The door opened and Sheetal came out of the washroom after a long and relaxing bath. It was much needed after what happened an hour ago, especially since her head just won't stop thumping.
That same damned whisper pulsated in her brain again and she slumped on the bed, her head in her vice grip. She groaned, unable to clear the headache. It was hard, especially when so many thoughts were rushing through her all at once. The biggest being - who was the one to pull up such a prank on her?
Her head throbbed again and with an attempt to halt the causal musings, she stood up and approach the wardrobe for some medicines.
Maybe it was an illusion after all. As Arnav said, everyone was downstairs at that time and there was no way an intruder could just come and go without the guards noticing him. It might have been truly a made up thing of her mind, resulting from the countless nightmares she's been having ever since that day.
A chill ran up her spine and she clutched the door as her screams reverberated in her ears, followed closely by the deafening explosion of her car. Dense black smoke spread its unpleasant taste in her mouth before making a scalding journey down her throat and into her stomach, forcing the air out of her body and with a start, she slammed the wardrobe door shut, breathing heavily.
When she first came here in search for Arnav, she had in her mind all sort of vicious plans but murder was definitely not a part of it. No, she doesn't regret anything she did. How could she when that one act drove Arnav so close to her in mere days? But as much as Arnav's acceptance was gladdening, the fact remains that killing someone was the most terrifying experience of her entire life - the memories of which are bound to haunt her for a while.
She shook her head and cleared the image of herself -scrambling as far as she could from the searing smoke and sight of her car turning into smithereens - before turning around to reach the jug of water kept next to her bed.
An obnoxiously loud crashing sound took her by surprise, and she stared at the droplets of water she accidentally spilled on herself, before she peered over her shoulder. Her eyes squinted at the french door that peered into the garden darkened by the night.
Seeing no one, she shrugged and gulped her medicines when the same sound, just with a higher notch, resonated in her room. It continued, before changing into a weird cracking sound as if a kid was deliberately jumping on twigs in an attempt to rile the one watching over them.
Her facial muscles twitched and keeping the half-empty glass on the table, she waited for a few seconds to register the noise properly and once she was sure this was no game of her own mind, anger peaked.
"I swear to God.." She veered back, gritting through grounded teeth. Her baby hair stuck on her forehead which dampened with precipitation of pure rage as she slid the door open with an equal violence to see the culprit.
But as soon as her feet touched cold ground in the biting cold darkness, she felt a sudden discharge of electricity through her. Her body ached with a splintering intensity as the current jarred through it, sending her few steps backwards and onto the floor of her bedroom.
Her breaths turned shaky as she breathed too quickly, curling her body into a ball when every single nerve within her convulsed violently. As a result, her mouth and throat turned parched and as she attempt to swallow, a sheer sting danced all over her tongue. Tears escaped her drooping eyes continuously and she felt the darkness that was outside creep up on her but before it could blind her vision completely, she felt another vibration in her body as she saw a familiar figure walk towards her.
Owing to her blurry vision, she couldn't see her face properly but knowing very well who she was already, Sheetal made a futile attempt to back herself away. A loud beep reverberated in her ears and mind, before it turned to a dirge as her lashes fell on her ghostly skin.
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"Aahh..ahh.."
She sputtered out a cry as her mind started coming into consciousness, making her aware of her still convulsing body - her muscles twitching every now and then.
"Sheetal?" A nearby voice laced with concern spoke to her and she slurred, unable to respond. With a sigh, she fell back on the pillow and tried to clear the drowsiness off herself before she fluttered her eyes open once again, this time seeing everything with a better vision.
Soft sobs of her son registered in her mind as the vibration subsided and upon having a look on Aarav's blotched face, she traveled her eyes on the many faces staring at her.
"Sheetal, are you okay?" She recognized the source of the earlier voice and glanced to her side, to see a worried Arnav hovering over her.
She squinted her eyes, trying to make sense of his words through the way his lips moved.
"Are you okay? What happened?"
She read when he spoke up for the third time and had to ask herself the same question so she could fish out the answer from her jumbled memory. Her head boomed as the image of her crumbling on the floor of her bedroom played in front of her eyes like a film, causing her to sit upright on the bed with a startled start.
"Electric shock."
Her slurring tongue made an attempt to articulate and she jerked her index finger in the air, pointing at the poolside that sat across her.
"E-electric shock."
Confused glances with a tinge of oddness were shared, before they landed back on a seemingly distraught Sheetal.
"Electric shock?" Arnav asked, not before looking at his Di who shrugged, conveying that she had no idea of what might have happened to his friend.
"Yes." Sheetal bobbed her head, turning to Arnav as her hair covered almost half of her face due to her vigorous movement.
"I was in the room. Then I heard a sound, and it continued so I went to see and, and as soon as I stepped outside, I felt an electric shock." She explained, her eyes wide as the words escaped. Words that seemed to be no less than an exaggerated wicked scene from a movie.
It sounded incredulous, yet, when she was given unwelcomed stares, she could help but blurt out in exasperation.
"Why are you all looking at me like this?"
Anjali looked at Arnav who was simply staring at Sheetal wide-mouthed. Sighing, she stepped forward to enlighten the guest of honor.
"Maybe because we just heard the doctor say you fainted because of stress and weakness and now we are hearing you say it was because of an electric shock?" Her voice actually held a questioning edge which was, however, laced with sarcasm - sarcasm that Sheetal couldn't get in her fraught state.
