Hi there! Back with another chapter.

Any guesses what will be the game changer?

Or who for the matter?

Moving on...

Chapter 22 - Nightmares that Haunt Us

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Sure you don't. After all, you're the epitome of goodness, aren't you, Miss Swara Gadodia?" Sanskar snorted at his own joke. "If only you were even an inch of what you show others about yourself. I know how jealous you were of her!"

"You're crazy! Let me go!" Swara shouted, trying to claw off Sanskar's hand from her neck.

"Scratch as much as you want. But I'm not leaving you until I get answers. Fast!" narrowing his eyes, he squeezed her throat tighter, making her gasp.

"Le-leave me! Leave me I sa-" she gasped as she felt lightheaded. Unsuccessfully, she tried to hit him with all her force. However, Sanskar wouldn't budge. Instead, his hold seemed to tighten.

"Will you tell me, or will you die with your secret?!"

"I wi-will!" she managed to squeak out. At once, she felt Sanskar let go and gasped for breath.  She fell to her knees and took in deep gulps of breath. "You crazy son of a bi-"

"Watch it." he kneeled down before her with a glare. "Now. Speak up."

Swara grit her teeth, knowing she was trapped. "She's safe. If that's what you want to know. I hav-"

"I would have ended you if you harmed her." he warned. "Where is she?!"

"She's with Nikhil. The one I appointed for the job."

"Where has he taken her?"

"I don't know." she lied.

"Yes you do! Now, tell me!"

"I won't!"

"Tell me damn it!"

There was a knock on the door, shocking both of them.

"Swara? Sanskar? Open the door! What's going on?!" Shramistha's voice floated over.

Taking the distraction as an opportunity, Swara pushed away Sanskar and abruptly opened the lock of the door. "Maa! Thank goodness you're here!"

"I heard some shouting. What happened?" she questioned, looking at Sanskar who was on the floor, looking shocked.

'If I tell her the truth about Sanskar, he will reveal that I kidnapped Ragini. No!' Swara smiled nervously. "Nothing much Maa. We were just playing a game and Sanskar got overexcited. You worry too much."

"Oh."

"Let's go to the kitchen Maa. I want to make some pakoras for our guests."

"Bu-"

"Let's go!" Swara pulled her away. 'I successfully escaped him. That's a relief! Ugh! How did he know?!' she unconsciously touched her neck. 'It's all your fault Ragini. You are the reason for this bruise and everything I'm going through!'

Sanskar, who was left behind, slammed his fist on the floor. He lost the chance to interrogate Swara properly. 'How am I supposed to find Ragini now?!'

"I was right in my guesses I believe." came a voice from near him.

He looked up to find his mother and Ragini's Dadi there.

Sujata came forward and helped him up. "She already knows your truth Sanskar. You don't need to worry about it."

"But why did you bring her to me?"

Parvati came closer to them. "I had a bunch that Swara or you might have been behind Ragini's kidnap. But after  Sujata explained your so called attachment to my Laddo, I guess only one left to doubt is Swara."

"There's no doubt! It is her!" Sanskar confirmed.

"Then you better tell me what you found out so that we can find Laddo as quick as possible.

#Nikhil's Residence, 11 pm#

Clouds.

Clouds of all shapes and sizes.

"Look Papa! That one's shaped like a bunny!"

"Ah! That's so smart of you Mishka." Nikhil praised, crouching down beside her on the grass. "Do you see me in any of those clouds?"

Mishka grinned and nodded. "That one! Over the right! And there's me next to you!"

"Haha...is it really?"

Suddenly, Mishka's hands dropped to her sides, and her smile turned upside down. She sniffed and rubbed her moist eyes.

"Mishka? Mishti...Mishti, what's wrong?"

She moved away from him and hiccuped. "You...you don't love me, do you Papa?"

Nikhil's eyes widened. "Of course I do! You are my world Mishka."

"No you don't! Because bad people don't love anyone!"

"You think I'm a bad person?"

"Yes you are!" she looked at him with anger. "Why did you lie to me? Why didn't you tell me the truth?!"

Nikhil flinched at the hate he saw in his daughter's eyes. "Mishka I...I didn't want to lose you."

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you so much! Liar! Liar! Kidnapper!"

"No!" Nikhil shouted. However, Mishka's voice increased, and so did her tiny size. She grew huge until she was as large as a mountain. Her words were now roaring in his ears, echoing...bellowing. "No, no, no!"

