Promises are meant to be broken

Chapter 9

July 18, Tuesday
4:30am

Shivaay woke up taking a shallow breath, his eyes very slightly wide in shock. Though the reaction was normal for a person who gets up in between a dream, but one would really be amused to see such a reaction from a normal man after see a ghost calling him out.

Indeed, he'd dreamt of a ghost, with her features familiar to the woman he'd spotted dead in her own flat few hours ago. Her body and her eyes were looking exactly same as he saw eight hours ago, pale blue and cold, so still, hollow and lifeless.

But, in his dream, she talked. It was like she was having a normal conversation with him, sitting at the same dining table in her apartment, with the same decoration around, sipping coffee. It was Sameera who was talking, talking about her death. Her words weren't clear, neither were her expressions.

Shivaay sat up straight and shook his head. "Its just a dream." He said, moving hand over his face.

The sound of raindrops hitting against the window screen had been filled up in the cool atmosphere. He sighed, knowing that he won't be able to go back to sleep again. No, he wasn't afraid of nightmares or ghosts, it was just he was a light sleeper, who could never go back to sleep easily if he'd dreamt of something so unusual.

Getting up from the bed, Shivaay slipped on his slippers and made his way out. He would've gone out for a run, to clear his mind and delete the pictures of the dream that has been stored in his memory, only if it wasn't raining outside. Nevertheless, he could hit the gym at the ground floor half an hour later.

Shivaay steps halted as soon as he noticed that all the lights of the living room were turned on. Then his eyes landed on Annika, who was sitting in the center, on the cold floor in a mediating position facing the glass wall. The sleeves of her plain white kurti were rolled up to her elbows, her hair tied up in a bun, her eyed stuck in front of her, with her body making no movements, not even for breathing.

What took him aback were the photos he'd clicked of the woman he'd dreamt set up in a semicircle in front of her, with few files besides her.

"Ek toh woh bhootni iske bhi sapne mein aayi thi, ya phir ispe hi chadh gayi." (Either that ghost appeared in Annika's dream too, or else she possessed Annika)

Shivaay presumed, mumbling under his breath, while thinking about what if Annika was really possessed by Sameera! Then he brushed off the thought stating that he doesn't thinks ghost would have such a bad taste.

Lost in his thoughts, Shivaay didn't notice that Annika had turned around to face him.

"Good morning, Shivaay." Annika's soft voice was suppressed by the sound of chattering rain, still Shivaay heard her clearly.

"Spirits don't wish good morning, do they?" Shivaay asked out aloud, making Annika chuckle.

When Shivaay realized that he'd indeed said it aloud, he didn't bother to explain, instead he went to the kitchen to fetch a glass of water for himself.

"If spirits, when alive, were very well mannered, then they might greet you a good morning and would even invite you for morning tea. Wanna join them?" She said with an amused smile.

Shivaay replied nothing but got a bottle of water for the refrigerator and walked out, settling himself on the couch. He noted that Annika had shifted the table in front of the couch to a corner.

"You should sleep. This can be done later in the morning." Shivaay advised, though though knowing that she'd wasn't gonna comply.

"I can't. If I'm pressed against time for report, I want to have something strong in hand to say that it isn't a simple suicide case as it seems." Annika kept her words simple, but implied much more than that.