That night was like every other I had spent since the fateful event , painful , dark , with no sense of hope left but only the wish to become a part of the starry , cloudless sky . " Take the pills , " my therapist had said , " It 'll ease the pain , " she had said . She was wrong . It only pushed me into a dreamless sleep , such that I woke up with a feeling much worse the next day . I discontinued her , but didn 't stop the pills . No , they didn 't ease the pain . But a dosage little higher than the recommended meant I would have a shorter life . I wanted it to go slow . Slow and painful , despite my reasons to visit the therapist in the first place . The sun shown brightly , too bright to my taste . There was a seemingly endless expanse of clear water in front of me , and I stood on the bank barefooted . I was waiting for something , but I didn 't know what it was supposed to be . when my line of sight finally cleared , I could see the other side , and the woman standing there … Was she standing ? She was floating a feet above the ground , with her back towards me . Her long , black hair flowed in the wind . She wore a white , sleeveless gown , her skin wore a healthy glow . I didn 't need for her to turn around to know who she was . She was Danny … my Danny … Did I still deserve to call her mine ? Even in the dream I could feel my heart sink . was this real ? Was I dead ? As much as I wanted that to be true , I knew it wasn 't . This was just a dream . She turned to face me , and I knew it wasn 't the sun that was glowing . She looked at me , her blue eyes searching my sunken ones . " It 's been so long , but I finally found you , " she smiled , and my heart skipped a beat . It 's one thing to look at that smile in the faded , still pictures of her , and a completely different feeling to see it in real . There was no space for the pain anymore … pain … what was that pain about … ? " You aren 't real … " my voice choked . I could feel myself welling up , but I wasn 't ashamed of it . " You died in my arms , . . on the road that day … I drove you to your death , " I was reminding myself of the pain , " we fought , and you ran out of shop . . , and … " I couldn 't continue . But she smiled , reason enough for this to be a dream . She floated towards me , and I almost felt like running away . I didn 't want to hurt her again , in any way . But I couldn 't move , and she approached me with a smile . Her warm , soft hand touched my cheek . " You have been blaming yourself in vain for too long . " She sighed sadly as she looked into my eyes . I touched her hand , and it felt as real as the guilt in me . It wasn 't possible but she was here , I was sure of it . " I 'm so sorry , " I cried for the first time in months . , " I 'm so sorry … I shouldn 't have … I 'm so sorry Danny … " Danny cupped my face in her hands " Shh … It 's okay Jared , it wasn 't your fault … it was just time . It had to happen . " " It wasn 't your fault . It was meant to be . Don 't let that pointless guilt ruin your life . Let it go … let me go … " She smiled sadly . " I couldn 't leave you in this state . So torn , so broken because of something fate did . You didn 't deserve it , you still don 't . So I had to find you , to tell you it 's okay . . . I 'm happy . . . " I 'm happy , but I can 't move on unless you do . I could never leave you like this . You have to let me go if you want me to be truly happy . " No . It was the fault of the person who drove his car through a red signal . It was my fault that I didn 't notice the approaching car . It was never your fault . " You have to let me go , " she said again . She did look real , and she did look happy . " Will it really make you happy ? I woke up the next morning feeling fresh , and healthy . My heart felt light . I still missed her , but I meant the promise I had made . I would move on . I took an hour long , hot water bath , put on my best clothes , and stepped out of the house . I had made all plans for the day : I would get a Choco Mocha and a double cheese burger to go , take a stroll in the park , visit the kennel where Danny used to work and visit the dogs she so loved . I was in high spirits . The New York roads were as busy as ever , as if nothing had changed through the night . People bustled around to continue with their busy lives . I loved the crowd now . The rush took my mind off things , and I loved being under the open sky after ages . " Sorry , " the perpetrator rushed past me as she called out , not stopping to look behind even once . But I did look at her … not her , but her long black hair flowing in the morning breeze . I could never forget that hair . " No … " I gasped and dashed forward , my eyes frantically searching for her in the sea of unsuspecting people . When I finally found her , she had already jumped into a bus that had started to speed up . I ran after the bus , desperately calling out her name . But the bus