38

Sensitive content ahead. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Khushi

Did Arnav kill Vivansh?

It is the first question to cross my mind when I hear Ridvansh. I also feel guilty because if Arnav really did kill him, it is due to my lie.

Vivansh did not deserve to die.

Yes, he betrayed me, but he did not deserve death.

I look as Ridvansh hugs Anjali and starts crying, and she hugs him back, soothingly running her hands over his back.

"Where did they find Vivansh?" Anjali asks after a few seconds when she breaks the hug.

"They didn't find the whole body. In fact, an arm was sent to the police station, along with a pen drive with the video of Vivansh saying that his life is in danger because of me," Ridvansh says, and I immediately notice a shift in Anjali's expression.

Just a minute ago, it was sympathetic, but now it is calculative with a hint of anger.

"And you are telling me this now? After wasting all these minutes crying?" She asks Ridvansh.

"I just got the news of my brother's death. How can you be angry that I cried because of that? And about that video, of course, it is false. I did not kill my brother, and police will see right through it," Ridvansh tells Anjali, but she shakes her head.

"How thick are you, Ridvansh? Do you think whoever did this would not have made an elaborate plan to trap you? If he was able to get Vivansh to say in the video that his brother wants to kill him, he should have made other arrangements too to trap you," Anjali says to Ridvansh, and I find myself nodding.

Of course, Arnav would do that. After all, because of my fake miscarriage story, his main target is Ridvansh.

"Look, there is no need-" Ridvansh starts to say, but his phone rings again, interrupting him.

Walking to pick up the phone where he had thrown it earlier, Ridvansh frowns when he looks at the screen before receiving the call.

Anjali looks on, slightly anxious, as Ridvansh talks on the phone.

And I try to move my hand to see if I can loosen the wire binding my wrists, but I hiss and stop immediately when it slightly cuts my wrists.

The very next second, I see Anjali limping toward me.

She must have heard me hiss in pain.

Before Ridvansh gave her the news of Vivansh's death, there was more amusement in her eyes when she looked at me, gagged and tied, but now, I can see more anger and a dangerous glint in her eyes.

I feel my mouth go dry when she sits on the floor in front of me.

"I thought I would keep you alive for a whole year, but I guess we will have to take care of you by tonight. After all, now that a few things are unraveling, I need to tie all the loose ends to prevent those unraveled things from getting to me," she says, grabbing my throat and pressing on it, cutting my air supply.

Clutching my throat, she presses me back to the wall as I shake my head, frantically trying to free myself from her grip to be able to breathe.

But her grip tightens instead of loosening, and soon, I start seeing black spots in front of me, my eyes drooping as I feel my consciousness slipping away.

***********

I open my eyes, coughing and hissing as my throat feels too sore.

The latest memory I have is Anjali pressing on my throat with dangerous rage marring her face. I thought she would kill me then and there, but I am alive.

I immediately stand up from the floor as I become aware of my surroundings.

I am no longer in Arnav's room. The floor is not marbled. It is gritty, and the room is dark.

"Where am I? What is this place?" I say and get aware that I am no longer gagged.

And no longer tied too.

Although my wrists and legs sting due to the wires with which they were tightly tied together earlier, I could at least move them now.

I feel panic rising because I know Anjali and Ridvansh brought me to this place.

"And they plan to kill me tonight," I remember Anjali telling me about taking care of me tonight so she could tie all loose ends.

That remembrance causes my panic to rise further, but I take deep breaths to lessen it.

"There is no time to panic, Khushi. For now, focus on getting out of here alive," I encourage myself and take a few more deep breaths.

Although not completely vanished, I feel my anxiety lessen a bit, enough to allow me to think.

"I need to find out where I am first," I say aloud and stand from the floor.

"Ahh!" I exclaim in pain as the sting in my legs increases when I stand up.

Once on my legs, I walk slowly, trying to get to the wall and find a switch, if any, all the while trying not to get bumped into anything in the dark.

Thankfully, I find the switch and flick it to see a dim light fill the room.

As I look around, I see an unkempt large room.

The corners are filled with spider webs, the cement from the wall cracking. There is a broken cupboard in one corner with a sink and mirror beside it. And there is also a small bucket under the sink.

There is a bed slightly far from where I am standing, and it is big enough to accommodate three to four people.

As I walk toward the bed, I frown because it is not empty.

It seems like two people are sleeping on it.

'Is it Anjali and Ridvansh?' I think, hoping it to be them.

That is why I take the steel bucket from under the sink, being as quiet as possible as I slowly walk toward the bed.

If it is indeed them, I will hit their head with the bucket, kill them if necessary, and run away from here.

Anyway, these monsters deserve nothing less than death.

As I reach the bed, I see two people on it, but my eyes widen, and tears fill my eyes when I see they are not Anjali and Ridvansh.

"MAA.....PAPA....." The bucket falls from my hand as I immediately hover over them.

I know they are in a coma, so they would not wake up from my call.

But they are no longer wearing the oxygen mask, and no drips are connected to their arms. And they are awfully still, not even breathing.

"No, please, God, please, no," I pray fervently when I lower my hand to check their pulses.

But I stagger back in shock and fall on the floor when I feel their cold hands instead. There is no pulse and no warmth in their body.

"Arrgghhhhhh!!!!! Noooo!!!!!!" I wail, curling my body on the floor as raw pain shakes my entire body.

"It's your fault that you didn't wake earlier, Khushi," I hear Anjali's voice.

Sitting on the floor, I look at her with nothing but disdain and rage filling the entire fiber of my being.

But she only smirks as she sits on the chair beside the bed, looking down at me on the floor.

"Your mother died instantly when we took off her oxygen mask. But your father was holding on. He even opened his eyes for a few seconds before he died. And you know what his last word was?" She pauses for a second before continuing.

