Love comes knocking

Doctor Maheshwari completed his brief, putting a paper on the table and spreading it out flat so it was visible properly. He continued again, "Here, I made Manya write this in the state of hypnosis. Have a look."

Arnav and Sagrika both looked at the page Dr. Maheshwari had laid out in front of them. As they moved further down the page and read more, their faces turned blue out of fear.

After completion, Arnav screamed out "How can it be possible, the serial killer behind the murders was caught and was sentenced to death as well! There's no way he can still be alive!"

Sagrika looked up, still trying to make herself believe what she had read was true. She admonished Arnav, "Can't you read, the person who was convicted was not the real killer; neither was he the mastermind behind it!"

"No...no! How can this be possible, I myself was there when we caught him red handed! Minnie had deciphered everything clearly at that small age, she was a master at decoding the code-" 

"Yes, she was. I don't know how to make sense of this; and if he wasn't the actual criminal, then who could it be?"

Arnav looked at Sagrika for a silent moment, as he realized that Manya was all alone out there, without any bodyguards or security- and the implications. "What if the killer is really alive and out there...we need to rush!"

"We do, indeed." Sagrika said; her calculative personality was out and about to deal with the mess, even as the worried mother hid inside. "But what about the mark, and how are we supposed to find the killer? We know next to nothing about their identity!"

Doctor Maheshwari spoke up as soon as Sagrika completed her sentence. "But Manya sure could. I mean to say that she probably has regained her crucial memories regarding this specific person;  or at least she has been getting flashbacks regarding her interactions with them. I can say this with certainty because when I made her awake from the hypnosis and handed her this paper, she read the entire thing normally, without any reaction- as if it was nothing compared to what that person can do or had already done. He had already committed the most heinous of crimes; or he might already be dead, but to know that for sure, we need to wait till she remembers everything. Although, I don't suppose we have the time for that."

*Sagrika looked at the paper, admiring her daughter's intellect- there they were in Dharangarh scouring for clues; when she had solved the puzzle already, that too while being unconscious!*

She tried to read her scribbled notes once again, squinting at the paper. The design of the three necklaces...the three necklaces completed parts of each other. When put together, it was a miniature replica of the painting that adorned the hall of her dad's old house! 

Sagrika got up from the chair with a start, exclaiming "We have to look at the painting!" 

               ************************

Manya was ignoring what Ishaan had been saying, or rather, everything was getting ignored by her somehow as she had already logged out of the conversation and current reality and gotten lost in the story her brain was cooking up.

*Without a proper track of her interlinking thoughts, she had ended up concluding- 'Yes, she did love him!' She did love Arjun but how? Why! She didn't even know him completely- scratch that, she didn't even know him at all! She was totally unaware about his preferences, his habits, his areas of interest! Then how could this be a reasonable stop for her? Was she a shallow person that she had fallen for his looks, totally forgetting that she couldn't remember faces! She ended up defending herself against her own allegations- even if that was the case, she hadn't found his face to be so attractive either- she could easily point out plenty of flaws in his face! But still, there was something there that made her want to know him more; she wanted to spend time with him. Admittedly she didn't know everything about him- but somehow, she believed with all her heart that he would be there when she needed him; that he would be there for her, each and every time. He was the perfect person she had been in search of, and now she just needed to test one thing before falling deeper into this- she might love him, but she needs to confirm if he could easily lie or not. What if he was also a liar like her Mausa ['husband to maternal aunt']?!*

She had started to speak and had gotten through only part of her sentence when she landed on the plan of testing Arjun, and subsequently was reminded of her Mausa. Her head started hurting once again, as if someone was banging against her head with a hammer. The only words she had been able to uttere from her mouth were, "Ish! I think I am in love with-", and this was when her headache had started. She whimpered out with a soft "euhh" as she crumpled to the ground out of pain, her phone abandoned to the side. But it didn't matter right now to Ishaan, because he had somehow heard it as "you"!

He was definitely on cloud 9 and after saying "Hello?!" a few times and receiving no answer, he rushed inside the building again, thinking that he needed to see Manya as soon as possible.

               ************************

Arjun was heading out of his office; he was supposed to look after everything while Arnav was absent, and he hadn't even been able to muster up the courage to ask him for his whereabouts or the cause of his sudden departure from the city.

Just as he had been crossing Manya's office, he heard her voice cry out in pain, and he rushed inside the cabin. Entering the room, he saw Manya sitting on the floor, holding her head in her hands. She looked up for a moment towards him with a gaze he was all too familiar with, and said "Juno- Arjun, help hide these divorce papers and the proofs from Mausa. Massi will explain everything to you later! Hurry, or he will kill everyone!"

Although Arjun was initially shocked with this sudden outburst, he thought that she must be suffering another recurring glimpse of her memory. She would quickly return to reality, where she would have forgotten him again. But to his further shock, she spoke up again, which was more like a yell. 

"Juno, you dumbo! Can't you understand? Massi knows something; we need to hide this or else we will get caught, don't you love your Messo?"

She was saying everything with her face buried into her hands. Meanwhile, Arjun was determined about believing that she couldn't remember anything; or maybe he had been burnt so frequently that he didn't want to take any further risks.

He approached her carefully, speaking cautiously. "Miss.Manya, what are you talking about? Do I need to call Ishaan?"

"Who is Ishaan now?" She asked as she stood up with the support of the table, still holding her head. Grabbing some random papers from her desk, she handed them to to Arjun and said irritably "What are you, a toddler? What is the use of you being a fifteen years old boy if you can't even decipher the cruciality of time!"

Arjun was shocked when he heard her mention his age as fifteen years. He was going to interrupt her, when Ishaan entered the room, exclaiming loudly "What fifteen years? Have you guys forgotten your age; or Manya, do you really want to experience some teenage puppy love in the year 2021?"

"2021?!" Manya uttered, as if the concept of time was a totally alien one. 

Arjun turned around, gesturing for Ishaan to stop. But before he could have anything, Manya's legs gave way from under her as she tried to reach Arjun. She fainted, muttering, "Juno help! He will kill Massi and Sia- both!"

          ************************