didn 't stop . A taxi stopped just at that moment , and I pushed aside the lady who had stopped it and got into the seat , asking the driver to follow the bus as i did . He obediently did as asked . I still hadn 't seen her face , but I was sure it was her . When we finally came to the stop , I hastily handed him the money , and without waiting for the change , ran after her . It wasn 't long before I caught up . I placed my hand on her shoulder , " Danny … ? " I called hopefully . The woman turned , her striking blue eyes questioning me , " Sorry ? " I had broken my promise . I hadn 't moved on . I had just run after a stranger despite knowing she couldn 't possibly be Danny . When i finally stopped running , I closed my eyes , " I 'm so sorry Danny … I 'm so sorry … " but it didn 't feel like she was mad at me . Or was she gone ? I walked my way to the park . I didn 't feel hungry anymore . I sat on the park bench , looking around at people of all ages enjoying their Sunday afternoon . They looked happy , and it eased my heart to some extent . It was going to take me a good amount of time to move on , but I wasn 't going to stop trying . I had promised . " Can I join you ? " someone asked from behind me . I turned to look , and I felt the familiar drop in my spirits as had happened that morning . It was the woman who had a striking resemblance to my Danny , Marian . She smiled kindly . Despite all my emotions , I nodded . She sat down , and there was silence . " I 'm sorry for this morning , I thought you were someone else , " I finally spoke , but didn 't look at her . She laughed lightly , " I destroyed your breakfast , I should be the one apologising . Yours was still a genuine mistake . " " Lost her two years ago , " I sighed , still avoiding to look at her . That should 've been her hint . She should have left . She was indulging too much . But I couldn 't get myself to say it out loud . " Why did you follow me ? " I asked her finally , the thing I should 've done before this whole conversation . I had the feeling she didn 't casually stroll in . She didn 't reply . From the corner of my eye , I noticed her nod . She looked into her watch , " Find you next time ? My lunch breaks over … " she said as she stood up . " Bye , " I didn 't look at her , and she left , leaving me with a sinking feeling . But I knew this was different . I left , somehow knowing I was going to come back here the next day , at the same time . I turned to look at her go , her long black hair waving in the soft breeze , and couldn 't help but smile . Maybe Danny hadn 't really left me . Ramya observed me as I stayed home all day . This was very unlike her , but I realized it might be because this time she knew the reason . I had the urge to go out to Alisha , but I suppressed it . That night I couldn 't sleep . It wasn 't because I was sad , or that I wasn 't tired enough to doze off . It was because I was angry ; angry that God didn 't want me to be happy , that he wanted me to be alone for the rest of my miserable life . First Alisha , then Radhika , and then there was no one else left to count except Ramya , and I was partly convinced she was going to go too . I sneaked out of the room . It was two in the night , and what I was going to do didn 't seem like a very good idea . But I wanted to talk to someone … anyone . I wore my slippers and walked out of the house in my night suit . I kept walking away from my house until I felt it was far enough . Then I sat down on the grass alongside the road . The only things alive around me were the bats , and the flickering streetlights . That was more than enough company I could ask for . I started sobbing . There were no houses around me , so it was unlikely that my sobs could gather attention . What surprised me right now was that , even in so much distress , I was concerned about others ' peace . Tears didn 't flow out , only curses did . Was I meant to live alone and die alone ? Being mocked at by everyone , with no scope of respect ? Why me ? However badly I believed the words I had spoken , I couldn 't help but sigh with relief when I felt someone behind me . The presence was strong , like Alisha . But it wasn 't her . This was probably a man . It must have been because of the pent up rage being released from my body , that by back felt uncomfortably hot . I shifted a bit to try and cool it , but it was of no use . I sighed and started again , " I lost the only person I thought was close to me , all because she couldn 't keep a damn secret about the other … person … She screwed up everything … maybe solved … Argh I don 't know , " and I stopped speaking . " You should go back home now . I think your sister might wake up in a few minutes . You wouldn 't want to be caught sneaking out of the house this late , " he said after a few moments of silence . I probably didn 't feel better than before , but at least I wasn 't feeling weak . As I lay awake , my sister woke up to go to the washroom . She hadn 't noticed my eyes open as she came back to bed . I didn 't realise when I fell asleep . The fact that the two most favourite members of my family knew everything about what was going on with me , came with an odd combination of shock and relief . " How the hell did you know ! ? " I asked and kept waiting for an answer , realizing soon enough that the question hadn 't yet left my lips . I repeated the question aloud . " Well , " uncle started , " someone informed us that you were getting involved with not so right people . " " Radhika … " I mumbled as I rubbed my temples . Ramya chuckled , " It is so not her . " I turned to look at her with a questioning look , but she decided against acknowledging it . Uncle interrupted , " Whoever that could have been , when we came to know about it , I sent Ramya to keep an eye on you . " I turned to my sister again . She scolded , " What ? Concentrate on uncle for now and let me nibble at my finger , " though she was only just observing me . I thought aloud , " So Alisha was right when she said that Di was there that evening . " " Ah , so she told you her name , " Uncle smiled . " You should have seen her when she was fussing about how Alisha couldn 't visit our house , " Ramya laughed . I realized then : if she already knew what Alisha was , then I really must have made a fool of myself . " Do mom and dad know ? " I asked her . " Nah they don 't , " Ramya waved her hand once . " No I am not … I mean , Radhika can 't be with me all day , but Alisha can … " I was interrupted by my Ramya , " Obviously not when you are home . " " I create a shield every night around the house . Negative energy can in no way enter it … I made sure of that … and if Alisha isn 't negative , then that shield shouldn 't be blocking her … seriously , can 't you feel the drain ? " she asked impatiently . It was a relief when Ramya didn 't answer and gave an exasperated sigh . But uncle jumped in again , " The person who informed us about you knew Alisha when she was a human … " " She could have lied . . " I protested again . There was no sign of anger or annoyance on his face . He answered calmly - " You know , you aren 't the only one in the family who has this ability . Ramya has it , and I too . For starters , it is not good to mess around with things you don 't know yet . As for Alisha , I want you to stop talking to her as soon as possible . Now would be a good time . " " You don 't know what it feels like being me . I have been feeling so lonely with all those people treating me like nothing , and she came as a relief . I am not going to send her away just because some freak told you that she is bad . She can 't be evil when she gave me so much happiness , " and I turned to Ramya , " and for your information , she doesn 't drain me . " I was almost shouting now . It was like this sudden outburst of energy all to prove myself right . Ramya didn 't say anything . She pulled me up and took me to the bedroom . She stationed me in front of the mirror . " Do you see yourself ? " she asked . I wasn 't looking any different . The she pulled out her mobile phone and put the screen right in front of my eyes , just beside my view of the mirror . " Look . " She ordered . That picture was one she had taken a few months back , the day we shifted to our house . I noticed now . Back then I was healthy , my face had this healthy glow and my eyes looked happy . Right now , as I looked at myself in the mirror , it looked like I must have lost a lot of weight . There were dark circles around my eyes , and my face had lost all the healthy glow . It was more like I just had skin wrapped around my bones . I kept staring at the mirror . This had to be unreal . " Got anything else to say ? " Ramya asked . Uncle entered the room . " You only never knew how it was draining you . Your parents thought it was probably because of the tension of the exams then and after the fever , they thought it was the after effect of the illness . " I turned to look at them , " But I don 't want to let go of her . She keeps me happy , " I was almost mumbling . Uncle knelt , " You know this isn 't the only way to keep happy . " " You could stand up against those who harm you instead of using mental tricks on them , " he said . Now that bit , only Radhika could have told him . " Alisha doesn 't complain against me , " I said slowly . Ramya said , " I promise you , it isn 't Radhika . " After a few moments of silence , uncle stood up . " It 's getting late . You people should be home by now . Wash those tears Alia , if you don 't want to be questioned about this whole business . " " What ? " I asked . Ramya answered , " You think you could be believable while faking this ? " When I entered the class , Radhika smiled as usual , but for some reason , I couldn 't . I pretended as if I hadn 't noticed it and sat beside her , all the time feeling awkward