AISHA: The Cursed Name

Chapter -32 The Hollow

The Hollow

The night passed by and Siddharth kept on thinking about Aisha's connection with his life. He sat on the floor, leaning on the bed when the light sneaked in through the open window. The cold winds had been travelling his room the whole night and the curtains were dancing in the air. As the light fell on his face, he was pulled out of his thoughts. Looking around, he was astonished as if he had lost the habit of being exposed to light. He slipped away and buried his face between his knees and arms, avoiding the light.

After a while, he got up and walked into the bathroom looking at his face. His red streak of hair fell messily on his forehead which was nowhere seen on Earth until he used his magic. His face was pale and his eyes were swollen and puffy red.

.....................

At night, Aisha walked through the corridors. Her slippers hung in her fingers and her soft feet kissed the cold ground. She had placed the tray back in the kitchen and was walking with the mourning music of the winds around her. Her eyes were on the floor and her thoughts pulled her back to Siddharth. She couldn't think of anything else apart.

'I failed to believe my eyes even though he was in front of me. He was so much broken. I don't know why but I could hear the tinkling of the shattered pieces of his heart. Through his shaking voice, I could feel every bit of pain he was going through. Every inch of my body ached as if I could feel his scars and wounds. The boy I believed was a cheerful person... Could be so broken?

When I kept my hand on his shoulder, he reciprocated it with so much surprise. He was unaware of my presence till then. But then, he looked at me. In his eyes, there was so much grief, pain, fear and... I don't know something else. I saw an emotion I had never seen in any eyes. There was hope, maybe. But for what?

I wonder, what it might be that I had to see him like that. So injured and so torn. He said nothing, not a single thing. He was upset and then shocked. He was amazed by seeing me doing magic with my poison. I'm sort of sure he would ask me about that when he will recover. I hope he recovers soon...

To be honest, I would have gone to any limits to help him. I was losing control of myself seeing him like that. I was feeling angry. His pain was running through my veins yet I... I helped him. I don't know why, I could have taken him to the hospital and there he could have got proper treatment and therapy. But I decided to heal him up quickly... I've mentioned I failed to withstand the pain I was feeling seeing him like that.

I offered him everything I could. From my help to my dinner... Everything! I somehow know he hasn't eaten anything for a long time. He needed it, he needed strength, more than me.

I could feel a sudden emptiness after leaving him. I feel like running back to him and checking again if he is fine. I know he will be, nothing could harm him here. But... Where was he and what happened to him?'

She reached her room and went to take a bath. Her clothes had blood stains and dirt all over. She pulled off her full-sleeved Kurta and placed it in the tub when her eyes were attracted to her mark. The birthmark she was given. AISHA... (To be mentioned - her name carved on her hand was written in Hindi) Carved on her fair and beautiful skin. A wound she had been hiding from the first day. Only two people in the school knew about it, Bani and Siddharth.

'If my poison can heal his scars then why can't it erase mine?'

Thinking about it she dropped a tiny bit out of her bottle and it embraced her mark. The silver liquid crystals multiplied and filled between the engraved mark, shining silver. Aisha felt a burning sensation on her skin yet she tried to wait. She sat down on the stool, holding her wrist tightly to ebb the pain. But moment by moment the anguish increased. She kept on glimpsing at it until the silver turned transparent and was absorbed by her skin leaving the mark as it is.