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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
PART 1
“Harsh, do you believe in happily ever after?” said Vedika as she sped the car.
Without any particular consideration he responded, “I most certainly do. Aren’t we the perfect example of it?”
Oh yes, if happily ever encompasses staying apart and inattention to the other person’s happiness, then we most certainly are, Vedika thought but didn’t say it out aloud.
“Where are we going?”
“That is a surprise.”
“I’m curious. Can you give me a hint?”
“Curiosity killed the cat, honey. Its best to keep your curiosity under control, what if it gets you killed?” Vedika winked as she hit the accelerator of the car. They were already ten miles above the speed limit.
Harsh was tired but he didn’t dare complain. This was their first road trip in a while. Vedika had gotten back from completing her PhD in University of Melbourne, one of the best universities in the world. She had not been able to come home for almost a year now. He was tied down with office, work, project obligations, here in America. They had been living apart for the past two years in their five-year marriage.
She was hurt when he couldn’t attend her graduation ceremony. She had asked him to come for just a day as his presence on her big day would mean the world to her, but despite his efforts, he hadn’t been able to make it. After that she had seemed a bit distant and aloof. She hadn’t called him as much as before. He had tried in vain to console her.
Two days ago, she had landed at the doorstep, without any prior notice. He was quite surprised with her unforeseen appearance. Then she had said she would be heading back for a job in a month’s time. He was irked that she had bagged a job and hadn’t even bothered to tell him. When leaving for the university Vedika had promised that after graduating she would come back to Rochester, get a job somewhere nearby because they both loved New York.
There had been no discussion of her working in Australia after finishing her studies. He was displeased with her decision to continue staying in Sydney while he was here in New York. He had previously made it clear that he was not changing his job or location for any reason, whatsoever. She had assured him she would come back home, she would be gone only for two years. Even after making such promises, she had taken up the job, at the other end of the world, without consulting him or informing him at all, and that angered Harsh. Even though he had wanted to confront her, he was waiting for a good time to bring it up. She had seemed to be in a sulky mood ever since she was back. Today morning all of a sudden, she woke him up saying they were going on a weekend getaway. It hadn’t been a request, it had been a demand. Vedika was like that, when she wanted to do something, you had to tag along, your consent didn’t hold any significance.
He complied in the belief that a change of location would surely uplift Vedika’s mood and they could have had an open discussion regarding their future and job situations.
They had been driving for almost two-and-a-half hours now. Harsh could tell they were driving towards the Canadian border.
“Are we going to Canada?”
“You’ll see.”
“What’s with all the hush-hush? Why can’t you simply divulge the details of the trip?” asked an eager Harsh.
Vedika smiled.
“Are you alright?” Harsh asked. “You seem odd.”
“Oh, I’m perfectly fine. Never felt better. The real question is Are you fine, Harsh?” Vedika took her eyes off the road and gazed at him. Something was deeply unsettling about her stare. It was almost eerie.
In all the seven years that Harsh had known Vedika, he had never seen her acting so mysterious, so cryptic. She was usually jolly and cheerful. She was a chatty, jovial girl and didn’t keep any secrets from him. This new Vedika was serious, different, seething with an enigmatic energy. He knew he had hurt her by not being able to attend her graduation ceremony. He had profusely apologized after that, but she had said it was ok and that she understood, but had she? He wondered.
“Are we going to Toronto?”
“Yes and No.”
“Eh? Meaning?”
“We are going to make a stop before reaching Toronto. I have to show you something.” Vedika smiled excitedly. Harsh was thankful that her mood was getting better. Once they reached their destination maybe he could change her mind about living so far away from him. The word Toronto triggered a particular memory in his mind. He decided to act on it as soon as they reached the city.
They reached a passing in the highway which was flanked by overshadowing trees on both sides of the road. After driving twenty mins into the woods, Vedika steered their SUV down a thin bumpy road. Finally they reached a clearing after driving for another twenty mins. The car stopped just outside a wooden fence with a gate, which was locked. The gate had a keypad for lock. Vedika punched in some keys to open the gate to reveal an opulent house surrounded by trees. One couldn’t guess the presence of this house from the path outside. The air was filled with a cacophony of bird and insect noises.
“How do you find the place?” Vedika asked a bewildered Harsh.
“It’s awesome, magnificent, plush! Are we going to spend our weekend here? Did you rent this house? Is this a Home Stay*?”
“Yes it is,” beamed Vedika.
There was not a single soul around. Weirdly every room had numeric locks which needed to be keyed in. Vedika kept inputting them by pulling the code details from her inbox. The place had zero network, Vedika informed Harsh.
