Kyra (Complete)

Chapter Twelve

Kyra felt a dull thud in her heart as she made her way through the gates of her father's mansion that evening, choosing to use the darkness to stay hidden. She knew her father would rebuke her for running off on Vihaan but she just couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stand the emotional torment anymore.

She paused by the front door, the pain in her heart worsening. Even as she stood there, she knew it had nothing to do with her heart disease. Something was wrong. Or someone...

Sliding open the door, the empty hall came into view. A part of her wondered about the vacancy of the hall, but the majority part was worried about her mother —instincts told her something was wrong.

Turning quickly to the stairs, she took them two at a time until she was entering her mother's room.

Pulling to an abrupt halt by the doorway, Kyra's breath ceased, her entire inside melting as her eyes came to rest on the image of her mother's body lying motionless on the bedroom floor.

Her heart must have stopped beating as she forced one foot forward after the other until she was falling to her knees by her mother's side.

"Maa..." She touched her face, noticing the fresh display of bruises on it. "Maa!" She leaned forward and pressed her ear to her chest in a failed attempt to find a pulse. Terrified, she grabbed her wrist and pressed her finger to it in yet another failed attempt to feel a pulse —anything! But there was no sign of life on the woman who just laid there, eyes wide open as if beholding the face of her assailant as she took her last breath.

Kyra felt her chest tighten and her heart beat slow down. Her mother couldn't be dead. It was simply impossible. It was beyond impossible!

She rose to her trembling feet. "Poojah!" She yelled, her voice failing to carry the urgency she intended. "Poojah..." She broke down in tears, falling to her knees before the woman who had constituted her entire life. "Maa, don't do this to me. I beg of you! Don't do this..." She pleaded, pulling her mother's dead form into her arms and rocking her back and forth. "Don't leave me like this!"

Fear clutched her throat. She couldn't face the world without her mother. She was nothing without her mother!

She leaned down and pressed her cheek against her mother's cold forehead. "Maa, please!" She sobbed.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of her mother's neck, the outline of a human hand wrapped around it, still visible.

Father! Kyra didn't know why the obvious had surprised her. Of course her father was responsible for her mother's death. But knowing and confirming the fact set a fire on her inside. The monster had strangled her mother. Kyra could only imagine the pain her mother was forced to endure.

Furious, she rose to her feet and flew down the stairs in search of him. She'd kill the animal if she had the means. He had ruined their lives —he forced her into a marriage filled with hate and anger and as if it wasn't enough to make him happy, he killed the only source of her joy.

"Father!" She yelled, storming through the building.

The house was unusually quiet and devoid of the usual house staff. Kyra should have noticed from the gates but she thought nothing of it. Now, as she combed through the building in search of the monster that killed her mother, she realized that she was all alone.

"Kyra?"

She whirled around to face him. Her eyes immediately caught a glimpse of two strangers making their way up the stairs.

"What are you doing here?" He asked nervously, taking in her tearful face. "Oh sweetheart, what happened?"

Kyra's mouth fell open —he was going to deny having anything to do with her mother's death. He was going to act like she was a fool?! The thought infuriated her. She made a fist and ran toward him. Without stopping to think, she slammed her fists into him as hard as she could.