A Life Of Lies | ✔

Hansika • 9

Adjusting the baby blue scarf around my head, I look at both sides of the road, trying to get ahold of a taxi at this godly hour of five. The showers that started at around 1 AM has just now come to an end, so the air is still impregnated with moisture and coldness. Finally, a traditional 'kaali - peeli' comes along and I raise my arm to hail it. 

"Where to, madam?" A thick mustached man behind the wheel asks me.

"Divegar beach, near the far end." That's where the lighthouse is. 

I grip my duffel bag closer to me as my father's cold, dead body flashes before my eyes. The small slit on the side of his neck through which he bled to death looks fresh and crimson in the image. And to back the image up, there's Anirudh's voice in the background, saying, "Sorry about that, Princess. But give me a kiss first. You're finally here."

My face hardens and pales further as I close my eyes and push the image out. The chill air kisses my face and smothers me with some unknown form of comfort. And it reminds of Ayansh. Why he came into my life, why he had to play the parts, why he got into the whole tangle, all of this is beyond me. But the little time we did spend with each other, he gave me nothing but comfort. Had the story he built for us been completely real, I would have been really content. We'd make a perfect couple. 

But then, anything that looks perfect is just made of a false roof and hollow blocks. The more flawless it looks, the more fragile its build is. 

When I open my eyes again, the cab has already sided to the pavement, ready to drop me off by the end of the Diveagar beach. I pay the driver and get out of the cab. The whole beach is deserted save a few dogs roaming around, looking for food. My eyes zone out as my mind directs me to the lighthouse with no conscious directions required whatsoever. You can't forget places that are scarred into you. 

When I reach the old, 80-feet high lighthouse, I see the old, tall, bearded man who I never thought I'd see again. Dharma Chacha.

"Chacha?" I whisper as I pace towards the chair where he's seated.

Dharma Chacha has been the Joshi house's watchman for all the years I've lived there. He is like my godfather, being the only who who stood up for me in that house. Time has worn him out a little, even though his body is still stiff and uptight.

He looks up at me as his eyes go wide around the crease of his wrinkled lids. "Beti, what are you doing here? Why did you come here again?" He looks behind him to see if there's anyone present and gets up to get ahold of my arm.

"There's no one who saw you. Go away now! Don't go back to him again!" He drags me by my arm, trying to get me away. The panic in his voice and his concern for me chokes me to tears, but I push it in and stand my ground.

"Chacha," I stop him. "I have to go in."

He looks at me, his eyes now bloodshot. "No, no. I did not lose my best friend for nothing. His last wish was for me to take care that this does not happen to his daughter. I would not see it happen. You're not going in, Beti."

Tears slip from my eyes in defeat. My father and Chacha were close friends and he always treated me as his own child. If there's one person who still loves me and cares for me from my old life, it's him.

"Chacha, I beg you. He has captured someone else now. Someone I - I love. And I need to save him before it's too late," I press my hands together and plead him.

He holds my hands and melts down. "I'm so sorry, Hansika. I couldn't save your father and now I can't save you, too."

I shake my head. "It's okay, Chacha. I will be fine. Just let me in."

He nods and continues to cry as I walk past him into the lighthouse. The  stale smell of mold eating off the walls of the lighthouse tightens the knot in my stomach further, and I ascend the steep stairs. Hold it in, Hansika. Hold it in.

By the time I reach the last step, I already feel it. I'm at the lion's den. The point of no return. Again.

There are two buff, rough looking men at the door. One look at me, and they look at each other in a knowing look. Without a word, they open the door. My eyes enter the room first to see the worst scenario I imagined.

Ayansh has Anirudh slammed against the wall, and they both look like they're about to kill each other. The redness of Ayansh's face, the look in Anirudh's eyes, the flying fists; I hold my lower stomach, trying to ease the uneasy pain.

"What are you doing?!"

Both of them turn to look at me. And the difference in their looks sends a shiver to my spine. One pair of eyes look at me in shock, with a little love in the corner and a lot of care. The other pair of eyes look up and down at me, a spark of victory in the crease and anger clouding the lids.

I drop my duffel bag. Both of them pace towards me. I raise both my arms out and take a step back, my heart jumping to my throat. The ground needs to break out and swallow me whole. Like, right now.

"Han - " Ayansh starts, but he's cut off.

"Princess, you're back!" Anirudh says, in a much higher voice. He swats my arms away effortlessly and engulfs me in a hug. The skin contact burns me as I freeze on spot. My eyes look to the ground as a tear slips down. This is where I belong. Being his toy. I don't deserve anything else. Not my father, my mother, Dharma Chacha. Not Ayansh.

"Step. Away. From. Her." Ayansh's voice punches into the air and my body tenses all over again. I place my arm between Anirudh and me and try to push him away. But he's too strong to push away, just like he always is.

"She wouldn't want me to," Anirudh smirks as he pulls away from me a little and raises an eyebrow.

"I'm here, Ani. Ayansh can leave now, right?" I ask, adding a smile to it like he likes. I'm surprised by the way my whole self has changed, or rather gone back, to being Anirudh's toy just after minutes under him.

"Of course, Princess. But there's this little thing that needs to be done," Anirudh pauses.

The butterflies in my stomach pelt at the walls, alarm signs going off inside me. "What's that?"

He turns to Ayansh, whose eyes are bloodshot and knuckles white from clawing into his own palms. "You need to tell him everything. The whole truth."

I look from Anirudh to Ayansh and back to Anirudh. "Wh - why?"

"Because I want him to know it, Princess. Don't question too much, Hansika. You already know how I feel about it." He bumps his head with mine in a childish manner. And the shudders in my legs make my body weaken. His duality is still alive and bright, and it's here to kill me.

"Alright, I'll give you two a minute. Let's talk over breakfast. Let me serve you for the first time in forever, Princess! I made a full English all by myself." And with that, Anirudh goes to the kitchen and leaves me alone with Ayansh.

"What- Who- Why- " Ayansh tries to form a question, but the expression on his face tells it all.

I wipe my tear and take a step towards him. "I'm so sorry. I'll tell you everything. You don't have to forgive me. But just accept whatever I say and leave when you can. Please do that alone, for the life we lived a few good days."

Before he can reply to that, I walk past him and sit in the table. The heaviness in my lower stomach reminds me of the little Pea inside, and I wonder just how in hell all of this is ever going to end.

"Shall we get started, folks?" Anirudh's cheery voice comes from the kitchen.

***