“Don’t worry there are WIFI routers inside.” Vedika said.
After going through a lot of doors and hallways, climbing three floors, they reached a bedroom with a swank wooden bed in the center right under a glass chandelier, where Vedika dumped their belongings and fell flat on the fluffy mattress.
Harsh stood mesmerized. He stared around with his mouth half-open.
“Is this some kind of secret three-star hotel? The chandeliers, the ceilings, the wall hangings are devoid of any dust, so well maintained! I honestly didn’t believe that the interior of this otherwise seemingly ghastly castle could be so grandiose.”
“I am glad you liked my choice. The housekeeper has left for the day but he will be back tomorrow morning. As it’s off-season, we are the only guests here. So, feel free to explore every nook and corner of the mansion. I also read that there is a wine cellar below the house. We can pick up any bottle we want and pay for it later!”
“But Vedika this place looks expensive. How did you manage the bookings and all? You surely don’t have so much money,” asked a curious Harsh.
“There goes the curiosity again! What did I say? Keep your questions in check, you shall get all your answers this weekend.”
Even though the list of questions kept piling up in Harsh’s mind, he made a mental note to bring them up later.
“Why don’t you freshen up while I make a quick run to the nearest store and get us something to eat.” Vedika said.
“I would have said, let’s go out to eat together after freshening up, but I think I will take a quick nap before you get back. I feel a little tired. I think its best you get us some food while I stay here. Before you leave could you provide me all the passwords of the door locks and connect my phone to the WiFi? I need some connectivity while I am on my own here.”
“Sure. Don’t worry I will be back soon. Give me a buzz if anything comes up. The water should be hot if you want a shower. There are fresh towels and blankets in the cupboard. I have pinged you the housekeeper’s number, just in case.”
“Just for my knowledge, how long until you get back?”
“I think an hour or two, not more than that.”
Harsh nodded while stifling a yawn.
***********************************************************************************************************************************************************
The doorbell rang startling Shruti. She had fallen asleep in her rocking chair.
Samar was back already? She must have been asleep a while.
The doorbell rang again. She wondered why he was ringing the bell.
Just to be safe, Shruti glanced through the peep hole. A girl was standing outside shivering in the wind and cold.
Shruti didn’t know her, but opened the door as the girl was surely freezing outside.
“Hello. May I help you?”
“I am so sorry for disturbing you like this, but I am stranded as my car is stuck in a ditch. I was trying in vain to get it out on my own but then I ran out of gas. I am freezing and I don’t think I will be able to do it until the snow fall ceases. On top of that my phone died. I completely understand if you don’t let me in, I wouldn’t let me in if I were you! But trust me I am so cold, I feel like my heart will stop beating due to cold.” the stranger said, pointing towards her SUV. Her teeth were chattery as she was trembling from head to toe.
Shruti was a little skeptical about letting in a stranger, but the girl looked lost, frozen, harmless. Besides the girl was Indian, so Shruti let her in reasoning Samar would be back soon.
“Take a seat. I will get you some warm water and blankets. You can use the restroom on your left.”
“Thank you so much! You saved my life! I was starting to panic. To be lost is one thing but to be lost in a completely new city is another, on top of that your phone dies when you need it the most.”
“You sound like you are having a bad day.” Sympathized Shruti.
“The apt word is horrible, not bad!”
Shruti laughed. “Is it your first time in Toronto?”
“It’s my first time in Canada. I don’t think I am ever coming back here again.” The girl rolled her eyes in exasperation while grabbing the hot tea from Shruti’s hands.
“There There. Don’t be too quick to judge this otherwise welcoming city of ours. Wind chills and snow storms are so frequent here that we have accepted them as normalcy,” said Shruti while handing towels and blankets to her.
“I didn’t catch your name,” said Shruti
“Monika. I’m Monika Sharma.” Monika removed her gloves to shake Shruti’s hands.
“Oh my God. Your fingers are freezing. Quick run them under warm water. You need to defreeze them as soon as possible. Wait let me do it.” Shruti grabbed Monika’s hands as if she were about to fall, guided her to the restroom, run the tap water, double checked the temperature, then exposed her fingers to the water. Her hand singed at first due to the exposure to water, later a warm tingling sensation spread making her feel better.
“You shouldn’t have been out in this weather for so long. You should have rang the bell sooner. Your hands should be okay in a while. It’s not as bad as it looks but let’s get you something warm to drink.”
Monika just nodded her head in agreement.
