Loving her...

6

Riya had made her mind that she would not pay any heed to Aditi's teasings but she had really underestimated the girl's capability to irritate a person. Since last two days all she had heard was that guy's name. Aditi had become a living encyclopaedia on 'Karan Malhotra' divulging all the necessary, unnecessary information about him which Riya had as usual ignored.

It would not be completely true to say that Riya had not thought about that incident again but it was also true that she didn't think about him......Or that she thought.

It was not new for her to not be able to sleep at night without taking pills but the reason for her sleepless nights this time was different. Being an overthinker, actually extreme overthinker, she had put all her rational brain in figuring out as to how could that mere incident have an effect on her though only for a few minutes.

It was not as if she had seen a guy for the first time and first time or not, the fact was that she hated men. Actually she feared men and she hated the fact that she feared them hence she hated men more. She hated herself for fearing them. She had made herself so strong in every aspect so as not to feel vulnerable in any situation.

Her only weakness was her family and Aditi. She might ignore Aditi for more than half of the time but she really cared for her and took her seriously spoken words seriously. So how could a mere encounter of 5 secs with a completely unknown person lock her in that moment and affect her composure.

With all these thoughts in mind she decided to pull a stunt, try to sleep without her pills. It was a bad idea.

20 mins into trying to sleep and she was taken to that night. The night that destroyed her. She at once sat straight sweating profusely and trembling slightly. Her face had reddened as if she had run miles. She felt frightened. She felt terrified.

She put her palm on her mouth to stifle sounds of her sobs and screams that tried to escape as she didn't want to bother her parents in the middle of the night. She tried to calm her heartbeats by rubbing her hand over her chest but to no avail.

Her trembling hand, with much difficulty, reached for the glass of water on the side table but before it could touch her trembling lips it fell from her hand on the bed as she at once put both her hands on her ears as if trying to muffle the sound falling on them but the sounds never stopped. The sounds of sobs, screams, pain, begging and laughter.

It was as if the night was repeating itself over and over, again and again.

She kicked the mattress and the pillows on the bed and buried her face under the blanket desparately trying to float on the waves of her miseries only to be pulled down, deeper and deeper untill she gave up.

The torture wouldn't stop.

She took deep breaths to control herself from being carried away by the horrible games that her subconscious mind was playing with her but no matter how hard she tried she knew she wouldn't be able to get through it before witnessing the death.

Half an hour later she lay on her wet bed cuddled in the blanket, her eyes fixed on a certain spot on the window. The process had finally stopped. She was ruined and exhausted. Thankfully it was not that bad but nothing that I want to witness again. She thought.

She didn't know how long she remained in the same position and thinking what, but when realisation dawned on her it was already 5 in the morning. She left an exhausted sigh and looked at the light coming from the window, with her dead eyes, preparing herself for the next day.

In the beginning it happened every night. Sheena would never leave her 10 year old alone for even a second. How much ever she tried that night never faded from her memory. Not even after all these years.