She opened her mouth, ready to retort that the pain that heavied on her at this moment couldn't be solely from stress or weakness - then retreated the idea, knowing that she will seem crazy to be saying something like that again.
Thus, with a suppressed simmering scream of aggravation, she leaned back against the headrest, her head hung low.
There was a silence after this and after few murmurs, she heard someone telling her that she should rest and that they will look after Aarav for the night. Caring less, she simply nodded and waited for them to exit her room before she flung the blanket aside, shivering for a second as the cold air adhered to her skin.
She straightened her back and slowly lifted her feet and brought it up close so it would rest on the knee of her other leg, giving her a view of her sole.
She gasped, tentatively touching the dark purple horizontal line that marred her skin, then hissed when it burned at the touch.
An instant instinct in her was to rush out and gather everyone around to show them the proof for their ignorance but at the same time, her practical side vanquished the idea and analysed whatever has been happening.
It was evident that someone was truly behind all this, scheming to scare her and that too under Khushi's name. But the question was, why would anyone do that?
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Tucking Aarav in the bed, Anjali finally sighed and stood up on weary foot, fearing that she'll break the light sleep he had manage to slip into after a thousands tries. She pressed the lights off and walked backwards, with her eyes still fixated on the sleeping figure as she retreated with quietness.
Reaching the poolside, she exhaled and stared at him one last time and for the first time in a week, she felt something other than just irritation at the boy. She felt pity, she felt sympathy, for his face was contorted even in his sleep. His frantic shouts when he had first seen his mother unconscious on the floor flooded in her mind and she pressed her lips together, finding his blotched face drenched with tears for his mom painfully familiar.
She shrugged the thoughts as abruptly as it first came to her mind and moved to sit on the recliner. She leaned her head against the soft material and stared up at the sky. The stars were shining brightly but owing that it was the last hours of the night, the darkness that spread was dense and intense.
She sighed, her eyes darting at every luminous orb that blinked in the sky. At the back of her head, she remembered Khushiji saying that after death, people would turn into one of these so they could watch over the loved ones they left behind.
She took in a sharp intake of breath, averting her eyes from the stars at once as she realized who she was trying to search up there but as if destined to weep, her eyes instead fell on the photo frame kept inside her room, across from where she was sitting.
Her eyes softened with moisture and she smiled, the sides of her mouth trembling in the process as she looked at the picture of her, Chotte and Khushiji.
Arnav was standing in between them, his one hand around his di's shoulders and the other one wrapped securely around Khushi. The three of them grinning at the camera.
She missed it. She missed those days of happiness and laughter but most importantly, she missed the reason for their joy - Khushiji.
A lone tear dripped down her cheek as she stared at Khushi's face, her heart thudding with pity for this girl.
What did she not do for this family? Even before she was a part of them, she had already started building a safe cocoon around them, shielding them from every danger and in turn taking those blows herself. She suffered so much for them. In fact, she suffered so much at the hands of her brother but never once did she express any resentment. Her affection always remained pure, untainted from every vice despite their numerous unintentional deeds that would have spread hatred even in the bosoms of Devi Maiya.
She loved them, she loved him more than anything. Without any second thought, this girl was the one who accepted her wounded brother with open arms and treated him with her own tears. She tore a part of herself, just so she could complete him.
The realization of the extent of her love caused Anjali to look away in shame. Unbidden tears started spilling from Anjali's eyes as she started pondering over what Khushiji got in the end in return for all of this.
Treatment as a forgotten fragment of one's past?
Her aching heart replied and she shook her head, stubbornly stuck on her view that Khushiji did not deserve all this. Even if she was no more, even if she actually left the world, she did not deserve the treatment her husband was giving her.
Arnav's reaction and actions were instead a blatant mockery to Khushi's love. He claimed to have loved her more than anything but then quietly went into the cocoon of his friend when the same Khushi is presumed to be dead? This was not what Khushi deserved. The girl who literally gave herself to the fire for them - she neither deserved such a painful end nor did she deserve to be forgotten so soon by her own husband.
Heck, she might be still alive, battling between life and death somewhere but Arnav still wouldn't know. Or to be precise, he wouldn't care.
Her chest soared and she sagged back against the recliner, her mind swarm with so many unsettling thoughts - one being Arnav's irking happiness.
Being his sister, she felt like she should be happy for him. She should be glad that he is recovering from his trauma after what happened with Khushi and is trying to move on but then she would think, when was he even traumatized?
The way he gathered himself and ran to his friend for comfort made her doubt all the tears he had shed in her presence that day in the hospital. Ultimately, she doubted Arnav's love for Khushi as a whole because going by his current behavior, it does not look like he had a hard time jumping from one woman to another.
Her searing heart froze for a second before it shattered with a sheer intensity, terrified at her own thoughts. Suddenly restless and frightened, Anjali reached for the stars again, this time as she sought her mother, asking her only thing.
To save her from the day she sees her father or Shyam in her Chotte because if that day ever comes, that would be the doom of the entire Raizada family.
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P.s I know in the show there was no poolside in Sheetal's room but for this scene I needed a window. Never truly seen a window in Raizada Mansion that's why I switched the design of Sheetal's room itself, making similar to most of the rooms in Shantivan. ;)