Thank you for your votes and comments!

Thanks for completing the target too!

Please ignore the mistakes. Happy Reading!

Target : 110 votes.

******************************************
Sonakshi's eyes widened as she glanced through the mirror, the reflection of the person clasping her mouth from behind. It took a minute for her to understand the happenings but when it did sink in her mind, she quickly pulled the hand away from her mouth. "Adithya! What are you..", before she could complete, Adithya turned her around by her shoulders and gestured her to stay silent. "Sssshh... Please don't be loud. There's someone else here, than us", he whispered and she looked at him quizzically. "Yes! Kichu bhaiya is also here", she said and Adithya huffed in dismay. "No not him!", he said looking around nervously making her even more confused.

Suddenly something striked her and she shook him gaining his attention. "Look at this. You will definitely not believe your own eyes!", she said showing him the framed photograph in her hand. But before he could see the picture, they heard a loud noise of something rolling down and she immediately dropped the photograph from her hand, shattering the glass into pieces. She looked at it shocked and was about to bend down to pick it up but before that Adithya grabbed her hand. "It will be better if we go out of here now", he said pulling her out with him before she could retort back. "Adithya why are we running now?", she finally asked as they reached out of the house. "Someone was following you inside the house. And he seemed to be really weird", he said and she looked at him bemused. Is he the person whom she is thinking him to be?

"Let's do one thing", he thought for a while breaking her reverie. "I'll lock the door. You call the police", he said. "Police!", she said in disbelief. "Yes! I feel like something is seriously wrong here. It's better to not waste any more time", he said rushing back towards the door. "But..", she turned around but was she saw then made her froze. Adithya was lying on the ground unconsciously! "Adithya!", before she could reach him she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and she sensed everything around her went black drifting her into a state of oblivion.

***

"What?", Rohan asked jerking up in his place seeing Elena moving towards him very closely. "What are you even trying to do?", he asked shocked as she kept roaming a small rectangular equipment from his head to toe. "Ssshh! Let me check", she said continuing what she was doing but he moved back creating an ample space between them and she huffed in dismay. "What are you going to check? Is that a bomb detector?", he asked shocked but she shook her head in a no. "It's a ghost detector!", she said casually and his eyes almost popped out. Though he almost tried to cover up every drawback in him, there is something which he couldn't handle till now. His fear for ghosts! "What the hell was that? Why are you bringing that towards me?", he asked stepping further back as she kept moving towards him.

"Because I want to know where the ghost resides in your body and I need to bring it out before it eats you up!", she said and his eyes widened. "Before it eats me up!!", he asked shocked. "Not literally eating you up man! I mean before it eats up your brain. Already you are behaving like an insane person. If it continues to stay in your body then it will definitely possess your whole self and keep you under it's control. Then you will listen to it's every words and behave like a Zombie!", she rolled her eyes up and stretched her hands out, walking like a lifeless zombie and he gulped down nervously. She said everything in one go that it took a minute for him to understand what she really said but when it did sink in his mind, he realized the fact and got a hold on himself.

"Enough! Enough of your blah-blahs! Not now but only for all these days I have been possessed by a stupid ghost! But now that I am free from it, don't try to act like you care about me. Because now I realized the truth and all that I care about is me and only me! So if you still can't withstand me anymore, please throw your stupid one rupee detector in trash and get lost from here!", he said annoyed and Elena blinked her eyes twice inorder to let his words sink in her mind. "Woah! That's really a very long speech! Congrats!", she clapped her hands still staring at him and he gave her an annoyed look. But before he could retort back they both heard someone at the doorstep. And when he looked at the person, his frown got even more wider.

