Chapter 37

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The clock ticked , this would be last night for many people, Vansh looked as the guards rounded around him . He had heard from a passing guard about the fight between the official and someone, people have to fight so much to prove justice , even someone is there fighting for him...

Pihu sat on the bench holding her head , neither she can talk to Vansh nor she can find Riddhima , everything is slipping out of her hands , in 9 hour the last hearing would begin she has no proof and neither she has Riddhima , her heart cried out, she can't loose Riddhima at any cost but Vansh .....

"Any time you have to choose , promise me you will choose Vansh , not me....", Pihu closed her eyes in disgust , Riddhima's promise but what was the use of all this, even after fighting for an hour with the official she wasn't allowed to meet Vansh .

Even if she keep her promise and choose Vansh what will she do she has nothing in hand to prove him innocent, she hated herself for advising Riddhima for this, hated to accept the proposal of coming to this hell , hated to advise her to collect proofs oneself, hated, she will die, that's it, she will die if anything happens to Riddhima.

Riddhima looked as he left , and the man took out his next cigar, she looked at the screen which would tommorow announce his death order closing her eyes in defeat ,there is no way, no way left to escape this prison. She looked at her fist which was empty now , the tiny camera which she has held all this while was no more in her fist since she came to this room .

She looked at her palm which still had a mark of the thing which was held tightly , so tightly like it was her elixir for life but now her fist was just empty...

She took a deep breath and looked up at the hanging light , closing her eyes , her broken smile of defeat , helplessness and faded hope for a last chance to see him. Probably they will meet somewhere far away from this , were at least this pain wouldn't be there...

"What about me ",Pihu spoke .

"Means there also him, not me this is so wrong , I am your bestie atleast say for formality only that you miss me too.", she said with a pout.

Riddhima smiled.

"I am trapped here and you....like can you even....",

"I don't care ok , just return, you had promised me or we won't talk.",

"Like there are any chances we are gonna talk again.",

Pihu sighed.

"What say riddhi let's return , this Mister Unknown is costing a lot...", Pihu raised an eyebrow.

"How will we go...",

"By train offcourse , just don't give your hand to some unknown expecting for a love story........ I can't take any more Kabir in this life...",

Riddhima giggled.

"I will be cautious this time..",

"Thank God , you finally started listening to me",

"When its final time , you want to do everything you never did.", Riddhima spoke.

" Then how about eloping this prison you didn't it before too...", Pihu smiled. Riddhima went blank.

Her eyes opened to the empty room, the blood everywhere and her empty fist. How can she leave hope , she won't leave it untill the last second of her breath, she won't leave it.

"Pihu...", She slowly wispered as her eyes closed in that involuntarily dizziness.

The sun was out finally......

The man stepped in , she opened her eyes , intially blur but as the only lights present in the room on , she saw it was him. He walked up to her and ran his fingers round her cheeks to wake her up , the blood on her skin has dried up and the deep wounds were ready to take the life out of her slowly.

"Will you die so soon", he said sadly ,

" now it's mere 30 minutes ... Please stay Riddhima...", He looked at her in wince ,

"You know I am feeling sad but , the things is you are still on his side so...", He caressed the wounds on her cheek , " you have to die sweetheart...".

He stood and walked back to the door," After 30 minutes this screen will display his death announcement ...", He turned to her ," My options are still on but still good bye if this is our last meeting", He wored his shades and walked out.

"See that she is alive till I return , she can't die without accepting her defeat , she can't die without begging for death ,make sure she don't die before she pays up the price of playing with me."

The man nodded while the rest of the guards walked out with him to the lined up SUVs to company the business tycoon.

The clock tiked but the time was still... 30 minutes.

"Can't I meet someone before this hearing...", Vansh pleaded as the official took him out of the cell.

"There are two people waiting for you since night , you can meet them ..... But after the hearing", Throwing him to the wall, they handcuffed his hands behind and dragged him out of the aisle, as they pulled him out his eyes felled on the bench were Pihu and Advait were sitting , Pihu stood up as she saw him.

The official threw him into the van , covering his face in that black cloth. He quietly sat as the van started , in that dark vision he remembered Riddhima was not there , yes , Riddhima was not there , where is she , is she still angry with him or maybe at  the court still trying to prove him innocent , he grew restless , she is fine no , he wanted to see her, just once.

The clock ticked and the timer of 30 minutes was on , she straightened her back in those tight ropes and looked at the door were the man was smoking and then at the beeping screen . She choked in that smoke , coughing to stabilize herself was of no use and then it started , her breaths declining , slowly as she exhaled she knew her life was leaving her body , just if she had the strength to break these ties and run to him , just to see him once before she dies.

She broke into tears restlessly as the stubborn ropes didn't left her a bit , a bit of hope to escape. Finally she her felled back after literally fighting to get out of those grip with all the left over strength in her body. Her eyes closed , as she panted to catch some breath. Her eyes slowly opened with nothing in them , she felt a sudden stillness in her , a sudden calmness , they say your life replays before you when it's call of departure and it did .

Her mind automatically ran back into time , taking her away from this pain , struggle and screams to the day she met him , his condition when he was sitting at that tea stall with that cup in his hand , no one but she knew , he is not just someone , from seeing him that day to running into him on that dark night or following him just to get a good amount of insult but she was stubborn  , she smiled.

She is so stubborn at times , Pihu and she had there first not so real fight for him , he is not just someone afterall. The salon incident , when she first saw the colour of his deep eyes , or may be the trip to high point .

How he held that child like , it was so cute but offcourse she couldn't tell him that day and probably she can't even tell him today , why she held his trembling hand and said " You are not a criminal.",

No wonder she was shocked when he bluntly told,  he was a criminal but eyes don't lie .

There unsual laugh , there sitting at the door unaware of the world , her catching him staring her , everything . She tried not to but she noticed , noticed everything and understood the so called jokes Pihu told every now and then. Pihu god , only she can calm her and she understand very well why . Just because she don't say don't means she don't care . They are her strength.

There coming to Mumbai to first meeting the world they never knew existed was a journey of it's own , but her still favorite part is when he stood at the window gathering up the courage to say a sorry ; like she wouldn't have beated him but he , he was talking like , first time she came to know , he is no less in talking cheesy.

And then how brutally they dragged him out , how brutally , a tear felled down her eyes . The actual struggle started , the struggle to save him from the world who was bent on proving him a criminal , no one is at his side , how much hate he had handled , she thinks of her wounds and torture but the amount of mental torture he is handling since these months , with a blame of killing his own family , only he knows how he did that ,still smile at times , still give her hope that everything will be fine , he is not just someone afterall and now she know how , he is her pshyco , she smiled.

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