Yo!!! 🤘🤘🤘

Beginning the chapter by thanking all my viewers 😊 , voters 🤗 and commenters 😘

Anyways, Onwards!!!

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

(Words in braces) - Telephone conversations.

Chapter 9 - Strange Occurrences

#Mehra Mansion, 10 pm#

Abhi sat on his bed thinking over the incident at the pool. There was no way he could have mistaken the worry and care that he saw in his elder twin's eyes. 'I know what I saw. I'm sure that he cares for me, for our family. But if he does, then why hide it? Why try to show that he doesn't give a damn! Why does he pretend to be the bad guy!? This doesnt make any sense!' Abhi sighed in frustration.

"What are you thinking so hard about bhai?" asked Aliyah, as she came into his room.

"Its nothing Aliyah. Just thinking about something related to work."

Aliyah smiled and sat beside him "Bhai, you're the worst liar ever! Now stop lying and tell your dear sister what has been eating your mind."

Abhi sighed. He knew Aliyah wouldn't leave the topic until she finds the truth. 'Come to think of it, she deserves to know about Shabbir too. He is also her brother after all.'

Abhi decided to tell her "Aliyah, you already know me and Shabbir jumped to save Pragya and Vivek, and we managed to pull them to the edge. However, I was so exhausted that I almost fell back under the water." Aliyah's eyes widened in fear for her brother's life.

"Don't worry. Nothing happened. Shabbir pulled me out."

At once, Aliyah stood up and looked at him shell-shocked "Shabbir?!" 😱

"Yes Shabbir, Aliyah. Not only that. After we both got out, he talked with me like.....like when he was a part of the family. It felt as if we were brothers again. But then, he just ran away without a word!"

"No bhai, don't let him fool you. I'm sure there was some hidden intent behind his actions. That black sheep is a selfish jerk! He thinks of no one but himself!"

Abhi looked at her irritated "Aliyah, I told you. Do not speak of him like that. He is your elder brother and h-"

"Brother? Brother!? If he thought of us as his siblings, he wouldn't just leave us! He doesn't care about other people's feelings or emotions. People are only toys for him! Bhai, he is that person whom I hate the most in this world!"

"Aliyah, I know that you hate him for leaving us. But didn't you ever wonder why he left us? Before he left, try to remember how he was. Don't you remember how he always used to think about our happiness before himself? Don't you remember how he used to go against father, even if it meant he would get punished,just so that he could defend our mistakes? Don't you find it strange that he changed so suddenly?"

Aliyah looked down with sad eyes. She did remember all the good times they share together. She remembers how Shabbir treated them. Their parents were always so busy with their work that they barely had time for them. So Shabbir himself took the role of a parent, a caretaker and a brother. Never did he let them feel like they weren't getting any love. He did everything possible to make her smile. She remembers how he would call her 'crazy princess' and she would chase him around for it.

However, all that changed the day he left. She remembers how much she cried, begged for him to stop. But he just grabbed her hand and pushed her to the side. He didn't even give a backward glance towards her. His last words still ring in her mind. 'You are nothing but a clingy little girl, always whining and seeking attention. Grow up, you stupid excuse for a girl!'

At first, she still thought that he would realize his mistakes and come back home. But day by day, he just kept on being rude to her and Abhi, dropping more low in her eyes. Eventually, she gave up on him and the only thing left between them now is hate.

"Bhai, there is nothing that can change that guy. Whatever you think you saw in his eyes, was nothing but a lie! He hasn't shown any care for us over five years. Do you think he would change overnight?!" 😣

"Not overnight Aliyah. There were other times when I felt the same. Besides, if he hated us that much, did you ever find him causing us any serious trouble? Yes, he and I have gotten into fights, but none of them were serious. He could have hurt me or you in other ways, but never has he done anything. I think.....I think he is hiding something. Something big."

Aliyah paused and thought over what Abhi said. 'Bhai does have a point. Besides the insults and a few fist fights with Abhi, Shabbir hasn't ever done anything. In fact, I am a singer, but it is he who is the rock star. He has the upper hand and he could have snagged all the music contracts from me. He could have ruined my singing career, but he hasn't ever done that.'

"Bhai, are you sure that Shabbir is hiding something?"

"He isn't hiding anything. This was all a part of his plan." came a voice from the door. Both Abhi and Aliyah looked towards the door to find their mother, Binita, standing there with a frown.

