Chapter 11: A Chilling Night (Part 1)
"What are you checking?" asked Arjun. Sharmishtha was busy with her phone for quite some time. It was a bit unprofessional for her to come to a serious investigation like this and get distracted. "Hey did your husband and you had a spat? You seem a bit disturbed since yesterday."
"Yes, it is fine. I don't know why he had been calling me constantly so I am trying to block his calls for some time so that I can focus without cutting off my other connections. Ugh...I should have given you guys my other number," grunts Sharmishtha.
"Just pick up his calls and ask him what's up. I think it might be important, after listening to his business tell him that you are really tired and will talk to him in the morning. I think it is the best way," states Arjun casually. He knew that her husband was a bit protective of her and he thought that she was only working as a managing director for 'The Sight'. Moreover, he thought that she had already taken her leave from the investigative field after leaving the UK. Arjun actually wasn't surprised that she kept secrets from her husband like this. She had always prioritised her work. He felt Rey should have been more understanding about her life choices. It was alright that he wanted to take care of her but to force decisions was something Arjun could never support a person like that. But, she seemed very happy so Arjun didn't make a fuss about it. After all, she wasn't a child whom he needed to guide.
Arjun was lost in his own reverie when suddenly he saw Sharmishtha's face. She looked as if she would well up. Her face had the same expression as he saw once years ago. "Hey we would definitely be successful this time", Arjun said trying to reassure her.
"It's not that," she stopped and switched off her phone. Arjun was baffled at what just happened. Then, she slowly took out the sim card and inserted another one that appeared from her bag. She switched on the cellphone and Arjun received a text from her. "This is Sharmishtha Singh R. Please save this number and contact me one this one only."
'R? What's R? Oh Rey! It must be his last name. Wait! did she just take out that sim-card because of her husband? Damn! Something is up. Whether she admits it or not.'
"Hey stop daydreaming and get back to work," she said in a hoarse voice and went off with her torch.
Arjun, 'Scary.'
Meanwhile, Roy and Rohan were surprised to see the text. Apparently, others including Sengupta got the same text. They didn't know what happened. Roy was about to call her up when he got a text from Arjun.
"She took out the other sim-card. Something to do with Rey. Don't ask her, she is mad."
Roy, "..."
Rohan read the text and didn't query any further. As decided in the morning, he and Roy were to stay outside to inspect anything particularly fishy along with Ajay while Sharmishtha and Arjun were to investigate inside. Honestly, the dreadful look of this place made everything look fishy. It was unbearably cold. Rohan was shivering. After some time, Roy got a call from Sharmishtha.
"Yes, understood." Rohan heard him replying to the call. "Let's go inside. She said that the north wing is safe to spend the night," instructed Roy. Rohan and Ajay nodded as they ventured towards the large dining beside the lake. The place was ideal to keep a watch outside as well.
By the time, they entered the room Sharmishtha and Arjun were sitting beside the broken fireplace trying to light up a fire to keep warm. For some time, they sat near it silently. "Ajay? How is your mother? I heard she is ill. Is it alright for you to come to a potentially dangerous place like this?" asked Sharmishtha breaking the silence.
Ajay was astonished. He looked at her with confusion in his eyes. "Sengupta told me your mother has cancer. So I asked," she said again.
"It is all good. She is under constant check-up," replied Ajay with a smile.
"It's good to know. I hope she gets well soon. Also, if you need, you can bring her to AJ Singh Hospital in Kolkata. You can register under Feather Foundation for free medical treatment. I have run the checks, you would be eligible for free treatment."
"What?" Ajay couldn't understand what she said.
"I am a member of the Foundation so I am just letting you know in case you need any help," she replied with a smile and left with her torch again.
Ajay was still confused as to why would a person he just met would want to offer help. "Don't worry she has a habit of running background checks. She offered help for my mother too. My mum is schizophrenic. She told me that I am eligible to get free treatment for mother in the reputable Meenakshi Hospital solely dedicated to patients with mental health issues," stated Rohan as picked up a sandwich and passed it on to Ajay.
Roy and Arjun glanced at each other with a smile. "Why are you smiling?" asked Rohan. "It is nothing. I am going off to look around. Keep an eye outside and stay alert," replied Arjun as he picked up the torch and went the same way Sharmishtha did.
Sharmishtha was standing on the roof of the mansion. It was snowing heavily. The cold was enough to freeze her lungs. She came up for inspection. But when she saw the view she was mesmerized. The mountains covered in snow looked so enchanted like a piece from a fairy tale. Suddenly a beautiful memory fogged her mind. Standing under the snow she reminisced how she and Rey had spent a snowy night like this back in the UK. She had a minor injury in her leg and a little fever yet Rey insisted on carrying her to her apartment. He took care of her like a little baby. It was years after she had felt someone's warm embrace, it was years since she felt loved and cared for. A person who would be so worried for her even for the pettiest of things, a person who would care about her, who would love her so much, she hadn't met someone like Rey in years. He was the only one after her 'Papa' who could calm her down and let her know that she was fine. He was the only one who saw the scared person underneath. He was the only one who could make her like she was his everything in the world. But, sorrow had struck even the happiest of places and no one could know it better than her. Rey had been acting a bit strangely and detached after marriage, it got worse in the last few weeks. Even though he sent sweet gestures with flowers yet his harshness and intolerant behaviour didn't go unnoticed by her. Sharmishtha felt like Rey was growing sick of her with time. That was the reason she didn't take his calls. Why should she? Rey didn't answer her calls and texts for two days. Sheesh! Was he falling out of love already?
Tears rolled down her eyes. She had no one except Rey. 'Would she lose him too? Why always her loved ones get taken away? Why?' All she wanted was a normal life but since childhood, nothing had been going normal. Sharmishtha broke down in crying. These past couple of days had been too much stress for her especially because of her mental health issues and even after knowing that she wasn't in a healthy state of mind, Rey chose to ignore her for two days. That was more heartbreaking than anything. 'How could he not care about her? Even Ruby wasn't there to let him know that she was alright. Then how could he spend two days like that? Wasn't he worried a little bit? Would he not care if something happened to her? Probably not.'
The more she thought of it, the more stressed she became. She should take her medicines. Sharmishtha tried to calm herself down and went down to have her medicines. As she was walking down the stairs she felt someone was coming down from behind her. 'Who could it be? She was alone on the roof.' A chill went down her spine as she prepared to run without looking back.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Aarnaa
Aarnaa Please read the auxilliary chapter for more insight to Sharmishtha's backstory. I know this chapter may not be that interesting see it's always calm before the storm
( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
I CAN ONLY LET YOU KNOW THAT A STORM IS COMING!(●'◡'●)
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