INNOCENCE LOST (Rewriting)

10: ENTANGLED:

Has anyone experienced living death?

The time when you're alive, breathing but incapacitated. When an intense terror of an unknown yet known completely paralyses and commands. At that very moment, you witness the consciousness slipping away, fading into distant oblivion. And you watch immobilised, helpless while fear reigns supreme.

I beheld my awareness bidding goodbye. The surroundings evanesced, gradually blackening out. In the receding glow of light, I knew I lost balance and the cold marble floor waited inviting. Yet, warm hands prevented the fall.

"So, even the stars die!" the person joked.

His chuckle failed to induce any jest, I blinked into steadiness; the sudden encounter was no less than a shocker.

"Why..why are you here?" I asked in a daze.

"Surprised? I thought you would be amused?" he quipped.

I jerked out of his grip, retreated into a comfortable distance, statued against the opposite wall. He approached-a lion prowling in the bush, and the more he closed in, the narrower the corridor got, shrinking further until a slice of space remained. Grasping my shoulders he snarled, yet the twinkle in those eyes refused to dwindle.

"Let go. I should be heading back." I pushed.

"This early?" He teased. "Afraid of your husband? Come on! You're not that type. Who knows it better than me?"

"Let me go, or else-"

"Else what, Sreya? You're the one standing on an edge, remember?"

"Careful!" I snapped. "One wrong move and you will be accused of manhandling a woman in public. This is a respectable place, are you in dire need of another scandal? Wasn't the one four years back a wake-up call?" I gripped his wrist, digging my nails into the flesh until his mouth twitched with pain. "Think twice before messing with me." I hissed.

"And you assume I still care?" his teeth clashed against each other while the force on my shoulder multiplied. "After everything you put me through? You're wrong. I have every information, each one of them. And I, like you, have learnt to place my cards right. So, don't fuck like the last time. I have nothing to lose but, you have much to gain."

The words cut sharp, razor-sharp. Still, I maintained a defiant face.

"Wednesday evening 5.30 at Jodhpur Park-"

"You're a child if you think I'll come. I'm-"

"What? You don't miss me, darling?" His lips curled into a half-suppressed laugh-a scornful one. "I'll wait for ten minutes and after that, a single call will go to your husband's phone. Mark my words, Sreya. This time the game's mine." With a final shove, he slid out of view.

Myriad thoughts sprinted inside my head, the odds gathered pace and attacked my rationality. I swallowed the discomfort, not sparing a second thought, dialled the only person I could think of. The call connected, and after seven rings a voice greeted with a cold, sinister tone.

"What a marvellous coincidence! Think of the witch and the witch is here."

********

Marriage--a bond--synonymous with love, laughter and happy ever afters. As a child of eight, I championed the idea of marriage; my parents' marriage. With time, I learnt to dissociate from their arguments and clung only to the love and affection; the effort proved worth it and worked for a few more years until puberty hit and raging testosterone started powering the household. My need for Baba's approval turned dire and the more the idea seemed elusive, the more frustrated I grew. Within a couple of years which soon doubled and then tripled, the enthusiasm started ebbing away. This, multiplied by the constant affliction of a male-dominated society ignited the fire to rebel, strongly rebel. And by the time sweet sixteen knocked on my doors, it became quite certain Swarupnagar wasn't the place I envisioned a life in.