|the naive rebel|
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xvi| a past so horrible
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word count- 2125

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INAAYAT
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"We don't meet often, but we know that the other one exists," Mishti says as she yawns. We are in our tent, Garima had slept an hour back while Mishti and I are talking.

It is late midnight and we probably are the only ones who are awake but we pay no heed to it.

She is telling me how she and her fiancé manage to keep up the bond their parents had thrown them into.

"Krish, his name." She informs as I smile at her. I can see how her eyes become when she speaks of him.

"Why are you still agreeing to this, Mishti?"

"You know Aayat, I realised you just can not fall in love with a person merely by knowing that you are going to marry him. For love, it takes time. A lot of understanding, trust- a clear picture of the other person's character, habits, thought process."

"I tried..you know." She murmurs, vetoed.

"I tried to like or even love him or at least the concept of him. I can't. It's just that now my heart has accepted that I can't run away from this. I don't love him, but I respect the bond to not cheat or break it."

"I still can't understand why, but it's your choice," I say looking around when I see a shadow.

"Mishti," I whisper trying to attract her attention.

"What," she asks in a normal volume when I shush her down.

"See, there," I mutter in a hushed voice and point at the silhouette. Her eyes widen, and she turns towards me.

"I think someone's there," I state the obvious in a very quiet tone.

"Aayat, I am scared..let's just sleep. Please."

"No, we are going out to see who is there," I announce standing up. The tent being conical in shape is a little insignificant for my height, I bend a little and help Mishti get up too.

"We shouldn't," she utters.

I move forward, moving the opening of the tent slightly to see if there is anyone or not.

"There is no one," I tell her and she gulps audibly frightened.

"What if there was a gho -"

"They don't exist. Shut up," I tell her zipping the tent open. "Come," I pull her out.

I move forward, striving to see the source of the shadow when I feel a back fabric being wrapped around my eyes as I am blinded.

I open my mouth to shout when a huge palm covers it and my shouts turn into muffled voices. I am thrown over someone's shoulders and I continue kicking my legs and moving my hands, fighting to free myself.

Where is my gun, when I need it the most?

I continue shouting against the palm when I bite it hard.

"What the fuck," the person howls and I am thrown to the ground. The palm leaves my mouth and I shout, shrill enough to break a glass.

The cloth on my eyes loosens, and I blink my eyes to nictitate away the darkness so that I can see my surroundings.

"Fuck! Aayat you had to bite me this hard," I see a withering Nikhil jerking his palm while my jaw opens and shuts in amazement.

I am not even that surprised.

"You deserved that, trust me." I taunt him as his eyes snap at me.

"I should have picked her," Nikhil regrets pointing at a calm Mishti who is standing next to Sameer.

Sameer smiles at me, waving his hand.

"You didn't react?" I ask Mishti who looks at me sheepishly.

"I saw Sameer's face before he covered my eyes,"

"This is cheating."

Nikhil tsk's at me and he turns to face the fifth person with us, who is standing almost motionlessly next to him.

No points for even guessing.

"Where are we?" I inquire merely seeing trees and darkness around.

"Turn," Sameer points at something behind me and I turn around lowering my head a little only to find a pond segregated from the land by rocky steps. It appears as if the pond is located below the ground and not at the ground level. It is like a cliff ending but not too deep. There are gravel kept as steps to move back up to the ground.

"Wait, this forest has a pond?"

"It's a lake."

"But..are you sure?"

"Googled it up," Sameer informs showing me his phone.

"Shaan and I found it in the evening when we were searching for the flower. It doesn't have any fishes too, it's just a water body." Nikhil explains as I examine the pond.

"Why did you bring us here though?" Mishit voices while Nikhil hits his forehead.

"To swim, duh."

"You are joking..right?" She asks as Sameer and Nikhil look at her blankly.

"Are you crazy? The water would be so dirty, so many creatures would be living in it, what if we fall ill- what if we get dirty-"

"We return to the hotel which by the way is very close to here and take a shower, simple."

"No no no, it's unhygienic-" Before she can protest any further Nikhil picks her up and throws her into the lake and she falls into the water with a huge splash.

"Live a little." He sighs as he takes a jump too.

"Come," Sameer says as he walks towards the cliff ending and jumps. I turn around to see a very amused Shaan, his hands tucked inside his pockets as he looks at our friends.

"You aren't coming?" I ask before I dive into the water.

"You go," he says and I don't push it further and I dive in, too.

Let's live a little.

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⚠️ TRIGGER ⚠️

I was there, sitting on my bed in my room. It was chilling dark except the orangish hued brightness from my night lamp. I notice the figure sleeping next to her, cocooned warmly in the comfort of the duvet.

A copy of 'Fallen' opened in front of her, I see the thirteen-year-old myself, yawning and stretching her feet before she too succumbed to tiredness. But before she could sleep, that foolish girl agreed that she was parched.