doing so . I tried to act as normal as possible and thought I succeeded in doing so , until break came and she asked me what was wrong with me . " You told uncle about Alisha . They have known about it all along … and the brain game , stuff ? What were you thinking , telling them about it ! " Lalita was walking alone on the narrow road . The road was bordered by thickets and the sky bore an eerie night shade . The yellowish , round moon looked upon her with a kind of haughtiness . It silently watched her as she made her way through the darkness filled with occasional damps . It was a cloudless night . She had been having a peaceful talk with her ex - husband Ajit - well , apparently peaceful . He had been negotiating an amount - the amount he was planning to take from her . Why ? Because she had been his bank . He was just about plotting to kill his goose that gave golden eggs - the reason why she had to leave him . They didn 't have children , so there were no liabilities binding the two . And now he wanted to fill his pocket to spend the rest of his life peacefully . Her only fault was that she lowered her defences when the deal was finalized and agreed to have a drink of the champagne he had brought with him . Half a glass , and she knew that something was in her drink . She had fainted dreading the consequences . When she woke up , she was in the back seat of his car . He had probably parked in some dark place , she couldn 't understand his strategy . A light pain played through her temples as she sat up pressing them . Her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness . Someone was sitting on the driver 's seat . But something wasn 't right , he was perfectly still , his head placed awkwardly on his left shoulder . " Ajit … ? " She whispered to him . When he didn 't respond , her heart started racing . She addressed him a few more times . Then she tried to shake him . One violent shake and he dropped onto the adjacent seat facing up . His mouth was open in an ' O ' and his eyes were open in horror , watching blankly at the ceiling of the car . Blood trails were drawn on the sides of his forehead , coming down from the hair . Lalita screamed in horror as she tried backing more into the seat she was sitting on . She struggled a few times to open the door , and when it did , she dashed out , not really noticing where she was going . She had already run a long way from the car when she paused to catch her breath . It was then that she actually saw where she was standing - in the middle of a dark , deserted road , bordered with a thicket of trees on either side . She turned around to look at the place from where she had started , but the darkness had engulfed it . It was cold , very cold out here … Too cold for a mid summer night . What was this place anyway ? Not a peck of it seemed any familiar to her . This was probably where Ajit was planning to kill and bury her , make her vanish from the face of earth . Now he was dead himself . The circumstances of his death were mysterious . Moreover , she didn 't want to think of the haunting face while surrounded by such a creepy atmosphere . The silence closed upon her ears , but she never stopped walking . It had to lead somewhere … And then there was this scream , a long drawn scream that rent the air , giving her goose bumps . She stopped . The scream lasted a few seconds . Even as its sound faded away , the echo rang . It seemed to have come from a long way behind her , but she also wasn 't sure if it was coming from ahead of her , probably because of the echo disrupting her senses . She felt like running , but now she was too exhausted . She was terribly sleepy by now . Her eyelids started drooping and she stumbled , but balanced herself and walked normally for few distance , only to repeat the process . She finally gave up . She desperately needed her sleep . She sat down on the road facing the road ahead . No one was going to come her way . She tried lying down flat on her back . Her back felt uncomfortable without a pillow . So she turned to her side , facing the road again . It wasn 't long before she drifted into sleep . The sound of someone rushing towards her woke her up . She looked for a while , but there was no one . The sound had died away with no sign of the source . She could have closed her eyes and gone back to sleep - that was probably her mind playing games . But she sat up . She had to walk . The sun and its rays were still absent . She started walking ahead and did so for quite a distance . Suddenly , bright lights blinded her . The car was rushing towards her . Even upto five meters from her , the car hadn 't slowed down . She frantically tried to move away from the path , but her legs had fixated to the ground . She waved her hands in front of her while she screamed , " No ! Wait ! " If the driver lived , he could help her . And so , when finally her legs started moving , she turned around to