♛| xxi : the fiery event |

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|the naive rebel|
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xxi| The Fiery Event
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word count- 2686

Something, important in the A/N at the end.

A surprise early update for 6K!
Will, post the next chapter on 3rd June ONLY IF..
read the a/n later.

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INAAYAT
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I am scared.

I was in a false hope that when I tell him about the paper stealing, it would shock him.

Honestly, scare him even. But, this sarcastic useless person didn't show any expression that would be related to the word 'shock'. He had followed me and lectured about how I should be on time today.

And here I am, waiting for the person to arrive. I stand with my back leaning on the wall that separates the ground area from the campus. Nobody will be able to see us here even if they peek out from their room windows.

The ground is a safe place.

I stare at the sky, the darkness looming over me. The stars taunting me with their brightness as I radiate nothing but dullness. I stand there watching the magnificent beauty of the night sky.

I love stars, have always loved them. I love darkness, too. I smile remembering how Ditu taunted me for liking something as negative as darkness.

But, I find a surreal positivity in them. I crane my neck and admire the stars when I hear a sound. Turning my head to the right, I find a black contour walking towards me.

Black. Hoodie.

I almost raise my hand to hit my forehead when the fake Shaan appears in front of me in his silvered spectacles, the regular black attire and the same old poker face. Just this time, it carries a vexed look, too.

He is angry, or so it seems.

I look at him and examine how his beard has again grown just in a day. His hair is shabby again. I can't help but point differences between his two characters, Ishaan is well-groomed while Shaan is a rugged nerd.

"So, Ishaan-" I start when his eyes snap back to mine. Like he is daring me to call him by that name, again.

"Okay." I correct and then continue, "Shaan, what is your plan."

I am aware that I will fail to plan anything as such in my life so I had completely hoped that knowing my inexperienced life history he would have planned something, "Technically, you should have a plan. It's for your survival, here." He replies, spilling water over my plans.

He isn't wrong actually.

"You need that question paper, too. How will you pass the examination?" I ask curiously realising that he doesn't look desperate or appalled for the question paper or the exam.

Like I am.

"I will score more than you even after you mug up the entire set of questions." He confidently announces and my eyes narrow.

Rude.

"And how will that happen, sir?" I sarcastically smile at him, but genuinely wait for his answer.

"And what makes you believe that I'll answer your question?"

"You-"

"Inaayat, I think you should focus more on the paper than playing twenty questions. I am not fucking interested in being interviewed." He sounds rude and arrogant and so angry at me.

Why does he act like he is furious at me and just me particularly? I haven't done anything to endanger his identity or hinder his investigation.

I can feel his hatred and I don't even now my fault.

"What are you waiting for?" He anxiously asks and I realise that he has walked away and is waiting at the ground's gate.

How long was I thinking? Brushing away my thoughts, I walk towards him and the feeling of nervousness washes over me.

When I reach him, he glares at me but continues walking. The moment we exit the ground, I suddenly remember the grave fact we have forgotten.

"Shaan-the college is under CCTV surveillance." I the down my voice and consciously look around.

"I know." Comes his short reply and he suddenly stops at the turning.

"How are we going to steal-"

"Shut up." He mutters in a low sound and he peeks at something, as we hide behind the wall.

"B-" Before I can whisper out my query, he turns around and pushes me against the wall such that I am squeezed between the wall and him.

I gulp as I see how angrily he is staring at me. His palm covers my mouth deterring me from asking or speaking anything in general.

"Can't you be quiet for a fucking second?" He angrily whispers in my ears to make sure only I can hear him.

His body lines up with me, towering over my 5'7 with his 6'2. I try pacifying the sudden palpating heart of mine but fail miserably and suddenly I am devoid of air.

My eyes try signalling him, but his are concentrating on me with a burning rage.

Fire.

The coldness of the tiled wall cause goosebumps to arise all over my body. A strangled voice leaves my throat and he finally notices my message.

Removing his palm, his finger plants themselves on my suddenly chapped lips as he hushes me from uttering anything. He bends a little, to look at the college's main entrance.

Sighing, he moves a little away from me finally giving me a space to breathe and to think and to calm myself.

