Ardaas- For A Family

I said I'll update tomorrow but completed this chapter earlier than expected. So here u go and please don't skip the special note at the end.

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Kian lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as his attention was fixed on the motionless fan. The room was dark yet he could make out the faint outline of Yash lying beside him, thanks to the streaks of moonlight entering through the window.

His bhaiya's steady breathing comforted him to a certain extent yet he found it hard to fall asleep. Nearly an hour back, he had been downstairs with Agni, trying to sleep off his anxiety but his bhaiyu wasn't exactly being quiet with his quest for the power bank. 

Yash had observed that and asked Kian to go up to his room while he gave Agni a lecture on the importance of being organized. Kian had left readily and pretended to be asleep when Yash entered nearly half an hour later.

Why? He didn't know that.

For the next 45 minutes, he had laid completely motionless but still failed to fall asleep. It was only when he heard Yash's breathing go steady that he risked opening his eyes.

So here he was now, a few minutes post midnight, wide awake and guilty. He let his mind yet again wander to Shera. Kaka had said that the locals will leave for the woods again the following dawn to search for him.

But Kian couldn't shake the feeling that waiting until dawn was a mistake. What if Shera needed him now? What if every passing moment was a missed chance to save him?

Unable to bear it any longer, Kian quietly slipped out of bed. He moved carefully so as not to wake Yash, tiptoeing across the room and grabbing his jacket from the chair. His heart raced as he opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

A twinge of guilt crossed his features when he looked at Yash's sleeping form. His bhaiya had tried his best to reassure him but it was he, who didn't want to be reassured. Throughout his life, there weren't many things or people who he could get attached to. Now that he did, his love knew no bounds.

He had become fiercely protective of the one he called his own. And Shera was his very own familiar.

Grabbing a torch from the adjacent shelf, he stepped out of the house. The night was cold and still as Kian stepped onto the lawn, his breath visible in the chilly air. Shivering slightly, he zipped up his jacket and slid out of the large main gate.

The remaining sense of warmth left his body as soon as he stepped out of the Dalberg. As the way to the woods illuminated under the torchlight, his resolve to get Shera back home only got stronger.

" 'm coming for you, Shera."

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Agni glared down at the two miscreants who were standing in front of him with bowed heads.

"Speak up!" he snapped again making both of them flinch.

"I was looking for Shera."

"I was following Nev."

They did speak up but at the exact same moment so none of them could make out what the other said.

"One.By.One." Agni said darkly.

"I was looking for Shera." Kian said, chewing on his lips. 

"I was following Nev." Kuhu spoke up next, shifting from one foot to another.

"You what-" he snapped again, but this once ten times more angrier.

Nev meowed from the corner, trying to defend himself but ended up adding fuel to the fire. If looks could kill then the poor feline would be down in ashes by now.