The Exilir And The Poison

Chapter 11: Reunion

If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.
- Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

Ranveer hears voices in his head, familiar shapes taking living forms as flowers bloom to life. His feet automatically move to the cold hard floor, a shiver running down his spine, as he struggles get to his feet. He must have slept long, because the sun has already dipped behind the mountains, leaving in its wake a thick blanket of stars and the moon that looks back at him generously. Freshly lit fire burns in the hearth nearby, and he wonders who did that. However, the feeling grows stronger, and he walks out of his room, clutching at the bed and then at the door for support before he finally comes to halt in the hallway. It’s empty.

A dreaded sense of déjà vu fills him, blinding the senses, defeating his very self, as death appears too close today. Was she here? It’s either her or it’s the dead end. No answer comes. His clothes are soaked in sweat but his skin feels cold. Nitin, he realizes, hasn’t been around lately. Has he been alone in the house for days? Has Nitin left?

A click at the door finally answers all his queries. Nitin steps in, followed by a familiar face that makes his breath hitch, feet wobbly, and heartbeats so fast he has to look away to calm himself down. Not real, not real. She’s not here.

He sees Ishaani halt in her tracks, not following Nitin, her gaze trained on him. Gathering courage of a lifetime, Ranveer moves towards her. The face is so familiar, the tears that sting him begin to fall, his own palm reaches to wipe them away. The anguish he had been feeling so far pales in comparison to the agony her tears bring. She holds his palm, and he pauses, simply looking at her. Suddenly, the dread returns. The walls in the room begin to cave in and the sunlight fades down to a twilight that hardly leaves anything lighted. It’s a growing night, frigid cold where no sunlight ever reaches. He has been in dark for too long but this is cruel. The group of the guests is next joined by another familiar face, an unwelcome one, and Ranveer’s jaw tightens, the stubborn little child returning home.

Ishaani moves close to him, but he cannot decipher her expressions, and scenes before him begin to shift rapidly. The impenetrable dark overtakes twilight, the colors blending in and out, dark, blue, and all shades of grey. Suddenly, the walls around him are paper white and only two people stand before him.

“Let her go. She’s not Nirupa.”

“It’s true I married him but I never loved him.”

Ranveer flinches, helpless.

“I hate you, Ranveer Vaghela, I hate you!”

“To me, you were a driver and will always be my driver.”

“You destroyed my life.. I’ll destroy yours.”

“I will marry Shikhar.”

The air is rife with darkness, floating ghosts and cruelest words he doesn’t want to hear anymore. But they get louder and louder, their shapes, sounds far too intense for him to endure anymore. He’s drowning in a pit of dark, harsh metal scraping against his skin, bleeding, eyes seeking a hint of relief, but there’s none. Is he screaming? Is he struggling? Ranveer’s own voice reaches him, surprising him, his breath shaky. Her laughter finds him again, and Ranveer knows she is rejoicing in his miseries, her ghosts delighted that he is neither dead nor alive. But the familiar face in the darkness that sees him is a sad, miserable face, eyes ghosting in and out. He sees her palm stretched out to him, but Ranveer is drowning once again, the dark too horrifying and the sunlight is a history now. The last thing he vaguely remembers is a soft hand stroking his forehead.