When Life Is Darker Than Black [WLIDTB] 1??

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It was already the time for the holy marriage. The wedding hall was decorated with white and red roses, which both the groom and bride liked. The chattering of people and the sound of musical instruments made this moment feel even more special and celebratory for the Kumar family.

At the entrance, with a shiny yet soft red carpet, a sign with the soon-to-be-married couple's names was neatly placed as people passed by, laughing and chatting.

Inside the wedding hall, many people were seated and chatting, a few were helping Mr. Kumar with other arrangements, and children were running around playing. Meanwhile, at the wedding altar, Ronit was chanting the mantras as the priest instructed him to repeat after him.

Later, the priest asked Mr. Kumar to call the bride. Smiling at the priest, he quickly told her friends standing nearby to go and help Prachi come down to the altar.

Her friends, Arpita, Ruby, and Shrishti, went together to get Prachi.

"Let’s see how excited our bride is to meet her groom," Arpita joked, when Shrishti said,
"I’m telling you, she might even come running down, knowing her dear Ronit is waiting for her."

"Today, let’s tease her as much as we can. It’ll be so fun!"

Both of them laughed among themselves as Ruby walked ahead toward the room where Prachi was resting.

Soon, they were standing outside the room. Shrishti was the first one to knock on the door, but it slowly swung open, leaving them surprised.

"Prachi, look guys, she’s so excited that she left the door open, ready to get back to him," Ruby joked as the three of them entered the room one by one. But instead of the usual sassy reply from a shy Prachi, they found nothing but emptiness.

"Prachi?"

Arpita, Ruby, and Shrishti looked around, but there were no traces of Prachi at all. It was as though she had vanished into thin air.

Horrified, they looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Meanwhile, at the altar, the priest called for the bride again. Mr. Kumar glanced at the stairs and waited for a few minutes. When no one came, he decided to check for himself why they were taking so long.

In the room, Shrishti went to the attached balcony, trying to think of a way to inform Mr. Kumar. That’s when she stepped on something that cracked under her foot, making her alert. She stepped back to find bangles lying broken on the floor.

When Mr. Kumar entered the room, he asked,
"What happened? Why are you all standing here? Where is Prachi? The priest is asking for her. Come quickly—where is she?"

"Look, Arpita, Ruby, I found her bangle on the balcony. Something must have happened to her. We should inform Uncle..." Shrishti’s words trailed off as she noticed Mr. Kumar standing in front of her. Slowly, she saw his expression change—from confusion to realization, from worry to tension, and finally, to slight anger.

"What did you say? Tell me what happened to her. Prachi! Prachi, beta, where are you?"

He looked around, but when he didn’t see any signs of her, he stared at the three of them, who were struggling to keep calm.

Unable to hold it in, Arpita finally informed him,
"Prachi is nowhere to be seen, Uncle. We’ve looked everywhere..."

"What? No! What kind of pathetic joke is this? Tell her to stop playing pranks and come here now!"

He couldn’t believe that his daughter would joke about something so serious. But when her friends didn’t respond, he staggered back, trying to steady himself from the shock.

Neel, Ronit’s friend, came upstairs to check on the situation. He found Mr. Kumar stumbling back and quickly caught him before he could fall. The three friends moved forward to support him, worried.

"Uncle, what happened? Why are you so tense? You three, what’s going on?" Neel asked as he helped Mr. Kumar sit on the bed.

Ruby answered,
"Prachi ran away from the wedding."

"What are you saying, Ruby? Why would she run away? No, Neel, Prachi is missing. She isn’t in this room. Maybe we should look for her somewhere else. I’m sure she must be in trouble," Shrishti quickly argued, refusing to believe that Prachi had willingly run away.

Everyone searched for Prachi, but she was nowhere to be found. Shrishti tried calling her, but she found Prachi’s phone under the bed.

Everyone grew increasingly worried. Then, something even more heartbreaking happened—Mr. Kumar, overwhelmed by tension and shock, fainted from a heart attack. He was immediately rushed to the hospital for treatment.

By then, everyone knew the bride was missing. Some genuinely worried about the family, while others used the opportunity to gossip about the Kumar family.

But one question remained on everyone’s mind: it was a love marriage, so why would the bride choose to run away?

And where was she?