11-The sient struggle

A few houses away Sasha was struggling as a pair of gloved hands  were clasped over her bare neck, letting her face become blood red, her eyes oozed out.Her forlorn attempts were obvious as she was thrust back on the sofa.Her hands were slapping aimlessly across the broad shoulders of the person whose hands wouldn't move from the spot.She tried to scream.she kept trying until she felt both her breath and energy being evaporated into the moist air.The person over her looked at nothing but the horror in her eyes and the layer of sweat that covered her forehead.Her sight slowly started to blur as the bare grappling legs froze to defeat.The hands retreated.The cadaverous appearance of Sasha's body was a glaring indication of her exit from this world. A brief sound of sharp footsteps was heard.The refrigerator was opened and a bottle of water was emptied in seconds....

10-The missing pages..

By the time it stopped raining, the conversation among the three reduced to hushed voices which dared not to penetrate the drawing room.Prashi, however was almost in the same mood except that he appeared quite excited.
"So are you trying to say, she actually came to kill me?"He eagerly asked
"Yes"interrupted Raman.
"I have a plan.Its simple.I'll go straight to her house and tell her I never met Isha."he looked at the two.
"You could have done that in the beginning itself but Sasha doesnt trust anyone except Isha's diary.Only if we had any access to the missing pages in the diary,we could do something." the Detective said.

"Missing what?"Pottu asked.
"Missing pages"He took out a piece of parchment from his blazer pocket and spread it open.The rustling of the paper was the only thing audible in the room as the 3 came closer.
"Prashi, what was Sasha wearing?" Raman asked.
"A woollen sweater.It was hardly visible in the dark.And she did wear some kind of gown "Prashi said when Pottu started grinning.
"What is it?" Prashi asked irritatingly.The grin vanished off his face when Pottu came closer and said "Gown you say...as if shes a little girl".
"Whatever" spatted Prashi.
"Excuse me but that is not our point of concern." Raman interjected as he started glaring at Pottu who gestured with his hand as a sign of apology and as a signal to continue.

"While I was chasing her back earlier, I mean I dont call it a chase because I didnt even know in which direction she was going.Since she was accustomed to that area, she easily fooled me in the dark"
 Both of them didnt speak.
"It was then that I accidentally stepped on this piece of paper" he pointed his finger towards the ugly paper which looked like it had just been disgorged out of dustbin
.
"This page resembles the pages of  Isha's diary.So I have started to suspect that she has found the missing pages of Isha's diary.Before you jump into questioning me.I will assert a few facts.Firstly, I was quite skeptical about Isha's death.Its not at all normal to find a girl hanging from a tree.I think it wasn't a suicide.Well it would have been an obvious fact if she was normal.But the kind of reputation Isha had, she was inured to do strange things so people took it for granted that she might have actually committed suicide.Even I thought the same way as I travelled through her diary.I was so engrossed in it that after a few pages I actually forgot to look at the dates.She died on August 31st".

The thing she wrote about falling in love was on August 19th.I turned that page to find an empty one but I never looked at the date.I have hunch that it was not 20th.19th I remember because it was the last entry.Now, when I discover a page from her diary dated 23rd August,I believe I was deceived by someone who scrupulously tore off the remaining pages which contained information about her subsequent feelings or  a sequence of events which eventually lead to her death.Had she written irregularly,the pages should have been torn  sparadically.Nevertheless if we just trust that she wrote everyday, we must be convinced that we have found one of the pages."

"How do you know its a page from Isha's diary" Pottu asked.
"It indeed is.The same font size,the same thickness of paper.You have my word.This is a page from Isha's diary." Raman tried to convince.
"Where does Sasha and her dress fit into this picture?"Prashi asked as he glanced at Pottu who seemed to have lost in thoughts.
"Its because I think Sasha managed to find those papers tonight." Raman said.
"And one of those papers fell off her grip or pocket as you say.But where do you think the papers had been all these days" Prashi asked.
"That" Raman sighed " I cannot say".
"Oh yeah so she must be having the remaining papers."Pottu declared.
"Thank god he understood" Prashi beamed.
"Now what?" Prashi asked.

"We look at whats written in the Aug 23rd page.If we can comprehend anything, we go straight to Sasha's home.If we cant" the detective paused.
"We'll go to her house anyway" Prashi finished.

9-Prashi's lame prank..

By the time Pottu,Prashi and Detective Raman reached home, they were already breathing hard and appeared exhausted.While Pottu and Raman rushed to the refrigerator for chilled water,Prashi paced into his room,grabbed the ipod charger and started switching on his laptop.Pottu was looking at Raman who seemed to be deeply discerning the situation as both of them seemed to gulp down galleons of water.
"Do you actually want to believe what you heard earlier?" Raman asked as they entered the drawing room and seated themselves across the glass teapuoy.

"My belief systems were shaken a few moments ago.Dont ask me anything"Pottu said.A terrified atmosphere filled the air between them which was vitiated by Prashi's interference.
"You guys wanna have something?"he asked.They both looked at him.He had already changed into his Reebok tracks and a grotesque Nike sweatshirt which was glaringly a fake one.His appearance mollified their excited state of mind for a moment.Raman raised his hand and said "Beer.Anything except knockout".Prashi ignored him and turned to Pottu who murmured "Coffee".

Prashi started walking back when they heard the first roar of the condensing clouds in 4 weeks.He punched his fists in the air as he made way to the kitchen.
"Whats with him?" Raman asked.
"Nothing.He loves the rain."Pottu said.
Ten minutes later Detective Raman found it difficult to sip the most disgusting coffee he ever had.He would take a sip but the liquid would be on the verge of being choked out of his mouth.He finally placed the cup on the teapuoy and tried to act like a good guest.He turned his focus to Prashi.
"You were lying, weren't you?"he asked.

Pottu paused as he looked at both of them.The aroma of the coffee filled his nostrils as his heart skipped a beat.Prashi remained silent for sometime before saying "yes" and went on with his coffee.
Pottu tried to hide his humiliation by remaining unsurprised.He didn't speak till he finished the coffee.Prashi got up and marched a few steps before sitting beside Pottu.He put a hand on Pottu's shoulder and said "Its okay buddy.I too have fallen for Pranks.I, of course remember Isha though I have never spoken to her.I thought it was a lame Prank but never knew you would take it seriously.I mean was it so contextual?? Did you get too frightened??"

Pottu didnt look at Prashi.Instead he looked up at the detective who gave a brief nod.Pottu finished his cup,wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and cleared his voice."Its time you need to know a few things Prashi"