(Book 3) Hayden Mackay and The Shaatrumani Stone

27. Showdown

"Eyes are the windows to our soul"--- William Shakespeare

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That was it. Doctor ingeniously dodged my million dollar question again. After knowing him quite well for months now, it didn't surprise me much, and I was sure he wasn't going to tell me about it even after he came back. But then, him giving me a minimal hope of coming clean was making me feel a little contented.

After everything he had told me, hearing his explanation of why he never gave us information in full, my opinion on him was now changing. I always thought he was protecting us, that his main intention of setting an academy far away from Paramarashtra was to keep us safe, especially from Shashi. But no, he kept us safe only for the time being and now he was purposefully throwing us into the deep dark well, and forcing us to find a way out of it. His way of training, he called it. I just wished it was worth it.

Leena and Pruthvi were supposed to meet me back in the dining room with Tyrell by now. I was feeling my appetite increasing and on being asked by Doctor, I decided to grab a snack from the kitchen before I went ahead to meet Tyrell in the guest room. Pruthvi and Leena might have already started conversing with him and probably waiting for me to go at Celina's. I started to envision a fabulous reunion that we were about to have. A reluctant smile spread across my face when I thought about it. Probably we can take Nazira with us and ...

I halted on my tracks, spotted Leena and Pruthvi standing besides the kitchen door, talking to each other. I wondered what they were doing there instead of being in the guest room with him. I increased my pace only after noticing that Leena was crying.

"Leena," I said, trotting towards them, "What's wrong?"

She sniffed, wiping her tears and looked at me with scared eyes. "Tyrell...he is..."

My heart skipped a beat. "What about him?"

"He is gone," she whimpered.

"Gone?" I asked, "What do you mean he is gone?"

"He hurt Leena," Pruthvi said, sadly, "He used his stone on her when she tried to stop him."

"I...I don't get it," I said, tensed, "Leena, tell me what happened."

"Hayden, he is gone!" she cried loudly, "For good. He went in search for his...that Jyran."

I stepped back flabbergasted. My breath caught in my throat, a shrill whine reverberating in my ears. For the first time I was experiencing a horrible panic attack.

All those mean things I said to Jyran instantly flashed before my eyes. How I disparaged him, how I challenged him about Tyrell hating him back. But in the end, it seemed he was winning against me.

"No!" I gasped, mentally hyperventilating, "I can't let that happen."

"Hayden, where are you going? Let's talk to Doctor first."

Pruthvi's voice made me realise that I was already on heels. Feeling sick and nauseating, I ran towards entrance to dash out of the palace before anyone could stop me. I didn't had time neither to tell Doctor nor wait for him to react. Tyrell might have already far gone.

Dhanunjay walked past me and was trying to say something, which I didn't find important to pay attention to. All my focus was on him, to find him and if possible forcefully yank him back to the palace by his collar.

I was running as swiftly as I can, not caring my stomach was growling, not caring I was getting weak. Food was far away of my mind right now. After everything that had happened between me and Jyran, I was determined to not let him win, that he cannot hurt my friend anymore and use him as a mere pawn against me.