Love Lies Bleeding

21. Guilty Confession.

It was that day when both were in the dorm. Adhir was practising for the National-level boxing championship in the college sports club. He was the pride of their college. Their college boxing club supported him through his journey.

“Adhir, phone for you.” Sid handed him the mobile. “Yes, Adhir speaking. Who is this?” He asked the person on the call. Sid stood there listening to him.

Adhir froze at the moment. He couldn’t talk further. He dropped the phone. Before it could reach the ground, he ran from the practice area; Sid ran behind him, worried. They both sat in a taxi. Sid didn't ask anything, he knew Adhir was not in a condition to talk.

Adhir ran into the house to see his dear sister lying lifeless. He was stuck there. Sid stood behind him. They couldn’t believe their eyes. Adhir collapsed, on his knees. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Police officers took both the boys outside the house.

“What happened to our sister officer? Why is she lying there?” Adhir wiped his cheeks. “We are sorry young man. We received a complaint from your neighbours that someone shot her to death. We are investigating, we'll let you know once we find him.” The officer assured him. But he knew something that Sid didn't.

Their family, strength and their love. She was lying there. Adhir knew it was something unusual to what he was informed by the officer. His sister was dead, but she was covered with a white cloth. The scars on her body seemed disturbed.

Sid couldn’t hold back his tears. Tears streamed down continuously. He silently cried. The police investigation was done and they went back.

The home they lived in shared happy moments and struggles, and that home felt nothing but bricks and cement. Both were already dead inside. Adhir sat down in the place where Arya was found dead.

He blamed himself for not being able to protect their sister. “I'm sorry Di. I couldn’t protect you. If I was here and not in the university dorm, you would be alive, scolding us, motivating and loving us.” He said slowly.

His eyes were already red from the crying. He looked at Sid, who was leaning against the wall, lifelessly sitting on the ground. He realized that he had a brother to take care of. He decided to take Sid’s responsibility.

Taking a heavy breath, “Sid, we need to clean the house. Di would hate the mess. Help me out.” He extended his hand. Sid held Adhir’s hand and got up. “Let's get to work,” Adhir said in a shaky voice. Sid hugged him tightly, and broke down in his arms, crying out loud. They shared each other’s agony.

After two days, the police officers called Adhir to pick up Arya's body after the postmortem. Sid was depressed, and Adhir forced him to shift to the university dorm and focus on his education. Adhir couldn’t participate at the National level. He lost his focus; he had only one goal: to find that man who killed his sister and kill him. The blazing rage fueled his desire for revenge.

“We are sorry, Adhir. Your sister suffered and struggled to escape the killer. She is raped and shot to death. That is what we found in the postmortem. We are only allowed to inform you of the cause of death.” the officer expressed grief. Adhir sat there to process the information that the officer gave.

His sister, a second mother to him, was raped brutally and shot to death. How was he supposed to share it with Sid? It was their guardian angel, and couldn’t protect her. He had no idea how it happened, what might be the reason for her death.? He was puzzled with thoughts.

The anger, rage, helplessness and guilt filled within, which flooded in the form of tears. He went to the officer, “Please do me a favour; make sure you catch the culprit, officer.” He urged.

It's been a month and Adhir hid the details of Arya's death from Sid. Every week Adhir went to the police station to check whether there were any updates. There was no betterment in the investigation, and the police kept denying the fact they ignored this case.

Being fed up with the police investigation and their made-up stories, Adhir started to investigate it. He went through all the case files; he read the postmortem report even though he couldn’t hold back his tears. Sid visited Adhir whenever he could and supported him to move on. How could he move on, when even Sid couldn’t?

Adhir diverted from his goals, life and career a long ago. He was just existing as a moving dead body, without a soul and life. Adhir gathered all the neighbours who gave their statements.

“Hello, everyone. I know you talked to the police before. But it'll help if you could remember any minute detail related to...…my sister's death.” He questioned.

“As we told the police, a man went into your house and stayed there for a few minutes. We heard a gunshot, and came outside, following the sound. That man just escaped. We couldn’t see his face.” A lady said for which everyone else agreed. “I- I know this isn't the entire truth. I don’t know why you would lie to me. The scars and the struggle my sister had were not about a single man.!! My sister- my Arya never deserved this, so I beg you to tell me the actual truth.” Adhir begged.

But none of them opened their mouths. “SAY SOMETHING GODDAMN!!!” he roared. He is a hungry tiger, with whom one would never want to mess up. “I- I- want to tell you something.” A young lady hesitated. Adhir took her to his apartment, assuring her safety. He gave her the courage to speak.

“You are right. It was not a single man. I heard some vehicle sounds. I walked out to see. There were four cars, and men in black and black suits, masks and guns got out. They went into your apartment. After an hour, we all heard the gunshot. They came out like nothing happened and threatened to kill if anyone uttered a word. I was terrified.” She cried and confessed in guilt.

“I'm sorry, I-” she said in between her tears. “It's Ok. Relax. Try remembering, anything else. Something with which I can search for them. Please, think.” He requested, consoling her. She thought for a while. “Yes! The tattoo. I saw a tattoo of some animal, like a snake, on the neck of a man.” She said with energy.

“Can you draw that for me?” Adhir asked his last hope. She drew the tattoo, it was a part of a snake. 

Hey, my lovelies.
Let's see how Adhir is gonna find out about the tattoo man.

Comment and tell me did you cry??