"Elena di!", golu came rushing inside the house and elena almost jumped in excitement seeing him. "Hey golu boy! How are you?", she asked pulling his cheeks. "I'm good, now!", he replied smiling slyly and Rohan rolled his eyes off them. "So why did you come here?", Rohan asked gaining his attention. "Roller uncle!", he said surprised and hearing him elena burst into laughter while Rohan gave a death glare. "Rohan! And it's not uncle, call me as 'bhaiya'", he stressed the latter but golu didn't seem to care. "Roller uncle, are you going to participate in any fancy dress competition?", golu asked surprised. "Why?", Rohan furrowed his brows dubiously. "You look so different and funny too!", golu covered his mouth suppressing his giggles while elena did the same and Rohan glared at them angrily.

"This doesn't suit you. You looked better before!", golu added. "No", Elena interrupted absentmindedly making Rohan snap his head at her. But when she realized what she did, she bit her tongue out of embarrassment. "Ugh.. I mean.. No.. You don't look funny. You look ho... horrible!", she tried to cover it up and mentally facepalmed herself realizing what she was about to blurt out. "Nowadays you are blabbering so much elena. Get a hold of your tongue!", she murmured to herself which went unheard by others. "Says who?", Rohan smirked to himself and turned his face away while elena sighed in relief. "Elena di", golu called breaking her reverie and she looked down at him. "Look who came with me", he turned back towards the door and elena was surprised to see an elderly person standing at the doorstep.

"You are Golu's grandfather, right?", Elena asked and he nodded his head in a yes. "Please come in uncle", he stepped in as she gestured him to sit on the couch. "What do you like to have coffee or tea?", she asked smiling but he denied. "It's okay beta. Golu told me that Sonakshi visited our house when I was out of village. I reached three days prior. I thought there could be something important that's why came here", he smiled while Elena and Rohan looked at each other confused. "Did Sonakshi ma'am come to your house?", Rohan asked. "Yes.. She came with that Devil uncle!", golu interrupted. "Rohan?", Elena asked earning a death glare from Rohan but Golu nodded in a no. "Okay. Go and call Sonakshi. She is in her room only", she said and golu immediately rushed upstairs.

***

Dev stood staring at the diary in his hand as the reality striked him. No matter how many times his eyes glanced over Devrath's words in the diary, every single minute of silence screamed only one thing.. He really got to see Devrath's dream! "No.. No.. How is this even possible? How could I see what he dreamt about?", his pupils dilated in horror. "No.. This is not true", he gulped down. "I.. I think it's all just a coincidence. I.. I mean.. I have already read this diary so it's possible that my mind remembered this exact scenario and played this as a dream.. Simple!", he smiled nervously but even that vanished very soon. "But why did I see Sonakshi in Shona's place and myself as.. Devrath?", his face grew pale in fear as he looked down at the diary in horror.

"Sona di", a sudden voice broke his reverie and he turned around to find Golu standing at the doorstep. "Golu! What are you doing here?", he asked surprised but Golu's smile turned into a visible frown. "I need to ask you that. What are you doing here in Sona di's room?", golu walked in hiping his hands and gave him a grumpy look. "Where is Sona di? My dadu is here to see you both", he said. "Isn't she down in the living room?", Dev asked and golu nodded in a no. "Oh no! I hope she didn't go out!", he stood up panicked and quickly rushed out of the room.

"Golu is really a very smart kid. Whenever he is with us, we don't know how time passes so fast. Such a cutie pie he is!", Elena said grinning and Golu's dadu smiled in return. Rohan almost lost his count of how many times he had rolled his eyes listening to her words. He didn't know for how long he should keep listening to her praises about golu. "That's how time passes for me too. From his childhood he always keeps me on my toes, always running around the house. You know what, that's why it's always great to have little kids in house. You won't get bored at all. You will get to know it in a better way when you get married and see your own kids running around the house", he smiled and hearing him elena felt her cheeks heating up. She immediately glanced at Rohan for she didn't know why, but he doesn't even seem to care making her smile disappear.

