YOU’RE NEXT, BUDDY
PRE-NOTE:
Kindly excuse
correct the grammatical mistakes. Thanks in advance. :-)
PART 9:
Gokul’s eyes
narrowed. “You saw me in a dream? What?”
Supriya began to
speak but Rocky interrupted plaintively. “Not now, Riya.”
“But how could he be
in my dream if I haven’t seen him before?” She sounded helpless and she wished
she didn’t.
Rocky lashed out.
“Will you please shut up?”
Supriya was wounded.
“Rocky, I just…”
“Shut up!” He said
more seriously this time if that was possible.
“I am sorry,” she
said in a thick voice, through her tears and came out and sat on the stairs
outside the house, hugging her knees. When Rocky and Sandhya found her wiping
her tear-streaked face on her hanky, the hours hand had already completed half
rotation in their clocks.
“Come on. Let’s go,”
said Sandhya. Rocky didn’t bother as he walked casually, checking his phone.
Supriya got up and trod heavily after them. None of them spoke during the whole
journey and when Supriya was dropped at her place, Rocky informed her, “Go
sleep. If you have the same dream, we’re going to the doctor in the evening.
Okay?” She simply nodded and went in.
But she had a good
night’s sleep the previous night and so she couldn’t close her eyes and travel
to the slumber land. She read a book for some time and Ayesha was still not
back. Her first thought was to call Ayesha but then chose the opposite. She put
on her favorite hooded sweat jacket over her sleeveless top. She changed her
jeans and wore the spandex pants. In a minute, her hair was corralled in a bun
too and her overall appearance would suggest that she was out for jogging. As a
finishing touch, she plugged her ear phones and let the music fill her ears.
“If Vasanth found me
in his park, I will tell him that I am here to run.” She sent an air kiss to
her reflection in the mirror before locking the door behind her.
She reached the park
after a short walk and looked up at his window eagerly. There weren’t any
movements and she twisted her lips in disappointment. She started running,
faster when she was around the other side of the park and made it insanely slow
when she was around his window. She counted every round and the number just
peaked without a peek of him.
Finally when she was
about to give up, the blinds of his window went up and he waved at her. He
joined her in another two minutes. “So it takes 2 minutes to cover 80% of the
park and 7 minutes to cover this distance? We should notify our scientists,
maybe! Some amazing gravity this place has.” He said.
So he noticed –
thought Supriya with a sheepish grin. She thought she saw a smile playing
around the corners of his mouth, but over the years as a professor, he’d become
very good at suppressing such displays. “So…”
“Change your outfit
and come back. My doors are ready to welcome you always. You don’t have to
pretend,” he said, nodding with assurance. He didn’t smile, he didn’t touch
her, he didn’t even say anything kindly, but the tenderness in his face was
enough for her to forget her worries. How she felt remarkably calm here rather
than with her closest friends!
“Yes, sure,” she
turned and walked.
Vasanth said loudly,
“Seriously?”
She turned around
and looked at him with a perplexed expression. “Why do you have to follow what
I say? Come on, stand up for your thoughts and yourself. Do you really want to
go back and…”
“No,” she said
immediately, grappling his wrists.
“That’s right. Say
‘No’ to people once in a while,” Then, in spite of himself, Vasanth cracked a
smile, and then laughed outright without any reason. Supriya laughed now too,
letting go of him and putting her hands up to her mouth. Vasanth leaned against
the fence and just let loose, laughing so hard that his eyes started watering.
Supriya held her stomach, laughing breathlessly, then tried to talk, panting.
“Oh, oh, I’ve not
laughed like this for a long time despite being part of the funniest gang in
the university--” she said, leaning against the fence next to him. Gradually,
they both quieted and just stood against the fence beside each other, staring
into space. Supriya had a sudden vision of bringing her lips to his and
declaring her love for him but she didn’t have the guts.
“You know,” Vasanth
said suddenly (at least it seemed sudden to Supriya), “you look really nice
when you’re laughing like that.”
She turned and
looked at him. “You look nice all the time,” she said softly, moving her eyes
over his thin face, the sprinkling of freckles over his nose, his deep brown
eyes, his dark hair which had its own mind…
Vasanth’s eyes went
very wide, and he shook his head. “Come in,” he said, walking towards his door.
