Silent Affair (On Hold)

Chapter Seven

Arnav was sitting on his bed, resting his chin on his folded hands. He couldn't stop thinking about how Khushi had reacted from him just shaking her shoulders. The image of her shaking and shuddering was haunting his mind.

What happened to her, he wondered. She was fine earlier this evening. In fact... she looked beautiful. She... I don't think I've ever seen nor met anyone as beautiful as her.

"Bhai?"

Arnav snapped out of thought and looked up to see Avantika at the door. She walked in and shut the door behind her, then went over to Arnav and sat down beside him.

"How's Khushi," Arnav asked, his voice low.

"Di managed to help her fall asleep. She kept refusing to fall asleep, but Di convinced her that there was nothing to be afraid of."

Arnav remembered how his Di kept soothing Khushi. Remembering how scared Khushi was made him angry and wonder what had happened to her.

Arnav stood up. "What the hell happened while I was away? Why isn't Khushi talking to me? And where's Kaka, Kaki, and Buaji? Why is Khushi all alone here and how come they're not here?!"

Avantika gulped. "I'll tell you everything from the start-"

"Well tell me!"

Avantika looked down. "After you left, everyone noticed how Khushi had become... gloomy. We all thought that it was because you left, you being her best friend and all. But as the months passed, her mood didn't change. She was upset, and although she tried to play it off, her eyes always betrayed her. The way her eyes looked... it was as if her heart was broken.

"More time went on and you called home for the first time. Khushi wanted to talk to you, but you didn't have time to talk. I guess she took it personally, even though Di tried to explain it wasn't so. She tried to call you, saying that she had something urgent to talk to you about, but you didn't pick up her call. Papa said he'd try and when he called, you picked up. It made Khushi angry and she decided that she wouldn't talk to you. After that we didn't see her for the rest of the day. Later on we realized that she was... missing."

Arnav's eyes widened. "Missing?"

Avantika nodded. "Everyone got really worried then. Papa called the police and they said they'd go out to look for her. Kaka was impatient and wanted to go out and look for her himself. Papa and Ma tried to reason with him, but he simply refused and ran out. Kaki was very worried and she couldn't help herself and ran after him. We tried to stop her, but she already ran out and was with Kaka. He told her to go back, but she refused to. In the end, both went..."

"What happened next?"

"Somehow, Kaka and Kaki went to that rundown factory. The one down by the bay? When they got there, they heard Khushi screaming. They ran towards her voice and when they saw her...."

"What?"

"A... a guy..."

Arnav's eyes widened.

Avantika took a deep breath and released it. "A guy had torn up Khushi's clothes and was trying to force himself on her."

Arnav shut his eyes and turned away. He clenched his teeth and fists, trying to control his anger.

"What happened," Arnav growled, opening his eyes.

"Kaka fought the guy off and his men attacked. Kaki went running to Khushi to protect her. They saw Kaka fight that guy and his men but Kaka wasn't strong enough...."

Arnav had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"One of the men had a really big knife, almost like a sword... and he... he-" Avantika's voice cracked. "He stabbed it right through Kaka."