Chapter 53
Rudra did not wait for anyone to say another word.
The moment he felt Yug's trembling body completely collapse against him, he tightened his arms around him and carried him away from the dining hall, his face remaining unusually serious as he walked through the corridor with long, hurried steps.
Yug had buried his face against Rudra's chest and was still crying quietly, his fingers clutching the fabric of Rudra's shirt so tightly that his knuckles had turned pale, while every few seconds his body shuddered with another exhausted breath.
Rudra could still see those black eyes in his mind.He could still remember the unnatural darkness spreading across Yug's eyes, the black tears running down his cheeks, and the terrifying way Yug had fought against his own body as if something inside him had been trying to take control.
But more than anything else he could remember the moment Yug had finally looked at him.
That one moment when the darkness had disappeared and Rudra had seen his own Yug staring back at him.
Rudra's jaw tightened.He pushed open the bedroom door with his shoulder and carried Yug inside before gently placing him on the edge of the bed.
"Slowly, baby," he murmured, keeping one hand behind Yug's back as he helped him sit properly. "Bas... breathe."
Yug didn't answer.He remained hunched forward, his head lowered while his breathing continued to come in uneven bursts, and for several seconds Rudra simply stood in front of him,
watching him as though he needed to make sure that the person sitting there was actually the same person who had been in his arms moments ago.
Then Rudra crouched down in front of him.He gently took Yug's face between his hands.
"Look at me."
Yug slowly lifted his eyes.
His eyes were swollen from crying, his cheeks were wet, and there was still an unmistakable fear in his expression.
Rudra's heart clenched.
"Baby..."
Yug's lips trembled.
"Rudra..."
"I'm here."
Rudra immediately pulled him into his arms again.Yug didn't resist.The moment his head touched Rudra's chest, he broke down again, his fingers curling into Rudra's shirt while he tried desperately to control the sobs that kept escaping him.
"Mujhe... mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha..."
Rudra gently stroked his hair.
"It's okay."
"Nahi..."Yug shook his head against his chest."Nahi, Rudra... kuch bhi okay nahi hai."
Rudra closed his eyes for a moment.
He could hear the fear in Yug's voice.
Rudra slowly pulled back.
"Yug."
Yug avoided his eyes.
Rudra gently lifted his chin.
"Tumhe kya yaad hai?"
Yug immediately went still. For a few seconds he said nothing.
He simply remained there, one hand resting against Yug's cheek and the other around his shoulder.
Finally, Yug whispered...
"Sab."
Rudra's expression changed.
"Sab?"
Yug nodded slowly.
"Jo kuch hua... sab yaad hai."
Rudra stared at him.
"Tumhe possession ke time kuch yaad tha?"
Yug swallowed hard.
"Main sab dekh raha tha."
His voice trembled.
"Main sab sun raha tha."
Rudra's eyes narrowed.
"Phir?"
Yug looked down at his hands.
"Lekin main kuch kar nahi paa raha tha."
His fingers started trembling again.
"Main apne body ke andar tha, Rudra..."
He took a shaky breath.
"...lekin meri body meri nahi tha."
Rudra's face hardened and he slowly sat beside him.
"Tumhe kya feel ho raha tha?"
Yug closed his eyes.For a moment he looked like he was trying to remember something that his mind desperately wanted to forget.
"Pehle...Pehle mujhe laga main bas behosh ho raha hoon."
Rudra listened carefully.
"Phir sab kuch dark ho gaya."Yug's voice became quieter."Lekin us darkness mein main akela nahi tha."
Rudra's eyes immediately lifted toward him.
"Matlab?"
Yug opened his eyes and there was genuine fear in them.
"Mere saath koi aur tha."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Rudra remained completely still.
"Koi... aur?"
Yug nodded.
"I couldn't see her properly."
Rudra's expression changed hearing the word.
"Her?"
Yug looked uncertain.
"I think..."He shook his head."I don't know."
Rudra leaned closer.
"Yug, jo tumne dekha, mujhe exactly batao."
Yug took a long breath.
"Woh jagah..."
His eyes slowly lost focus as the memory returned.
"Woh ek room jaisi thi, lekin room bhi nahi thi."
Rudra frowned.
"Explain."
"Chaaro taraf darkness thi, lekin mujhe lag raha tha main kisi purani jagah ke andar hoon."Yug's fingers slowly tightened together."There were walls which were very old."
Rudra listened silently.
"And I could hear someone breathing."
"Whose?"
"I don't know."Yug shook his head.
"Sometimes it sounded like a woman."
Rudra's expression became serious.
"And sometimes?"
Yug looked at him.
"Sometimes it sounded like me."
