SURVIVE

5. The Vow

Life is most cruel to the ones who are the most wonderful.

Nayarra watched the fire burn.

With it burned her sister's body. Sahara.

What had Sahara done? She had obeyed everyone. She had done what others wanted. She had done everything her father had asked her to do. She had obeyed his every rule.

Her father was crying now. How dare he cry? He was the one who had destroyed Sahara's life. He was the one who had sold her for money.

Bijay sat in the corner. He looked, sad. What the hell was he looking sad for? Nayarra knew that Bijay had been the cause of her sister's death.

And Niraj. Poor Niraj. He had been found dead just a day after Sahara. He had had a single gunshot wound on his stomach. However, the wound was days old and the doctors had concluded that he had been killed quite a few days ago.

Nayarra had a feeling deep down inside that all of this had been caused by Bijay.

She stared into the blazing fire. Her sister was being turned into ashes. But if she really thought about it then Sahara had started to burn a long time ago. She was burning when their father didn't let her go out with her friends. She was burning when the school held a farewell party for the outgoing batch during Sahara's time and she wasn't allowed to go. She was burning when all of her friends in college started wearing makeup and designer clothes but she was not allowed. She was burning when all her friends went on a vacation but she had to go looking for a job. She was burning when she finally decided to love Niraj. She was burning when they went on dates and she lied to her parents all the time. She was burning when she got married to Bijay. She was burning in her marriage. She was burning in those last few days of her torture. And she was burning at the moment.

Nayarra had been there for it all. Everything her sister had done, Nayarra hadn't done. She hadn't topped her grades or stayed in home. She had been the disobedient daughter. Her parents expected nothing much from her and she knew her end wouldn't be so brutal.

That day she had been sitting and daydreaming about her boyfriend in the classroom when she was summoned to the principal's office. She wasn't scared. She was a regular visitor in the office. But she never got called in until she had done something really bad. And she didn't remember doing anything so sinful. And she would soon be getting her engineer's degree. So she could work.

She had slowly gotten up and lazily walked up to the principal's office.

"Sit Nayarra." Her principal, a balding old man had said.

"I haven't done anything." Attitude. She thought. Attitude was the key.

"Of course you haven't."

"Then what?"

"Its about your sister." Nayarra had sat up straight at this.

"What's wrong?"

"You have to get home as soon as possible. I have arranged transportation for you."

"No. Tell me what's wrong?"

"You should go home."

"You are going to tell me what's wrong!" She had demanded, banging her fist on his table.

"They. You... They found her dead."

She thought she heard wrong. But she knew she hadn't. She almost lost control. But Nayarra didn't need to be told twice. She straight up ran to the car waiting for her and without much thought pushed the driver away to drive by herself.

She had come straight home and found a crowd of people swarming in and out. Most of them were paramedics. Some were relatives. Others she didn't recognize.