"The guard was here." He throws his explanation not bothering about my state. I scrutinise my eyes at him while he suddenly wraps his fingers around my wrist and pulls me harshly.

I am quite seeing the graveness of the matter, as we enter the dark college. There is no source of light inside, and it scares me.

The realisation of what I am doing suddenly washes over.

Why the fuck, am I even doing this?

"Inaayat, we have fifteen minutes. The guard is gone for his dinner, the electric supply of this area is cut. Fifteen minutes until everything is back to normal. Fifteen minutes to find the paper." He whispers in the darkness and I nod.

We start moving in the corridor aimlessly, trying to find the first staircase. During the day time, it was easier to locate them but now when all I see is a black shadow makes it even impossible.

I push my hand inside my jeans pocket to fish out my cell phone. "Don't. We can't use any source of light on the ground floor." He instructs.

The Principal's cabin is on the second floor which means we have to just climb one floor and then we'll be able to see something until then we have to find our way in darkness.

We walk in silence, our eyes dwindled battling the night. I walk following Ishaan's lead when my one slipper slips ahead and I jerk forward and hit Ishaan's back.

With the speed of the lightning, I straighten myself and sit on the floor, tapping the floor with my hand trying to find my slipper.

"Impossible." He mutters, kicking my slipper back to me.

"Thank you," I mutter quickly. He sighs in frustration and I bite my tongue to stop the profanity that is dying to be rolled off my tongue.

I resume my journey in the darkened stone cave, tripping and stumbling here and there, in search of the staircase that will take me to the highest peak-the magic lamp but with no genie instead, and I would be granted the paper as my first and last wish.

I guess I shouldn't have watched Aladdin yesterday.

But Mena is too gorgeous to not gawk at, again and again.

Concentrate.

"There." Comes his sudden voice as I halt, seeing the huge cavity on the wall. He starts sliding up the stairs and I follow him steadily.

I have to make sure I don't fall.

Priorities.

When I reach the last step, he is already standing there with his phone's flash on.

"We-" I start but he ignores me roughly and starts on the second flight. At this moment, I want nothing else but to strangle him with my bare hands. Nonetheless, I follow him to the second floor. The floor where the principal's cabin is located.

The college is empty, no watchman and absolutely no sound. I can hear only the muted sound of our footwears hitting the floor as we move.

Ishaan walks towards the corridor on our left, which means he has the floor plan of the college memorised.

Is it bad, that I don't even know where the Principal's cabin is?

It is. Let's not even talk about it.

Walking in the passage, I look at my phone seeing that we have only ten minutes left.

"Shaan-" I call out. He stops and turns to face me.

"Ten minutes." I remind him, and he finally acknowledges my words.

His pace quickens and I follow him until a huge glass door comes in my vision. Mr Prakash Rao, the name is engraved on the rusted metal plate.

Discovery of the night.

I stand behind Shaan, who is doing something with the lock. I see him, as I bite my lip and think of the crime that I am going to perform, today. Adequately, I was studying English and here I am, going all criminal for a paper which isn't even for my course.

The lock clicked as he twists the knob checking if it is unlocked or not. The door opens and he enters the room. A strong perfume hits my nostrils and itches it.

Wrong perfume choice.

"Can you do me a favour and use your phone's flash-light as well?"

"Sure."

We begin searching the drawers of his table, his cupboard, but find no such sealed envelope. I move from one corner to another, even searching inside the huge potted plant kept in a corner for show. A high chance he hid them there.

"Seriously?" Ishaan spits finding me bend over the plant.

"Sorry."

Shaking his head, he resumes searching for the question paper. I stand there casually, seeing how sincerely he is searching for them when I spot the xerox machine placed at the corner. I walk towards it, opening the lid to find three pages pressed together.

"Ishaan," I call quietly, and he jogs to the place I am standing at.

"See," I smirk at him pointing at the three carelessly kept papers.

"What are you smirking at? Click the picture, we need to leave before someone comes up." He hisses and I quickly click the paper's picture.

"Let's leave," I say and keep the papers back the way they were kept. We reach the door when a sudden bang reverberates in the building.

