A Pull Of Destiny

29|A Fear of love

All at once, the pleasant sky of the day was covered with a thick blanket of darkness like a tornado on way, and Sahasthra couldn't help but shiver at the nippy atmosphere, it was too foggy for her sleepy eyes to comprehend anything as she instinctively wrapped the headscarf over her shoulder for some warmth and by the time she managed to cover herself, miraculously the fog cleared up allowing her a partial view but the sight ahead made her tremble with fear as thin drops of cold sweat formed on her forehead.

A young woman in her early twenties lay on the forest ground, surrounded by tall trees and dense bushes as she wailed, catching her bleeding stomach. Dark, blackish blood gushed out of her wound as she weakly cried, covering her wound with the edge of her saree. The woman could scream for help but instead, she sadly glanced towards the hollow black space of the forest, her eyes desperately searching for someone, not caring about her dying self.

Sahasthra wanted to scream in fear, she wanted to ask for help but her lips didn't part, her legs remained rooted to the ground like the roots of a tree. A wave of disgust flashed through her, how can she not do anything when a person is dying in front of her eyes? Blood was pooling around the woman as her eyes began to droop low in pain. Sahasthra quickly closed her eyes, taking large inhales of air gathering up her courage and when she was ready she parted her lips to scream for help.

She can do this. She can overcome this weakness of hers and let the voice out of her throat!

"H-e-l-p" Sahasthra managed the word, but the word did not have any sound. It was soundless, it was just her lips moving but Sahasthra did not give up. Can she ever for once in life do what she wished for life? All she prays is for the women to survive! Should the lord punish her to this extent by making her watch a woman lose her life in front of her? All her gloomy thoughts vanished hearing a faint cry from the women making Sahasthra fist her palms in determination.

She will do it. She will scream and shout till her voice comes out, till her last breath. But she won't give up.

So she tried again, but before she could give it a try, the woman laying on the ground covered in blood and dirt stared at her, her large familiar eyes speaking verses of pain and love.

Slowly and painfully, her doe brown eyes met Sahastra and her words came out broken and painful," Shh, d-don't make any s-sound till I find you. N-never."

With those last words, she collapsed completely, the faint light finally escaping her eyes and Sahasthra let out an ear-piercing scream, running away from the forest. With every turn in this never-ending jungle, her feet kept hitting the ground as she chanted the word, Never in fear.

Never, she whispered as her feet picked up an endless run.

However, her desperate endless run came to a halt. Her shaking self facing a person stopping her heart.

Her father stood in the distance, with a faint devilish smile on his face.

At that moment, her tired feet gave up crashing down to the dirty ground but through her peripheral vision, she could see his precious silk clothes stained with dark blood and the sword in his right hand had thick blood dripping down with a dead body by his feet.

A cold chill ran down her spine and Sahasthra couldn't feel her feet anymore, her legs remain paralysied as she sobbed hysterically trying her best to pick herself, yet her body did not comply.

Step by step, her father closed the distance between them with a vengeful expression to reach her and she kept crawling backwards trying to escape, begging her father to stop but to no avail, she couldn't feel her lower body. But miraculously after a few steps, her father did not move. For a weird reason, his sight remains stuck on the blood dripping sword giving her hope.