Song of the chapter is
Still Wild by La Mar

-48-
-Himanshu Arora-
-Present-

_________

Delmore Local Area
6 December, 2030
5:00 pm

As my eyes remained glued to the decapitated corpse of Saina's husband casually strewn across the yellow cadaver bag, bile threatened to rise up my throat.

For a moment, I almost felt like I was going to faint.

If the scene had disturbed me so much, I only wondered how much it would've traumatized Saina....to watch it happen in real time.

The adrenaline pumping through my veins had simmered down into dread- my stomach lurched. I tore my gaze away from the cadaver bag and onto the paramedic who was now talking to Saina and Siya. Saina had a safety blanket wrapped around her as she sat there, unresponsive and shaking.

My heart broke for her.

"Himanshu?" Zoya's voice echoed beside me, breaking my trance. I looked to the side and found her standing along with Ronnie.

"Are you guys okay?" I inquired.

"Yeah," Zoya began and exchanged a look with Ronnie. "Now."

"What do you mean?" I voiced my confusion.

Zoya sighed and looked back at me. "We were attacked too."

"What?"

"Relax. We're fine." Ronnie immediately added, to calm me down. I looked at her with bewilderment.

"What do you mean you were attacked?" I asked. "Was it the same guy who did that to Gautam?"

"No, it wasn't." Zoya said, massaging her neck. "It was some other asshole. Saina's husband was attacked at the same time we were."

"So there's no chance that it was the same person." Ronnie completed.

"Wait..." I realised with horror. "So that means...."

"There's more than one killer."

_____________

Once the weight of my dreaded realisation had subsided, I had decided to inform the rest about the same. But Zoya had then insisted that Saina wasn't exactly in the right place to hear  such a news and thus, it was mutually agreed that we would tell the rest of the gang later.

As Zoya made her way towards the ambulance where Saina and Siya were seated, leaving Ronnie and me by ourselves, I finally noticed the gush of blood on her forehead.

"Ronnie..." I began, my worry evident in my voice. She looked up at me. "Hm?"

"You're bleeding." I said as I extended my hand to touch her forehead but stopped midway.

"Here." Handing her my handkerchief, I watched as she slowly dabbed it across the wound.

"Thanks."

"Are you sure you're not hurt anywhere else?" I asked.

She nodded negatively, her lips pursued into a thin line. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and breathed a sigh.

"Is there something else you wanna say?" She asked after a long pause.

"Huh?"

"Um.... you have that look on your face right now."

"What look?"

"That look that you have when you have a lot of questions but aren't sure which one to ask first.....so you just stand silently and wait for the other person to answer your inquires without you having to ask them."

I stared at her in surprise. As realisation dawned on her, she simply pressed her lips together and gave me a sheepish smile.

"I babbled too much, didn't I?"

"Yeah." I almost chuckled. "I mean.... it's refreshing to see your growth. When we were kids, I thought you were incapable of speaking more than five words."

She smiled shyly and looked at her feet.

"And you're right about me having a lot of questions....but I think it's better all of us get a little rest after today's fiasco. We can discuss about it tomorrow, don't worry."

"Yeah, you're right." She said and looked back at the ambulance where Saina was seated along with the rest of our friends. "Saina needs us right now. We should probably take her home."

I nodded as she looked back at me. "I'll head home too."

"See you later."

I gave her a tight lipped smile and walked back to my car. As I was about to get in, my phone suddenly started buzzing in my pocket. Fearing a call from the killer, I fished it out with trembling hands and looked at the caller id.

My would-be father in law's name flashed across the screen.

My brows knitted in place.

Without giving it another thought, I picked it up and on the other side, a bright male voice chirped.

"How is my future son in law doing?!"

"Dad?" I asked, genuine confusion laced in my tone. "Are you alright? How are you doing? Did you get discharged?"

"What would happen to me, beta (son)?" He spoke on the other end, equally confused at my question. "I'm perfectly fine. And discharged from where?"

"But Dhrashti had said....that you suffered from a stroke only a few days ago. I was just surprised they had let you out of the hospital so soon. Dhrashti had said you were under critical surveillance due to your fragile state." I explained my confusion.