She took the first step which was going to change her life forever in a way she
had never imagined.
***********
At the same time,
Prashanth was spread over the ponyskin chair before the picture window, his
legs crossed on the table, a ten-inch frosted glass in his hand, and the
damaged building designed by him at his feet. He was studying his design
between sips and wondering where he went wrong. He wasn’t supposed to make such
a pathetic construct.
He squinted down at
the remaining thermocol sheets, sipping his rum and enjoying his loneliness. It
was a blue-white day. The hill ran green and flowered to the twinkled plain,
simmering in the sun. At this point Prashanth noticed that his glass was as empty
as his creativity presently. He got up from the ponyskin chair and found
himself face to face with his dad. “Isn’t it too early for drinks?” he asked
softly.
“Yes, but I am
depressed,” said Prashanth, avoiding his father Rajesh’s eyes. “I told Aunt
Ranjani I wasn’t seeing anybody today, not even her. How did you get in?”
Rajesh picked the
messed up building from the floor and placed it back on the table. “Climbed up
through the window. I tried not to trample your little money plant. I hope you
do not mind.”
“I do mind,” and
then he suddenly laughed. “Dad, what? Tell me that you’re kidding.”
“Of course I am
kidding. This is my house, Pras, and I happen to have a spare key to your
room.”
He was grinning now.
“Outrageous, I say. Are you spying on me and Vasu?”
His father wasn’t.
“I don’t, until and unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“I am okay, dad. I
am just tired, I guess.”
“But I’ve got to see
you.”
“Everybody’s got to
see me. But I don’t have to see everybody. Especially not you when I look like
this.”
“You are sort of
pale, aren’t you? Go get dressed now,” said Rajesh. Prashanth realized that
Rajesh was in a fine suit, looking as though he was addressing the board of
directors whereas he was in his shorts. He must look ridiculous. He didn’t
argue this time; he went in without a word.
When he came out
safe and suave in slacks, Shantung shirt, and burgundy corduroy jacket, Rajesh
was in his ponyskin chair with crossed legs, smoking a cigarette. “I’ve fixed
your drink,” he said, passing the glass.
“Kind of you. I
suppose that means I must offer you one.” No point in fighting anymore – he had
to talk to his dad about his problem.
“Thanks. I don’t
drink before five.” He was thinking of something else. Prashanth leaned against
the picture window and looked down at him.
“Dad, I am a bit
worried about Vasu. This girl that he is seeing…”
“One of his
students? He just introduced her to me. She looks nice.”
“I did a background
check on her. No status, nothing – apart from all that, she is a nutcase.”
Rajesh chuckled but
didn’t say anything. Prashanth continued, “I don’t think that she would never
replace a wonderful lady like my mom… Why won’t you talk some sense and take
Vasanth’s mind off this girl? I am actually feeling guilty because I put him
through it without thinking. Kill me now.”
“Come on, Pras,
you’re the youngest in this house. Behave like one.”
“I wish. I talked to
her this morning and I didn’t like her a bit. I should’ve seen this coming as I
know her gang…”
“Listen, for the
first time, he shows some interest in a girl and I don’t want to disturb that.
I don’t want to be a typical dad before even he gets serious.”
“I want to end this
before this gets serious,” said Prashanth desperately. “She is a half-wit,
daddy. You talk to her and you’ll see.”
“We’re going to see
it; let’s go to Vasu’s room,” said Rajesh.
Prashanth just stood
there, staring his father. Rajesh got up and touched his arm. “Come on!”
Vasanth’s room
wasn’t closed like Prashanth’s. Vasanth smiled at them when they stood in his
doorway while Supriya didn’t notice as her back was to them and she was still
talking. “…done. That’s why I chose to tell you everything.”
“What about your
friends?” He asked.
“They are such
dummies,” she sighed.
“They don’t listen
to you?”
“They listen to me.
But then they laugh. There is nothing funny about my dreams happening for real,
right?”
