With a headless being lounging on the couch in my cabin, no doubts, I was uncomfortable. Priya Vashisht, a young girl who probably looked not more than twenty three years entered inside my office. Clad in a simple, yellow tunic and blue denims, she had traditional vibes that set her apart from the previous girlfriends of Ansh Awasthy.
Exchanging pleasantries, I refrained myself from shaking hands with Priya because I was afraid, the possessive spirit of headless Ansh would dislike me getting friendly with his ex-girlfriend. Though, as per my logic, shaking hands was a customary gesture but I knew how minds of possessive guys worked!
Priya took her seat in front of me like a dull, yet headstrong girl without an ounce of fear in her eyes. The dark circles beneath her big, brown eyes told the saga of her worries and sleepless nights. I was curious to know more about her and her relationship with Ansh Awasthy, the headless spirit of whom, was terrifying my guts.
I wanted to enjoy my life with my wife instead of dying in the hands of a headless spirit so I was making all efforts to study different angles of the murder case of Ansh Awasthy!
“I will record the conversation for future purposes”, I informed Priya to which she nodded without throwing any tantrums. Taking out the recorder from the drawer of my office table, I switched it on and kept it on the center of the table.
“Your friend, Ansh Awasthy is missing so I wanted to talk with you about him”, I spoke clarifying the agenda of the meeting and I could see the beheaded spirit of Ansh Awasthy walking towards me. My face lost its color as fear seeped inside me.
“I was relieved when I stopped getting his phone calls but I felt pity over him when I read about him in the newspaper”, Priya spoke with a stoic face while my eyes were fixed at the headless soul that sat on one of the ergonomic chairs beside the woman. I wondered how this stoic faced lady would react after knowing that she was accompanied with a headless spirit and a small smile crept on my lips.
Fidgeting her fingers, she stuttered, “Mr. Mishra, don’t call him as a friend of mine". Closing her eyes, she sighed, “He is a terrible mistake”, leaving me appalled.
I tried hard to resist the smirk on my face as I wondered about Ansh’s reaction. Curiosity brought out the best in me and I asked, “Why?”
“An year ago, I bumped into Ansh Awasthy in a birthday party of a common friend and I regret it every day”, Priya lamented. As much as I urged to pass the box of tissues after witnessing the struggles of her glossy eyes to restrain her tears, I refrained myself from doing so and reminded myself to stick to sheer professional relationship.
“I would appreciate if you could narrate everything truthfully without talking in riddles, Ms. Vashisht”, I demanded as I crossed my arms on my chest to which she nodded in affirmation.
“About an year ago, I met Ansh and our friendship bloomed. Though already working, I was not happy with my job at that time. I was searching for a good job that paid me well and he was a son of industrialist. As we talked, I found him humble enough to share my resume. I requested him to recommend me somewhere and that was my biggest mistake.” Priya began the story closing her eyes as if she was deliberately trying to avoid an eye contact either because she was lying or because she was guilty of her deeds.
Luckily, I had the terrifying spirit of Ansh Awasthy sitting beside Priya and I continued to observe his reactions. His neutral response made me realize that his ex-girlfriend was perhaps, stating the truth.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, she continued, “That minion did not find me any job. I grabbed my job on my capabilities at one of the content aggregator firms and finally life was back on track but that guy was after my life like a mad man.”
I heard a loud chuckle reverberating in my cabin and I noticed the heart of Ansh Awasthy vibrating at a higher pace. I was disgusted at the thoughts of Ansh taking pride in harassing a girl.
Fidgeting her fingers, she nervously revealed, “He began stalking me. He used to follow me from my home to my workplace every day and when I confronted him, he said he just wanted to see me. It was getting terrifying and humiliating experience for me.” I could see the hopelessness in her eyes.
“Did you complain against him?” I asked out of sympathy.
“I tried to but he followed me like a shadow and did not let me do that. Once I reached the Women Cell, somehow, but those officers blamed me for everything.” Priya told with utter disgust in her voice partly, against Ansh and partly, against the system of our country where we have laws for all but those laws are implemented at the whims and fancies of the powerful.
“They were sickening. They said that I should have understood his mentality before throwing myself onto him.” She lamented and broke down. I passed her the glass of water and glared at the beheaded spirit of Ansh Awasthy whose heart was bleeding but his regretful crying was nothing in front of the humiliation the girl must have faced.
“I was frustrated with all his indecency and ultimately realized he was a mad man. To ensure my safety, I decided to be friends with him. I opened up a little. I was simply a good friend, nothing more.” She confessed earning an amusing expression from me. I was of course, flabbergasted at the sudden revelation.
“Please don’t judge me. I realized if talking to him for an hour would let me keep the rest twenty three hours to myself, I would be able to live a better life.” Priya confessed helplessly and her words shook me hard. I was deeply disappointed at the laws of my nation where a woman was forced to be friends with her stalker.
I glared at the headless spirit of Ansh Awasthy who was terribly groaning and thankfully, his groans were only heard by me. I wondered if he was actually guilty or not but I was sure that he was saddened at his deeds. He was an obsessive maniac, no doubts. I realized Radhika had judged Ansh correctly.
“So did things turn out positively?” I asked carefully choosing my words.
“No, he became more possessive. He began having problems if my phone was busy even for five minutes. Things became suffocating. I could not talk with my parents, my family, my friends or anyone. I was reduced to his slave wherein I was bound to receive his phone even if he called hundred times a day. I was supposed to pick his phone even when I was working.” She shrieked in agony baffling me once again. Somewhere I was happy that Ansh was no more to disturb the poor girl.
“I wished to literally die to free myself from him at that moment”, Priya sniffled. She wiped her tears from a handkerchief and sipped some water. I wanted to call Radhika to console Priya but because of the beheaded spirit of Ansh Awasthy present in the room, I refrained to do so. I could not imagine the horror if the frightening spirit decided to terrify Radhika too.
“What happened on your birthday?” I asked in a low voice only to earn a groan from the spirit present in my cabin.
😎😎😎
Word count: 1291
I am back with insight into relationship of Priya and Ansh.
Initially I planned to drop out from ONC 2021 and complete the story later, due to my deteriorating health because of Covid-19 but then I decided to try my best and atleast participate in the competition.
This means frequent updates 😉
I will be back soon and thank you for your prayers 🙏🏻 Truly means a lot!
With immense love
♥️
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Mystery / Thriller⭐ Among the winners of Indian ONC 2021⭐ ⭐ Featured in Reading List of @MysteryThrillerIN ⭐ I was standing in my balcony when I saw a silhouette of a man walking in my lane. The silhouette was terrifying because it just had two hands and two legs jus...
