Shivaay almost smiled. He was seeing the sky after so long. He didn't even remember when was the last time he had stood under the open sky. Well, laid. Then he wondered, where was he? From what he could guess, it seemed like it was some kind of terrace. No. Some tunnel? Or was it his vision? He had no idea. He just watched the burnt orange sky slowly turn dark. Maybe night had come. Maybe he was dying. He really didn't know. But it felt good. If only he had Annika and his family by his side. Maybe they could have done the same thing in their Gulmarg farmhouse. And there, they could have gazed at the stars too. That, however, remained a distant dream.
But where was Veer? Had he left? He had the faintest recollection of Veer picking him up, throwing him over his shoulder and taking him somewhere. Where was Veer's somewhere? He didn't remember anything else except that his entire body hurt.
A gust of wind blew and he shivered due to the cold. Now that he thought of it, everything hurt like crazy. A hell lot. His limbs felt like they were in the restraints. His chest protested. It contracted like someone was squeezing him and he involuntarily coughed. He had to turn to his side and water gushed out of his mouth. He felt like someone had squeezed his neck as he vomited water. His eyes stung and his throat burned.
Holding his forehead, he fell back on the mud. Shivaay stared at the dark sky and sighed. There was no star in sight. No moon. Not one cloud. It was all a dark void. Just like his life right now. His chest ached. He groaned. Perhaps, this is how it was going to end for him. He was going to die in the darkness, alone, starving, and away from everyone he so dearly loved. But at least, there would be no pain anymore. Accepting his fate, he let his eyes close. Maybe in some other birth, some other time, some other dimension; he would meet them all again. He would then build a good home, live a full and happy life. Maybe. Just maybe.
**************************
"Do we need to take these assholes for post mortem?" Rudra gnashed his teeth. "I mean come on! We know what happened to them."
Bhavya sighed. "It's a procedure we need to follow."
"Fuck!" Rudra yelled again and kicked the chair. "How could we let him die? How? He deserved to be skinned alive...ugh. Just! He did Bhaiya so dirty. And this is how he dies?"
Om sighed. He had not expected it either. In his head, Om had planned a few things for Veer and Roop. But then his philosophical side raised its head. What could be more befitting than Veer himself taking poison to die? They could have meted out all the torture to him, but it seemed more cruel to take that decision of killing themselves. And especially when they were sitting on the goldmine, were about to take over the Oberois and get their supposed rights in the society. Om wondered what was Veer's last thought? Did he think of coming clean to the Oberois? Did he still justify his actions in his head? Or was Veer too thoughtless just like him? Well, there was no way to know now.
Om's stomach cramped. In all honestly, Veer didn't matter. It was Shivaay from whom his heart was pounding. How many obstacles did they have to cross to get to him?
Even though Om felt like wailing, he tried to calm Rudra down. "I know you are angry but don't do this. Look at the brighter side, at least he is dead now."
"Yes without telling us where Bhaiya is..." Rudra pounced on Veer's dead body again. He caught hold his Veer's enormous neck and started to press it. "And what bright side?"
Rudra pointed outside. "It's pitch dark. There no hope at all now. Where is Bhaiya? Where are we going to find him?"
"Rudy..." Bhavya called him out tiredly. "Stop it."