"Elena!", she heard a sudden voice and this broke her reverie. Quickly retreating herself back from her thoughts she mentally facepalmed herself for letting her mind travel in the way it shouldn't. Golu's grandfather who was talking calmly till then looked up to find Dev descending down the stairs hurriedly. His eyes immediately widened and he stood up dazed unable to believe his own eyes. "Elena, did you see Sonakshi going out somewhere?", Dev asked her nervously. "What? Is she not in her room?", she asked him shocked. "No! I woke up just now and... Leave it. I will call her", he said slipping his hand into his pocket taking out his phone to dial her.

"Are you..?", Dev looked up to find an elderly man looking at him with confusion etched on his face. "Oh I'm so sorry. Golu told me that his grandpa is waiting downstairs. But I literally forgot about that in my tension", Dev said but he kept staring at Dev dubiously. "Are you Dev..", "Dev Dixit, I'm Dev Dixit", before he could complete Dev said taking him by surprise. "Now I got to know why Sonakshi came to meet me along with you", he said as a known smile appeared on his face making Dev confused. "Finally I got to see Devrath Rajvanshi!", he said smiling and Dev's heart almost skipped a beat hearing him while Rohan and Elena looked at him wide eyed.

"No.. No.. I mean you have mistaken. Sonakshi.. Sonakshi might've told you something but.. but.. it was just a misunderstanding. Please don't take it seriously", before Dev could complete he interrupted him. "Sonakshi didn't tell me anything. Infact even she didn't believe until she herself saw the truth", he said and Dev stared at him silently. "Truth?", Dev asked more of a doubt. "Yes.. Sonakshi Chauhan was my father's sister!", he said while everyone looked at him stunned. "A few months back, Sonakshi visited our house", he said taking all the three by shock.

***

Sonakshi opened her heavy eyelids slowly only to be met with nothing but darkness. She felt herself sitting on a wooden chair with hands and legs tied up. Her head was already throbbing in pain and her eyes so droopy that she could hardly see things. There was a small bulb hanging at one corner of the almost dark room providing the slightest light for her vision. She looked to her right and was shocked to see Adithya tied down on the chair beside her, unconsciously. "Adithya.. Adithya.. Get up!", she tried to wake him up but he didn't even move a bit making her panicked. Suddenly she heard the cracking noise of opening the door with faint footsteps, getting aloud with every passing second.

She immediately closed her eyes and held her raging breath trying to act like she was still unconscious. The sound of footsteps suddenly stopped and she could very well sense someone standing close to her. Images of her dream flashed infront of her eyes as she tried to hold her sobs. She very well knew that she should act carefully now to escape from that place safely. "Oh wow!", she heard a hoarse voice. "You acted very well Ms. Sonakshi Bose. Now open your eyes sweetheart", he said but she stayed silent. "Open your eyes!", he shouted making her flinch. She immediately opened her eyes and met a tall white man with blonde hair and a pair of light green orbs. His skin was pale and his evil smirk was scary enough to create a havoc inside her mind but she didn't want to show it up. Because by now, she could understand who he is!

"So, you recognized me, didn't you?", he neared her and she immediately moved her face sideaways, shutting her eyes. She could sense his breath hitting her neck and her whole body erupted goosebumps in disgust. Seeing her getting scared, he smirked to himself and moved back while she let her breath out which she don't know for how long she had been holding on. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him. He was twirling a sharp knife in his hand making her gulp down in fear. "Williams?", her voice came out more of a whisper and a huge smile appeared on his face. "Wow sweetheart! You are smart enough! Smart enough than your dumb boyfriend!", he said and she looked up at him panicked.

"I told that Doctor so many times to not have any emotional connect with you. But he, like a dumbo, fell in love with you and see now!", he smirked moving the knife close to the sensitive skin of her neck and her breathing quickened. "Look at you sweetheart! Look where he has landed you in! Look at his way of protecting you! He is such a useless piece of sh..", "Shut up!", she shouted and he slightly pressed one corner of the knife on the skin down her neck. A single drop of blood slid down the sharp metal and she shut her eyes trying to absorb the pain. "Uff! I just told a word about him and look at your anger!", he chuckled and she squirmed in disgust. "Who are you? What do you want?", she whisper yelled. "Stop acting like you don't know sweetheart. You very well know what I want", he smirked and she looked away. "But if you want me to tell that to you by myself, then fine!", he shrugged his shoulders and she looked up at him. "I want, the Ruby!", he said and she gulped down in fear.

