Drawn by a call so profound, akin to a moth to the flame she kept walking towards the cliff. It felt as if she was in a trance, her mind and body no longer under her control. All her senses had seemingly stopped working and all she could hear was her name being called out. The voice calling out held a yearning, a desperation and a certain longing. Her heart stirred in her chest even as her eyes pooled with tears inadvertently. She dint know why but she felt immense agony tighten her chest. All of a sudden she felt as if the intensity of the call has magnified. She felt more drawn and her steps increased their pace on their own accord. The dark of the sky seemed to darken even more even as the faint light of the moon cast a sinister shadow on the woods.

"Naina!" somebody called out from the woods, making her snap out of her trance just as she was about to keep her step at the edge of the cliff! Startled she almost lost her balance and was about to fall off the cliff when two hands tightly held her in their grip and pulled her up. Before she could even register all that had happened, she was tightly secured in a warm embrace!

"What the hell were you doing here at this time of the night? You would have died if you had fallen off this cliff nothing less than an abyss! You realise that right? And do you realise that if something had happened to you, I wouldn't be able to live as well??" he shouted at her even as his grip around her tightened. She wrapped her arms around his back gently said

"Shh! Nothing would have happened to me. You know why? It's because you are there and till the time you are with me, I know for sure nothing will happen to me!"

"I'm not God Naina! I don't know if I would be able to make it each time."

"You will!" she said, her voice conveying her faith in him. But instead of her belief soothing or assuring him, it scared him! He dint know why but he had been experiencing such feelings of fright since the past few months. Her statements of extreme belief in him somehow instilled a fear in him of something unknown.

His grip around her tightened even more and he held on to her as if she would vanish the next second if he would leave her. She just smiled a bit and held him back equally tight.
They soon broke the hug and headed towards the cottage and for this, they had to walk through the woods. Right when they were in the middle, she heard the same voice calling out to her again, this time the pull more stronger as it seemed to call her to the cliff. She stood frozen at the spot as a similar feeling of agony engulfed her heart. Tears flowed down her eyes in infinite drops.

Seeing her the way she was, all his fears increased to the fore and so did his insecurities. He shook her and wiped her tears even but niether did she move nor did her tears cease to exist. They continued to flow! And then within the blink of an eye, she was walking back to the cliff!

He screamed and rushed behind her, the woods echoing with his desperate shouts of her name yet she dint stop. And before he could reach her, she had walked right up to the edge!

"Naina No! Please No!" he shouted as he ran with all his might yet he couldn't reach her who was a few steps away due to an unknown force holding him. Trying his best to move forward, he kept shouting her name but all she did was smile at him, her eyes shining with tears and immense love, before she turned and plunged into the abyss never to return!

"No!!!!"he shouted and the next moment, he had blacked out!

2 years later

He sat by the window gazing at the snowy mountains and the beautiful coniferous trees. It had been two years since her death yet he hadn't found answers to the mystery behind her death! The last look of her, just one moment before she jumped, had haunted him ever since and each night witnessed his struggle with the constant nightmares he had started getting since that unfortunate day.

"Why? Why Naina Why?" he questioned yet again even as tears flowed down his eyes.

He stood up and walked towards the table. Picking up the photo frame having her photo, he caressed it and pressed a kiss on it. It was a wonder that he had survived these two years without her. Had it not been for the answers he was seeking, he would have taken the plunge right then!

"And when life reverts back
Of old deeds and sins it accounts
The punishments and the price you have to pay
It's all destiny's play!"

"Countless nights staring up at the starless sky
The mundane darkness painting the canvas of her vibrant life black
Snatching thus all that she had
Sparing for her just a hellish life"

"The last leaf which never withered
Vibrantly green and fresh
Yet it fell off its branch
What's the mystery behind that?"

"The loud echo of her voice
Calling out to her own
Distressed and betrayed
In agony and pain
Answering the call she ran
Only to reach when everything was done!"

"She looked at them drenched in red
The one who called far from sight
All that her heart writhing with agony understood was
She had nothing to sustain, be alive"

"The curse she had uttered
Cursing doom upon you
For the one whose true love he loses
Its a loss very difficult to take!"

Over two years, he had been receiving these messages from someplace, from someone unknown. The very first letter had specified that this would give him all the needed answers he had been seeking for.

Each month he had received one of these letters but remained unsuccessful in figuring out what they meant. And then 6 months later, the letters had stop arriving! He had tried to trace them the very first day he got them but remained unsuccessful.

And now, even after 18 months, he hadn't been able to solve the mystery behind her death and the significance of these words!

Few more months passed in a similar fashion. The nights were nothing but pure torture for him as the nightmares began to take a toll on him. The days were bleak and spent in reading the riddles all over again and speaking with her photo. Niether did he get any answers nor did his condition improve.

And then one day, all of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find a woman of about 28 standing at the door, her face expressionless.

"Do I know you Ma'am?" he asked politely. It was the first time he was meeting her yet  profoundly felt he knew her somehow.

"Hello! I'm Sunaina! I'm Naina's sister!" she said, her expressions not changing even a tad bit.

"What? Naina had a sister?" he said shocked not able to believe he was hearing right. He being Naina's husband knew very well she had no family. Then from where did her sister come?

"I'm her sister from the previous birth. We were sisters in our previous lifetime. And I have come here for a particular purpose. I don't have so much time to waste even to ask whether you believe in all of this or not. See, I have been receiving letters with unfathomable words in them. I was led to you by a mystic whom I had approached and from whom I learnt the truths of our lives and our past lives." she said it all in one go while he just kept looking at her.

"Will you keep staring at me or even let me in? It's damn cold here!" she said while he just nodded and moved. She stepped in and made herself comfortable on the couch without bothering to ask him while he wordlessly shut the door and occupied the chair infront of her.

"I've been told you too have got the letters. So basically me, you and Naina, we..umm..we share a past which is basically not so pleasant. It's basically not pleasant at all. I don't want to repeat the whole story again but yes, I'm here to convey that whatever you have been facing is basically because of this past which we three shared. You are basically suffering due to the curse which I supposedly had imposed on you due to this very past we had shared. Look, I'm a girl who dosen't specifically believe in all this, but since the mystic guy practically showed me all these things, I have come here to convey. I may sound heartless or rude. I'm sorry about that but that's how I've been from small. Thank you for your time and let me take my leave" she said and stood up to move when he stopped her and asked

"If you have said this much, you can also let me know where my Naina is"

She turned around shocked, her face showing emotions for the very first time

"I don't know" she said

He sighed and said

"Tell her I'll join her soon. And that I Love Her. And that the mystery behind her death is better undeciphered. That I will serve the punishments for all my deeds and then come to her. Maybe our next lifetime would be different."

She just shook her head and in bewilderment asked

"How did you know? Aren't you afraid?"

"You coming here is enough for me to understand who you are. I have seen worst. My fears had always been associated with her. Now that she isn't there, there's nothing I have to be afraid of!" he said.

She smiled for the very first time after their meet

"You forgive me for what I did?" he asked

"If I hadn't, I wouldn't have come here" she said

"Karma always gets back dosen't it?" he asked

"Yes always" she said

The End

___________________________________________

Hey guys,

I know you have a lot of questions regarding the OS as it seems incomplete and you guys don't know the backstory as well

But please understand that I have deliberately left this one shot this way - Mysterious and incomplete. You all are free to guess the reasons and story behind whatever happens in this one shot and you guys can surely share this in the comments section

Originally written for Pranbir.
Unedited

Lots of love,
Pratyusha