Maya; illusion.

°°°

p a s t : 1 1

WHEN VIRAT WAS VERY SMALL, he was told good things happen to good people. He believed it was true because they were his mother's words and his mother never lied.

He was shaking violently in his room which was drowned in darkness. He couldn't hear anything, smell anything, see anything but the eleven year old tried his best. He tried telling himself he was at home, that he was in a place where he was loved and he loved the people back. But his brain didn't want to understand anything.

And his hands on the other hand, traced the tangible bruises on his neck.

He shuddered when he heard the door click open. "Is this punishment enough for today or you want more?"

Virat couldn't see his face but frowned. He could hear his mother's wracked sobs from behind. He wished she could leave this ravenous shell of a man who knew nothing more than possession and dominance. He wished a lot of things, but there was no point.

Because good things happen to good people only.

Virat was bad. Very bad, he thought to himself. As long as the sinful blood ran in his veins, he was bad.

He silently trudged his way out of the room, and walked downstairs, silent.

Silent, as long as he didn't have anyone else in the world.

°°°

IF LIFE WAS SHITTY AT HOME, Virat wondered how it was at school. He wasn't exactly lonely there if a toxic and self-obsessed friend could be counted.

Virat knew Kunal was toxic since fourth grade when he had hit him with his metallic water-bottle on the head when his 'cool' friend persisted. The attack had left him with a bleeding head which could be only fixed with six long stitches.

He thought things were okay between them a week later when Kunal came back with a curt sorry. Virat thought it was better to have him back than being labelled as a loner in the school. He wished the move was as calculative as he thought, because the truth was he missed Kunal.

He was his only friend. To only him, that is.

As they grew, the bullying became serious, and Virat would often find himself silently suffering because he was used to it. He was used to feeling dead inside; feeling thousands of emotions all at once and he couldn't help but drown in them.

He thought he deserved it anyway. Because good things happen to good people only.

°°°

IT WERE THE SCREAMS that awakened Virat. It were high pitched and feral, eerie in the stillness of the night, and it was not until he sat up in bed that he realized the screams belonged from outside.

He hurried outside, and saw the pitch of the screams increasing; the sharpness of it could actually slice his heart. When he reached near his favorite spot - a cliff along side the deep waters - he saw a girl drowning inside it.

He jumped in the freezing water to save her. He wondered how his tiny self managed to do it so well but his brain stopped working when he saw the girls' cheeks turning a darker shade of crimson.

"Thanks for saving my life," she mumbled, squeezing her tiny arms together.

"Your welcome and take care." Virat smiled in return. To him it all seemed a little funny; saving a girl from drowning because it had not been too long since he had read Hamlet and the scene were Ophelia was committing suicide due to her battle against depression.

Maya seemed a lot like Ophelia to him.

°°°

p a s t : 1 2

AFTER ANOTHER DAY of torture at school, Virat was walking back home alone when he saw Maya standing near the gate of the park. "Hey, Virat!"

"Hey, Maya."

Virat shook his head wondering "how he knew her name? how she knew his name?" He pushed the thoughts away. "I'll drop you till home, yeah?" Maya smiled.

Virat felt more than happy. He didn't have to walk alone now. "Definitely."

That day when he reached home he was happy because he had someone to hear him out too.

Virat was surprised when his mother didn't ask him about his little new friend but he couldn't care less. He had a lot of things to talk about to Maya.

That day Virat shared his stories with Maya. How his mother would often bear the brunt of his abusive dad, and whenever he tried stepping between, he would beat him too. He showed her his bruises. Each scar on his body had a story of its own.

He also told her about Kunal who he had started loathing. That now, he was constantly being targeted by him and his friends for his rebellious behavior.

Maya listened to him silently. She was different from the others, Virat thought. She just didn't listen, she felt what he felt too.

"You know, everyone's a lot stronger than they think they are."

Virat smiled. He wouldn't smile often, but whenever he did, anyone could see the entire universe in the dilating iris of his with a tiny black hole in the middle. They were gorgeous, and Virat could see Maya coming a little closer to the center of them.

"Virat who are you talking to?" Virat's mother snapped at him, with an amused smile.

Virat peeked a glance at her, and runted. "It's my friend!"

"Friend who?" Virat's mother came out of the kitchen, and Virat pursed his lips together in a fine line and glanced sideways.

Maya had disappeared all of a sudden. As fast as the wisps of the flame when a candle was snuffed out.

But he could hear her voice linger in his ears in a soft whisper, "I'll come back again, Virat."

°°°

HE DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE when Maya transitioned from being his life from a part of his life. His existence started fading into nothingness while Maya flourished exceedingly in those five years.

Nevertheless, he was in love with her, and wanted her to lead a good life. Not end up like him. He still wanted her to flourish.

But it was impossible with the people around her. Maya's dad was abusive, an exact carbon copy of his dad. Maya's mother was caring but submissive just like his mother. Maya had an exact bully like Kunal in her school.

Virat didn't have a life anymore. But he wanted Maya to live.

So he did what he could do the best. Convince her to finish the people around her who were hurting her or capable of hurting her. The best thing about Maya was she always listened to him.

She killed her dad.

She killed her best friend.

She killed her therapist.

And then, she killed... herself.

°°°

present : 1 7

VIRAT WOKE UP to the clinic's white walls, his eyes meeting his therapist's. He side glanced to his mom who stood there in tears, worry written all over his face.

Maya died, she wasn't real but she died and Virat felt a hollowed out paper version of himself. Writhed paper, but the surface was coarse yet to be inked. He sighed thinking how his mother would be feeling to have such a fucked up child.

"She died, I told her not to kill herself but she died." Virat muttered in a groan, sitting up on his bed. The therapist smiled at him.

"You mean the figment of your imagination died. Which means you've been taking the pills alright."

Virat gave him a curt nod. It was probably only a year back when his parents realized he was schizophrenic. Virat's mom after realizing how the association to his father had rendered Virat crazy to the point that he hardly left his room and just smiled in his own thoughts, decided to leave him.

To justify his father's disappearance, Virat made up a story in his mind. That Maya killed his dad. The liberation and happiness he felt when he saw Maya forcefully drowning his dad made him realize there was only one way out to feel okay again. Be bad, and kill everyone who seemed a hurdle.

Next came Kunal. And then the therapist who was a good man, but seemed too annoying when he kept on forcing him to take those pills.

In his imagination, he made Maya kill them all.

And the pills. Ugh. They made everything about Maya seem so real. He had practically imagined her as his soul mate in his imagination to fight the loneliness. He never wanted to feel guilty, so he made Maya do all that, manipulated her into killing their closed ones.

Nonetheless, the truth was he still loved her to pieces. Her mom, that is. He got up from the seat and walked to her, teary-eyed.

"Thank you mom, for not giving up on me." He wrapped his arms around her, eventually bursting into tears.

Everyone had a breaking point. Virat had reached the peak when he was eleven, and the only way to get out the over flow of emotions was through Maya. He fell so fast and hard, crashing down as he was caged by his own thoughts which drowned him in excess of light right after darkness and despair.

"I can never give up on you, son." her mom laid a kiss on his head.

Now the amount of light was just perfect.

It would get him going; he knew he was going to fight like hell even if life was a losing battle and be a survivor.

Because like his mother had said, good things happen to good people only.

BEGIN

oh my god, can't believe this ended, gonna miss this ngl. special mentions to annieee_18 and iiPoisonPenii who could guess the plot.

thank you to everyone who read this, there are very few I know but i love you all with all my heart.