"It was your name, Khushi. Yes, he took his beloved daughter's name. It might be because he wished to see you one last time before dying. But you are such a heartless daughter. You didn't care and continued lying unconscious on the floor, and he finally lost the battle as death took him away."

Hearing Anjali, I feel such rage consume me that I stand from the floor and charge at her, not caring about anything else.

"How could you, Anjali Rathore? You killed my parents. What was their fault?" I shout as I reach her and clutch her throat. "I will kill you. I will kill you now."

No matter how hard I try to clutch, I am unable to hold on due to the wounds on my wrists from the earlier tied wires. That is why Anjali successfully frees herself from my clutch and pushes me to the floor.

She smirks as she looks at me struggling to stand up.

"I love it when my prey struggles before dying. It gives me more satisfaction," she says, leaning back on the chair.

Suddenly all my struggles cease as I lie back on the floor, looking up at the bed at my parents.

All fight leaves my body when I see their lifeless bodies.

"Why did you do it, Anjali? What was their fault?" I cry as I ask those questions.

"Well, their fault is they adopted you and then loved you. Their love for an adopted daughter is why they are dead now," she answers, and I look at her.

"Hmm, I will be generous today. Ridvansh has gone out to station his men properly so that they can alert us about anything suspicious. Hence, I have about thirty minutes to answer your questions.

"Ask whatever you want to. That way, you will at least die peacefully tonight," she says, rubbing her hands excitedly.

"Do you know what we have planned for you today?" she asks but continues without waiting for my reply. "Once Ridvansh is back, we will tie you to the bed. Of course, we will throw the two bodies into the other room because there is no room for five people on the bed.

"And when you are properly tied, Ridvansh will first have his way with you. Then, he and I will make love with you tied right beside us. After that, we will have fun torturing you before finally giving you the sweet release of death."

The way she is talking, the crazy expression marring her face, I realize then that she is a deranged woman--an evil monster who needs to be either imprisoned or killed soon. If not, she will kill many other innocents.

I refuse to be killed by this mad woman. I need to find a way to escape.

With that thought in mind, I ask her the first question. "What is this place, Anjali? Where have you brought me?"

Hearing my question, she looks at me with surprise. "You said you knew about the moon house. So, why are you asking what place is this?"

She walks closer to me, and I shiver at the dangerous look on her face. "Did you lie to me that night, Khushi?" She tightly clutches my hair and yanks it back, making me cry out in pain.

"No. I didn't lie," I say, and she releases my hair. "I knew about the moon house because you mentioned it to Anusha. She had recorded a video of your conversation, which is the evidence I was talking about."

"Where is it?" She asks, and I shake my head.

"I won't tell you. You are anyway going to kill me now, and that is the only thing that can provide me and all the other victims justice," I reply, and she sneers at me.

"I don't care about that evidence anymore. As it is, Ridvansh and I are on the run after Vivansh's death. That idiot blabbered about a location in that video sent to the police where we have kept the memoirs from our victims.

"With that incriminating evidence, police are searching for Ridvansh, and if he got caught, I would be in trouble too. Therefore, even if that evidence comes to light, it can't harm us more than Vivansh's stupidity already has.

"So, we decided to have one last fun with you tonight before going into hiding. Then, we will wait a few years to let this investigation turn cold. After that, we will be back with a bang," Anjali tells me confidently.

"No matter how much you try, Anjali. You won't be able to keep escaping from getting punished forever. One way or the other, your disgusting crimes and their consequences will catch up with you soon," I say to provoke her.

Her one second of distraction is all I need to run and get the bucket which is on the floor at a small distance from me.

Once I get it, I will hit Anjali with it and run away.

But instead of getting provoked, Anjali only smiles at me.

"You are wrong, Khushi. I won't get the punishment. Do you know why?" she asks. "Because Arnav will help me. He loves me too much to let me get imprisoned."

I shake my head, thinking about Arnav. He will really do that for his sister, even after finding out about her crimes.

I look up to say something to Anjali when I see a silhouette outside the window.

'Is he really here?' I think, but school my expression, not to let Anjali get suspicious.

After a quick thinking, I understand what I need to do next.

This can be my one chance to walk out of here alive.

"Arnav won't help you if he finds out you are the one who killed his parents," I say and feel satisfied seeing a shocked look on Anjali's face.

"How did you know?" She asks, and Arnav stops at the threshold. Although he is at a distance, I can still see shock marring his face.

I do not know how he found the address of this place and what he is doing here, but I am glad he came.

Now, it is time for the endgame.

"You hinted about it to Anusha while you were confessing your crimes to her. Still, I was in doubt because I could not fathom a daughter killing her parents. But you did it, didn't you?" I ask, and a smirk replaces Anjali's shock.

"Just that?" She says, her stance relaxing. "Well, it doesn't matter then. Arnav is such a fool that he will never understand it. Also, he so blindly loves and trusts me that he won't believe it unless I myself confess it to him. And I am never going to do that."

"But why did you do it? How could you kill your own parents, Anjali?" I ask, and she suddenly starts laughing.

"Aww, my poor Khushi," she says, between her laughter. "You don't know anything."

When her laughter subsides after a few seconds, she looks at me, suddenly serious. "You have no idea who you are dealing with," she says, standing from the floor and limping toward the chair to sit on it.

Once she is seated, she looks as if she is contemplating something before finally reaching a decision.

"I will tell you a secret tonight, Khushi. A secret that no one knows except me and Ridvansh," she begins. "Do you want to know what it is?"

I nod, my heart thudding faster as I look at her.

"The first girl I ever killed, my first ever victim, was none other than Anjali Rathore," she says, and I gasp loudly in shock.