walk towards the car in a fast pace . Not very long after that , a familiar scream pierced through the air . Lalita had started running by now . As she neared the crashed car , she noticed that the back door of the car on the other side was open . She went over to the driver 's seat . The driver had fallen onto the adjacent seat . She went to the other side of the car ignoring the open door and peeked into window of the seat beside the driver 's . As her eyes adjusted to the darkness , she stared in shock at the familiar face . It was Ajit . Before I could address her , my classmates started filing in . Rahul was unusually quiet . He wasn 't depressed or sad or anything . He was just behaving as normally as everybody else . It felt odd , but I ignored . I would care about it when his ignorance gets to me . Right now , I am in paradise . I went to visit Alisha . Her voice was stronger this time , though her image was always that of a girl wearing a pink frock . I didn 't tell her about those three figures in the washroom , but I had a tiny doubt that she already knew about it . " Your uncle came ? " she asked . " Yeah , I guess you must have seen him . He is a wonderful man , " I chirped . " He won 't be staying here , " she said . " Why wouldn 't he ? He always stays at our house when he visits , " I said . She said something after that , but my mind was too filled to receive anything , so we dropped the topic . When I went back home , I realized that uncle 's luggage was still in the hall room . " Why wouldn 't you stay here ? " I asked before anyone would tell me anything about it . Every one of my family members looked at me , puzzled . Then it struck me , how should I have possibly known about it ? So I corrected myself , " I thought you wouldn 't be staying ' cause I see that your luggage is still out . " That convinced my family . Then my mother said , " You were right though . Your uncle won 't be staying here this time . He wants to take an apartment elsewhere because he ' thinks ' that it would be inconvenient for us to keep him , " and she looked at him , annoyed . " It is nothing like that Lalita . I will be staying here for longer . Moreover , this apartment that I am going to will be nearer to the client 's place , " Uncle insisted , still trying to convince mother . " I don 't understand , " I announced . Uncle picked us up at four in the evening . We bought some food from a restaurant and went straight to his house . It was a very small apartment on the top floor of the building . " … and it was funny because both of us kept quiet so as not to scare the other , " I completed narrating an incident and started laughing . Uncle and Ramya laughed with me . I was feeling light - headed . We had been talking all evening , and our talks never ended even when we started dining . " I guess it would spook you out largely when you encounter a real one , " uncle chuckled as he put a spoonful of rice into his mouth . I thought of Alisha , she was real after all . " Hmm , " I said as I stared at the food on my plate . " Are you full ? " Ramya asked , so that she could have more of it if I was done . " No , " I laughed , " I am very hungry , and this is very tasty , and I am not going to share any with you , " and mocked . Uncle laughed again , and not just him , even my sister . I really was planning to eat the whole lot . My stomach had just turned into a black hole . " If you get any stomach problems , your mum is going to tear me apart , " uncle warned . " Nah she won 't . I will tell her that you weren 't powerful enough to stop me , " I winked . " Ah , she can easily catch that lie , " uncle laughed again . The food was getting cold . " Chat after you finish , " uncle said as he stood up with his empty plate . " Yeah yeah , " Ramya mumbled through a mouth full of rice . She didn 't want to be the last one to complete . I , on the other hand , didn 't mind being the last one . While I was still skimming of the remains from the packet , she announced , " I am done ! Kitchen sink , here I come , " and dashed off into the kitchen . I smiled as I chewed . I looked up at the fan , it was moving in the same speed as before . But I kept staring at it until I was completely sure . Then I looked at the window . It had been kept open since evening . I shifted on my seat , and my appetite vanished all of a sudden . I was feeling very uncomfortable . I tried eating the last bit but it felt like I could allow no more into my mouth . I frowned . " Puh ! This is when I hate my stomach , " I complained to myself , slapping my tummy . I could hear the sound of plates . Ramya was probably helping uncle . I hated wasting the food , but at this point , finding the source of discomfort was very crucial . It was really getting to me . I touched my temple with my free hand in frustration . My head was aching slightly . Oh yeah , it was the effect of excessive eating . Maybe I was sleepy . I