Vasisht made her comfortable in his room and went to the kitchen to fetch coffee for the two.

He returned to find her hugging her knees, lost somewhere. But the fragrance of fresh caffeine brought her back.

She smiled, taking the cup from his hand.

"I'm sorry, my house is very small compared to yours...and..this is the only room. Please feel free to tell me if you don't feel good.." he confessed.

She smiled again and nodded her head. She did feel a lot safer around him.

Vasisht had a strong urge to know what exactly had happened, because he knew she couldn't stay with him for long. She had to go back one day, and he wanted her to go smiling. But nevertheless, he chose not to question.

NEXT DAY

Vasisht went through the report of a newborn when his cell rang, unknown number.

"Hello? Who's this?"

"Vasisht? This is Dr. Manjula, Aru's friend..."

"Ohh! Hello doctor "

"Is Arundhati alright now? She had called yesterday and hysterically cried, she told me nothing...but when I went to visit her this morning, her maid told me that you took her. She's not picking my calls now, so I called you to ask whether everything is fine..."

"Yes doctor. There was an emergency that night, when I went to pick her up, I found her in a very bad state. Unfortunately the baby she delivered that night couldn't survive either. Then again, when I visited her in the morning, she was terrified of something and requested me to take her. I wanted to meet you otherwise too, I heard you are a psychiatrist. I doubt whether she's hallucinating because of the baby's death...or because something happened with her..."

"Please don't get me wrong Vasisht. But as much as I know Aru, she hardly gets attached to anyone, but lately, she spoke much about you...if we could meet in person, I would want to share something important..."

"Sure doctor. Message me the address. I'll be there. "

************
Arundhati massaged her straining head. She had applied a leave as she felt uncomfortable. She had already explored his house in the morning and now was left with no work.
She sat on the couch, and thoughts drifted.

She had to go back. She, being a single woman of marriageable age could definitely not stay with this unmarried man. But she didn't wish to go back either, not back to that wretched place which tortured her to death.

A lone tear escaped from her eye when a loud cry filled her ears.

She immediately got up and searched for the source of sound, but in vain.

Cries of an infant, the sound she cherished the most had become her nightmare now.

As she frantically searched the little place, the sound subsided, and stopped, as if the mother had pacified her little child.

She found herself sweating hard. Her throat had dried. And her limbs had become numb.

She again wondered whether was it her hallucination, or was she really experiencing something supernatural.
She took a cab and rushed to her home.

The door went unanswered for the tenth time. "The maid must have gone on a holiday !" She cursed in mind as she climbed the pillar to fetch the spare key kept inside the window.

A horror awaited her as she pushed the door open. Her maid lay dead, her throat was sliced and blood had coloured the carpets.

***************
Vasisht checked his phone when it notified him again. He mentally noted the address Manjula sent him and fetched his car key from his bag.

When he settled in the car, his phone rang again, this time, it was Surya.

"Surya? Is everything alright? Did you find Sanvi?" Vasisht asked in a single breath.

"Sanvi..Sanvi attempted suicide...she's no more.." chocked Surya from the other end.
__________

I hope you liked the chapter. New decisions, new realisations, new deaths.