Prashanth sighed,
rolling the frosty glass along his brow. “Ah, of course, there it comes! Dad,
that’s exactly what I was talking about.”
Supriya rose as soon
as she understood that they weren’t alone. “Uncle! Prashanth!”
“Don’t bother us,”
said Rajesh, flashing a warning look at Prashanth and pulling him away.
Prashanth raised his
glass and sank the entire contents down his throat. “I’d never let him marry
her, dad. I’ll make sure of that.”
***********
“Stop right there,
sir,” said Sylvia, looking offended.
“What?” Prashanth
lifted his eyebrows.
“Prashanth hated
Supriya?” A determined look was in her black eyes, two little lines forming
between her brows when she was frowning, deep in thought.
“That’s a strong
word. Even dislike is a strong word. He simply thought that Vasanth could do
better than a Supriya.”
She got an angry
scowl on her face, her lips went into a straight line. “This is exactly why I
hate men. They always look for better ones. They don’t care that women have
feelings too. They look at them as though they are some objects made of flesh
and blood just for the sake of… for the sake of…”
“Supriya left
Vasanth and it’s not the other way around,” Prashanth retorted.
All the angry lines
disappeared and she nodded with a pout. “Fair point. Go on.”
“Before that, your
friend over there seems restless and she is the only person sweating all over
in an airport. I think you should comfort her before the airport authorities
arresting her mistakenly for carrying dynamite.”
Sylvia waved her
hand impatiently. “She doesn’t look that bad, does she?”
“Maybe if you care
that that woman has feelings and she is not just some object…”
“All right. All
right. I take it back whatever I said. It’s just that I grow fond of this
Supriya already – girls like her don’t exist anymore. Naïve is an outdated
concept these days, you know?”
“Naïve is overrated.”
“Naïve is underrated.”
Sylvia protested.
Prashanth shrugged
his shoulders. “Sure. I like smart girls on the other hand.”
“So you don’t like
Supriya either?”
Prashanth bit his
lips. For a moment, he forgot that she wasn’t aware of the fact that he in
person and Prashanth in the story were one and the same. “I… I liked her
eventually.” His fingers perfunctorily touched the star shaped dollar he was
wearing.
Sylvia smiled.
“Good. I’ll go see my friend now.”
“I’ll be back
shortly too. I need to do something,” he left. Sylvia turned twice or thrice to
check him but he didn’t show any impulse to do so. In the corner of her heart,
she felt a tad bit upset.
She went and sat
next to Priya. “Priya, why are you shivering like this?”
“What was that? The
Arrow is watching us? I don’t want to die. Even if I want to, definitely not in
a psycho’s hands. Please, Sylvi, let’s leave.”
“What about Police?
Let’s inform them before leaving.”
“Sure. And when are
we leaving?”
Sylvia looked away.
“After Vijay finishes his story…”
Priya grabbed her
shoulders tightly that made Sylvia wince. “Sylvi, something is thoroughly
wrong. I know that you think that this story has something to do with The
Arrow.”
“No, I like him.”
“What?” Priya
shouted. She thought of the only thing that could put off Sylvia. “What if he
is the arrow?”
Prashanth who just
got back suddenly hid himself behind a pillar and watched Sylvia eagerly. “I would
turn him to the Police but still would bail him out to check out his side of
the story.”
“Wrong answer,”
Prashanth murmured inaudibly.
***********
“The Arrow,” Indhu
sounded hollow. “He got you. He hurt you. He… hurt… you.” She said it again.
Vijay began.
“Honey…” He gave up as he knew that she was not listening at all. Her eyes were
glassy and fixed on the opposite side of the wall while she continued rocking
in the rocker chair.
“She scares me,”
said Raghav.
“Did you check every
place in my house? There is no one? There is no blood?”
“You scare me too,”
said Raghav.
“Alright. I
shouldn’t have asked that for the third time.”
“Fourth.” Raghav
corrected.
“He hurt Vij,” said
Indhu. “He hurt my Vij.”
“And I thought that
this won’t get creepier,” Raghav said, slapping Vijay’s thigh out of habit and
Vijay flinched. “Ouch!”