"Stroke?"

The man's gentle, reassuring tone I had grown accustomed to was now tinged with a hint of confusion and surprise. It was as if he had stumbled upon a secret, one that would soon shatter the illusion I had been living in.

"Himanshu," he said, his voice wavering slightly, "I need to tell you something important. Something that Dhrashti has kept from you."

My heart skipped a beat, and a knot formed in my stomach. What could he possibly be talking about? I braced myself for the revelation that was about to follow.

"I never had a stroke, Himanshu," he continued, his voice filled with a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. "I don't know why Dhrashti would tell you such a thing. I've been in good health all along."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. I felt my legs weaken. The room around me blurred, and all I could focus on was the weight of this revelation crushing down on me. How could Dhrashti lie to me about something so significant, something that affected her own father's well-being?

A whirlwind of emotions swirled within me—confusion, anger, and a profound sense of betrayal. I struggled to find my voice, but eventually, the words managed to escape my trembling lips.

"Why? Why would she lie about something like that?" I asked, my voice quivering with a mix of hurt and frustration.

Mr. Bhalla sighed heavily on the other end of the line.

"I don't have all the answers, Himanshu. Perhaps Dhrashti had her reasons,.....but she must be the one to explain them to you."

As I absorbed his words, a sense of clarity emerged amidst the chaos of my emotions. I realized that I needed to confront Dhrashti.

As I hung up the phone, my mind now consumed by the conversation, I felt betrayed. I knew I would have to find the strength to confront Dhrashti, to seek the truth and understand the motive behind her lie.

For better or for worse.

______________

My body shivered with rage as I parked my car in my driveway and walked towards the front door.

As soon as the door unbolted, a worried Dhrashti walked up to me and engulfed me in a hug.

"Gosh, Himanshu! I was just about to call you." She said as she moved back. "I just heard the news about what happened. Are you okay?"

I inhaled heavily as I pushed past her and walked inside my house. Keeping my bag on the couch, I turned to face her.

"Are you not gonna answer me?" She demanded, walking towards to me.

"You lied."

She stopped in her tracks at once. "What?"

"Why did you lie to me?"

Her eyelids flickered for split seconds before resting on a shade of confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You said.....that your dad was sick." I stated, trying my best to remain calm. "I just got off a call with him. He seemed perfectly fine. Infact....when I asked him whether he had already recovered from his stroke, he seemed confused and asked me....which stroke I was talking about."

She remained silent.

"Why would lie about such a thing, Dhrashti?" I cut her off, asking. Rags filled my bones as I watched her pace around the house.

"I....just.... I didn't know what else to do." She finally answered.

"What do you mean?"

She licked her lips and looked at me with glistening eyes. "I heard your conversation with your mother the day they left for Delhi...."

I paused, trying to recall what exactly had happened in that conversation that forced Dhrashti to take such a drastic step.

"You said....that you made a big mistake by asking me to marry you." She said, seeing the confusion in my eyes. "And it broke my heart, Himanshu."

This time, I remained quiet.

"I knew you were going to break off our engagement." She continued, teary eyed. "I just.... I had to do something. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you."

I scoffed in disbelief.

"And this was your way of doing that? By lying to me about your dad? Deceiving me like this?"

"I didn't want to do this, Himanshu. But you left no choice."

"You always have a choice, Dhrashti." I uttered, with determination.

"Really? Then tell me this honestly. If I had asked you to forget about that girl and be happy with me, would you have just agreed?" She questioned, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Why is Veronica coming in this?" I demanded.

"She's always been in this, Himanshu. From the day we came here, I knew that there were three people in this relationship!" She lashed out.

"So if you knew that, then why would you still wanna be with me?" I asked, my voice breaking as I did.

"Because I love you!"

"No, you don't!" I retorted. "You don't love me, Dhrashti."

"That's not true."

"It is. Even if it's a bitter pill to swallow, this is the truth." I said. "You like the idea of me that I created two years back. You like being seen with me. But you don't love me!"

She bit her lips, weeping.

"And I'm really really sorry that..... I asked you to marry me even though I knew I could never be in love with you." I apologized, moving a step forward. "But Dhrashti, you have to understand that....we just.... aren't meant for each other."