Rudra froze and for several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Yug whispered...
"Rudra... I heard myself screaming."
Rudra's jaw tightened but I wasn't screaming."His voice cracked.
"My body was standing there."Yug looked down at his hands."And something else was speaking through me."
Rudra slowly reached for his hand.
Yug immediately held it.
"Did it say anything?"
Yug hesitated."It kept saying one thing."
"What?"
Yug looked directly into Rudra's eyes.
"Randhir."
Rudra's expression changed instantly.
"Randhir?"
Yug nodded. Rudra's fingers tightened around his.
"What exactly did it say?"
Yug closed his eyes.For a few seconds he remained silent and then he whispered....
"'Bring him to me.'"
The words settled heavily between them.
Rudra stared at him.
"Anything else?"
Yug shook his head.
"Not from that voice."
Rudra noticed the way he said it.
"Not from that voice?"
Yug looked at him.
"There was another one."
Rudra's heart sank.
"Another?"
Yug nodded.
"And that one..."He paused."...was trying to stop her."
Rudra became completely still.
Yug's eyes filled with tears again.
"I couldn't see her face, Rudra, but I could hear her."
"What was she saying?"
Yug's voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"'Don't let her reach him.'"
Rudra stared.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Who was she talking about?"
"I don't know."Yug shook his head desperately."I don't know, Rudra."He pressed his hands against his temples."I don't know who either of them were."
Rudra immediately caught his wrists.
"Hey.Stop."Rudra pulled his hands down gently."You don't have to remember everything right now."
"But Aariv..."
Yug's voice broke.
Yug looked terrified.
"She wasn't only trying to kill him."
Rudra frowned.
"What?"
Yug stared at him.
"The one who was controlling me..." His breathing became uneven.
"She wanted to reach Aariv."
Rudra's eyes darkened.
"And the other one?"
Yug slowly shook his head.
"She was protecting him."
For several seconds, Rudra simply stared at him. Then he asked the question that had been sitting inside his mind since the dining hall.
"Then who did attack Aariv?"
Yug's face crumpled.
"I didn't."
Rudra immediately softened.
"I know."
"No..."Yug shook his head harder."I mean... I didn't."He looked at his own hands."My hand held him."His voice trembled."But I wasn't the one holding him."
Rudra's eyes remained fixed on him.
Yug swallowed."
"I was trying to stop myself."
Rudra remembered the dining hall.
The way Yug's other hand had desperately pulled against the hand holding Aariv. The way his body had trembled.
Suddenly everything made sense.
Yug hadn't been attacking Aariv.
He had been fighting whatever was controlling him.Rudra gently pulled him into his arms again.
Yug immediately buried his face against his chest.
"I was scared..."
"I know."
"I thought I would hurt him."
"You didn't."
"But what if next time I can't stop it?"
Rudra tightened his arms around him.
"Then I will stop it."
Yug slowly lifted his face.Rudra looked directly into his eyes.
"I don't care what that thing is."His voice was steady now."I don't care how strong it thinks it is."He gently wiped the remaining tears from Yug's cheek."I'm not letting it take you."
Yug stared at him.
"Promise?"
Rudra didn't hesitate.
"Promise."
Yug's eyes filled again, but this time the tears were quieter.He slowly leaned forward and rested his forehead against Rudra's shoulder.
Rudra wrapped his arms around him.
For a few moments they simply stayed like that.
..........
After making sure that Yug had finally fallen asleep, Rudra remained seated beside him for several minutes, quietly watching the exhausted rise and fall of his chest as his breathing gradually became calmer,
because even though the darkness had disappeared from his eyes and the terrifying presence seemed to have left his body for the moment, Rudra could not forget what he had witnessed downstairs and, more importantly,
he could not forget the helpless look in Yug's eyes when he had finally managed to return to himself.
Carefully, he pulled the blanket higher around Yug's shoulders and gently moved a few strands of hair away from his forehead before bending down and pressing a soft kiss against it.
"My baby..." Rudra whispered, his voice barely audible as he looked at him with a mixture of fear, love, and relief.
Yug shifted slightly in his sleep but did not wake, and Rudra remained there for another moment before finally standing up and leaving the room, although he looked back once more at Yug before quietly closing the door behind him.
When Rudra entered the living room, he found everyone already gathered there, and the atmosphere was completely different from the warmth that had filled the dining hall only an hour earlier because the family was now sitting in complete silence,
each person still trying to understand what they had witnessed.
Aariv was sitting close beside Veeransh, his injured wrist resting carefully in Veeransh's hand while Veeransh occasionally glanced down at the dark red marks left around it, and Shanti sat beside Rajnath with a worried expression that she was making no effort to hide.