THIS SIDE THAT SIDE

Identity

Arjun's POV

I looked around everywhere but her room was empty. She was gone. It was as if she was never there to begin with. The room was empty. Did she get a way to return to her world? Did she really go back to where she came from? My heart began to beat faster than ever. The fear that she let go of us so soon was taking over me. Her memories started nauseating me. Right now I can't think straight. I want to find her, but I am afraid she far away from my reach. I fell down on the carpet with a loud thud. My mind completely blank and my lips only uttered one name.

"Sunaina..." I whispered.

Once...twice...thrice but no one came running towards me. No one came and touched my cheeks. This time, no one came to pull me up. She was gone. Really gone.

"Son what is all this noi-?" Maa looked at me that of worry and pulled me up. "Oh my god beta what happened? Why are you sitting on the floor? Why are you in Sunaina's room and where is she? Didn't she pull you up?"

"She's gone..." It took a lot of strength out of me to mutter these words.

"What do you mean by that?"

"She's gone forever maa. Just like that. She returned to her world."

"How is that possible? She never mentioned anything."

"That's...the...only reason that she disappeared five minutes after I left her in room." I looked at her sorrowfully, tears almost welled up in my eyes. "Fate played the worst joke with me. I couldn't even get married to her."

"Son, I still think that's not the case. Let's contact her best friend, Preeti. If she really is gone, then she must be knowing something." I looked at my mother with hopeless eyes. Sunaina's disappearance makes me feel so empty and void. It feels as if I have no reason to go on. Without having much hope, I decided to call Preeti for help.

(An hour later)

"So what you are saying that Sunaina is gone a few minutes after she entered her room?"

"That's right..." I confirmed Preeti's doubts again. She seemed skeptical at my conclusion. She looked at her butler and then back at me.

"Look... I really don't think that she went back to her world. I mean I am just sure." She started turning on her palmtop while talking to me.

"How are you so sure?" Mother asked her.

"Well..." She seemed to be hesitating for a while but then she left a heavy sigh and started speaking. "Actually, it might seem very weird to you all but I am the author of this story. I dragged myself in this story simply to save her." Our eyes bulged out in shock.

"Um...yeah. Sorry Arjun that you didn't know about it before. I was the one who asked Sunaina not to reveal this."

"So that means you created us?" I was still trying to process this new found information.

"Apparently yes." She agreed. "But if you think that all this is happening because of me, then you are wrong. This story was ended long back when Abhay and Mansi fell in love with each other and got married. It was this book's plan to continue itself and drag my best friend here." She continued.

"But how do you know that she isn't gone?" I asked.

"Let me show you something." Saying this, she suddenly turned the screen of her palmtop in front of us. I looked at the screen and it was a normal ms word document file that had something written on it with the title 'Disappearance'.

"What's this?" Maa asked.

"Actually...this is the story of yours and Sunaina." Her words made me more confused. Sensing the our blank faces, she continued to explain. "Actually, this story has been typing on it's own ever since, Sunaina entered inside this world. What I understood from this is that until this novel or fiction is not completed and the document will not have a The End written under it, neither Sunaina nor I can return home." Her words were just not making any sense but I let her speak.