The real Killer

Eighteen

Khushi was walking back home. From back someone came and knocked her out. There were few more people who were closing in towards Khushi.  Their mission,take Khushi away. Yet somehow Arnav was there. He opened his phone and rang the police siren. They scattered. He picked Khushi up and made her sit,leaning onto him. He waited until she gained senses. Then without saying anything he took her home. Khushi was in daze. She walked inside,closed her doors and fell asleep. Donot know why she was so sleepy. Payal tried to call her for dinner,yet seeing how she had slept,she didnot..

"Khushi was trapped in a dream. She watched a woman,pale,weak,reading a letter.How did that letter reach her home,she wondered. It told her to leave her home as soon as possible,or her whole family would die with her.. She picked up her phone,scolded someone for their carelessness. The other person told her,they would be more careful. She told him,to prepare an urn,filled with ashes,and take her handwritten letter,to tell her mother that she has left the world. That night she wrote two letters. One telling her mother that she was leaving home,other to scatter her ashes.. The first one she kept with herself,the second one,gave it to her most trusted worker to send it to that man. She wished to spend some time with her family, because she knew,she had to walk out,to walk inside the trap. Kamini Raichand was not dead. She had played well. And now she has set her eyes on her. What she wants,she would give her..

That night with Anand,broke her totally. Next night,she ordered her trusted person to add sleeping pills to the milk of her Maa and Arvind and Amar. After they retired,she walked out. Not before sitting beside her family for few moments. She knew she would not return,she would not see them again..

No night was as dark as that night .As she walked out,her thin white saree made her feel cold. Yet her heart was cold. She looked at her surrounding. The few shadows told her that she was being monitored. And the broken dried leaves on the ground told her that her friend had also started. As she walked out of the huge doors of the palace,lonely,she was watching herself,singing,dancing,working, sitting with Anand,laughing with Dev,Sanjana. Playing with Amar and Arvind..Her Baba,her Maa,the people who worked there,the Gupta uncle who called her Betiya Rani. The two kids of Guptas,Sashi and Madhu. Every known face was flashing infront of her eyes. She stopped. Looked back. The palace stood awake,as if to bid her good bye. Mornings would come,yet she would not be there to feel them. She would not be disturbed by the sunrays peeping throw her windows. She would not enjoy her evening tea on her favourite swing. She would not be able to eat the sweets made by her Maa. She would not be there anymore to watch Arvind and Amar grow..

She saw a car,waiting for her. As she walked forward,two people walked out,put a cloth on her eyes and pushed her inside. The pearl earrings in her ears were pulled out brutally. Her ears hurted. The small stringed pearl necklace was broken. She could feel the little pearls scattering around her feet. The sleeves of her white satin blouse was torn. Her well pinned hair was pulled and the lotus clip on her hair was taken away. The simple anklet chain on her feet was taken away. She was thrown inside a dark room that smelled. Yet she was calm. She had kept her favourite jewels away. The things broken,they were very costly. But she had no attachment with them..

Her hands were tied to a chain. Legs were too. They dragged her out. Then made her stand. The chains pulled her legs apart. Her hands were tied on the both sides. She heard laughter. She knew her saree was undone,her blouse was torn. She was a feast to the eyes of them..

Someone approached. She felt the familiar perfume. How would she not know..She herself had bought it for the lady. Kamini Raichand.. Finally she appeared..