"I.. I will give you the ruby. But I can, only if you untie my hands", she tried to not show her fear but instead his face tensed up. "Do you think I am fool?", he shouted making her gasp. "I know, I very well know about this ruby in your hand. I know even you can't take it out, anytime if you want. And that's why I've sent that stupid Dev Dixit to get it from you", he said and she looked at him bemused. "Because only the one, who gave this to you, can get it back from you", he said and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Wasn't he the one who gave this ruby to you?", he asked and she looked at him dazed. As far as she could remember, she didn't even know who Dev was, when she bought this ruby. But Williams' words now confused her more. "Wasn't he the one who told you to never take it off... Your beloved Devrath Rajvanshi?", he asked and hearing him she froze.

***

"I cannot believe it even now. But this is the truth. I have seen Devrath and Shona's picture with my own eyes. And you both look exactly like them", Golu's dadu said while Dev looked at him in horror. "Even Sonakshi saw that picture", he added and it was then it dawned to Elena and Rohan. Now they could very well understand why Sonakshi was so strong about her being Shona. It wasn't the effect of the accident happened to her, but also due to these unknown revelations. "But.. may be we just look like them", Dev said looking everywhere nervously but he stood up. "Or may be you hadn't realized who you are", he smiled while Dev looked at him dazed. "But you will, very soon!", he patted Dev's back and walked out of the house pushing him into a pool of confusion.

Dev looked down at his gaze fell upon the phone in his hand. "I.. I will call Sonakshi", he quickly dialled her number while Elena and Rohan waited for his reply. "She is not picking up", he said getting nervous with every passing second. Suddenly elena sensed some tone and looked up. "Can you hear that?", Elena asked and everyone looked upstairs. "Ma'am phone!", Rohan said and realizing it was Sonakshi's mobile tone elena nodded her head in a yes. They all immediately rushed upstairs towards the source of sound, that is Sonakshi's room. "What happened?", Golu asked confused seeing all three standing at the doorstep, catching their breath. It was then their gazes fell upon Sonakshi's phone in his hand.

"Ma'am left her phone here itself!", Rohan said in disbelief while Dev kept staring at her phone. "May be she is somewhere here only", Elena said. "Let's search", Rohan said and she nodded in a yes as both rushed downstairs. "Or may be she is..", Dev fell down on his knees as his mind started imagining various scenarios. A feeling of guilt crawled all over his heart making it feel heavy. He promised that he will protect her. But now, he felt like everything went out of his hand and the main reason was only him. He looked up and his gaze fell upon the calendar, it was the final day of the seven days time which Williams had given him... 21st November 2018!

***

"Wh... What are you talking? He.. His name is Dev Dixit!", Sonakshi stuttered nervously. "I know. I very well know that sweetheart. But it was Devrath Rajvanshi!", Williams said and she looked at him stunned. "And I also know that you knew this since a very long time!", he added while she kept staring at him in shock. "No! No, it was a lie!", she shook her head still dazed. "And you believed it! You believed that it was a lie, didn't you?", he asked and she looked up at him dazed. "What do you mean?". "Do you think, it would've been difficult for me to kidnap you and take this ring from you forcefully? No, not at all. But I didn't do it for all these days. Do you know why? Because I know it's of no use!", he shouted making her flinch.

