The Girl & The Ghost || Arshi FF

Chapter 4 - Decision

There was no chirping of birds that morning. That was unusual. There were always birds on the tree, outside her window – the monotonous tweeting of sparrows and sometimes the loud cawing of a crow.

There was no noise today.

Khushi woke up with a start. She rubbed her eyes and took in the surrounding. It was not her room. Where was she?

Before she could think further, the door opened and the familiar figure of Payal entered.

"You are in my room," she replied seeing Khushi's puzzled expression. "How are you feeling now?" Payal asked, softly, "You were in a pretty bad condition last night."

Last night... A sudden chill crept up in her bones. The taps bursting, the lights shattering, the unnatural presence behind her... She remembered trying to push open the main door and then nothing. The next thing was her waking up in Payal's room.

"What happened?" Payal inquired again, "I had called a doctor last night. He reckoned you might have gone through a stressful situation. He prescribed some meds and ample bed-rest."

On seeing Khushi's fearful face, she added, "Don't worry. You are fine now."

Khushi sat upright on the bed and Payal propped the pillow behind her. She felt somewhat drained off energy. "Thanks for helping me. How did you... find me?" Khushi asked her.

Payal raised an eyebrow, "Umm... you called and texted me."

It was Khushi's turn to be shocked, "No, I didn't." She remembered that she wanted to call Payal for a plumber but before she could do that... she shut her eyes at the thought of what had happened next.

"You did. Here's you phone, see for yourself," Payal handed the mobile to Khushi.

Khushi scrolled through her call list. There it was – the dozens of calls that she had apparently made to Payal. She opened her text messages and just as Payal had said, there they were – the string of sms, all very succinct, asking Payal for help.

"When I received those calls, you didn't speak anything. I thought maybe it was a pocket dial, but then I got those texts," Payal was explaining, "I found you just at the doorway of the flat. Mom and I carried you down and called the doctor."

Khushi was barely registering Payal's words. She read and reread the texts. She was certain she had never called Payal or anyone for assistance. How could she? The moment the lights went out, she had dropped her phone and her body had frozen. She barely could make her way to the main door, let alone type a coherent sms. There was no way in hell that she had typed those short messages.

If she didn't, then who had?

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Arnav paced the length of the drawing room. He'd not been worried in a long time and he didn't like the feeling. If he heard any movement, any sound outside, his ears would perk up and he'd expect to see Khushi.

He wanted to know what had happened to her. Was she fine? Did he injure her badly?

He cursed himself for being so dramatic last night. But what was he to do? She gave him no other choice. The girl was oblivious to everything around her. He needed something major to catch her attention. Maybe he should've taken it slow, he thought in hindsight.

He'd never be at peace with himself if he wounded any human. They were annoying and a major source of interference but it was neither his style nor intention to cause serious agony to them as much as he despised them.

If only he could get some news of the girl, it'd calm him.

Last night he'd experienced fear at seeing her unconscious body. He was grappling at what he could do to help her. He had only seen her interact with 1 person – Payal. So he used Khushi's phone and dialed her no. Payal received it, worried that Khushi was calling her at midnight. On hearing no response, Payal had hung up. Each time.