"What do you mean, mother?"

"What I mean, Aliyah, is that Shabbir saved Abhi not because he cares, but because of the fame he would get."

Abhi looked at her shocked "But Maa, I saw -"

"That was just your wistful thinking, beta. You still believe that Shabbir will change and come back to us. That is why your mind is playing tricks on you."

She turned on the t.v and switched to the news channel. It showed-

*Famous rock star, Shabbir Mehra, saves his twin brother and two others from drowning, risking his own life in the process. Our rock star is not only a hero in the music world, but has proved that he is also a real life hero. According to the rumors, there is an animosity between Shabbir and his family. However, despite this, he has selflessly risked his own life for his brother. We wonder what Mr. Mehra would have to say for this. Would he go and thank his son, Shabbir? Or is he going to continue his arrogance and remain indifferent to it?*

The news kept showing pictures of Shabbir and kept praising his actions. At the same time, it was taunting and accusing their father for being ungrateful and arrogant.

"See this? This is why he saved you." his mother bit out.

His father walked in at that moment. "Binita, come with me please. I need your help in some official matters." he turned to his children. "Not only this, but he has ruined my college's reputation too. Questions have been raised regarding the safety in my college. You both know how much this college means to me. But through this, Shabbir has successfully hurt my pride." He sighed and walked out of there.

"I will tell Kaka to serve Dinner. Come and eat it before it gets cold." saying this, their mother moved out of Abhi's room.

Aliyah turned to Abhi in anger "See bhai? Didn't I tell you that there was some selfish purpose of Shabbir behind his actions? You wouldn't believe me, but look! With one move, he not only managed to increase his fame, but also hurt father's reputation. Forget the thought of him ever improving. He will never be the brother we knew. Quit holding onto to impossible beliefs!"

"But Ali-"

"Enough bhai! Lets go have our dinner." She stormed out of there.

Abhi sighed in defeat "Maybe...maybe mother is right. Maybe it was my mind which created the entire thing and it convinced me that I saw Shabbir worry about me. He only did everything for himself and to ruin father's image." He spoke aloud while thinking.

Unknown to him, his mother was standing by his door, hiding. She heard what Aliyah said and also how Abhi was finally accepting that Shabbir really doesn't care about their family. She smirked and took out her phone. She quickly typed a text and hit sent. The text said -

"Job done"

She moved away from Abhi's room as her work was done. However, a thought struck her and she typed another text message. This time, she ended the message with 3 angry faces. 😡😡😡

She took one last glance at Abhi and left. 'Now Abhi won't try to bring Shabbir into the family again! The plan is working just how we planned.' 😏

However, she was unaware of the turmoil inside Abhi's head, contemplating whether to believe what his mother said or what he saw. Finally, his own rationality won and he decided to trust himself.

Abhi looked down in despair 'How do I make you understand Aliyah?! You didn't see Shabbir's eyes. I could see the truth in them and I know it wasn't wistful thinking.' He stood up determined 'No matter what any of you say, I know what I saw. I won't rest till I find the truth and bring my brother back home!'

#Arora House#

"Ac-hoo!" Pragya rubbed her nose and pulled the sheets harder over herself, in an attempt to get more warmth. She has been doing the same thing from the moment she freshened up and entered her room.

"Keep on sneezing now! Who told you to go near the pool!? You knew you can't swim. Yet, you went near it. Could you be anymore careless Pragya? You could have drowned if it wasn't for those boys. What if they hadn't been there, huh!? What if no one came to save you? Do you know what could have happened?" shouted Sarla.

Pragya sighed in defeat. She gave up trying to tell her mother that she was alright now. The moment her mother had come to know of the pool incident from Bulbul, she had started checking Pragya for any injuries. However, once the initial worry was over, she had gone ballistic realizing that Pragya herself had went to the pool. She had been shouting at Pragya since then.

Bulbul sat beside Pragya on the bed. She was enjoying her Di getting scolded by their mother, since Pragya never gets chided by their mother. It is always she who has to face her mother's wrath. But today, Pragya was at the recieving end.

Pragya glared at Bulbul when she heard her giggle. "You're enjoying this, aren't you? "

"Yep!"

Pragya hit her arm and Bulbul responded by sticking out her tongue at Pragya.