“You are not only opening your doors to a complete stranger but also taking care of me like am your own. You seem like a wonderful person. I don’t think it was a coincidence that my car broke down in front of your house. We were destined to meet.” Monika’s compliment made Shruti blush. “I hope someday I can repay your debt.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary. Be seated on the sofa, I will get you some warmer dry clothes. Let me quickly brew some chicken soup for you.”
“Hey kind stranger I didn’t catch your name yet,” winked Monika
“Oh. Pardon my manners. I am Shruti Gupta. I have lived in Toronto for five years now. My husband, who is out due to some urgent matters, should be back before long.”
Her niceness only complicates things. I wish she weren’t so kind to me.
Shruti came back from the kitchen with a big bowl of chicken soup and some bread on the side.
She ordered Monika to eat. Just then her phone dinged. She proceeded to check her phone.
Her body stiffened and eyes popped as she was scrolling through a message.
“Is everything alright?” Monika asked.
“Yeah Yeah. Something important came up. I have to rush to meet someone. However, I cannot leave you on your own in this state.” Shruti bit her lips while trying to come to a decision.
“I don’t mean to bother you anymore. You could drop me at my hotel after and be on your way. Besides I feel a little wobbly, its best I made a move. How do you plan to drive in such a horrible weather anyway?”
“You are not going anywhere until you feel better. Stay here, sleep in the bedroom. I will be back before my husband gets home. I wouldn’t leave unless it was a pressing matter. You are to stay here until you feel completely fine. Regarding driving, we are used to this weather.” Shruti replied.
“Honestly I didn’t expect so much kindness from a complete stranger.”
“I know but it’s my choice and I have this hunch that we are connected in some sort of mystical way.”
That we most certainly are, Monika thought.
After showing Monika all around the house, wrapping her in the blankets, comforters, Shruti headed out. Soon Monika settled in a rocking chair, snuggly. She enjoyed her soup while she waited.
Hunger combined with whooshing sounds outside, woke Harsh up. He sat down on the four-poster bed trying to recollect his whereabouts. The surroundings took a minute to register in his mind. He checked the time on his phone. Vedika had been away for several hours. She hadn’t gotten back; the sun was about to set.
Outside the snow fell with a fervor. The rustling of the branches mixed with the creaking of the trees due to the wind produced an eerie effect. Harsh shivered from the sudden drop in temperature. He started searching for the thermostat but found none in the room. Thankfully there was an electric fire place, which he started with a switch. Even though it was electric, it made a crackling sound rendering the effect of a realistic fireplace. He was warm in a while. He worried for Vedika, he shouldn’t have let her go out on her own. Neither of them had bothered to check the weather forecast before she left. He hoped she was okay and got back soon.
He called Vedika’s number, but the call went straight to the voicemail. Her phone was off.
He found she had texted him on WhatsApp an hour ago, informing him that their car had broken down inside the town. She was trying to get help and head back as soon as the weather improved. She also suggested calling the housekeeper and ordering some food. He wondered if the housekeeper would be available in this weather. He tried his luck and got through. The person said dinner would be served in an hour.
He was fiddling with his phone, eagerly waiting for the reply to his text that he had sent earlier. To his utter happiness, the reply was in affirmative.
An elated Harsh decided to explore the mansion on his own. He proceeded straight to the cellar and, just like Vedika had said, it was stacked with rows and rows of wine bottles. He picked up a semi-expensive one, headed upstairs. On his way out of the basement he noticed a room with a small glass window on its door. What caught his attention was the flashing tubelight inside the room. He decided to take a peek. It looked like a laboratory. It had desks, microscopes, instruments, it was huge and it was whitewashed. He tried to open it but found it locked from inside.
What was a laboratory doing in the ground floor of a homestay*? He wondered.
He went upstairs to the bedroom, sat by the balcony which overlooked the gate. He watched the snow fall through the huge sliding glass doors while waiting for her to arrive. He wondered if this place had cost Vedika an arm and a leg. It was out-of-the-world once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. Given a chance he could live here forever!
Monika heard a commotion in the hallway. The sun had set, the darkness was engulfing the air; the winds were howling, screeching.
She sneaked into the hallway and found a man gulping down water straight from the jug. He was hooded and in the dim she couldn’t see his face. Hearing her walk in, he turned around.
The glass jug fell from his hands and hit the floor smashing into pieces.
“Yes Samar, It’s me.”
“But how!! Is this a dream?” Samar said rubbing his eyes, pinching his arms.
“Yes, it’s your worst nightmare coming true.”
She was smiling victoriously while he stood there transfixed, frozen, unmoving.