Wrong. She should have slept. Slept hugging her elder sister and not wander around.

Stupid. So stupid of her.

It was two in the morning, and the girl had turned into a night owl during her summer vacations. An eighth-grade girl who had recently given her final examinations.

She slowly peels off her share of the duvet, kisses her sleeping elder sister on the cheek before she climbs off the bed.

Tiptoeing to the door, her shadow fell across the room owing to the moonlight that entered from the window. The curtains failed to stop the white goddess.

She sighed silently, as she came out of her room. Gazing at the staircase before the lighted corridor that would take her to the kitchen.

Normally, she kept a water bottle in her room but today sadly, she had forgotten to fill it.

How foolish.

My voice croaks, as I try screaming at her to stop. To stop. To not go.

I shout, I cry, but she doesn't listen. She doesn't.

She slowly started her way down, very gently, to not disturb her parents who were sleeping in their room, next to the kitchen area. She had almost reached when she stopped.

A voice.

She was sure, she heard something. Her face had gone pale, her heart had stopped for a second. Ears perked up. Eyeballs constricted.

Gibberish, the words were.

She decided to return, she was never the one to conquer her fears. She was always the hidden one, scared and timid.

If it was her sister, she would have moved ahead, to see who it was, would have yelled to call her parents.

But she wasn't her sister.

Quickly yet softly, she took a step back when she again stopped.

"Where are you going, Ina." The voice was like chilled air, causing goosebumps to rise all over her body. Her spine straightened, her stomach twisted.

She knew that voice, she even trusted that voice. The thirteen-year-old myself was naive, so naive to not understand how dangerous it was to trust it, but she did it anyway.

"You are awake," the voice again spoke. The corridor was empty, but he was there. She knew it.

She halted and then finally descended the final stair.

She turned her head to the right and found no one.

She turned her head to the left, and she jumped back.

The tall figure, dishevelled hair, untucked shirt, dirty jeans. The air suddenly carried a bad odour in it, her lungs ached at the smell. Her nostrils flared faintly.

"Oh, look how tall you have grown from the last time I saw you, baby Inaayat." He spoke, while her eyes betrayed her, as they twinkled with joy.

For her, he was her good wisher.

"H-hi," she croaked.

"How are the old people treating you?" He asked as he took a step forward, towards her.

She took a step back.

"You scared of me, huh?" He smirked, "They told you...did you understand, Inaayat?"

"B-bad boy." She uttered, stammering the words out.

"Exactly," his eyes gleamed. His hand found a way in his pocket.

"You know what is..this?" His hand caressed the object.

She shook her head violently.

"They say it hurts, but it doesn't. It helps." He pointed it at her, the silvery pointed object.

"You want to see?"

"N-no."

"But, I won't give you an option."

He moved towards her, while she tried to move back, "If you move back Ina, I will tell them how bad of a girl you are. So bad. If you make any sound, I will tell them how you cheated in your test, how you throw your food. They will throw you out, too."

"Do you want to live homeless, Ina?"

She shook her head again, her lips pursed. Her body shivered, her eyes puckered.

He kneeled, reaching her level. Holding the pointed object, the tip pressing her cheek. It pained, and she whimpered.

"It pains?" He sadistically interrogated.

She was almost answering a yes when he hushed her.

"Say NO," he wickedly gleamed. She mumbled a no.

His face was enough to haunt her for years, the close look of his eyes- painted in red. His lips were dark and cracked as he spoke.

He slid the object a little down her jaw, not putting too much pressure but it hurt.

"Now?"

She repeated her answer, lying to him, and herself.

Down her neck, her ribs, stopping it on her stomach.

"But this will pain," he grumbled in air, as he pierced the skin on her stomach through her yellow tee.

She sobbed, her eyes shut and tears raced down her cheek but she didn't scream.

"Inaayat," he called her.

Her tear coated eyes opened, as her hands covered the spot where the object pierced her. He was now standing a little away from her, the pointed object still in his hand.

"I will show you how this object can relieve you of your stress." He said.

It pained her, to even think about the things that could happen to her.

Will he stab her? Hit her? Throw her out of the house?

It was a second later when she broke the promise she made to him. She let out a shrill whimper, her gut twisted, her throat ached, and she cried vehemently.

It was in a second when the person turned the knife angling it, and slit his wrist still looking at her with a smirk. No pain, just relief.

"Bhai.."

She voiced seeing the person now lying on the floor with a pool of blood, around.

Just relief.

"Bhaiiiii....." I wake up screaming, wetness coating my cheeks as I realise I am in my tent, safe and sound but still wrapped up in my past.

I wish I could have stopped her from leaving the room.

•

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Let's just say, if you all didn't get the reference of the above second scene, i'll explain it in the next chapter.

But I hope you all did.

Red eyes. just connect the dots :-)

Alsoooo,

How did you find the chapter?

Until the next chapter,
keep dodging the bullets.
ऊ.