"That's what my grandfather did!", he said and she looked at him shocked. "Oh you don't know who my grandfather is, do you?", he said while she kept staring at him. "John Henry Williams!", he said and her heart almost skipped a beat. "Yes, the same General John Henry Williams whom your beloved Devrath killed", he gritted his teeth in anger and she looked at him flabbergasted. "For this ruby", he said but she shook her head slowly looking everywhere but him. "But.. But Williams.. He didn't demand the ruby from Devrath.. He only wanted his old house", she murmured to herself reminiscing what she read from Devrath's diary. "Yes, he demanded only Devrath's old house but, don't you remember what happened after that?", he asked and Sonakshi looked up at him panicked.

She didn't know what he was talking about because all that she got to know was mostly from Devrath's diary. Though she could very well remember her dream which 'could' be a memory of Shona's last minutes, all that she saw in that dream was a man, who looked so similar to the one who has kidnapped her now. And she could very well remember him asking her to remove the ruby. At that time, she thought it to be Williams only. But now, this man's words are confusing her more. "Now", he held both the sides of her chair and she went back panicked by his sudden move. "Now, I want this ruby in return to what you have done to my grandfather. I want to get, what he couldn't!", he said and she gulped down in fear. She looked to her sides and her gaze fell upon Adithya who still seemed to be unconscious. "Okay I will do anything you want. But Adithya is innocent. He came there just to help me. He didn't even know what's happening around. Please let him go", she pleaded but he chuckled. "Knowing half of the story is dangerous my dear", he moved the knife slowly across her cheeks and stopped at her chin making her look up at him.

***

"Dev!"

Dev shot his head up as he heard Sonakshi's voice. He couldn't believe if he actually heard her or if he was just hallucinating but something made him believe in the former.

"Dev, you don't know how happy I am right now!"

He heard again and this time he found where it is from. He quickly stood up and rushed towards Golu. Taking Sonakshi's phone from his hand, he looked at it shocked while golu ran out of the room. It was her voice recording!

"Last five days are the most beautiful days of my life. You made me feel so special. I never even dreamt about such things but you made them come true. Thank you! And now it's my turn to make you feel special! I have a surprise for you, tonight!"

It was then it striked him. She had recorded this before making arrangements for their special night, which he himself has ruined badly.

"And nowadays I am getting a lot of flashes which seems more like a memory from past. I don't know if I am imagining things but I strongly believe that I am not hallucinating. Even today, I got one such memory in which I saw myself in Shona's place and you as Devrath!"

Dev gasped in shock as something striked him. Isn't this so similar to what he got to see as a dream a while ago? If Sonakshi also had got to see a similar one, then was whatever Golu's grandfather said was true?

"And Dev, I have something to tell you. But I am not sure about how you will take this. So, I'm saying it here"

He sat down listening to the audio carefully.

"I don't even know if you will get to hear this audio or when you hear this, whether I will be there beside you. I don't know why but I feel like something... something bad is about to happen. I want to tell this to you but I don't want to make you feel tensed just because of my stupid intuitions. Nowadays I could feel like someone is following me everywhere. I might be wrong but I am scared. I'm scared if history will repeat itself. That's why I took this decision even without discussing with you.... Dev, I want you to make me yours!"

Dev felt his heart getting heavier as by now he realized what made her take such a decision. She didn't make it in a haste. But because of her fear. He felt so bad of himself for making her feel this way, even when he used to be right beside her.

"I don't know how you will feel if you get to hear this. But I want to tell this to you, someday. The first time when I got to hear Devrath's story when I came to this bungalow, this is what I felt. And now even after knowing everything, I still feel the same... Devrath shouldn't have died! Yes! I know he lost his love, he lost the one whom he considered as his whole world. Just in a fraction of second, he lost his every dream. But.. But if everything happens according to our wish then it is not a life! Whatever happened to him was more than cruel. Seeing the one you love die in your arms will give you pain more than the death itself. But all lost in his own misery, he forgot about other's pain.