"Stop fighting with Bulbul and rest. Even now you're being irresponsible Pragya?!" shouted her mother, as she came near the bed. She grabbed Bulbul's arm and pulled her off the bed "Let's go. Let your Di rest. And Pragya, just call me if you need anything. Call for sure! Don't try to get up and do it yourself, understood?"

Pragya nodded with a smile 'No matter how much you scold or chide me Maa, I know how much you care.'

Once they left, Pragya recalled the pool incident. She recalls how she felt someone behind her and then felt the push. She hadn't told anyone that someone had pushed her, as she didn't want anyone to worry. She knows the purpose why she was placed at Mount College. It was to protect Bulbul. Samay, Sumit and her mother seemed really worried about Bulbul's safety. Bulbul's life was being targeted and she didn't want to distract her family from that major problem.

'I'm sure it was someone pulling a prank on me, but wasn't aware that I didn't know how to swim. They must have assumed I knew, since I was sitting on the edge of the pool and pushed me. If I tell everyone about what happened to me, they will no doubt get over worried and over protective. They will just have another thing to stress about! I can't do that to them. I'll just try to remain out of danger myself. That way, nothing could go wrong. I would have to make sure that I remain out of potentially dangerous places.' However, she failed to realize that it wasn't Bulbul, but she who was being targeted.

Recalling the incident, she was also reminded of what happened after Shabbir and Abhi saved them. She had gained consciousness when Shabbir placed her on the ground, out of the water. She had opened her eyes and saw both the faces of the brothers. The twins looked exhausted and about to go underwater. But to her surprise, Shabbir, instead of saving himself, pushed his brother on to the shore, while he himself remained in the water.

To say she was shocked would be an understatement. She thought Shabbir was a selfish jerk, but she saw what he did and knew that she was wrong about him.

She also saw the exchange between the brothers. For the first time since she came to Mount College, she saw Shabbir smiling genuinely when he was joking with Abhi. However, he ran away abruptly. 'I don't know about others, but one thing is for sure that you Shabbir, aren't such a pompous pig after all. You've got a good heart. But I wonder why you hide it.'

She shook her head 'Whatever! It's not like it's any of my business.' thinking that, she went to sleep.

#Next Day#

Pragya felt better after a good night's sleep and was back to her normal self. She and Bulbul were ready to head for college, when they heard a voice from the door. "Ugh! Right when I enter the house, I see two ugly ducklings!" exclaimed Sumit dramatically.

Pragya and Bulbul went near him and hit him playfully.

"Ow! This is harrasment. Ow! Hey that hurt." 😕

"You kind of deserved it Sumit." said another voice as he came inside the house.

"Samay!" Bulbul and Pragya's face lit up on seeing Samay. They moved forward and hugged him.

"Unbelievable. You harass me, but you give my big brother a hug? What a cruel world. No one loves me!"

"Quit your drama, Sumit. Will you ever grow up?" spoke Sarla, as she came near them. At once, Samay and Sumit went and touched her feet.

"Sumit, Samay, what are you both doing here so early? That too with such big bags." spoke Pragya, pointing at their luggage.

"We are here to stay for the summer. You can say we are taking a break from work. We're fed up of computers and technology!" Sumit said as he plopped on the couch.

Bulbul rolled her eyes. "That was bound to happen since you both are computer geniuses. Every company wants you both."

"But what we want is some peace. And so, we will be staying with you all for the summer. If that is okay with you that is, Sarla aunty." Samay spoke.

"You and Sumit are like my own sons. Of course you both can stay." She saw Bulbul and Pragya about to drop their bags and chat with both cousins. "What do you think you two are doing? Didn't you say you were being late for college. Go go! How irresponsible!" 😡

Bulbul and Pragya pouted but obeyed their mother and left for college, waving behind them to their cousins.

Sarla turned to Samay and Sumit "Did you two have breakfast? If not, I had made parathas. Come, I'll serve it to you. Then I have some important news to tell you."

After sometime...

"So, you mean that the book shelf was about to fall on Pragya? And yesterday, she almost drowned?" Sumit asked with wide eyes.

"Yes. Although Bulbul, Pragya and everyone think they were accidents, I fear that these accidents were done on purpose. Pragya may not be my own child, but I've accepted her as my daughter. They think I'm paranoid, but a mother's heart knows when her child is in danger."

