Song of the chapter is
Dark In My Imagination by Of Verona

-67-
-Himanshu Arora-
-Present-

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St. Maud Theatre
22 December, 2030
3:01 am

"Welcome to Act 3."

As her sinister smile met her eyes, a horrified feeling settled in my heart.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The woman I had been engaged to, the one who I had once thought I could love, had just pulled the trigger and shot a man in front of me. The deafening silence following the gunshot echoed through the room, and the atmosphere turned thick with tension.

My heart pounded like a drum in my chest, and my voice quivered as I spoke, "Dhrashti.... you're...."

She stood there, a wicked grin on her face, as if she had just revealed a dark secret that she had been relishing. "Oh that look on your face, it's truly... priceless."

The room was frozen in disbelief. As I looked into her eyes, I saw no remorse, only a sinister satisfaction. The memories of the past flooded back - the torture, the pain, the fear that had haunted us for weeks. She had been a part of it all, and I had been oblivious to her true nature.

My friends and I exchanged horrified glances, realizing the gravity of the situation.

"Now. Let's get down to business, people." She exclaimed as two masked persons came and stood next to her. We all took a step back instinctively.

"Who are they?" I questioned.

"Enough with the questions, baby." She said, feigning sweetness. Then turning to the men, she instructed, "What are you waiting for? Tie them up already."

The two masked men moved in swift motion and grabbed us before we could make a move. Siya tried to push one away when Drashti warned, "Now Siya, do you want your husband to get the antidote or not?"

Siya stopped in her tracks and looked at her bewildered.

"If you do, then be a good girl and stand quiet."

The next four minutes were spent, trying to chain us to the metal rod at the far end of the room. Zoya and I were tied to one while Siya and Saina were tied to another. Dhrashti dragged Kartik by the collar and threw him on a chair while one of her helpers chained him up as well.

"Okay, you bimbo. Now we're tied up and can't move, so you've accomplished your goal." Zoya lamented. "Now could you please elaborate on why you're involved in all this?"

"Of course, I will. I have only been waiting for this moment for the past two months!" Dhrashti exclaimed. "But first, let's treat your friend here."

One of the masked men handed her a syringe which she slowly and carefully inserted in Kartik's arm. He groaned slightly as the needle poked him.

"Kartik, it's- okay, it's okay. We're here! I'm right here!" Siya yelled from the other side.

He coughed up frantically seconds later. I felt Zoya's little finger nudging me. I tried to lean towards her to hear whatever plan was brewing on her mind.

"Himanshu, I'm gonna try to untie your wrists with this." Saying that, she handed me a sharp object, which seemed like a blade.

"Where'd you get this?" I whispered.

"I'm not as stupid as your ex-girlfriend. I always carry stuff up my sleeve." She whispered back. "Now, just try to keep her distracted and I'll try to cut yours."

"Okay." I responded.

"Are you two done busy chit-chatting over there or should I wait for you to complete so I can start my monologue?" Dhrashti lamented loudly as her one of her helpers finished tying Kartik up to the chair.

"Well atleast she's self-aware." Zoya muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Just get over with your speech, bitch." Zoya faked a smile, which wasn't received as graciously by the other side.

"If only I could shut your filthy mouth forever." Dhrashti said sadistically, tilting her head to the side. "Oh wait! I can do that."

Seconds later, one of her helpers out duct tape over Zoya's lips. Her muffled screams and curses was enough evidence of how enraged and helpless she felt at the moment.

"Why are you doing this, Dhrashti?" I questioned, with a blank slate for a mind. "Why would you torture us like this? You're not a bad person. Then what drove you to do all of this?"

"Well the simplest answer....is you."

"What?"

"Don't you understand, baby? I've always wanted only one thing in life....that is a perfect relationship. And when I met you....it was like that was it for me." She explained, scratching her forehead with the gun's barrel.

"But you never understood my love for you. You never appreciated it."

My eyes widened as my heart sank in its place. "What do you mean?"

"From the very beginning, the very moment I saw you in college, I knew that you were my soulmate. You were everything I ever wanted in a partner. You ticked all the boxes."

"What do you mean when you saw me in college? But we met two years ago-"

"That's the thing." She chuckled. "You met me two years back. But I have known you since the past seven years."

As that revelation hung in the air for a solid moment, I felt everything slipping away. Everything I had ever known about her was a complete and utter lie.

"Back in college you hardly ever had time for anyone. It was just you and your books and of course,....your weird obsession with that fucking cunt."

"Don't-"

"What? Does it sting? When I call your ‘wife’ what she actually is?" She glared at me.

I took a deep breath as I met her gaze. "So that's why you fucking did it? Cause you were obsessed with me?"

"Don't call it that." She uttered with gritted teeth as she moved her gaze away. "It was love."

"No, it fucking isn't." Saina yelled.

"Shut up!" Dhrashti retorted. "Shut up or you'll regret it."

I could feel Zoya's efforts making progress making me realise that I needed to stall her a bit more.

"What did you do for the five years before you officially introduced yourself to me?" I asked.

"I made every single effort for you to notice me." She said, her face crumpling slightly. "I turned myself into a version of myself that you would like. I spent countless hours crafting a persona that would make you fall in love instantly."

