A Shadow Of A Man

Prolouge ~ Found Guilty

Hey:) it's me again! So as you will notice many of the characters in this story are the same as those from Ring-A-Ring-A-Roses, but in name only. In my personal view a story is at it's best when the readers can interact with it.

You have met Aditya Hooda, the recluse, the serial killer, the boy who was abused.
You have met Zoya Siddiqui, the smart mouthed, head strong woman.

I'm sure you feel you know them well enough by now, well i'm about to change all of that very soon. I'm not asking you to forget what you know about them, instead I want you to remember it but also learn about them now.

Love is an emotion that has no bounds, so if they were placed in a different time with different circumstances, could they fall in love again?

I will let you know now that there is a reason why the characters are the same, the reason why I have not finished Ring-A-Ring-A-Roses first is because this story is in your hands, the ending they deserve, but how will they get it? Well, that's up to you. At the end of mostly every chapter a character will have a choice of some sort, you have to decide for them what they will do next, every decision has implications.

So, welcome to A Shadow Of A Man. Here is where you become a part of the story and remember, your decisions make their ending.

Good luck, I hope you'll fall in love with them all over again and continue to love them even more, but rest assured Ring-A-Ring-A-Roses will get the ending they all truly deserve, that's a promise.

Well, for the most part anyway;)

[~~~]

For five years a man has spent his life in isolation, food is slipped beneath the door and all he sees as they walk away is the dancing shadows of their feet.

He is forgotten, left aside and never spoken of. That's just how he prefers it, he has nothing to live for after the light of his life was taken from him in mysterious circumstances that still haunt him to this very day.

In all this time he hasn't uttered a word, many a therapist has tried to speak to him only to achieve nothing. Realising that his case could be a million dollar one, the head of the asylum Dr Rowlan has decided to send in the inexperienced intern to what some has classified as the Devil's lair.

All she has to do is get him to talk and she will have a guranteed placement at the hospital of her dreams. But when lines become blurry and ethical standards are pushed to the side, Zoya Siddiqui can only hope to find out the mystery of the man who lives in the shadows and bring him to the light, before she too ends up drowned in the darkness that surrounds them both.

[~~~]

It was in the small moments like this he would take to himself. Grab his cup of black coffee- that was always frowned upon because it seemed the furthest thing from healthy and walk into the bedroom. His eyes would wander over the many pictures that covered each wall, at first he hadn't approved, but she had enjoyed seeing the memories everytime she awoke so he had allowed it. Of course this wasn't unusual, she would ask and before he could even say no, her lips would be on his in a kiss that always made him surrender.

He would bask in these things, for it was truly the moments that made a lifetime. It was safe to say he was a happy man, enjoying all of life and the luxuries that came with being in love. Nothing made him happier than arriving home early so he could surprise the woman who had made him a man. The clock struck 2pm and a smile lit up his face, she would be home soon.

Before he knew it, the large hand was on the twelve again and the small on the three. Exactly an hour had passed, meaning she was thirty minutes late. It wasn't uncommon for her to be home later than usual, but it still made his heart excel to an alarming pace. Shaking his head, he shook off the worrying thoughts, she would be fine, because she always came home, she always came back to him.

When the clock finally showed 6pm he could no longer hold the worry in anymore, grabbing at his phone he called everyone they knew. Friends, family, work colleagues. Neither had seen her or even heard from her, a deep pit of fear began to surface around him, waiting to pull him in so he would become lost in trepidation.

By 10:37pm the door bell rung, sighing in relief he rushed to the door "I even called the police, stupid people don't report a person as missing unless it's been twenty-" he stopped when three uniformed individuals stared back at him. "Where is she, where is my wife"?

"I'm afraid you're coming to the station with us, everything will be explained there"

It had to have been early hours of the morning when someone finally walked into the room he sat in, he raised his head, rattling his cuffed wrists "You bring me to the station, leave me here to rot, won't answer any of my questions and handcuff me, I want to know where my wife is, no one is telling me ANYTHING" smashing his hands onto the table he took deep breaths "Please, I need to know" he begged

"Mr Aditya Hooda, I am arresting you on suspicion of first degree murder, you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence, if you do not mention when questioned something that you may later rely on in court, anything you do say may be given as evidence"

Frozen in time Aditya stood up, eyes full of emptiness and dry tears streaking his cheeks. He had pled not guilty, yet somehow as he looked at all the evidence stacked up against him, guilty was all he felt. Guilty for not doing more, he had spent countless hours repeating the day in his head, trying and trying to find where he had gone wrong. It didn't seem to matter to him if he went to prison, he had nothing left to live for anymore.

"We, the jury, find the defendant, Aditya Hooda, to be guilty of the charge of first degree murder"

Maybe it should have shocked him, broken him and torn him apart. Instead all he did was nod his head, his fate had been decided now, it was what he would live with.

"The court has very carefully considered all of the evidence in this case, it is hereby ordered that the defendent Aditya Hooda be sentenced to life imprisonment for the first degree murder of his wife Zoya Hooda, the defendent is commited to the custody of the Staten Island correctional facility to serve his sentence"

The last thing he heard was the bang of the gavel on the wood before he was lifted up and taken away.