Sati

It was almost evening when Aastha came home. Without thinking anything, she went straight to the backyard, where she assumed Muna was. They lived near the forest in Butwal, and they had a big property.

"Aama!" she called out.

"Yes," her mother replied, who was sitting on the ground.

She went near her mom and sat beside her.

"I wanted to talk. About mama," She said.

Her mother looked at her, thinking, Why was she so interested in Prayas's life when she had explained everything about him? There was no way to help him.

"Aastu, I already told you everything. There is no way we can..." She felt pain in her chest and said, "Help him."

"I wanted to find ways to make him talk about everything he has been through."

Tears brimmed in her eyes when her daughter said that. She turned to the other side, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, controlling herself.

"It's ... It's been 30 years since I heard him have a proper conversation or saw him smile like other people. I am dying to see his smile. There is eternity left in front of him, and he is just... She couldn't finish it.

Aastha moved to the side Muna was facing and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I want to help him, aama, and for that, I need your support and maybe a little bit of help," she pleaded.

"How?" Muna questioned her, slowly pulling out of the hug and looking at her daughter.

"First, promise me you won't be angry."

"Ok," she agreed.

"Yesterday, we bunked our college and went to mama's house..."

"You what?" Muna cut her off.

"Aama," she said in an annoyed tone. "You promised," reminding Muna of her promise, and her mother rolled her eyes.

"We came back from his house and then went to that woman's house." As Aastha was saying this, Muna gave her a look.

"I know it's wrong, but we found an album, and there was another person in the pictures with mama and that woman. Do you know any of his other friends?"

Muna thought for a while. She was about to say no when she remembered something.

"Yes, There was another guy Prayas talked about. His name was...." She tried to remember his name. "Yes, Adhir. They used to go out. Prayas told me he was a Wolf. The girl introduced him to that Wolf."

"And what was the girl's name?"

"Something like Sa... Sati." Her mother replied.

"Oh. I think they were in the picture with mama," she muttered, thinking the old woman's name was Sati.

"Where is he now? Do you know anything?"

Muna shrugged "No idea. I wish I could tell you more."

"Thank you. This is all I needed," Aastha said, getting up to leave.

"Aastu, I would suggest you stay out of it."

"I want to help,"

Aastha left without hearing more from her mother. She went to her room and paced around, trying to come up with an idea to make Prayas talk. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. She called her bestie.

"We need to go to the hill house ASAP."

"Why?" Questions came from the other end.

"I will explain everything. Meet me near Temple in an hour." She hung up the phone.

Denisha looked at her phone, confused as to why she asked her to come to Hill House with her.

In exactly one hour, they met near the temple.

"Remember the picture we found of mama with the other two people?" Aastha asked, and Denisha nodded.

"I think I know his name," She smiled with excitement and told Denisha everything about the conversation she had with her mother.

"He is a wolf?" Denisha almost shouted in surprise.

"I think so. He must be the same guy aama was talking about. If that's true, then we can find him and know everything about mama's past." She said it with a hope-filled voice.

"Hmm," Denisha thought.

Both of them went towards the Prayas's house. Aastha knew that at this time he wouldn't be at his house because it was his daily routine to go and check on that woman. They went inside the house and started to search for things that could help them, but failed. Aastha was not the one to give up. She went to every room and finally found a storeroom. There, they found a very old album. They opened it, and there was the same picture they had seen at Sati's house.

"Her name is Sati," Aastha said. "Isn't that a beautiful name?" She looked at her bestie.

"Yes, it is," Denisha agreed.

She clicked the picture of that photo. Aastha tried to find more pictures of the three of them together, but it was the only photo of them together.

"Have you heard of any wolves that go by the name Adhir?" She questioned.

"Nope," Denisha replied after thinking.

After the search was over, they decided to go to the forest, where wolves lived. They asked everyone if they knew the wolf named Adhir. They showed them the picture, but everyone had the same answer: that they knew nothing. Feeling sad and defeated, they sat on the rock on the way to Denisha's house.

"Now what?" Denisha asked.

Aastha closed her eyes and then sighed.

"I think we should keep an eye on that woman for a few days."

"But your mama is always around her. He will find us stalking," Denisha said.

"I don't think he comes down during the day."

After sitting there for a while, they both went back home.

"So?" Her mom asked as soon as Aastha entered the house.

She looked at her mom, not knowing what she was asking.

"Where were you?"

"I was with Wolfie," She replied casually, and she went to her room.

The next day, both of them bunked at the college and went to Sati's house. They saw that she was about to leave her house. They decided to follow her. They watched her go inside the bakery, which was their favourite. They often went to have yummy pastries and cake. They assumed she went to buy some for her, but they were wrong. Sati didn't come back, so they went inside and saw her inside the kitchen through the glass door. She was wearing an apron, ready to bake.

Denisha insisted they order a cake as they entered the bakery. Aastha rolled her eyes and went to sit in the far corner. Aastha ordered black forest, while Denisha ordered red velvet. This was their favourite place to eat cake and pastries, but they never saw her there. It might be because they came there in the evening while Sati went to sit in the garden in the evening.

They asked one of the workers who was the owner, and the guy showed it towards the lady, who was Sati.

"Someday I want to work here," Denisha muttered while enjoying her cake.

"Same here; I always liked this place," Aastha replied.

After that, for days, they kept an eye on her. She used to come to the bakery in the late morning, and in the evening she used to go back to her house. Some staff took care of the bakery while she was not there.

One day, during the afternoon, they saw Prayas enter the bakery. They watched him from the outside. Denisha insisted they should go inside, but Aastha refused. Aastha was thankful that he went and sat near the glass window where they could see him. After some time, Sati came out of the kitchen, and their eyes met. He slowly got up, but without bothering to talk, she slowly opened the door. She stood at the door for a brief moment. Aastha thought she was going to say something, but she left without looking back. Prayas stared at her back for some time and then left.

Aastha felt bad watching her ignore him.

"Why did she act like she didn't see him?" She thought.

"I thought they were friends," Denisha looked at Aastha in disappointment, bringing Aastha back from her thought.

"I thought too."

"In pictures, they looked so happy," Denisha muttered.

"I don't know why she ignored him," Aastha said.

"Their past must be hot and Ssssspicy," Denisha joked, and Aastha gave her a look.

They both went towards the house and watched Sati. She was sitting under the tree, her hand covering her face. She seemed to be stressed. Aastha wanted to go near her and ask her why she ignored Prayas. She wanted to ask about their past, but she stopped herself from going towards her.

"It's of no use," Aastha thought. "She will ignore me like she ignored mama,"

Aastha couldn't even imagine how Prayas must have felt when she ignored him like a stranger. No, not like a stranger, but like an enemy. If someone comes to your door or your shop, you never ignore them, even if you dislike them. This was very rude behaviour from Sati. Aastha was more than furious, but she somehow controlled herself. There were so many questions left unanswered, and she somehow thought that the only person now other than her mama could answer them was Sati. She needed the right time to go in front of her and ask everything.

"I will wait," she muttered to herself.

Denisha was busy hiding behind the trees and trying to go near Sati.

Aastha saw what Denisha was trying to do. She quickly went near Denisha, using her speed, and stopped her.

"I was trying to see what she was doing,"

"Den, leave her alone."

"I was trying to help,"