Seasons- Golden Hours

🌻Beneath the Surface🌻

Eshani 

When it comes to Agastya, I could only explain him in one way- Layers, Multiple of them. The one where his eyes can't hide his desires, the one where he settles inside an ice bath like its a chocolate fountain, the one was of yesterday where he told me that I could stay if I want to. 

The way his expression changed into a hard rock, it shivered me to the core. He stood up without any trace of smile or amusement in his eyes and stride outside of the mansion. 

If I am being rational then I would be the biggest fool to follow him. Every logical part of me said that I should not look deep into the parts, I don't want to know about. 

But there was something between us which pulled me closer to him- to his rawness, his darkness and the shared flame that is burning between us. 

Him and I are nothing alike but we are still burning equally. 

I tap my feet silently, hiding behind mt door until I saw Agastya hiding something with him. What is it that he is hiding in his own house? 

Curiosity shook me to the core and I followed him, towards the stairs. He went into the room with wooden door, it had a little hole enough for me to peek. 

It was Agastya's private space and I should not be looking into it. I should be thinking about our kiss and kick bedsheets like I did last night but again, I didn't listen to my gut and eyed inside.

And what I saw made my heart stop. 

Black walls, a chair, a thin man tied to it, his muffled whimpers coming barely across the room. There were equipment- torture equipment inside. 

The most terrifying thing was the look on Agastya's face. The one sided grin, merciless eyes, his hand capturing the jaw of other man. 

The more the man pleaded, the more Agastya enjoyed. 

The view made my stomach churn, bile rising my throat and I covered my mouth hiding the sob that was about to leave. 

The room was some sort of twisted gallery, customized for killing and torturing people. Agastya whispered something to that man but I didn't need to figure out the words, the whimpers and terrified eyes of his said essays about what is happening inside. 

Agastya tilted his head like a psychopath shown in the movies, the only difference is that he looked deadlier and real. And this man was kissing me yesterday, brushing his lips softly on mine. 

I wanted to run away but I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. When he said he is dangerous, the worst possibility I thought was about him surviving alone, bullying people for fun not- killing them. 

He placed the knife on the man's forearm, slicing the design off him. 

I moved away from the door, my breaths becoming shallow cutting off the supply of oxygen from it. 

I wanted to throw up but he would know. I was not scared of him killing me. I was scared of feeling something for him, something that should never take place between a Doctor who saves life and a killer who takes them. 

I rushed down, towards the sink throwing up all the contents I consumed in the morning- Chia seeds and Lemon water. 

I should have been excited for Adhira's engagement, I should have told Agastya about it while cooking the breakfast with him. 

That man is killing someone upstairs, he would kill me too. 

I can't run away right now, he would know it and he could do anything- to me, to my friends. A sudden wave of guilt wash over me for sharing details about my friends. 

I knew somewhere, I would get attracted to a dominant man considering my backgrounds but being attracted to a killer was not and should not have been inside my list. 

What was it? The way his clothes fit over his body, that he can ride a horse and make it look ethereal, the way his dark eyes consumed mine? 

Whatever it was, it feels as if someone crumbled on the little hope of affection I was holding on. 

I rush back to the kitchen, controlling my shivering body. It took more than one splash of cold water on my face to numb the heat and tears trickling down from my eyes. 

I faced the counter, fiddling with utensils with shaky hands as I heard his footsteps reaching towards his room. 

I didn't want to turn towards him or face him at the moment. I don't want to know how he looked after taking life of a living being like it never mattered. 

"Eshani?" I stopped myself from shaking and felt a jacket covering me. When I turned, it was Agastya who draped his Jacket over my shoulders. "You never wear clothes according to the weather." His voice comes out soothing as in contrast of his actions. 

His eyes were red, vein of his forehead throbbing, face looking paler than its ever been. It reminded me of the day he walked inside the cafe asking for Espresso. 

He stood beside me, his hand flexing on the coffee machine- A double shot Espresso. 

There was a 99 no 100% chance he killed someone back then too. The vision made me almost throw up again. 

He turned, without acknowledging me and walked inside the room. I heard the voice of water trickling on the floor. 

The water trickling down from his room, there would be blood possibly and the coffee slowly dropping down from the machine. 

Strong, concentrated, bitter like him... and it could be a reason you wouldn't sleep at night. 

I turn to make something, instead. I can't tell Adhira as she would be too happy right now. If I tell Mahika, I am not sure Agastya would be as soft with her as he is with me now. 

I hold an apple, slicing it into pieces and holding the knife for my life. 

Something needs to be done. This man is dangerous so I should not be doing something that provokes him. I slice faster until the knife pierce my finger. 

"Eshani!" His voice, stern and demanding as he pools his body closer to me. His sandalwood scent does nothing to calm me today. "You are bleeding." He held my hand like it is a diamond and quickly direct it under a running tap. 

Cool water washes the blood away but when I look at his face, he is shaking too. His whole body, his hands that are holding mine. "It's just a cut." A cut that meant nothing to him when he was slicing the forearm of the man upstairs. 

The worst part is that his hands still felt warm and I could still feel a light in him. 

Who is more damaged- Him or I? 

I placed my palm on his shoulder pushing him away very gently. "It's okay, Agastya." I could notice how his throbbing forehead vein calmed somehow. 

He held my arm and made me sit on a wooden chair, lighting up the fireplace. The silence between us was thick. He picked out a first aid kit and wrapped a bandage around my finger. "You don't have to make the breakfast." He pulled himself away from me as if he was himself feeling dirty. 

Was this the reason he was always hesitant to touch me? 

I noticed the key in his hand. "Are you going somewhere?" I tried to paint my voice into something very ordinary. 

"I will be back till evening, I will bring something for dinner." 

What could he possibly get? A dead body? 

I noticed his disappearing frame from the main entrance before he left a spare key on the table. 

Eshani got a peek of Agastya's dark side. What do you think she would do next? 

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