"NO!" Nikhil sat up straight in his bed with a jerk. "No. No, no, no..." he gasped and took in deep breaths to calm himself. 'Nightmare. It was only a nightmare Nikhil. Grow up!' he looked to the side to see Mishka sleeping peacefully, hugging her teddy.

Nikhil sighed in relief. He looked at his hands which were still shaking in fear. Covered in cold sweat, he couldn't help but recall the dream over and over again in distress. "Stupid Ragini. It's because I talked to her that these thoughts are cropping up!"

#Next Day#

"Nine...and ten! I'm coming to find you Ragini, Papa! Be alert!" Mishka shouted as she ran around the porch and out amidst the trees.

Ragini chuckled lightly from where she was hiding. Call her crazy, but she was actually enjoying her time. She was kidnapped. But she felt more comfortable and happy. Without any irritating Laksh or lovesick Ratan to trouble her, without a cranky Sanskar to scowl at her...yeah, she felt free. She sighed loudly in contentment.

"Keep that up and she'll catch you." Nikhil joked. "Mishka's smart."

"And you're supposed to be the badass baddie kidnapper with a big moustache. But here we are, playing hide and seek."

Nikhil chuckled. "Point noted."

Ragini giggled. Instead of feeling like a maiden kidnapped by a beast, she felt like she was taken to Netherland. "Does this make you, PeterPan?"

"What?"

"Haha...! Nothing." Ragini shook her head of those thoughts. She looked around the place, finally addressing the grim reality.

She was kidnapped. Her family was in worry. She might have been kidnapped to blackmail Swara. Swara might be in danger. Nikhil seemed harmless, but he was her kidnapper. His daughter was his responsibility, but she had responsibility back home too. She needed to go back.

"If we hide in the same place, she'll find us both. I'll go over there." Ragini uttered, moving behind some nearby bushes.

"Hey, don't go far."

"Relax Nikhil. I won't run away. I'm aware of your earnings. Besides, I don't even know where we are specifically."

Nikhil nodded hesitantly. "I told you Ragini. I will let you go. But just not right now. Please understand."

"I do. It's not like I'll just randomly run away into the heavy trees and get lost." she spoke with a roll of her eyes. However, that was exactly what she was planning. "Mishka's coming. Hide!"

#With Laksh#

Ragini's kidnapping had affected the entire Maheshwari household. Seeing Laksh's emotional state, Annapurna and Durgaprasad too were over-worried. Parineeta and Adarsh were trying their best to comfort Laksh, as well as his parents. However, Laksh could see how stressful it was becoming for his elder brother and bhabi. To make all of his family less worried, Laksh tried to be less depressed around them. After all, there wasn't anything else he could do to search for Ragini. There was no clue. So he did chores to keep himself from drowning in depressive thoughts.

That was what he was doing now. Clearing out the garbage.

He neared the dumpster and opened the lid. Suddenly, he felt the edge of the lid scratch his finger. "Ow damn it!" suddenly, a memory hit him.

*flashback*

"There it is." Laksh pointed out as he and Ragini walked upto the dumpster. He held the lid open, while Ragini dumped the pieces in it.

"Ouch!"

Laksh looked at Ragini in worry. "Are you okay?"

Ragini put pressure on her bleeding finger with her dupatta. "Its nothing Laksh. Just a small scatch."

"What?! Let me see."

"It's just a tiny li-" however, without giving her a chance to finish her sentence, Laksh forcefully grabbed her hand and looked at the injury.

"Little? Little?! Its oozing blood. Why are you so careless? You're an adult for goodness sake!" he chided. 

*flashback end*

Laksh chuckled to himself as he remembered how pissed off he was. He even scolded the inanimate dustpan with cuss words. He still remembered Ragini's carefree laughter.

*flashback*

Laksh heard a giggle to the side and looked at Ragini. Ragini's cheeks looked puffed and reddened, while her eyes were glittering with tears. This made Laksh's worry go over the edge. "Ragini? Ragini what's wrong?"

Ragini couldn't hold it anymore and burst out laughing. Laksh could see her eyes water from laughing so hard. "Eh? Ragini? Are you okay? Usually people feel pain when they are hurt. And here you are, laughing?"

Ragini struggled to breathe as she kept laughing. "Laksh, you...you didn't see your face. Ahahaha...!"

Laksh looked at himself in the mirror. "Eh? Everything seems fine."

