seek help from that pest of a woman!"

"Why her?" The woman demanded. 

"Her husband is an army man. Still in service."

"Oh, shit!"

"Exactly."

Oh my God! They are talking about me. Bhairavi realized. Her head reeled at the thought.

"It's strange. The boy sounds just like his father. He has inherited his mother's looks, though. What a waste of a good face." Bhairavi could literally taste the smile in the woman's voice. 

So Raghav is not involved!? Who was the girl he was trying to save? She contemplated.

"I have to go now. Mrs. Raina will be here in a few minutes." Golu, aka doctor Gupta, informed the woman. 

A moment later, the door creaked open. The tapping of heels grew closer. The girl moved away from the door and frantically started looking around. With milliseconds to spare, she pulled herself and a still-in-shock Bhairavi inside the cubicle on the far end of the loo. 

The door flung open, and the Heels tick-tocked inside. "If that bit*h hadn't changed the orders at the last minute, I wouldn't be dealing with this shit now! Doesn't she know she can't spring a new subject on us and expect the dose to be ready within a few hours!"

One of the taps turned on and off, and a few seconds later, Heels showed herself out. 

As soon as the door clicked shut, the pretend doctor turned to Bhairavi. "I am Anjani, Koyal's cousin."

"Oh!" Bhairavi's eyes dilated at the latest information while her mind tried to piece together what she had heard barely minutes ago. 

Anjani gestured to her partner-in-crime to follow her out of the cubicle and eyed the door fearfully. "Shit is about to get real. We might have to make a run for our lives in the near future, Aunty-ji." Looking at Bhairavi with eyes full of hope, she asked, "You said you have a ride, didn't you?"

Chapter Word Count: 2230
Word Count so far: 18463