“Did you just walk out of my bedroom?? What are you doing inside my house? Where is Shruti? What have you done to her?” With every syllable his voice climbed a notch, he scurried around trying to locate his wife.
Was it fear that she could sense in his voice. Was her presence making him nervous? She wondered.
She was pleased with the overall effect she had on him.
“Get out of my house, right NOW!” Samar screamed.
“Or else what? What are you going to do Samar? Call the cops? Report me to them? Oh, you are so naïve Samar. I pity you! If you even dare to take a step or move a finger, your beautiful wife’s precious life will be crushed in less than a minute, I swear.” She watched his eyes pop out. He was panicking she could tell.
“If you even so much as dare to try anything smart, you will never see your wife again. So take a seat, I need to have a word with you.”
He didn’t say a word, she accepted his silence as his acknowledgement.
“Do you remember today’s date Samar? It has been 10 years since that fateful day. A decade ago you had ditched me, crushed my feelings, broken my heart into irreparable pieces, left me in a state of despair and confusion. Do you have any inkling of the damage you caused? You ditched me saying I was no good for you. You said I was cheap, as you had to pay for most of the restaurant bills, put up with my demands. I had always offered to share but you had turned down my offers while pretending to play the act of a perfect gentleman. You said I was fat, dark skinned, poor grades. But in reality, you were a liar, a cheat, a con artist who used me as a bet!!! Whenever I had insecurities, it was you who had assured that external features didn’t matter, what mattered was on the inside of a human being. Why had you been so nice to me every single day of our two-year long relationship if in the end you were going to abandon me like a torn filthy clothing. You never let me catch a hint of what was concocting inside your filthy mind. You simply dated me for winning the bet. You had never loved me. It was all a pretense. Little did I know of the crookedness so deep inside you. Do you have any clue what happened to me? Do you know how long it took for me to recover to normalcy? Do you have any knowledge of the therapy sessions I had to attend or the bottles of anti-depressants I had to gulp down to get over the pain? You know, I would have still forgiven you had you spoken the truth but little did I know you were a spineless coward. You couldn’t tell me that all along you had been two timing me. You didn’t have the courage to state the true reason or even mention your purpose of dating a middling like me. Instead you branded me as worthless, useless, mediocre; got rid of me as if I had never existed in your life, as if our love meant nothing to you, which on the other hand meant the whole world to me. However I decided to bounce back, I worked extra hard to become somebody of significance. Your eyes would pop out of the sockets if you were to see the amount of money, I have in my bank account today. You have absolutely no idea how successful I am today even though you assumed I was a nobody. I owe all of this to you, your departure from my life.”
Samar hung his head in silence. His eyes were closed in concentration, as if he were meditating.
Was he repenting, she wondered. If he was, it was too late.
She continued “I had taken an oath to come see you in person the day I overcame all my fears and achieved something in my life. I had also decided to take revenge from you and make you suffer the same way you had made me suffer. Little did I know, Karma would play its part by bringing you to the same spot where you had left me someday.” Saying so she laughed hysterically.
Samar looked up, his eyes were blood-shot, “What do you mean? Where is my wife?”
“I think it’s best to show you, instead of saying it. Come, let’s go for a drive.”
*Home Stay – popular form of hospitality and lodging whereby visitors sleep at the residence of a local of the city to which they are traveling.
((To be continued……….))
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I can’t wait to find out what happens next! This first part was fantastic!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and comment. Do let me know what you thought, once you finish part 2 🙂
Whoa. Dark. It felt a bit rushed, but that ending though 😳
Yeah, I wrote it in 2 days, I wanted to publish it on valentines day, thus the rush, yeah the ending gave me creeps too 😀 😀 Thank you for reading 🙂
I can’t wait for part 2! So much suspense!
Part 2 is live! Do read and let me know your thoughts 🙂 🙂 🙂
Brilliant.
Waiting for the next .👌👌
Thanks a lot Linga 🙂 🙂
Amazing 😍
Thank you so much dearie 🙂 🙂
Amazing 😍
I think Monika is Vedika too! Can’t wait for part 2!
Lemme know your thoughts after you are done with part 2 🙂
Loved it. The suspense… Can’t wait to read part 2.
😀 😀 😀 Glad you liked it!
Great story, can’t wait to see what happens!
Thank you so much for reading 🙂
Really awesome short story! Ever after is a great writing prompt ❤️
Thanks a ton 🙂
Interesting story !!! Monika is Vedika ??
Nice Guess! Find out in the second part 🙂
Its really amazing..loved it
Thank you so much!