Bhargav put in. “The
Arrow took us to a place, went to certain heights of redecorating the place
just like your bedroom, manhandle you with a chainsaw, let me run wild in an
unknown place for a while and then took you back to your house to make another
setup. What the hell is that all about?”
Raghav snapped his
forehead. “Is it a family thing? He is saying that for the fifth time.”
Vijay looked around
and shook his head wildly. “Okay, I shall give you something to ponder. Let’s
skip the entire ‘why’ because it doesn’t make any sense. I’d like to
concentrate on ‘how’. He redecorated a room just like mine, complete even with
all the furniture – that means that he has access to my bedroom regularly,
every inch of it – how? That day I was kidnapped, I checked the glove
compartment before parking – no chloroform and no cellphone. How did it get
into it when I was going out? I am damn sure that no one entered the premises
apart from us. So how again? Until and unless there was an inside help, he
could not have achieved it.
We met a girl in the
airport and how did Arrow manage to contact us using the same girl’s picture or
profile whatever? One sane explanation is that the girl Priya Viswanathan was
Arrow’s accomplice – you need to take her into custody, Raghav. For starters,
how did she know that I was Arrow’s victim? She has some connection and we need
her.
The most astonishing
thing is this – I, myself, didn’t know that I was going to go out till last
minute. I mean that I took the decision of going to Phoenix mall earlier just
that moment and Arrow knew it – how? Either he is following every move of mine
or he has someone who gives those details. For some reason, I am sure that he
didn’t follow me – he was simply waiting there. So the possibilities of him
having an accomplice in my inner circle – it’s unbelievable but we gotta
consider it.”
“Vij, you’re insane.
Do you realize what you’re saying? It means that one of us – either me, Bhargav
or your uncle is involved.”
“Not exactly, Raghav.
We have the servants, securities, my aunt, Bhargav’s girlfriend and my grandmother
apart from you three. I can’t bring myself to suspect any of these people. But
trust me, somewhere there is a weak link.”
Raghav sighed, “Did
you work out the connection between the other victims and you?”
“Yes. None.”
“What?”
“We’re not connected
directly – I am 100% sure about that.”
“But you’re
connected indirectly. Is that what you’re telling me?”
“More or less. Think
of every murder – he takes a video and sends it to someone. By killing someone,
he is destroying another soul. Have you noticed that?”
Raghav’s eyes mechanically
spotted Indhu who looked more painful than Vijay who was hurt physically. “By
hurting one physically, he is hurting one mentally.”
“Exactly. That’s
where the connection is. James Alwin’s second son, Badrinath’s girlfriend,
Gokul’s wife, Juhi Sinha’s cousin and my wife – I bet my life that there is
something that is linking all these people.” As a detective, he formed a
conclusion – but he wished that he hadn’t said it aloud. Indhu looked worse
than ever upon those words – she could not tolerate the fact that he was hurt
on behalf of her.
“You hurt him. I’ll
kill you,” Indhu stared at the wall with loathing.
Raghav clicked his
tongue. “And now she is talking to a person who is not in the room.”
“Raghav, please,”
said Vijay, getting up and stopping the rocker of Indhu. “Would you like some
coffee, dear?”
“I’ll make some,”
she said without looking at him.
“No, I’ll do it. You
sit there.”
“I don’t want any.”
Raghav squealed.
“It’s 3 AM in the morning and you’re trying to keep her awake? Go to hell,
Vij.”
Indhu finally broke
eye contact with the wall and looked at the three. She pointed at Raghav first,
“You” and then at Bhargav “You” and looked at them both again. “Both of you,
get out.”
“What?” All three
men shouted in disbelief.
“Now!” She said,
crossing her arms across her chest. Vijay was the first to recover. “Baby…”
“One more word, I’ll
walk out on you right now and I swear you’ll never see me again, Vij.”
Vijay’s mouth fell
open and his world just stopped for a few seconds. Raghav apologized quickly
and went out. Bhargav tried to explain but he was tongue-tied as he faced the
murderous look on her eyes. They said wordlessly, ‘You let my husband to a killer and ran away. I don’t trust you anymore.’
It pained him that he had lost his sister’s trust. He knew that there was
nothing he could do at this unearthly hour and so he backed off.
