The Girl & The Ghost || Arshi FF

Chapter 9 - His and Her

It was a week into the month of June. Arnav stood in the balcony watching the sunset. Some news channel played on the TV in the background. He peeked at the wall clock in the drawing room– It was 6:30pm.

Khushi was coming later than usual that month. Generally she'd be home by 8 but nowadays it would be 10 or maybe even later. Arnav liked to stand in the balcony and watch her get down of the taxi, walk the narrow alley way till she reached the garden in front of the house.

Prior to her, he had no concept of time. Days turned to nights and back to days – yet life remained same for him. Now he could feel a change in him. He would sometimes count minutes till she came home. He'd feel lonely when she was at work.

To pass time he'd either watch TV or sometimes do some household chores– something minor, some thing, which she wouldn't notice. Khushi was still iffy about objects moving in air and she'd actively discourage him from doing any thing in front of her.

So he did what little he could – sometimes wash a utensil or two; sometimes dust the furniture. He grinned at the thought of how homely he had become.

A ghost, cleaning and dusting!

He thrummed the railing of the balcony as the sunset beyond the horizon, immersing the locality in a red hue before turning dark. The children playing in the garden headed home. The moon– a crescent tonight, came out and along with it some shining stars. Slowly people went in their houses; the area was now deserted.

He peeped in the drawing room again. It was close to 11pm. She'd be coming home soon.

A few minutes later, just as he had expected, a cab stopped across the street. Khushi got out of it, paid the driver and started walking toward the house. She was covered in partial moonlight but from afar he could tell she was exhausted. There was a lag in her step and she craned her neck and massaged her shoulder.

Khushi, while gently pressing her shoulder with her palm, looked above – at the balcony of her first floor flat. Arnav who had been watching her tonight, and most nights, froze on spot. He thought of ducking or something, as a reflex but got a hold on himself.

She can't see me. He mentally face-palmed himself and relaxed. It would be awkward maybe, if she found out, how desperately he waited for her to come home.

Unaware, Khushi resumed her stride to the house when all of a sudden, a hooded figure grabbed her, one hand around her waist and the other on her mouth, before pulling her in a nearby alley, into the darkness.

"Khushi!" he yelled her name for the first time. He couldn't see her. Who was that? Why had they grabbed her? Were they going to harm her?

A few seconds had passed but to Arnav it felt like an eternity. She was in trouble; he could feel it. He rushed toward the door and opened it with a bang. He tried to walk past it; to cross the boundary of the house but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't cross it.

He groaned in frustration and threw a chair at the open doorway. The chair passed through and smashed at the wall on the outside.

Time was running out! His heart was beating wildly in his chest. He rushed to the balcony to see if she was back, his eyes frantically scanned the deserted neighborhood. There was no sign of her.

He rushed back again to the open main door. With all his might he pushed, as hard as he could. The lights of the room began blinking unstably; the TV channel started flickering. Though the barrier remained firm in its place.

Growling like a feral animal, he gathered all the strength that he could muster and pushed past the invisible barrier– he had to get to her, no matter what. Every ounce of mental and physical strength that he had, that he could gather, he directed at the resistance.