closed my eyes . It turned out I wasn 't alone in the room . I froze . I could feel a pair of eyes watching me from the direction of the window . I turned to look at it , but there was no one . I turned back and looked thoughtfully at my plate . Should I try seeing again ? No answer came to me , so I took it as affirmation . I closed and looked . It was ' someone ' with piercing eyes under dishevelled hair . My uncle 's words rang through my mind - " … I guess it would spook you out largely when you encounter a real one . " She wasn 't nice , no . I was sure about that . But the way she looked at me , she felt dangerous . Nothing came in my mind as I kept looking at her in my mind for quite some time . The world had become silent instantly as I was mesmerised by her . Something stirred in me , and I knew what was coming . I hoped she was just an image from my brain , and at that very moment , she grinned . With no second thought , I dashed towards the door . I struggled and finally succeeded in opening it . Once that , I started running downstairs without another look behind my back . I wasn 't going to stop ever . I would keep running and running . I could hear someone calling me from upstairs when I was almost out of the building , but I never turned to look . My mind was blank . It was probably uncle . After that , I guess it was Ramya . I wasn 't sure , but I kept running . People stared at me , not sure whether to stop me or let go . I wanted someone to stop me , and wondered why no one was . But I never slowed down . It wasn 't until someone caught me from behind and I struggled in his arms for a while that I finally calmed down . It was uncle . I didn 't look at him or my sister who caught up with us and started asking something . I panted , and without warning , burst into tears . " I don 't want to be here … I don 't want to be here … " I kept moaning until uncle finally agreed to take me home . But I didn 't want to go home either . It meant being closer to Alisha , and the thought was already freaking me out . " Either it is home , or upstairs , " uncle said sternly . Maybe she was gone . Maybe I could go back . Maybe she was there because I was all alone . After a lot of struggle internally , I agreed to go back into the apartment . I convinced myself , now was the time some elder should know about this whole business . " Why did you run like that ? What happened ? " Uncle asked once we were all settled in the hall . She was nowhere to be seen , and I was relieved . I looked up at him . He wasn 't annoyed , puzzled or troubled . He looked calm , the same way he had been when in the car . " Better late than never , " Ramya smiled . I looked at her , shocked . It seemed both of them knew about it all along . I needed lot of explanations before starting with expressing my problems . I was trying very hard to control , but I couldn 't help dancing on my seat every now and then . " It is so obviously urgent . Why don 't you just go to the washroom ? " Radhika asked me . I looked at her desperately , not knowing what to say . This wasn 't as easy to explain as it had been in Alisha 's case . My eyes almost welled up , but I wiped it off . In a class of forty students , a tear stained face is the most easily noticeable thing . I waited another fifteen minutes until finally the teacher decided to leave the class . Grabbing Radhika 's wrist , I dashed out to the washroom . " Please , please , please just stay here till I come out . Keep talking to me while you are here , " I pleaded . She gave me a puzzled look , but decided against questioning my distress . The presence of those watchful eyes remained ; I could not dare myself to close my eyes . The only thing that kept my fear at bay was Radhika 's voice . It didn 't matter what she was saying , she was there and that was enough . This agonizing fear was born three days back , and in three days , the fear was already at its peak . That day , three days back , I had gone into the washroom alone . It wasn 't break time yet . As I washed my hands , I felt someone behind me . I thought another girl was there , so I looked up into the mirror . All three cubicles behind me were empty . I bent to wash my face , and again I felt it . It had been so many days since I had last spoken to Alisha , so I thought that maybe it was her . My longing to see her again was so strong that I tried to sense her with my eyes closed . I still can 't tell whether it was a good decision or a bad one . Just behind me where I felt that presence , I could see three shadowy people . Their silhouettes seemed like there was a man , a slightly shorter woman , and a kid about the same height as me . The only things distinguishable of their faces were their blood red sparkling eyes and their white sparkling smirk . Even though they weren 't so scary , there was an odd sense of terror arising in my heart . I had dashed fictionsupernatural Posts navigation