CHAPTER 63

                                    

                                          
MANIK
I came inside my room to see a scrap book kept on the bed. What's this?
I looked at it and on the front page there was nothing written but it was decorated with stars and glitters. 
I opened it and saw that it had my pictures in it along with cute messages. This had my photos with everyone that matters in my life.
There were some of my infant photos where either Mom or Dad were holding me or playing with me. There were photos of me and Dad playing football. Me as a child sitting on the kitchen slab as Mom cooked. My whole focus on the food. I chuckled. I was always a foodie, especially when it came to Mom's special dishes.
I turned the page to see my photos with Abhi. Us in school uniforms. Playing football. Playing video games. There was even a picture of us glaring at each other. All of them were of when we were kids.
Next page had my pictures with Mukti. There was one where she was also wearing shirt and pants like Abhi and me and we three were standing posing together. I remember we were in 2 or 3, and it was our first day of that class. When Mukti came we saw her wearing pants instead of skirts along with her pigtails. She said that even she wants to wear pants as they were more comfortable than skirts. There was one from the relay race, where we three were a team. One had Mukti crying while I and Abhi were trying to pacify her. 
There were more filler pages where the rest of my life was recorded in there. The time I got in the school team, Abhi and me playing football wearing our first jerseys, my first game. My pictures with Mom Dad from our vacations. Seeing these pictures made me kinda relive all these days.
The next page started with Cabir. There were pictures of Cabir, Abhi, I and Mukti. All four of us. Some random clicks, some selfies, some football matches. 
I flipped through the pages and kinda saw all the happy memories of my life. I relived all my moments. Some pictures had Dad doing a barbeque in our lawn while Cabir, Abhi and I helped him. Some had our field party photos. In next pages I even saw my photos with Aryaman, Vihaan and Dhruv. Our first days at college, random goofy pictures, us on the field, it had it all.
And then when I flipped the page, I saw mine and Nandini's photos. Some were candid and I didn't even know that these moments were captured. Some had our selfies. When I looked at our pictures, I saw that we looked so much in love, even in those where we hadn't realized what our feelings were. 
Up ahead, there were some more pictures. Some clicked recently with Navya and Sid. Some with everyone present together. As I closed the scrapbook, I felt overwhelmed with emotions. All these memories were my happy memories. I had read through the messages and I know it's Nandini. It was her handwriting.
I walked out of the room only to bump into Abhi. He looked at me and smiled.
"I take it you've got her last surprise."
"You knew?"
"Of course. She had literally hounded all of us for these pictures. Especially the ones from before. All of us were in loop except you sir."
I shook my head smiling. I was a damn lucky person to have her in my life.
I knocked on her door. I didn't know if Navya was also in there with her. 
She opened the door and came outside, all the while she had her finger on her lips. 
"Manik?" she whispered.
I didn't say anything just gave a soft kiss to her. 
"I feel blessed to have you."
"Feelings are mutual," she said and pecked my cheeks. "Now you go and take some rest. You're up from more than 20 hours now."
"I love you."
"I love you more."
I pecked her forehead and came back to my room. I saw Abhi fast asleep on his side. I laid down and all I could think about was Nandini. With her on my mind, I closed my eyes, and in no time I was fast asleep.
The next day also, everyone made it quite special for me. Morning we had practice, but there Vihaan, Aryaman and Dhruv wished me.It got a bit extra special since Coach told me that he was appointing me as the team captain. Apparently, he had talked about this with other members from before, that whether they are fine with the decision or not. It was Abhi's idea that I should be told about this on my birthday. I thanked him and everyone present there. I told Vihaan, Aryaman and Dhruv to come over at Sid's since we all were staying there. Abhi told them about the incidents, and they said that if we need their help, then they'd be present for us. Them just saying this was enough and we were grateful.
When we came back from practice, Mysha gave me a cheek kiss and tried wishing me happy birthday, while Navya cooked my favorite breakfast. All day, everyone was trying to make me feel special which I appreciated a lot.
In the evening, when Vihaan, Aryaman and Dhruv came over, we had a small party, and that is how the day went. 
I woke up this morning feeling a bit queasy, as if something bad was going to happen. Since we didn't have practice today morning, I overslept. I looked at the time to see it was 11. Damn I slept for too long.
I came downstairs to see everyone sitting with a sombre expression on their face. 
"What happened guys?"
As everyone looked up to me, I had my eyes on Nandini. She looked petrified. I went to her and she hugged me tightly. I looked over at the others, raising my eyebrows. What the hell has happened?
"The private investigator called," Sid started. "Madhyam's dead. He was found drowned in a water tank in Mumbai. As per the reports, he died around 3 weeks ago."
The fuck? "That means it wasn't Madhyam who stalked around the house and that day banged the window?"
"No. It's not him. The bracelet which Nandini mentioned, I asked the investigator whether his body had that bracelet or not? He said that there was no such bracelet. He even said Madhyam's body had forcible marks, as if someone forced him to drown in that water tank."
"A known enemy is thousand times better than an unknown enemy," Mukti said.
"I think whoever killed Madhyam, he took away that bracelet and probably is using him to create this thing in our head that it's Madhyam behind all this," Abhi said.
What the fuck is happening? We had it cleared out that it's Madhyam since he had a grievance against Nandini because of his Dad. Now who could it be?
"What about Ranbir?" I asked.
"No clue. He's digging hard but it's as if Ranbir has vanished in thin air. He's not staying at Dhawan's. There's no clue that where is he and what is he doing. The investigator is working hard to figure out where is he."
This was all getting more and more complicated. We thought we had it figured out, but now it looks like something else is only happening. Something which we are having no clue of.

Thank you for reading :)))
Inline comments are love!
Shower all your love through your comments and votes and please do share my story with your friends!
And one teeny tiny request, I would really really really love it if you could give your feedback on this chapter.
Please keep reading and supporting me!
Love you all loads <333