They were alone and
Indhu leaned on the sofa next to Vijay and flung her arms around his shoulder.
“I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry. For a moment, I just thought that leaving
you is easier for me than watching you get hurt. And the moment I said it, I
regret it. Either way, I am gonna die or end up in prison.”
“You need sleep.”
“No, no, no, please
stay,” her arms tightened.
At a quarter of four
she allowed him to give her one of the sleeping pills. She undressed stiffly
and changed into her pajamas. She moved like a walking doll. He tucked her into
bed and stooped to kiss her. “I love you.”
“Please don’t go
anywhere. Please don’t.”
He kissed the top of
her head. “I won’t, Indhu.” She babbled and mewed a bit before falling asleep.
She still wouldn’t let go of his hand. He smiled, pulled a chair and leaned
against it. He silenced their phones and made sure that the alarm wasn’t set.
He wasn’t sure when
he fell asleep; but when he was awake, her head was in his lap and she was
curled around like a little kitten. He swung his legs to the floor without
disturbing her and smoothed her hair. She groaned a bit but continued sleeping
like a child. He was so fascinated to watch her hair fall across her cheeks and
every time she pushed them behind her ears automatically. She moaned in her
sleep, mumbled something.
He looked down and
saw her eyes moving behind her eyelids. He thought about what she’d be likely
to be dreaming about if she sounded like that, and became even warmer. He bent
down and tried to make some sense of what she was saying. ‘I’ll hunt you down and cut to pieces for hurting my Vij.’
“Now this is
nightmare,” said Vijay. Indhu slowly opened her eyes and smiled brightly. “I
woke up in the middle of the night and saw you in the chair. Actually I
should’ve asked you to come into bed but I couldn’t resist. Sorry.”
“I am super
exhausted and I could use a couple of gallons of coffee, Mrs. Vijay.”
“It’s all ready for
you. You just sit here. I’ll get it.”
“No, I’ll come into
the kitchen.”
They went into the
kitchen. Indhu spooned out the coffee, watching him. Indhu poured. “Indhu,
can’t you just let it go? Yes, somebody hurt me, but I am fine and so shall we
move on?”
“Thank god that you
were all right.” A silence dropped between them. He sat down at the kitchen
table and mixed the sugar cubes. He wanted her to say in words that she
wouldn’t avenge him even if he was dead.
“Indhu…”
“You won’t leave me
again like you did in the airport?”
“No.” He said firmly
and he meant it.
“Shall we reverse
our roles for a few days? How would you like me to take care of you instead of
you being the caretaker always?”
Vijay nodded with a
knowing smile. He touched her short hair that curled around her shoulders.
“What would I do without you?”
“I’ll bet you say
that to all your girls.”
“Yep.” He kissed her
and felt the tension of her body through the terry robe. “I’m one hell of a
husband. But will you drop the whole thing and…”
“No, Vij, I’ve got
to do something!” His stomach contracted. She was jerking with sobs again.
“What kind of horrible wife I would be, if I just simply let it go?”
“A few minutes ago you
were thanking God I am okay.” She kept sobbing. He kept stroking her. He could
find nothing else to say. He had always hated to see Indhu cry, he was a
complete coward about her tears. They made him furious, they brought back
memories of one thing that he was simply bad at – consoling anyone. Even now,
he was finding no words of comfort, only curses at his helplessness.
“I’m sorry.” Indhu
pushed away from him. “Bawling isn’t going to help anyone.”
“You cry all you
want. But just forget that…”
She looked alarmed
suddenly. “Vij?”
“What is it?”
“Did Raghav make a
search in our basement?”
“I didn’t think so.”
She broke from him
and ran towards the stairs that led to the basement. Vijay couldn’t go ahead of
her, thanks to his wound but he followed her as fast as he could. He didn’t
reach the basement when Indhu came back, gasping for breath and hugging him.
“Vij, murder! It’s way too cruel. And The Arrow had left two videos for me.”
To be continued.
Comments and
criticisms are welcome. :-)
For previous parts,
kindly check
Thanks &
Regards,
Lavanyaa