I internally cringed at her words but there was no way I could show that. For that solid moment, I was quite glad that Ronnie wasn't present with us.

Because heaven knows what she would've done to her out of her spite.

"And see...you did love me! You loved me enough to put a ring on my finger. I was your everything." She expressed happily.

I could practically hear Zoya's muffled laugh from the other side.

"But then.... everything changed....the moment you came back here."

I hung my head in guilt and desperation. I didn't know how many countless lifetimes I would need to apologise to my friends for the pain that I had caused.

"That cunt....she lured you in again. Made you forget all about me." She mumbled like a madwoman. My heartbeat quickened.

"You started neglecting me at first. But I was willing to let that go. Then you started taking her side in every single argument that we had! You started spending time with her, ignoring me and leaving me to spend my entire fucking day with your boring old parents!"

"Dhrashti-"

"And then you told me that you still loved her. That was the last straw for me."

I sighed vehemently. "Aren't you tired, Dhrashti? Aren't you tired of living this lie?"

"Lie?"

"I don't....love you." I paused. "I never did."

Her face went through several shades before settling on a shade of humiliation and rage.

"You're lying!" She took several steps towards me. "To yourself. To me! Why? Just because of that-"

"If you call her anything degrading one more time, I swear to god... I'll forget my morals... once and for all."

Rage seeped through me in that moment. I felt angry and betrayed but most of all, guilty.

"What were my friends' fault?" I questioned. "If you had a problem with me and Ronnie, then why did you torture them?! What did they ever do to you?"

"You still haven't understood, have you?" She smirked. "It's not just me who's helping Kartik's sister."

"What?"

"God... you're such fools." She laughed. "Did you seriously think I was the one running around town and cutting up people in half?"

"Speak clearly!" Siya yelled. "We're done with your bullshit."

"We all have our own agendas, our own reasons." She said, gesturing towards the two helpers behind her.

"So what? You're like an army of anti-christs plotting against us? Is that what this is? A club?" Saina retorted.

"You can call it that." Dhrashti said, amused.

"What role did you play in this little club of yours?" I asked.

"Once I was absolutely sure about your little friend's intentions, I knew I had to do something. I couldn't just sit back and watch you get influenced by that bitch. Not when I had spent so many years trying to get you!"

"Just answer the fucking question, Dhrashti."

"I was approached by Alishka the night before your friends were attacked in the motel." She revealed. "She told me all about your clandestine meetings and your longing gazes for each other and asked if I wanted to do something about it."

Horror filled my heart.

"Were you there? The night that Ronnie was attacked, was it-"

"Of course not. Jesus, do you really think that low of me, baby?"

"You just shot a guy in front of me!"

"Because the situation called for it! Otherwise your stupid best friend would've shot me!" She yelled back, justifying.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Siya cried.

"Says the person who didn't think twice before killing someone on the road." Dhrashti lamented. Siya subdued in her place.

"Well atleast she feels guilt for the person." Saina said. "You're just a fucking bad person."

"We all are, Saina." Dhrashti justified. "Each and everyone of you has done something bad in their lives. Yet you act all holier than thou!"

"Get back to the point." I intervened. "What were you doing the night that Ronnie and Kartik were attacked?"

She rolled her eyes at me as if annoyed  by my questions. "All I was told that I had to deliver a chit to Siya and I could watch my partner here strangulate the fuck out of that bitch."

"Fuck you!" Saina retorted.

"Oh it felt so good, baby." Dhrashti began dramatically, inching towards me. Her face was marked with a sinister look. "To watch the blood drain out of her knees and her gasping for air as all the oxygen in her body started escaping. But this guy didn't even let me enjoy the show properly!"

She nudged at Kartik as he sat tied to the chair, coughing as he glared at her.

"Oh I wish I could've recorded that." She said sadistically, as she leaned towards me. The rage seeping through my veins felt like it would burst out at any moment. My head was in a complete rush. I could feel Zoya's hands working faster to cut the last bit of the rope so I could strangulate this bitch myself.

"But no worries!" She exclaimed as she moved away. "I'll do that today when I'll finally get to kill her."

"If you so much as touch a hair on her body, I would-"

"You would what, baby?" She smirked at me. "What can you do?"

I felt the rope untangling in that very moment.

"More than you know."

She smirked at me and for a moment I felt like she could see right through our plan. But then she took a step back and crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, "You're really naive, Himanshu."

"Am I?"

She nodded. "Mhm. You could've had everything you ever wanted....with me. I could've made you anyone! But you chose the wrong option."

I bit my cheeks as I felt Zoya's hands slowly and gingerly untangling the rope.

"And now you're gonna pay for it-"

Saina let out a scream as we watched one of the helpers shove a knife directly into Dhrashti's throat. Blood spilled from her neck onto the floor beneath us as her body toppled over, convulsing once before going completely still.

"God," the other helper chimed. "I thought that bitch would never shut up."

"Tell me about it." The killer said. "If Alishka ever made any mistakes, it was getting that obsessive girl on the team."

"You-you just killed her!" I screamed. "But why?"

The killer took a step towards me. "Because I'm the one meant to carry out Yash's legacy."

Saying that, he slowly and gradually peeled off the mask and as his face came into view, a gasp echoed from Siya's lips.

"Oh my god. It's....you."

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Bosedisha