Kairavi

Chapter 109

"HELP!" Kairavi heard someone scream. Her head snapped towards the voice, searching for the person who had found themselves in trouble. It happened again, but this time the source seemed to be in a different direction.

She browsed the area carefully, making sure to look behind every tree and peek into every shrub. No one was in sight.

"Who is there?" She yelled. No answer. "Hello?" She was pretty sure that she had heard someone screech on the top of their lungs; as if a dacoit was about to slice their throat.

"PLEASE, HELP!" A piercing shriek came from behind her, clawing at the mist covering the towering canopy. She leapt up in surprise. But again, nobody was there. Was her mind playing some pathetic tricks on her? But why all of a sudden?

She looked up towards the sky. It had transitioned into a menacing purple colour without her knowledge. "How is that possible?" She wondered out loud. It was a hue of bright blue, barely five minutes ago; and now this.

Was Devaraj Indra having a bad day?

Backing away slowly from where she was standing, Kairavi's eyes flew to places. She felt like a doe being stalked by a leopard in the wild. Not knowing who was after whom was the worst part of it all. She wasn't the one looking for trouble.

"Why did I have to chase that darn rabbit?" She muttered under her breath, getting more paranoid every second. But something struck her. "Speaking of the rabbit, where did it disappear?" She looked at the spot where the animal had been scratching its ear. How could it just vanish without even leaving pawprints on the mud?

Something was very wrong.

"The last time I checked, rabbits couldn't fly.." Arni mumbled nervously, searching for the bunny who had successfully led her to a trap of some kind.

Wretch.

She staggered on her feet as the back of her ankle hit a rock. Kairavi yelped, landing on her bottom into a pool of water. 'Water?' She thought. "Where did this come from? The lake we fetch water from is far away from here and the only body of water remaining, is the pool behind the hut. Where am I?" She said while standing up.

Her saffron saree was drenched. Chandreya frowned, for now, she had one more thing to clean apart from the daily laundry. Squeezing the excess water from her clothes, she noticed something particularly odd. And it was enough to clarify all the doubts she had about this place's existence. No wonder why she hadn't been here before.

"Whoever it is, stop being a coward and show yourself!" She yelled at the empty space ahead of her. "I know all of this is an illusion, because jalkumbhis don't grow in this part of the forest!" She pointed at the water hyacinths floating on the surface near her legs.

"Maybe you never visited this part of the forest, my dear." A lady said from behind her. She whipped back like a bolt of lightning, prepared to throw herself at anybody who dared to make a move on her.

To her utter astonishment, she found herself standing face to face with...

Herself?

Same face, same robes, the chudamani, the stature and even her most distinct features. Everything was identical! The only thing that differed was the look of complete bewilderment on Kairavi's face.

It took her a while to emerge from the disarray of her thoughts and wrap her head around the situation. She straightened her posture and cleared her throat.