(ð¨ Long chapter ahead ð¨)
ðï¸ Trigger Warning:- Following chapter contains scenes of sexual assault, so please don't proceed if you are not comfortable reading.
â~Ã~â
Is it really okay for me to be here? Should I just return even though Ayush didn't object on me coming to his house for group project? Would it be better to bail out and let others do all the work?
"Why are you standing like a statue, Sandhya?"
I looked over my shoulder and noticed my group members, Kriya and Bindu, heading toward me. They stood beside me, and before I could reply, Kriya rang the bell of Ayush's home and commented how big the place was.
Bindu agreed with her, and they were really shocked to know that I had been to Ayush's residence before.
"Wow. I didn't know you two were friends," Bindu said.
"Yeah." Kriya nodded. "Do you know how much it must have cost-"
"Hey, girls," Ayush greeted after opening the door and motioned for us to come inside.
"Thank you for having us." Bindu smiled and entered the home with Kriya in tow.
"Do you need a separate invitation?" Ayush asked me.
I shook my head and followed the girls, who were gaping at the interior. After expressing their awe and bombarding Ayush with a lot of questions about his personal life, they calmed down and decided to begin with our work.
"My room is upstairs." Ayush pointed at the first floor and told us to follow him.
"You live alone in this huge house?" Kriya inquired.
"No, my grandfather lives with me," Ayush replied.
"And your parents?"
"They are divorced: Mom lives in Guwahati, and Dad visits me whenever he gets time."
"I am sorry." Kriya gave him a sad look.
Ayush waved her off, and let us inside his room. Even if it wasn't my first visit to his home, it was the first time I had seen his room. While Kriya and Bindu arranged the study materials on the soft velvet rug, I roamed my eyes around, trying not to let my emotions take over.
The room was decorated in a minimalist style; a white coloured bed placed in the middle, a matching study table and wardrobe taking the space near the large window and on bed's left side respectively, a huge bookshelf was proudly standing on the opposite side of the bed, and trophies were lined up on wooden shelves with a few photo frames hanging on the white wall.
My eyes zeroed in on the frame in which Ayush was smiling towards the camera, standing between Ved and me. The photo was taken by his mom at the end of our third grade and only Ayush was glowing because Ved and me had pissed off expressions on our faces - we had a fight just a moment ago about whom Ayush considered his bestest friend.
I was actually surprised to see that photo placed in the middle of all frames, but I didn't voice out my thoughts. I didn't want to hurt myself by thinking too much about it; Ayush must have kept that picture beacause Ved was in too. Still, I was thankful that he hadn't cropped me out.
"Are you here on a vacation? Do some work or leave," Ayush scolded.
"Yes, Sir." I nodded and sat down beside Bindu.
She was making a rough outline of our project, while Kriya was doing research about the Thermal plants on Ayush's PC. Ayush had taken on the task of writing down the major points in a notebook, so I took out my own laptop and began preparing the soft copy of our daily progress.
All of us continued working, taking breaks in between to replenish our energies and flex our joints. In the evening, Ayush ordered some snacks for us, and after that, we were back to our project. I was done with updating the schedule, so I took on the task of making diagrams with Bindu as Ayush and Kriya did the writing.
Ring! Ring!
Bindu excused herself when her phone rang. When she returned, I had already completed one of the four drawings, so I told her to research some extra material online while I started with the second diagram. I was getting bored, so I plugged in my earphones and listened to songs while moving my pencil on the white chart paper.
I was so lost in my world that I didn't realise that the sun had already set, and Kriya and Bindu had already packed their bags and were ready to leave. I was brought back to the real world when Bindu tapped my shoulder and informed me that she and Kriya were leaving as it had gotten late.
"You should leave too before it gets too dark," she said.
"What's the time?" I asked.
"8 pm."
"Should I drop you girls home?" Ayush offered.
"Thank you, but I have already called my sister to pick us up." Kriya smiled.
"Okay, then, we should leave now. Bye, Sandhya." Bindu and Kriya waved their hands at me and exited the room.
Ayush returned after seeing the girls off and sat down on his study chair. He closed the web browser and started an online game; he glimpsed at me only once before he began playing the game.
Isn't he going to ask me to leave? Isn't he even a least bit worried about me leaving so late?
I took a huge breath and shook my head to myself. After getting an experience from the last group project, I had already informed my parents about getting late while returning to home. So, I wasn't worried since I had one more hour to spare.
As Ayush wasn't bothered about me, I completed the rough outline of other two diagrams and packed my bags when the clock struck 9:30 pm. I went beside Ayush and told him that I was leaving. He nodded absentmindedly and reminded me to close the door on my way.
I rolled my eyes and exited his room, pulling the door close behind me. Few moments later, I was on my scooter, ready to zoom off towards my humble abode. After calling Dad and giving him update about my location, I fastened my helmet and started my vehicle.
But before I could leave, I had to reverse when I saw a black colored Sedan enter through the gates. Since the windows were tinted, I couldn't see the occupants. I deduced that it must be Ayush's grandfather because I didn't see him inside the house.
Once the car was out of the way, I drove out of the premise and joined the fellow commuters. I began humming an old song while enjoying the short drive, the moment reminding me of Dad and his habit of doing the same. I smiled as the memory of his recent birthday flashed in front of my eyes, but just as I reached the first signal from Ayush's home, my stomach churned with a bad feeling.