"Fuck." He utters and I hear some noises from the floors beneath us. The silent corridors help us catch the sounds, easily.

"Inaayat," Ishaan turns to face me. "How fast do you think you can run?" He sincerely puts forth the question.

His eyes are inward, which means he is thinking something too deeply. "What are you thinking? We should leave!" I exclaim.

He suddenly takes a step back, and I stare at him in horror. What is this guy, trying to do?

"Shaan, they are downstairs." I almost shout but bite my tongue controlling my voice.

"What if the exam is cancelled?" He pops the question and I look at him as if he has grown two heads.

I can now hear the footsteps even more evidently.

Gulping I look at Ishaan, who is now holding a metallic object in his hand. Ticking its one end, I see a fire.

"A lighter! Don't tell me you want to smoke a cigarette, here! Gosh! They are down-" I hysterically panic.

"Shut up." He whispers, pulling out a chair and stands on it. He lifts the lighter up, and for the first time, I notice the smoke detecter on the ceiling.

This person is exceptionally smart.

But, then he is a moron too.

He holds the flame near the alarm for a good one minute when the water sprinkle starts and drenches me. He quickly climbs down and pushes the chair back to its position and then paces towards me.

Without any explanation, I am swooped up as he starts running with me clutching tightly on his shoulder due to the sudden motion.

He climbs the stairs taking us to the third and then to the fourth floor. The voices have now increased, as they all were probably trying to find the location of the fire.

The sprinklers are still operating and I am completely drenched and so is Ishaan. He climbs the last flight of stairs as we finally reaching the terrace. He puts me down and then closes his eye.

We did that. I walk towards the little wall of the terrace and tilt my neck to see the students gathering around the college door, woken up by the fire alarm.

I turn around to see Ishaan who is now locking the terrace door. "The terrace of the college building and the hostels are joined, which means we have to leave this place as soon as possible. We can not go to your or my room and nor can we merge with the crowd seeing that we both are drenched. The only way to leave the campus is through the back door."

"Back door?" I ask.

"Come with me," he says.

We walk on the white mosaic tiled terrace floor. The voices of the students reach me and with the chaos that has been created there is not a single way to escape it.

"This door connects to the hostel building?" I ask curiously seeing the white door at the farther end of the terrace.

"No, this connects to the clubhouse. The clubhouse is-wait-why am I even telling you all this. Follow me." He rudely utters and opens the door.

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Yesterday, was the most eventful day I have ever had.

After we had climbed down to the entry door of the clubhouse, Ishaan had guided me towards the hidden parking area from where we finally entered the ground, hiding from the bunch of students.

The ground has another gate which leads to the main road. He had pulled me towards the gate, successfully bringing us out on time. The electric supply was back and the area became lightened again. His car was smartly parked outside the gate, which then dropped me to my secret house at 1 AM.

I hadn't failed to notice the fire brigade that was making its way towards our college. When I had woken up this morning, my phone was flooded with calls and texts from both Mishti and Sameer.

Mishti informed me about the fire incident that had taken place the day before and how they all were scared when the alarm went off.

No one knows that I was there and well, Ishaan was there, too. And like the smoke we had used to save ourselves, the matter spread shaping into a looming cloud over us. The terror of the college being on fire, was so huge that they declared a holiday, to inspect the rooms thoroughly for any sign of damage. Which means I get a day to prepare for tomorrow's test.

Smiling to myself, I sit on the soft sofa surfing my phone, when it rings loudly.

"Hello?" It was an unknown number.

"Forgetting that fact, that you haven't thanked me for saving your life. I'll get to the main matter. Tomorrow at 7 PM you have to come to my hostel room. Sharp." I can feel his smirk as he speaks.

"Why?"

"7 PM, the room is 311. Don't come early or late. We have an hour only."

"Why and for?"

"Because that is an hour when Nikhil is busy in the gym. And, certainly, cause you to need urgent lessons- on how to walk without tripping." He sarcastically taunts and the call goes off.

Fucking useless over -sarcastic jerk.


Ellooo!!!

the yellow button can be pressed to.⭐️

till the next,
keep dodging the bullets,
.


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