"Guess it's good that we came here then." Samay looked towards Sarla "Do not worry Aunty. Both Pragya and Bulbul are like our own sisters and we will make sure that they both are safe."

"But how? You won't be allowed into the college."

Samay smirked "Leave that to us aunty. You just wait and watch."

Sarla nodded "I'm glad you both are looking after my daughters. But I want you both to take care of yourselves as well." they nodded. She got up and headed for her room "There are more parathas in the kitchen. Take more if you want."

Once she left, Sumit looked at Samay for explanation. However, Samay was busy eating.

'Bhukkar kahika' 😑 "Samay, stop eating and tell me what the plan is?" spoke Sumit.

"I've heard that the College Fest is near. And for that they will no doubt need to decorate the auditorium. It would need technicians to check the lightings and manage other electric systems." he spoke with a smirk.

"You mean we will go as technicians to the college!?" 😣

"So what? We just need to be able to go there. It doesn't matter how." 😔

"Dude, no girl would want to flirt or date a technician. I was thinking of getting as many fangirls as possible with my spectacular abs."

Samay rolled his eyes "If you cause any trouble that makes the Principal throw us out, I'll make sure to break every rib under those abs of yours. Mind it!" 😒

"My goodness! Do you always have to be so violent?" 😑

#Mount College#

"Yes, that goes there Kriti. Put the circuit over there."

Kriti sighed "Karan, when are we going to do the actual work. All we've been doing is dealing with the hardware parts." 😩

"We need to set them right. Otherwise the device won't work. The slots must be placed perfectly. Once everything is ready, we'll start with the software programs." he spoke, without looking up from the part he was fixing.

Kriti sighed. "I'll be back. I need some coffee. Would you like me to bring you some too?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Be right back." Kriti left for the canteen.

After sometime...

"Karan, I need your help."

Karan looked up to find Abhi standing there. He looked distressed.

Karan put down the screwdriver. He crossed his hands in front of him and gave Abhi his full attention "Speak."

"It's about yesterday..." Abhi proceeded to tell him everything that happened with him and Shabbir.

"So basically you mean to say that according to you, Shabbir is hiding something from you and your family. He pretends that he doesn't care, but it's all an illusion? It's just a fake mask that he is wearing to hide something big?" asked Karan, to which Abhi nodded. "And so now you need my help to find out what secret Shabbir has been hiding by tracking his every move and finding everything that he has been doing for these 5 years that he lived alone? "

"Yes Karan. I don't know who else I can trust to help me. Aliyah doesn't believe me and neither is a computer expert like you." Abhi looked at him with uncertainty "Although I don't know if it will be easy or not. And if we get caught spying on him, who knows what he might do. I understand if you don't want to help me wi-"

"Shut up Abhi. You call me your best friend, yet you doubt that I won't help you?"

"It's not that. It's just that I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."

"When you called me your best friend and like a brother, you became like family to me. Any problem of yours is also mine. Even when you don't want any help, I won't leave you to face your troubles alone. You can't escape me that easily." Karan got up and put on his glasses with a smirk.

Abhi smiled at his friend "Thanks a lot Karan."

"Now let's go find out more on Shabbir. It's kind of interesting to spy on someone you know. Kind of adventrous."

Both of them didn't notice Kriti standing there on the other side of the wall with two coffee cups. She had heard everything 'Abhi said Shabbir was faking his hatred for his family? And they are going to spy on Shabbir? What's going on here?'

#With Shabbir#

Shabbir got off his bike and put the keys in his pocket. He was about to enter, when he saw Bulbul and Pragya enter the college.

'I must not let her find my secret at any cost. Not her, and definitely not Aliyah and Abhi. I need to convince them fully that I despise them.' He moved forward and looked around for Purab 'He should have been here by now. Did he make some new plans? He should have at least texted me then.'

Suddenly, he remembered 'Oh shit! I haven't checked my phone since yesterday evening.'

He took out his phone and checked his messages. There wasn't any message from Purab, but he had two other messages. They were sent at 10.15 pm the previous night. The first said -

"Job done"

"Nice. At least that went well." he said to himself and checked the other message.

"Don't eat take outs. Otherwise you will get sick. Mind it.
😡😡😡 "

Shabbir smiled and rolled his eyes 'Mothers will be mothers.'

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

To be continued...

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Thanks! ~ 🌹 Mona 🌹