Shades of our Love

A Nightmare!

24 years ago....

Shivaay was excited and impatient to get back home from school. He was praised by his teacher for explaining how the human heart works to the whole class. Mrs. Gomes, who was so impressed by him, had given him a gold star! He got off the car as soon as it parked, and he ran in calling out to his mother, "MOM! MOM! Guess what?" He knew his father would be home by now too and he was beaming that he had made him proud. Last time he got a gold star, his father had hugged him and said how proud he was to have such a smart boy. "MOM...DAD!!" He called out again. No one answered. He checked for any signs of his parents, along the way. He checked the kitchen..the study...the common room...and finally he reached his parents room. Strangely they were not in their room either. Disappointed little six year old Shivaay slouched his shoulders in defeat. Maybe they have gone out. Without him though? There was no way they would leave him behind! They always let him tag along wherever they went. Dad even bothered to stop by his favourite Kulfi maker, who would make his favourite; a combination of rose & pistachio. Even as a child he had a distinctive taste. He liked his food in a particular way, and was quick to judge the taste by just giving it a sniff. "Arrreee.....My little master chef! Stop making faces and eat this now!" Pinky, his mother would pull on his ear playfully at the dinner table quite often. He trailed through the corridor to his room, and dumped his school bag on the floor. Usually he would place it neatly on his little writing desk. He was about to sit on his bed and remove his shoes, when he noticed something rather unusual.

His bedsheets were stained with something red and it was growing. Drops of crimson liquid was slowly pooling up, on the floor. There was a weird metal smell, that often came by when he passed by the school science lab . He lifted the comforter to find out the cause of it. Perhaps Om had been playing with his poster colours again. What he saw next, he couldn't quite understand. His mother and his father they were lying still, holding hands? Or were they hugging something in between them? A pillow? They were not moving despite Shivaay's futile efforts to wake them up. "Mom?....Dad?" Shivaay called out to them. They didn't open their eyes at all. Then he saw the most inexplicable thing. The pillow they were hugging was in fact, was him. It was him lying in between them...covered in blood...in their blood..and he was holding a gun in his hands. Unable to comprehend what he was seeing, he took a step back and screamed as loud as he could "MOM....DAD!" . The only one responded was his other self , who was lying in between his parents so peacefully drenched in their blood. He opened his eyes, and they gleamed in an emerald green. He sneered deviously and snuck out from his parent's tight grip. He walked up to the window and perched up on the sill, as if he was a little bird ready to fly off the nest. He looked back once more and winked. "NOOOOOOOO!" Shivaay screamed as he saw himself jumping off the ledge.

Shivaay woke up sweating, struggling to breath. He sat up, and took a sip of water. It was raining cats and dogs outside, and thunder was rumbling on. Annika was no where to be seen in the room. He kept arguing with himself, was Annika Right? What was the protection Shakti had in place for him? He wrecked his brains trying to figure it all out. Maybe it's all about his ownership of the company. Oberoi Empire was an important piece for the organisation. Who runs it, matters to them. His shares...The moment Tia commits 50% of his shares to Tej, he loses the power, making him vulnerable and less important for them. His brain was constantly warning him that he needed to block Tia from owning that 50%. To do this he had to go back to where he was before Tia. He had to breach their contract. Would that be enough to fix this mess? Or was this a whole different ball game? Tia had said  that 50% of everything he owned will be hers. What else did he own apart form the majority shares of the Oberoi empire? What else he owned that kept him safe all this years, and was impactful enough to push him down the ladder? Maybe Annika would know. She had dug out more information during this short time, than he had done all these years. Maybe if they work together, like Bhavya suggested, he'll have his answers. On the other hand the police was also after Tej and the Oberoi empire. Tej was his family. He was the father who was there for him, always, and taught him that family always comes first. No matter how much he wanted to believe that Annika didn't want to hurt his family, the truth of the matter was that she was potentially gathering evidence against Tej. He was sure there was much more to it than an old cassette tape. Otherwise the police officer won't be that confident to challenge him openly without a warrant. Now that he knows Annika's true intentions he can just fire her. Could he not? But will that stop all of this? Bhavya was going to find someone else and continue her mission. They say keep your enemies closer and he decided to keep the familiar demon close to him. He wanted some fresh air, the old dingy room was getting stuffy. He was not used to living amongst so many cobwebs. He got off the bed feeling a bit light headed. The front door was left open ajar. He saw Annika covered in an old shawl sitting on the porch steps staring at the rain. Her long hair was dancing to the rhythm of the breeze that flew by, and complimented her beautiful silhouette. He stood there by the door way for a moment adoring this peace. He knew that the moment he declares his plan, all hell was going to break loose.
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Marry me he had said. Annika spat her coffee out. Did the blue eyed monster just ask her to marry him? Or did he just order her to do so? She stood up. " WHAT? Are you out of your mind? Do you have fever again? " She placed the back of her hand on his forehead and he didn't feel warmer than usual.  " YOU...YOU are CRAZY...!" He stopped her from leaving.