Chapter 2: He Suddenly Changed
Aastha waited for her mother to speak. Her mother gave a quick look at her father. He shook his head.
"No, Muna," he tried to tell her.
Aastha stood there, looking at both of them.
"It's ok, Pratik. I think it's time we tell her," she sighed.
Muna went quiet. Aastha looked at her, waiting for the answer. Muna blew a deep breath and walked towards the tree, which was in front of their house. She leaned on it and went back in time. Everything came at once. That time was the most difficult time in her life because that was the time she lost her family, her brother.
Shortly, Aastha and Pratik were behind her.
"I don't know if she is the one, but..." she stopped.
It was too painful for her to think about the past. She slowly closed her eyes, and then she slowly opened them.
"30 years ago, he fell in love with a human." She turned to look at her daughter and then at the house behind Aastha.
30 years? Aastha was quite shocked.
"When he started to go to college, he told me that he had made a human friend. He always talked about her when he visited me. He had just turned 19 then." She smiled. "He always seemed happy whenever he called me. One day, he confessed that he was in love with her. I wanted to meet this girl. He even promised to bring her to dinner," she said.
"Then?" Aastha question.
"I don't think your mother is ready. We should..." Pratik tried to stop it.
"No, Pratik. It's ok," Muna cut him off.
Suddenly, after college graduation, he stopped calling me." She went on. "I was so worried about him that I went to visit him. There, I found him different. His condition was worse, and when I asked about her, Muna sighed with tears in her eyes. "He said it was over. That was the last time he talked about her with me."
Aastha went near and placed her hand on Muna's shoulder.
"He started to distance himself from everything. I tried to do everything to help him, to make him say where it went wrong that he changed..." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "But he wouldn't speak a word. Feeling defeated, I stopped asking him about her or the thing that changed him. I left the old house in Pokhara and bought a house in Kathmandu with your father so I could be beside him. It was of no use as he started to live alone and rarely talked to me."
Her dad went near his Mother and pulled her into a hug. He recalled all the time she spent crying because of Prayas. She did her best to save Prayas and be there for him, but he didn't let her. Pratik never let that affect their relationship. He was always there for her, no matter how hard the time was.
"I did my best, you know. I even tried to find that girl. After months of searching, I found out that she left the town. Shortly after that, he left too." Muna began to sob.
Aastha felt bad for asking her about Prayas. Her curiosity led her to Muna's tears. Muna went silent for a minute and then pulled out of the hug.
"He started to live up in the hills in Palpa. To be near him, I thought of living there too, but he didn't let me. Without letting him know, we bought a house and started to live here in Butwal, so I would be near him. I left Hetauda, and then I left Kathmandu for him, but he wouldn't let me anywhere near him. He cut contact with everyone, including me, his sister," she almost screamed. Muna was in pain, recalling the old memories.
"He even told me to go back to Pokhara. I guess, she was the reason he left Kathmandu and came here. He started to live in the hills away from us and rarely came down." She said. She had tears in her eyes and pain in her heart, thinking how much she wanted to help him. She wanted to be there for him, but she couldn't do anything. All he did was push her away.
"I used to go up in the hills without his knowledge and used to find him in......." She sobbed. Pratik pulled her closer and shushed her.
"I found him in a condition that still haunts me to this day. He used to be lying on the floor, blood everywhere. It was different back then because he was a vampire. I can't even imagine the situation if he were a human." Muna looked at her daughter.
Seeing her mother in tears hurt Aastha. It pained her.
"After college, he lived the life of the dead. The only difference was that he was breathing. Every single day, I waited to just hear his voice, but he wouldn't speak a word." She then hugged her husband tightly and cried in his arms.
Muna had seen the worst times in her life. The times when she had to lock him up in the room because he would try to harm himself. She begged him time and again to tell her what was hurting him—the reason behind his pain. He never said a word. She got tired of asking him all the questions, so she stopped. She even tried to find the girl, but every time she started the search, he would stop her, saying that it would change nothing.
So many questions came to Aastha's mind, and she guessed some answers. She tried to figure out why he was the way he was. Why did he always have a cigarette in his hand whenever he was alone? She thought maybe people drank or smoked to forget something or someone, even though they said it was not true.
Aastha wanted to ask him about everything, but to this day he hadn't spoken a word with her other than wishing her a happy birthday. She somehow understood he was hurt, and maybe due to that, he wouldn't speak.
"I am sorry," she apologized to Muna.
"It's not your fault," her mother said, pulling her into a hug.
Aastha went back to the house, leaving her parents outside. A few of her relatives who came for her birthday started to leave. It was already 1 a.m. She went to her room. She tried to sleep but couldn't, so she got out of bed. Without letting her parents know, she went back to that woman's place. As she had thought, Prayas was still there. She watched them for some time, hiding behind the window. Prayas was beside her. He was staring at her, like if he stopped, she would disappear.
Aastha climbed down in the garden.
"I can't go directly in front of him and ask everything. Like mom said, he won't talk, and we have never spoken a word. I should start to have a small conversation with him. Maybe one day he will open up, and I will be able to help him. But I have no idea how to start a conversation. Only one person can help me," She said to no one in particular.
She stood up and called her best friend, Denisha.
"Aastha," she picked up the call in one ring.
"How was the party?"
"Boring as I had thought," Aastha complained.
"I can understand. Family gatherings and birthdays with family can be so boring,"
"You know my mom and how she is. She is so careful when it comes to mama. She didn't call anybody at this party except a few relatives because my mama was coming. Even I was unknown about it."
"Hmm. I understand. How is he? Did he talk to you?"
Denisha was curious to know. She always wondered what he looked like.
"No. I mean, he wished me well and even gave me a blessing while putting Tika on my forehead," She said smiling.
Prayas meant a lot to her, even though they rarely talked.
"That's nice," Denisha grinned on the phone.
"I know, and I am so happy too, but..." Aastha stopped.
"But?" Denisha asked.
"I wanted to tell you something that I found out about him,"
"Yes, tell me. I am listening," Denisha was eager to know.
Aastha was quiet for some time, thinking about where she should start. She then slowly told everything to her best friend, from the time she saw her mama enter the house to the time she found the truth about his life. Her best friend listened to it with great interest.
Prayas was still lying on the bed beside her. He was very careful not to wake her up. If he did, everything would be over. She would leave the place like she did years ago. As a vampire, he had healing powers. He could heal or protect anyone from anything. Once he was sure her nightmare was gone and she was back in deep sleep, he planted a kiss on her forehead. He stared at her for some time, then stepped out of the house.
Prayas stood in front of her house. His back facing it, and then he blew a deep breath. Slowly, tears rolled down his cheeks, thinking about her and their distance. He turned to look at the house for one last time, and the only thing that came to mind was that he was so close yet so far from her. He shook his head, thinking how life played a dirty game with him.
"I wish, I could change it," he whispered. "I wish, I could go back and change everything,"
He closed his eyes, and in a second, he was gone with the wind.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone