'Let's meet by the momo aunty's stall in an hour?' Bhairavi inquired in Samanya's mind. He stood apart and nodded before speaking in a subdued manner, "Absolutely. Just keep a lookout for other Rakshasas and try to not stare at them or see through their Maya. They'll be able to feel the intrusion."

'Okay, See you. Act shady,' Bhairavi replied before adjusting the scarf around her face and walking upto the momo stall. She pointed at the momos and inquired the price with crude hand movements.

"40 rupees for one plate of chicken momos, and 25 for one plate of veg momos," the middle-aged lady said, smiling kindly. Bhairavi pointed at the chicken momos and showed a finger. The lady nodded and began preparing a plate of chicken momos for her. Bhairavi looked around the village market, lost in thought.

She had wanted Samanya to move about and look shady, but she had not been very honest about her decision to disguise herself and go to the market. She was not here to buy things she needed. She was out here for two reasons, one, she did not want to stay locked in the room, and two, she wanted some closure.

The last time she had been in Aritar, it had been a wonderful holiday with her beloved Maa and Baba. But this time she was here to avenge them. Last time they had only gone to the tourist spots and enjoyed themselves as tourists. This time, she wanted to mingle among the locals, and feel the essence of the place, for her heart was burning in righteous anger and she had to temper the flames, keep herself calm, till the right moment.

"Here, madam. That's 40 rupees." Bhairavi paid the lady and took the metal plate. It had a bowl of chicken stock soup, eight pieces of chicken momos, and a small cup of spicy red sauce. After blowing on the steaming momos for a while, she could wait no longer and forked a piece. Dipping it into the red sauce, she bit into it before her eyes watered at the feel of the heat.

Damn, she could conjure flaming darts but not eat piping hot momos, the irony! After her tongue got accustomed to the heat and felt semi numb, she spooned some of the lukewarm soup to soothe the poor muscle before attempting another bite.

This time, she felt the full burst of flavor. The soft, outer covering of flour and the spicy, tangy sauce made her tastebuds water while the juicy chicken caressed her tongue before sliding down her throat. Softly moaning at the delicious taste with closed eyes, she opened them to lock eyes with a curious, teenage Rakshasi.

The sudden appearance startled her enough to make the food go down her windpipe and she started to cough violently, her eyes watering from the burning and chaffing in her trachea. "Here, aunty. Sorry for startling you. Please have some water."

A stunned and gasping Bhairavi took the offered bottle and drank from it, while her mind wildly attempted to concentrate on the piece she had half choked upon and remove it. After a couple of sips, she managed to calm down and focus on the piece stuck in her windpipe. It immediately shot up the way it had come down and she spit it out into the plate, heaving a sigh of relief.

'Thank you,' she signed before realising the Rakshasi would not understand ASL. Fumbling for her notebook, she took it out and wrote, 'Thank you so much!' The Rakshasi smiled widely, "You're welcome, aunty. I am so sorry for scaring you. It's just, you look so pretty and exotic, I couldn't help but stare."

Bhairavi was very surprised by her politeness and sweetness, as well as the fact that she could see her real appearance without the girl realising it. 'Oh no, don't apologize. I was just taken aback. Thank you so much, that's very sweet of you.' She decided to play along and see if the girl was lying.

She focused on her necklace and probed into the girl's mind. She felt scattered thoughts....Wow she is so pretty and has green eyes....I wonder why she doesn't talk....Is she mute...I hope I didn't scare her with my real looks....Why can't I manipulate the Maya well...the locals are used to my appearance but what if she thinks I am a freak...Oh God, Maa will be so angry that I left her side and talked to a stranger...and Bhairavi zoned out of her mind, satisfied. The girl was innocent.

"I am sorry if my appearance surprised you. I just have a rare and weird skin disorder, that's why my skin appears yellow with mottled patches of pink. My yellow eyes and long nails are a part of it," the teenage girl explained, looking down while speaking.

Bhairavi realised she was very insecure about her inability to manipulate Maya, and decided to cheer her up. She wrote, 'What do you mean!? You appear normal and pretty to me. Is this a new joke that you play on tourists? I am confused!' Along with it, she tried something new, she tried to manipulate the Maya around the girl, so that she appeared normal to her.

She was rewarded with a look of incredulous joy. A quick probe into her mind further satisfied her...Oh my God...I was able to manipulate the Maya....she actually saw me as a pretty normal girl...I can't believe it...Maa is going to be so proud...yessss. "Oh yes, uhm, that was...a dare actually! Yes, a dare my friends had put me up to. I'm so sorry, again. It was just innocent fun. I hope you don't mind," the girl said, grinning and trying hard to control her happiness.

'Aww. Alright. No issues. I am here for a couple of days...on honeymoon. My husband has gone to buy some...some honey,' Bhairavi miserably lied. But the girl was too happy to catch on, "Aww, that's adorable. I hope you have a lovely honeymoon. Your husband is lucky to have someone so beautiful. See you around, aunty. Bye!"

The girl left, skipping, while Bhairavi stared after her before shaking her head and shutting the notebook. After eating the now-cold momos, she started walking towards the other shops, but her mind could not forget the girl. Samanya wasn't the only kind Rakshasa, this teenage Rakshasi was proof of it.

Her parents might have been killed by Rakshasas, but that didn't mean all the Rakshasas on earth were to blame for that. The evil ones were. Jaragarbha and his evil sons wouldn't be spared, but she knew now that she had no bad blood with the other Rakshasas. Not if they were half as nice as that girl.

Bhairavi spent the rest of her time visiting different shops. There were stalls selling food, snacks, vegetables, fruits, spices, as well as shops selling decorative items, Buddha statues, dream catchers, and other beautiful souvenirs. Her eye caught a beautiful, elaborate dream catcher made of white and purple feathers. "It keeps the nightmares away," the man selling it explained.

Bhairavi bought three of them, one with pink feathers, one with red and yellow ones, along with the white and purple one. Finally, tired of walking, she decided to buy a cup of coffee from a small tea stall and sat on a bench. It was almost seven and the shops were slowly closing up for the day. Darkness had fallen and there was a chill in the air.

Bhairavi sipped on her coffee and looked around, appreciating the peace and beauty of the place. Her nape had prickled plenty of times, alerting her of people walking by who were not what they appeared to be. But her disguise was perfect and no one saw through it. After she finished her coffee, she got up and started walking towards the momo stall. It had shut long ago but Samanya was waiting for her.

'I hope I didn't keep you waiting. Come on, let's walk towards the home-stay. Pretend we're strangers till we enter it,' she said and saw him nod his head, almost imperceptibly.

After she reached and entered their suite, she sat and waited for Samanya. A few moments later, he came and locked the door. 'So...how was it?' she asked, smiling.

"Well, I can only hope they bought it," Samanya sighed, "I bought all the things you suggested, and moved around sneakily, especially when I saw some Rakshasas at a distance. Anyway, how did you spend the time? I see you did some shopping."

'Oh yes. Found some really pretty dream catchers. Had some momos as well...they were delicious!' For some reason, Bhairavi didn't feel like sharing her encounter with the girl. It felt like a nice, personal memory of hers, and the girl had posed no threat. She didn't want to worry him unnecessarily.

"Momos, huh? Yes, that momo stall sells the best momo in Aritar. It is also the only momo stall in Aritar, which is beside the point."

Bhairavi chuckled on hearing that, 'But all the walking has made me really hungry. Let's order dinner, and turn in early? We got a big day ahead of us, tomorrow. '

"Absolutely. I am starving! For unlike someone who had momos, I was munching on thin air," Samanya said dramatically, before holding his stomach.

Bhairavi smiled wryly before shaking her head, 'How do you feel about chicken chow mein and kung pao chicken?'

"I am already salivating! I'll go place the order right away while you can freshen up," Samanya declared and stood up.

'Why do I have to freshen up? I can go and order for a change, it was my idea!' Bhairavi exclaimed. She was secretly hoping to get a chance to pay for their dinner and maybe even pay for their breakfast in advance.

"Because you're dressed like my hot aunt, not my young wife," Samanya said, winking, before running out to give the order, giving her no opportunity to reply with a sharp retort.

Bhairavi slapped her forehead and ruefully smiled. Dang, she needed to up her game!

A/N

Hey, my lovelies! It took me a long time to realise that this chapter had not been uploaded and I decided to upload it now as I felt it was important for the development of the story as well as the sequel *wink wink*. Don't forget to vote and comment, looking forward to hear your views.

XOXO
Kaushiki