She closed her eyes and moved away towards the window, weeping silently.

"You're a great person, Dhrashti.... it's just...."

"Don't." She said sternly, without deigning me a look. "Don't patronize me."

I took that as my cue to remain silent. A long silence followed before she looked back at me and said,

"You know.... you'll never be happy with her."

I furrowed my brows.

"You really think you'll be able to save her from her demons, don't you? But what you don't realise is that she is damaged already. And it's only gonna get worse from here."

She scoffed, laughing as she wiped her tears.

"You think you'll dump me and just go on to have your happily ever after with her? No fucking way. You'll never be happy with her! You'll never have peace. She'll leave again and only then you'll realise how big of a mistake you made today."

It took me my everything to remain silent. She was angry and she had every right to vent that out. But that was reserved for me and me alone.

Not Veronica.

"And when that happens, I will be there to remind you of your mistake. You'll regret this, Himanshu Arora. I swear you will."

I looked away, inhaling to keep my composure.

"And so will she."

I passed a glare in her direction instantly, leading her eyes to stagger slightly.

"Say what you want to me, Dhrashti. I'm the person who's at fault here. Don't blame Veronica for this. She didn't do anything."

"I'll blame whoever I want to." She retorted, her head held high. "She's equally at fault here. Despite knowing that you're engaged, she had the audacity to slum it up with you."

"Dhrashti please-"

"And not only that, she tried to brainwash you against me by manipulating your feelings. Because think about it, Himanshu. Before coming to Delmore, we were just fine. Happy even! But then as soon as we arrived here, it all changed. You started getting distant and lost interest in our relationship! How do you explain that?"

I sighed, caressing my head. There was no point in arguing with her. She would never understand.

"Admit it, Himanshu! Your little girlfriend is nothing but a trashy whore who likes to milk her trauma to get things that aren't hers to have!"

"Dhrashti!"

Thunder boomed at the exact moment as my throat throbbed with pain. I had never heard my voice quite so loud but for some reason, it didn't feel as out of place considering her words.

"Not another word against Veronica." I warned, my rage evident in my voice. "You know....you were right when you said I was fine with being in this relationship with you for some moments.... because I thought that maybe I could really see myself being together with you. But no.... I was wrong."

"And it's not just because I have feelings for Veronica or that we aren't compatible for each other. Our relationship was already long gone...when you decided to lie about your sick father just to get me to stay in this unhappy relationship."

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"That's not love, Dhrashti. That's obsession."

She looked away arrogantly.

"You think you understand what love is? You don't. Love is unconditional, without any bounds and restrictions. Love is freeing, love is indefinable! It doesn't have all of these deceptions and limitations." I explain. "Love is knowing that you're in love with someone and still being able to let them go just so that they could be happy."

"That's true love. And that's what Veronica did....when she saw us together for the first time. She congratulated me on our engagement....despite being in love with me.... because she was content with just the idea of me being happy in life." I continued, breaking down. My eyes welled up more as I went on. "She just....wanted me to be happy. That's true love."

"And you know why I can say all of these things for sure?.... because.... I did the same for her...eleven years ago. When she moved away....in order to get to a better place mentally,.... I let her go. I could've asked her to stay....but I didn't. It hurt me more than hell.... but I let her go... because I knew....that was where her happiness was." I said. "Because this is what we do for each other."

"There's no one in this world that could love Veronica more than me....and there's no one who could love me more than Veronica." I said with determination, tears streaming down my face. "No truth in this world would ever change that."

Her face had returned to its natural glaring look as she stared at me with rage filled eyes.

"So the next time you decide to say anything about her....think twice." I said as I took a step towards her, returning her glare. "Because the next time.... I won't just stand still and let you say all these vile things about the woman I love."

She gulped visibly before trudging towards my room. Minutes later, she walked out of there, with her suitcases intact and without so much as deigning me another look, she grudgingly walked out of the house.

A silent sigh escaped my lips as I collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion. As another lone tear escaped my eyes, I slowly fished out my phone from my pocket and dialled her number.

After two agonizing rings, she picked up.

"Ronnie?"

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this....was a chapter.

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