Mrunali swayed on her feet, the memorial hall swim before her eyes. She barely felt Rahul's steadying grip as her horrified gaze remained transfixed on the ghostly, dishevelled figure observing her malevolently from across the room.
It was Akash - former ringleader of the boys who tormented vulnerable young Mrunali so ruthlessly years ago that she ultimately embraced wickedness herself. Though he had fled town not long after their harrowing fountain confrontation, Akash's vicious words and leering threats still slithered through her dreams from time to time.
Yet here he stood years later at Ravi's funeral, looking every bit as menacing as when he callously pawed at incapacitated Meera. Mrunali trembled with loathing under his smug appraisal, skin crawling as his tongue flicked briefly over thin lips in vulgar recollection of their sordid history.
Rahul shifted protectively in front of Mrunali, jolting her from distressed stupor. She clutched at him reflexively, his familiar solidity grounding her when base impulse goaded her to simply lunge at fiendish Akash in tormented fury. God knows what destructive ends she would meet if she yielded fully to festering darkness...
Perhaps reading murderous intent in her maddened eyes, vile Akash merely dipped his chin, scorching Mrunali with a knowing leer that promised unfinished sinister business between them. Then he receded soundlessly back into shadowed anonymity as mysteriously as he had emerged.
Shaken by the entire charged encounter, Rahul gently guided Mrunali toward awaiting family while she grappled internally between long-nurtured malice and recently cultivated compassion. In the end, bone-deep weariness won out - she simply hadn't the reserves left to battle external demons when her own raged fiercely. Leaning into Rahul's steady warmth, Mrunali let go a soul-deep sigh. She was through atoning for the bitter girl she used to be. Whatever malevolence lurked on her heels could simply wait; she had too much sweetness yet to taste in this new life to lose herself to old ghosts tonight.
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Uncaged
Mystery / Thriller"Uncaged" follows the tumultuous journey of Mrunali, an 18-year-old girl battling deep insecurities and societal pressures. She starts as an underconfident teenager constantly belittled by her peers, but through a series of harrowing experiences, Mr...