"Even shona's parents lost their only daughter on her big day. Seeing your child die in infront of your eyes is nothing less. But at that moment if they had decided to give upon their lives too, like Devrath did what would've happened to chotu? Their family would've been destroyed, totally! I know it would have been unbearable to him. He would've felt guilty or may be in too much of shock to understand things. But if.. Only if he had thought for a while before taking such a big step, may be he would've been a great support to Shona's family. He would've been a guide, a guardian to chotu. He would've have never made Ramu feel guilty. He would've filled the void of Shona's place in her family and had helped them to heal without pushing them into further pain. Because then, they not only lost their daughter to the cruel fate, but also their son!"

"Dev, I always had this in my mind. If by any chance, I ever got a chance to meet Devrath I wanted to tell this to him. And that's why I am telling this to you now. Killing oneself can never be a solution... Devrath should've lived, with his Shona's memories.... You should've lived, with our memories!"

"Now Dev Dixit listen.. If... If something happens to me, your Sonakshi, promise me that you will never take any decision in haste like Devrath did. Because my love should always make your strong, and not weak! Now, when you are hearing this audio, I may or may not be with you, but my love will always be with you!"

"May be.. May be after knowing some truth which you have hidden from me, I may get angry at you and deny this. But who knows my anger better than you Mr. Dev Dixit? Just give me some time and let it get down from my head. Sometimes, even it might look like you lost your Sonakshi. But always keep this one thing in your mind. May be Dev Dixit has never given a fairy tale to Sonakshi Bose like Devrath gave to Shona. But if, for Shona, Devrath was perfect, then for Sonakshi Bose Dev Dixit is perfect! No matter whatever happens between us, we may fight, we may argue, it may even feel like everything ended between us, but there is something which will always hold us on.. and that's our love, our perfect love!"

Dev kept staring at the phone as tears blurred his vision. Sonakshi's recording ended long back but he could still hear her voice echoing in his ears. And that's when he realized. How much he had wronged her! She loved him, only him but he like a ruthless jerk thought that she was in love with Devrath, who's none other than himself! Yes, and now that he realized it, he knew he shouldn't let the history repeat! He shouldn't let her fear come true! No matter what, he was determined to get her back, this time for a forever!

"Dev bhaiya!", he heard someone and looked up to find Kichu standing at the door step. "Didn't Sonakshi Madam reach home?", kichu asked him nervously. "Reach home means? Do you know where she went?", Dev was quick to ask. "Yes. We both went to Devrath's old house. I went inside the room to search something but when I came back she was nowhere", he said and Dev felt an unknown fear in him. Suddenly he heard his phone beep and looked at it to find a message from Williams. He quickly clicked it open and was confused to see a location. "This place seems to be out of the village", he said looking at the phone while kichu too joined. "This comes under the forest area next to the village. I guess, there is an old, secluded godown at this place", he said while Dev stared at him shocked.

***

Dev reached the exact location which Williams has sent him and as Kichu said a very old warehouse was situated there. He was sure that there could be no human found even near this remote place as it was far away from the village. He could somehow sense why Williams had called him there but no matter what, he needed to save Sonakshi now. So slowly opening the rusted door, he stepped into the almost dark room. Everything around him was utterly silent except his faint footsteps. Switching on the flashlight, he walked in slowly but stopped as he sensed something wet near his foot. He immediately brought the light down but what he saw then made him go pale in fear. A thick red liquid was flowing down towards his foot. A sudden fear crept inside him and he slowly moved the flashlight up, fearing for the worst possiblities. But stopped as his gaze fell upon the source.. It was the lifeless body of Williams lying on the floor in a pool of blood!

******************************************
So who killed Mr. Williams? What happened to Sonakshi?

Precap : The biggest truth!

My other works,

# Falling for you.. [COMPLETED]

# A Journey towards her.. [COMPLETED]

# My Little Paradise - A sequel to AJTH [COMPLETED]

# All Credits To Love - A Sharica OS

# Mine - A Devakshi OS

# Happy Ending - A Sharica OS

For more updates and spoilers follow my instagram account 'mishti7593'

Next update will be on next weekend 😊

~See you soon ❤️