~Reality And Illusions.~

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one," ~ Albert Einstein.

************

In Chicago, it had been more than a day full of rain. Children wanting to play outside, awaited the sun to break through the clouds, occasionally stepping outside in thin hope only to go back inside, utterly disappointed.

The rain beat down on beautiful manors, shops, the downtown, the slumps, everywhere. None of those places were spared.

Wrapped in lifeless silence, Nerina was blankly staring at a painting, present in her study. Her frame was tiredly spread all over the cozy swivel chair.

The painting was of a star. A lonely, isolated star, deceasing in the murky sky of the night.

She loves that painting. It was a masterpiece and it resembles her condition.

Lonely. Only alone. But for how long?

Maybe for forever.

She exactly didn't know.

Her gazes moved up to the ceiling. Her onyx orbs reflected her consciousness which was waning within the drowsiness caused by the sleeping pills.

Again, just like the previous ones, another day ended.

The awaiting rest had finally come to her, though she forced it to appear. She just knew without the pills she will never be able to sleep. Not after the nightmare she had faced and lived.

Everyone needed a peaceful slumber, some carefree hours of peace. She needed it too.

Sighing, she stood up, her arms trembling as she clutched the side of the table. From many years, it had always been like this. She was strong and merciless before everyone, but weak and a broken mess when no one was around.

Gathering herself together, she walked over to the door, her vulnerability leaving her the moment she stepped out, with the dangerous elegance accompanying her.

The sound of her heels was a breaker of the icy quietness as she sauntered through the vast corridors, only to halt when a voice called, completely impeding the pace of her steps.

It was Alessa who called her. Alessa Rossi, Nerina's one of the trusted ones.

"È qualcosa di importante, Alessa?" Nerina asked, slightly turning her head, giving Alessa an over-the-shoulder glance. "Se non lo è, allora vieni a trovarmi domani."

(Is it something important, Alessa?)

(If it's not, then come and see me tomorrow.)

"It's important, capo," Alessa urged, wanting to be off with the topic as fast she could. For some reason, Nerina hardly speaks Italian, but whenever she does, it means she was not pleased with something. The language warns about her off mood.

"Some days ago, I met a man," She spoke further.

"As the capo, does it also requires me to hold concerns regarding your personal life?" Nerina turned to face her, arms folded against the chest as the corner of her mouth tilted up into a smirk.

"No, capo. It's not anything personal." Alessa frowned but eased her anxiety, eyeing the smugness on Nerina's features. "That man wants to meet you. He said you won't deny and told me to tell you his name."

"And, what is his name?" Nerina interrupted her in the middle. There was a glint of amusement in her eyes. She had been ruling the American mafia for years, but this was the first time, any human had shown such audacity. Trying to approach her in such a weird way.

Either the man was a big fool with no brain, or he was just some new officer in the city, trying to track down the roots of the American Mafia.

"You shouldn't meet him. He seems suspicious."

Alessa's words provoked Nerina to raise an eyebrow. "Everyone is suspicious in here. Now, his name?"

"Tanveer Grover."

Tanveer.

"Wh...what?" The name seemed to set in her ears as the image of certain someone appeared before her eyes.

"Repeat," Nerina mumbled, a chaos beginning to churn within her.

Tanveer Grover.

That name. She had heard it, clearly. But her senses couldn't muster up the courage to pay regard to the reality. Did she hear correctly? Is it him?

Tanveer. Her husband.

The person whom she had loved.

The person for whom, somewhere she was still hoping, living as his widow, still not over with him, still wanting a life with him, desperately.

"It's Tanveer Grover, capo."

How could it happen now? Is it a coincidence?

What if it's a coincidence?!

Nerina's gazes dropped on the floor, her expressions blank, not letting out even a single hint of what tragedy the woman was through.

"Capo?"

Alessa's concerned voice pulled her senses back from the voidness.

Blinking severely, Nerina glanced at Alessa.

She had almost dropped the veil of her pretence.

Her true self almost succeeded in coming out, almost showing who really she was - a broken woman or a disaster that ruins everything making contact with its appearance?

"I want to meet that man," She spoke, again becoming the same cold-hearted woman that she had always been since the calamity of her life.

But this time, she felt a little different. With a broken sob stuck in her throat, her heart felt heavy and alive, instead of feeling void.

"Investigate him. I want every little information about him. When he reached Chicago. For how long he was staying here. Who exactly he is. His motives. His family background. I want nothing left."

"Got it, capo." Alessa nodded before walking away and vanishing through the huge but empty hallways, while Nerina just subsisted motionless in her spot, alone, after so many years feeling troubled.

---✳❇✳---

(Zaid's POV)

A man.

A man of a very strong build was yelling at someone - a boy. The boy was too young, weak, malnourished, pretty but pitiful.

Skeptical, I inspected my surroundings - an old building, a small room filled with many children, and one of them looked so familiar as if my mini version standing before me.

No, it couldn't be.

With stagnant breaths, my eyes carefully beheld the sight of resentment in the man's eyes as the wrath in his tone notched to a higher pitch while on the other side, opposite to that, in a broken voice, the young boy was mumbling something, something I exactly couldn't hear and understand.

Suddenly, a shudder galloped my frame when the man lifted his hand and slapped the boy across his face.

