Terrorized By Love [ON HOLD]

Chapter 1: The Prince Who Never Returned

"One time there was a princess.... she was a princess who found her prince when she was really young, and one day, the prince was snatched from her. Ever since the prince went away, the princess waited. She waited and waited, and she never stopped waiting. Until this day, she waits for her prince," the twenty two year old girl murmured to the sleeping man, from the ground below him. "I'll tell you the secret... the princess is me. And the prince, he is Aditya, my Adi... the one I never wanted to lose, but still did."

The girl rested her head on the bed of Dev Gupta, the man who saved her from terrorists. He was fast asleep, and she was telling him a story, because she couldn't conceal it any longer. Every night she would remember the dreaded night where Rani Aunty was brutally killed, and her best friend Adi was taken away. They lived like siblings, but there was a much deeper connection.

Was it love? She didn't know. Whatever it was, it was strong.

"Dev, you saved me," Mahima Ashtikar murmured and closed her eyes, tears pouring down her cheeks onto the hard bed. "We're in hiding and you saved me, and I feel so much for you... but I cannot forget my Adi. I can never forget him."

She remembered back to the time when she was five years old. Her own mom and dad were stabbed to death by men who had their faces covered with shawls. She hadn't seen it, but had walked in after the murders, and saw her parents laying lifelessly in a pool of blood.

It scarred her.

"I miss my mom and dad," Mahima whispered. "They were the best... but I found both of them in Rani Aunty."

When Rani Aunty took Mahima in, it was just a few days after her parents death. Mahima was fearfully walking around the streets of Dhule when she was found by the compassionate lady. She still remembered how the slightly chubby lady, dressed in a Sari, had fallen to her knees and touched the scars on Mahima's face. She had been beaten by men on the streets, but managed to get away from them.

"Come with me," Rani Aunty had said, and an innocent and helpless Mahima followed the lady to her own small home.

She had been a single mother, with a seven year old son. They lived in a one story house, with a bed in the same room as the kitchen. It was clear that Rani Aunty and her son Aditya slept on the same torn bed.

Now that Mahima came to think of it, the bed was not much different from the one that they slept on here. Old and rugged.

Rani Aunty used some shawls to make a bed on the floor and she herself slept in it, giving the bed up for both Aditya and Mahima to sleep on. Mahima smiled as she remembered how Aditya used to protectively wrap his arms around her as he slept, almost in an unconscious state, like he wasn't even aware that he was doing it.

In the beginning, Aditya was angry with Rani for bringing Mahima in, since he was very attached to his mother, and Mahima never spoke, too traumatized to say a word. She said nothing at all. Finally, when she spoke, she said his name first.

"Aditya," she had said, and she still remembered how it rolled off her tongue, almost perfectly.

Aditya was so shocked. He asked her to say his name again, and she repeated it. She said it again and again until she giggled. It wasn't too long after, that they became friends. In fact, friends was an understatement. They had been inseparable.

It all ended though, one year later on that fateful night, when their house was invaded by the terrorists. Terrorists had invaded the whole city of Dhule and killed many. Unfortunately Rani Aunty was murdered too. Aditya covered Mahima's eyes as they hid under the bed, so she wouldn't see the horrific sight. Aditya saw though, and when Mahima couldn't control herself anymore, she began to cry.

In an effort to keep her hidden under the bed, Aditya sacrificed himself and stepped out, submitting himself to the terrorists. Perhaps he expected death. Instead, they grabbed him and took him away. Mahima watched them take her best friend away fearfully.

"I'll be back," he told her just before he stepped out.

She believed he would be back... but he never returned. Maybe he just said that so she wouldn't run after him. Maybe he never intended to come back. Maybe he thought he would die... maybe they actually did kill him.

Mahima had no idea.

She knew one thing though, and that was this: she couldn't ever stop waiting for Aditya. He was the one who touched her like nobody ever did. When she was emotionally scarred and traumatized, he brought her out of her vulnerable state. She was a child, innocent and clueless, but Aditya had been there.

"Where are you Aditya?" Mahima whispered through her tears.

These weren't the first tears she was crying for him, nor would they be her last.