Bewitched

Chapter-7

"Hello bhaia," Ishan spoke into his phone, pacing the balcony, the city lights of Mumbai shimmering in the background.

"Hello Ishan," came the reply from Raj's old friend. "Sorry I was so busy, I couldn’t reply earlier. Yes, the photo you sent... that was the boy with Raj at my art exhibition four years ago."

Ishan's heart raced. "Bhaia, did you talk to him?"

"No, unfortunately, I couldn’t even greet Raj that day. My art was sold to the queen of the country, and I was so busy with all the royal paperwork. I just saw Raj with someone briefly, and when I was free, Raj was gone."

"Thank you, bhaia," Ishan said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Don't worry, Ishan. You will find Raj. I have a feeling,"Raj's friend  reassured him.

Ishan ended the call and walked back inside to where Aditi was waiting at the laptop table.She could feel the tension in the air as he approached.

"So Shubman knows Raj,bhaia's friend confirmed it," Ishan said, taking a deep breath. "He saw them together at his art exhibition"

"Strange," Aditi mused, "why hasn’t Shubman told us anything?"

"I don't know," Ishan replied, shaking his head. "But we need to dig deeper. Let's watch the sessions."

They both sat down, and Ishan navigated to the folder labeled "Sessions." He clicked on the first video.

"Why are there only two videos?" Aditi exclaimed.

"Maybe he only had two sessions recorded," Ishan suggested, his finger hovering over the play button. He clicked it, and the video began.

It was video session of Shubman and the therapist in zoom.

"Tell me about how you met Raj," the therapist said gently.

Shubman took a deep breath, his hands trembling slightly,We met at streets as unknown person actually.

"At first, I thought his name was Ishan,Because I had a locket with his picture, where " Ishan" was written" Shubman continued. "He never corrected me because he didn’t trust me fully. We started seeing each other more often, and I fell for him hard. But after a year of living together, he finally told me his real name was Raj."

"How did you react?" the therapist asked.

"It was a shock," Shubman admitted. "But I loved him, so I tried to accept it. He was always so stubborn, though. We had so many fights because he wouldn’t open up completely. I felt like I was losing control."

The video cut off, and Ishan felt a chill run down his spine. He clicked on the second video, his hands shaking.

The screen showed the same room, but this time Shubman looked even more distressed. The therapist leaned forward, concern etched on his face.

Shubman looked down, his voice barely a whisper. "Raj was becoming too difficult to handle. He wasn’t in my control. He threatened to leave, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing him."

"What did you do, Shubman?" the therapist asked softly.

Shubman’s eyes filled with tears. "I... I needed to get rid of him. I couldn’t see any other way. So... I killed him."