Ragini calmed herself and rubbed away her tears of mirth. "Oh Laksh! It was only a simple cut. Yet, your face was like as if you saw me bleed to death. You're acting like a complete mother hen! Not to mention the fact that you're having a conversation with a dustpan."

"Well, so what?!" his response only made Ragini laugh harder. "Okay, if you keep laughing at me, I'm not talking to you anymore. Your best friend was worried for you and you're laughing at my concern?" Laksh huffed out in irritation.

Ragini chuckled and held her ears. "Okay. Okay, I'm sorry, alright? So so sorry!"

Laksh rolled his eyes. "Fine fine. I'm forgiving you this time. But be ready to face my wrath next time. I will fight you for sure!" he joked.

"Like you fought with the dust pan?" Ragini teased, a smile tugging at her lips.

"You're being ungrateful. At least you could say a little thank you to me for bandaging your wound."

*flashback end*

Suddenly, the open space of the front porch didn't seem so open anymore. He felt claustrophobic. The air was too warm, the wind was to shallow, the sky too dark. He felt like someone was grabbing his heart and squeezing it harshly. Unable to take the pain, he rushed to his car and sped off to an unknown destination, wanting to escape the reality of Ragini's kidnapping.

After sometime...

Laksh stopped the car abruptly and got out. He took out the bottle of beer he had bought on the way and opened the cap harshly! He wanted to drink, but knew Ragini wouldn't like it if she was there.

"But she isn't! She isn't here!" he shouted out. However, there was no one to hear him.

He had stopped in the road amidst the forest. It was a small road paved with pebbles. People avoided that path for the other cemented one. However, Laksh wanted it. He just wanted to be left alone without all the faces that pitied him.

He felt helpless. He wanted to find her, but didn't know how to! 'I claim to love her and yet, I can't even find her!? What kind of lover am I who can't even protect his beloved!? I'm a disgrace. A stupid, idiotic moron, that's what I am!' Laksh slammed the bottle on the ground where it broke into pieces. Some of the pieces flew out and hit his cheek, making it bleed. But he was too caught up in his sobs to care.

#With Ragini#

Ragini ran as fast as her feet would take her. She had to escape. To where? She didn't know. All she knew was that she had to escape and return back to her family.

She had taken advantage of the game to pretend she was hiding. She left her dupatta around a tree, hoping it to convince Nikhil long enough to think that she was hiding near it. The moment he was busy watching where Mishka was, she sneakily moved back ana around the tree, managing to escape without alarming him.

Her feet ached from running so far. Her head felt like there was a drum hammering on it. However, she refused to stop. As she ran, she accidentally stumbled on a stick and felt her balance waver. She used her quick thinking and managed to lean to the side, thereby hitting a tree and leaning on it to prevent her fall. She succeeded, although she felt the blow at her shoulder...hard.

Ragini breathed hard and closed her eyes, tipping her head back to catch her breath. All the running seemed to have took out the best of her.  It was only when she stopped that it seemed her adrenaline had faded, bringing in all her tiredness. She breathed harshly and deeply, as if she couldn't get enough air. 'Water...water!' but she knew it would be futile shouting for it. There wasn't anyone near. And if it was, it would be Nikhil. He would provide her water....after locking her up that is.

"That won't be pretty. Bett-" suddenly, she heard a crack from nearby. At once, she put a hand to her mouth to cover her breathing and tried to shrink into the tree before her. She kept quiet and tried to listen further.

Hearing nothing else, she tried to peep into the direction from which the sound came.

To her surprise and glee she saw that there was a road not far from where she stood. She felt hope bubble up in her heart. It doubled when she noticed a vehicle waiting on the road. 'This is my chance!' Ragini tried to look at the man who was crouched near it. She squinted hard to get a better look.

Once she saw his face, she couldn't help but gasp.

It was none other than Laksh. Laksh Maheshwari.

Ragini could feel tears of joy cloud her vision. Not only did she find someone to help her, but found someone she knew.

She was going to be saved. Her savior was only a few steps away. "La-"

Unfortunately, before she could complete her sentence, she felt a hand cover her mouth.

Ragini at once tried to struggle as she felt herself being dragged back. She kicked and tried to scream. However, only squeaks left her mouth, almost inaudible. There was no way they would reach Laksh.

'Laksh! Laksh look over here! Look at the leaves rustling! Laksh please! Laksh!' Ragini screamed in her mind. However, she knew her efforts were useless as he showed no signs of seeing or hearing her.

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

To be continued...

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~ Mona