As expected, the next moment, blood flew from the side of the boy's mouth, in slow motion. The sight caused my heartbeats to stutter as the field of my vision seemed to become distant and blurry.

My feet stumbled back, legs slightly weak in strength.

An abrupt flash of images occurred to blind my vision as I forced my eyelids to shut close.

A crowded place. The deserted alley. Lights. The hum of traffic.

Then the dead silence, everything dousing in darkness.

My eyes flung open, fury erupting in my demeanor.

The man was again before me, and the young boy too.

Stop him. Hit it.

A voice said.

I have to hit him.

Hit him. Kill him.

I have to kill him.

Actually, I want to kill him.

I knew, now, there was madness in my eyes as I stepped closer to the man. His back was facing me, his posture not aware of his approaching death.

Silently stoping, consciously, I examined the metal rod in my hold. From where did this come?

Kill him.

Tear him from piece to piece, then trample his dirty flesh.

My gazes continuously flickered to that vicious man then to the metal rod before moving to the young boy and again shifting back to the rod.

The man, the metal rod.

The metal rod, the man.

The man, the metal rod.

The young boy, the man, his abuser.

The young boy, the man.

The man, the young boy.

The metal rod, the man.

The building, the children.

The man....the young boy.

The man, an abuser.

An abuser, the man.

The young boy - who? Me?

No!

With mad rage, I lifted my arms and smacked the metal rod on the man's head. A warm gush of adrenaline rushed through me while the screams intensified, louder and louder.

Those painful screams were a blessing.

"Scream."

One more hit and he was on the floor, groaning in pain.

"Scream, f**ker."

Another hit.

"Scream!"

I hit him brutally, again and again, not stopping until he completely went quiet and I saw the life fading from his eyes.

The sight of someone dying, a soul leaving a body. What could be more satisfying than this?

Nothing.

Nothing could be more satisfying than this inescapable phenomenon of life.

Entirely satisfied, I dropped the metal rode, my eyes searching for the children, but they were gone. I looked back at the floor, and the man was gone too.

Now, I was alone, standing in the middle of nowhere, within the cage of darkness, the scene of its foggy bars baffling me. There was a pounding in my chest, and I was not sure of anything, not knowing what I'm supposed to do now.

I'm still not done with that man. Where did that filthy piece of shit go?

What a disappointment. I wanted to peel his skin off, but he is not here anymore. I couldn't even feel the rush of his depleting pulse. It would have been so fun.

I glanced down at the red stains on my clothes. They were stained but I couldn't smell blood. I touched my face. Feeling the sticky blood, I stared at my hands, holding them up to the light seeping through the curtains from a streetlight outside. The soft glow accentuated the crimson shading my palms, magnificently. The blood was so red on my hands, not dried, still in the form of liquid.

Out of a sudden, alerted by the sound of some faint whimpers my senses gained some hope and I again picked up the rode. Someone is still here, hiding, surviving the attack of oblivion, which was seeming to pull everything away from my grasp.

The more prudent steps I took, the fainter the whimpers got. It was as if whoever it was, that human knew the danger was creeping closer.

"Hiding doesn't matter. I know you're here." I smiled, only a few steps away from that little mouse. "Do you know what I'm going to do?" Slowly, I crouched down before the piles of cardboard boxes stacked together. "First, I'm going to find you, and then..." My voice chillingly dropped when a loud cry came up.

Well done! This is going to be so fun.

"Then, I'm going to kill you."

Precipitously, I yanked the boxes away, scaring the humans. They both were children, leaned in the corner, trying to be as small as possible.

As the scared and trembling one of them faded, it didn't take me long to find out what was happening.

I'm dreaming.

"Listen, boy," I spoke as the metal rode weakly slipped out of my hold, falling on the dusty floor. "Look at me."

Again about this familiar boy.

"Are you scared?" I questioned.

He looked up at me. His eyes were empty, his face rigid. He wasn't scared. He was numb.

Numb after pain.

"Who are you?" I again asked the same question which I have asked him something like a thousand times.

He blinked, glancing behind me while I stared at him, my tolerance becoming stronger and stronger for him. I knew what he was going to say but still, hoped to hear something else.

Moving his gazes back to me, he pulled his knees closer to his chest. "Pta nahi."

(I don't know.)

Why?

My eyes snapped open and I shifted into a sitting position. My heartbeats were wild as their sound reverberated and expanded within me, appearing to beat in my ears.

Strange images flitted through my mind and I clenched my teeth together, irritated. I hate that dream.

Those dreams have been a part of my life since I opened my eyes with nothing but amnesia.

That boy, he always comes into my dreams. I don't know him, but still, he feels familiar.

He looks just like me. Why?

He couldn't be me. As far as I know, my dead mother had taken good care of me. But that child, he appears weak, abused, and starved.

In no sense, he could be me.

~Now it was the beginning, where the line between the reality and illusions was going to blur.~

If you like the chapter then please do follow me PanchiVerma

I promise, it's not going to cost you anything :-P

So, long time no see, my lovebugs. Hope you all are doing good.

Q - So, how was the chapter?

Q - Tanveer is married. How was the twist?

Guys, he was married even before he met Shravya, so if anyone was shipping Tanvya (Tanveer + Shravya) then, please stop doing that. The ship is not going to sail ಡ ͜ ʖ ಡ