CHAPTER 4
This was too much to process in one
day. Marsella was my long lost sister? And I was adopted? This was hard to believe. My parents never
told me about this. Perhaps they were concerned it’ll hurt me. Well, what about now?
Doesn’t the truth coming from a stranger hurt even more? But was he really a
stranger, or my grandfather? I was about to pounce on him with dozens of
questions when my phone rang and it gave me goose bumps. It was mom, of
course she would be concerned. I told her I was about to leave, but I had no
intentions to. I got back to Fiddle but he convinced me to go home. And I agreed even though I didn't want to. But I was going to come back soon.
I left with the Abhi and Yen. Abhi could see right
through my eyes. He figured I didn’t want to talk about this with Yen around. To
change the topic, Abhi was telling me about how strangely Marsella was behaving
on the phone before she left but I didn’t want to think about her. Right now I
needed to back home and lie on my bed. I ran straight up to my bedroom and
started crying. I had mixed emotions which I had no idea how to control- doubt,
sorrow, anxiety, frustration and confusion. I trusted Fiddle, but I didn’t want
to.
What was I supposed to do? What if
Pikshtra’s fellowmen knew about me? There was only one way to find out. I wiped
my tears and ran to the window. I started singing my song, or anthem or
whatever Fiddle called it. It was the only thing I could trust. Memories of the
accident kept flooding my head. Was that a cue? I had decided to wipe it out of
my memory, but I recalled it right from the scratch.
It
was a winter night. I was reading in my room at around 2 a.m. when I suddenly
heard the voice of an old lady begging for help. The voice felt familiar but I
couldn’t recognize it. I looked around the corner from my window, but I
couldn’t see anybody. The voices grew louder and louder but I couldn’t see any
one nearby. Slowly a picture formed in front of my eyes. I was standing in
front of a garden which was in Mumbai, just on the outskirts of my area.
I had been there before. Three men approached towards me and I was running and
screaming for help. I was scared. I shook myself and found myself in my room
again. I was scared and wondered what just happened. I sang to the night. The next minute I wore my shoes and I set off to
Mumbai. I reached the garden and called out, but no one answered. I felt
foolish to travel all the way up.
Just then, I heard footsteps. I followed the voice and I saw three men
surrounding an old lady, one of them carrying her. It was difficult to say if
she was dead or unconscious. I couldn’t scream or shout, nobody would be up
this late. I was hiding behind the tree when I covered my face with the scarf.
I decided to fight. But the men were strong, even my Karate skills fell short.
That’s when Marsella arrived. We two had been Karate champs. But the men were
strong. A man caught hold of me. Marsella kicked him hard and we ran but we
couldn’t save the old lady. We ran towards my bike, but it was damaged, it
wouldn’t start. Marsella had bought her car towards which we rushed in full
speed. When we came back home, I started telling my parents all about it when
Marsella started lying about the bruises claiming them to be from a car
accident. I tried to convince my parents the truth, but they just wouldn’t
listen. Marsella lied about me going to Mumbai, being a mere dare. But my parents bought it.
Did Marsella know about us then?
Did she know we were… aliens? And was ‘connection’ the reason she found me? I
called her at least a hundred times, but she didn’t answer. Marsella had been
my best friend before the incident. She would be there for me every time, any
time. Even if I was upset after midnight, when the entire world slept, she
would still talk to me without feeling sleepy. That was it! Marsella didn’t
sleep at night either. Why didn’t I think of this before? This could mean only
one thing; Fiddle was right about Marsella being my sister... We were aliens on
our own planet. Where was Marsella? We had tons to talk.
Fiddle couldn’t bear the sun as
much as we could. I thought it evolved over time but that’s when it struck me.
Fiddle was a complete alien. He landed here straight from Prisma. But we were
half night risers. Our dad had married a human. May be that is the reason we
could blend in more.
I didn’t even realize when the sun
rose. I went down for breakfast. I couldn’t even face mom and dad. But I
needed to, I needed to know from them that I was adopted. When Bob and dad left, mom
turned to me “Don’t you want to go to college today sweetie?” “I will, after
some time”, I answered in a harsh voice. “Mom, I want to see the pictures of my
childhood”, I pushed. She gave me the album but I couldn’t find a picture of
mom in the hospital, with me just born. “Was I adopted?” I threw my question on
her. I couldn’t think straight, nor could she. She was in shock. “Who told you
that dear? It’s all rubbish” and changed the topic. But I couldn’t let this go.
I forced the truth out of her.
Mom had never looked so miserable.
She eventually gave in. She told me the same story that Fiddle told me; that I
was at her doorstep in a basket with a letter. I had never seen her cry so
much. “How did you know about this sweetie?” she asked in a low voice. I
couldn’t answer her. “What was written in the letter mom?” she went inside and
bought a crumpled piece of paper. Had she kept it all these years? She handed
it over to me. It was handwritten in a very shabby manner. It read,
This is my daughter Lunette. She is one of a
kind. Please take care of her. I cannot keep her with me. I need her to be
safe. And Lunette, if you ever read this paper, I want you to know that I love
you.
I didn’t know what to say. I felt
betrayed. Mom and dad had kept such a big secret from me.I left
for college though I wasn’t going to attend it. I left in a
speed I couldn’t imagine. All my life I had been a practical person and here I
was, a magical creature who could read minds at night. Well, I had never
actually done that, thanks to the weakened connection.
I ran up to the terrace of my college
which I usually visited when I was upset. Clearly Marsella knew the whole story
and she also knew Fiddle. Then why didn’t she tell me? Or did she? Ever since
the incident, she had been trying to tell me something important, but I had
ignored her ever since. I didn’t want to see her face, let alone listen to her.
But now I wanted to see her. I went to her class but didn’t find her there. She
wasn’t picking her cell phone. Her parents didn’t know where she was. She had
been missing since yesterday. Was she in danger? I had to find out. But how? It
was noon. I couldn’t take help from the night. “What are you doing here and why
aren’t you in class Lune?” Abhi startled me. I wish I could tell him
everything. But I had promised Fiddle, and I knew Abhi. He would never let me
go alone if he found out. But I couldn’t do this without his help. “Abhi I need
a huge favor” I told him.
