Between The Blue

14

Someone was following her through the shadows. She ran deeper into the narrow street, hiding at the farther end of it. She could hear the footsteps getting closer. Beads of sweat drenched her body and she shuddered trying to shove herself in the wall when her back hit the nail. She clasped her mouth shut and felt warm blood trickle down her body. Twisting her neck with fear, she tried to peek behind, The nail was dug sharper into her flesh, scatters of cloth holding her body loose.

The footsteps grew nearer. She could hear hushed voices.

Detecting a drum, nearby, she removed the lid before dragging her bloody body near it. Scatters of used sanitary lay unbarred in the dustbin, it smelled of blood and mucus, of rotten flesh, when she put a leg in, and jumped inside, seconds passed as she tried to pull the lid back.

The last ray of moonlight was a spectacle of her escape and misery. Grave mysteries flashed crooked of black roses and chimes of piano could be heard at a distance. The evil was dancing at her mirth. She was the weakest queen to exist, to fight in dirt and blood, her sword yielding the graphs of decay.

She was close to winning, the light was going away and darkness scowled at her face when suddenly the lid was flashed open.

And people found her.

Hiral woke up with a jolt. Her breathing was uneven and aghast— she touched her arms to remove the feeling of insects crawling over her. Her throat parched, the sinking depth in her gut, consuming her whole as she rubbed her chest to catch up her breathing. She felt like she had woken up from the dead.

It was her third nightmare in the past week.

Trying to calm herself down, she removed the blanket from above her when she felt herself sweating profusely. Getting her feet down from the bed, she snapped open a pill from the packet and drowned it in a go. Throwing the packet back on the side table, she heaved another sigh.

The past week had taken a toll on her. She couldn't remember the number of times, she was questioned, reprimanded, pitied, and tried to blackmail. New photos were published consecutively for two days and she became a topic of discussion for the news channels, few called her, a gold digger, while a few called her shameless, few took her for an innocent woman while few found her irrelevant. She was called to the police station, questioned, and even approached by the lawyers of both sides.

She had stayed locked for about a week in her room. Her phone was off and her television connection was cut. The distant relatives to the close ones, neighbors, her in-laws, everyone who knew she breathed had something to say and a reason to visit their home.

Her eyes went to the envelope that contained her pregnancy reports in detail.

Sheetal had taken her to the hospital last week. She was one and a half months pregnant, and she was advised rest and medication and was found anemic, and whatnot, apparently there was everything wrong with her body. Her family had turned silent and she couldn't really understand if they believed her or they thought they should believe her or they were just trying to show her, that they did.

After they were clicked in her room, their arms linked together, she was not only questioned by her father but her brother also seemed to be in doubt. Her husband had returned reprimanding her for tarnishing his image left, right, and center, and once the police came home, her mother stared at her like she was really a bad sin.

And amidst all the questioning she had still complained about all the calls he had tried her in the past few days. It was like she was stuck in a web, she didn't knit for herself. And then from the past three days, he had stopped calling her, proposing to her whatever she could get out of the deal.