The Shock

I put the piece of paper down and look at it, scared. I look at Avantika … my

mind throws up nothing.

Everyday Life

Slowly and steadily, life has crawled back to normal. No more long drives on

dusty roads without a destination in mind. No chasing around clues and asking

people about dead people. No sleeping in cheap motels and living on dhaba

food.

Ritam?

Ritam? Did he actually say that? Is this even real? Someone is playing around

with us. He doesn’t look burnt. And he seriously doesn’t look like a girl! He is

definitely not Ragini. What on earth is happening here? We look at each other,

and look at him, clueless at what just happened. What the hell?

Where’s Ragini?

We are back inside a flight. This time we’re flying back to Mumbai. Things have

changed a lot since our last flight. Even though we were always just a phone

number away from Ragini, somehow we had never imagined that we would

come so close. We are now just a few hours away from meeting her and I am

shitting in my pants.

Bangalore

It seems like the flight is taking forever to reach Bangalore. I have a certain

respect for that city. It’s probably the only city where Rock ’n’ Roll, metal signs

and sticking your tongue out in public and shouting ‘Metallicaaaaa!’ are not

frowned upon.

The Phone Number

Things just get worse. First, it was a broken-down building, then a name and a

number that led us nowhere and now just a number without a name. Shrey and I

are pretty sure whose number it is, if we go by what’s written in the diary.

The Next Trip

None of us is interested in going on a twelve-hour drive again. We’ve had

enough of fighting with the gear box and the brakes of Shrey’s car. It doesn’t

look like it can take any more. We check on the Internet and the drive from

Gandhinagar to Mumbai is not a pleasant one.

Nivedita

Shrey and Tiya are still sleeping when we leave the hotel for the mental asylum

where Nivedita is admitted. We had looked up the address yesterday and

everyone we asked knew where it was. Avantika and I have hardly talked since

morning. We are a little unsure of what we’ll say to Nivedita. Not only that; we

don’t know what to expect.