Suddenly, I felt goosebumps all over my body as my forehead got covered with sweat beads. I darted my eyes around in panic, trying to know the reason behind my sudden drop in heart rate. The signal turned green, and I twisted the key in the ignition. But the moment I drove some distance, I felt a pang so strong that I turned my scooter around instantly and zoomed towards Ayush's home at maximum speed.
When I reached his place, I parked my vehicle at a random spot and noticed that his house's door was wide open. I glanced at the black car and dashed inside, taking two stairs at a time. My feet were feeling heavy, but I dragged myself upstairs and landed in front of Ayush's room.
My hands shook as I placed my left palm over the door. I heard some murmurs from inside and the voice was not that of Ayush. I slowly pushed the wooden surface, wishing for my gut feeling to be wrong - but it was right all along.
My eyes widened in horror when I registered the scene in front of me. A man, about double my age and size, was looming over Ayush and smiling at him cynically.
"I missed you, my sweet boy," he said and ran his fingers over Ayush's naked torso.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I yelled.
The man snapped his head at me in a flash and glowered at me. "Who are you?"
"Get off him this instant!" I stormed towards him, rage flowing through my veins.
I tried to push the man off, but he grabbed my right arm and swung me to the side without any effort. He snarled at me and told me to leave if I didn't want to get in trouble. I glanced at Ayush and noticed that he was in a trance; he was staring at his perpetrator blankly as tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Ayush!" I shouted to get him out of his daze, but he didn't respond.
"I said get-" that man began, but I banged the study lamp on his head.
"I will kill you, motherfucker." I moved my hand to hit him again.
He dodged it and punched me across the face. The force was too much to handle, and I was thrown two feet behind, landing on the floor with a loud thud. For a moment, everything turned dark, but when that man grabbed my hair and yanked me up, I realised that I was going to get myself and Ayush killed if I didn't do something.
"Playing a hero, are you?" The evil man sneered. "Let me first get over that piece of shit, and then I will take care of you too."
He shook me vigorously and threw me on the floor. He began moving towards Ayush, but I grabbed his legs and pulled him down. He hit his forehead on the side table and turned towards me like a pissed off bull. I didn't waste time and kneed him in the face after getting up.
I continued kicking, turning his face into a blood of pool - Rajeev had advised me to do anything to survive if I ever found myself in such situations. I clenched my fists and stabbed him in the balls with my pointed shoe. He groaned and moved his hands to grab me, but I punched him in the stomach; he fainted after a few seconds.
I took that chance and moved beside Ayush. I called his name multiple times, but he was not reacting at all. Seeing no other option, I slapped his face few times to bring him back from his nightmare. I smiled in relief when he blinked and his pupils shifted focus.
"Come on. We need to leave before he wakes up," I said and grabbed Ayush's hand.
I pulled him out of the bed and headed towards the door; I took out my phone from my shorts' pocket to call for help, but a pair of big arms pulled me back by my waist and crashed me on the floor.
"Not so easy, bitch. I will show you who you have messed with." That man took off his shirt and started undoing his pants.
"I will teach you a lesson today which you won't be able to forget even in your dreams." He laughed and pinned me on the floor.
He straddled me and slapped me four times. I put all of my strength to get him off me, but he punched me in the chest and grabbed my neck. He began choking me, and my vision started darkening. I moved my eyes around to see Ayush, but he was nowhere in sight.
"Ayush..." I cried.
The man on top of me removed his hands from my neck and moved them toward my top. But before he could do it, Ayush smacked him behind the head with his cricket bat. He continued thrashing him while yelling curses at him.
"You bastard! How dare you touch her?" Ayush bellowed and hit the man across the face, his bat breaking into two.
After seeing Ayush get into the beast mode, I also got up and joined him in taking down his culprit. Both of us beat that asshole till his whole body was covered in blood and bruises. I stopped after he fell unconscious and asked Ayush if he had any ropes.
Ayush nodded and brought out some nylon ropes after searching through his trekking gear. To ensure our safety, we tied the bastard up with ropes and few bedsheets. When we were done, we dragged him inside the bathroom and locked him up; we created extra barrier by placing the bed in front of the door.
Once we made sure that we no longer needed to be scared, Ayush and I took our time to calm down and slumped down on the floor.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
Ayush shook his head, and I wiped his tear-stained face with my thumbs. "I think you should call up your best friend before we get in more trouble."
Ayush didn't reply and kept staring at me with hurt floating in his grey eyes. "I am sorry."
"Why are you sorry? You saved my life, Ayush." I shot him a small smile, ignoring the pain in my whole body.
Ayush started crying, and I patted his back when he couldn't control his emotions. He began rambling and kept apologizing for dragging me in the situation. I caressed his hair as he laid down his head on my shoulder and entwined his left arm with my right one.
He called up Ved and told him to come to his house as soon as he could. When he was done with the call, I left to bring some water for him after telling him to call me if he heard any moment from inside the washroom.
After reaching the kitchen, I drank some water and took a full jar and a glass with me. I turned around when I noticed Ved enter the house and dash upstairs in a frenzy, followed by Nikhil, Shree and Shreyas. I went after them, my pace slow as a snail. It took me more time to return to Ayush's room, where Ved was hugging his best friend and consoling him, while Shree was talking to Ayush's dad on the phone, and Nikhil and Shreyas were searching for Ayush's medicines in the mess with worried expressions.
"Sandhya?" Nikhil yelled at the top of his lungs.
Just as he said my name, everyone turned their heads toward me and looked at me in shock. I could see the horror in their eyes as clear as a crystal, but Ved looked like as if he found out that someone had died.
Why do I feel like 'that someone' is soon going to be me?