Nyra pov

“Who did this to you?”

His question lingered in the air. Even though he wore a calm mask, his voice held a tinge of anger in it. I looked into his eyes and it felt as though I was looking into a cascade of emotions floating in them.

His eyes held concern and care along with anger to get rid of whatever comes in his way. I tried to gather the courage to have this conversation with him. I didn’t have the courage to speak about this with anyone.

Especially my parents. What if they take the little freedom they have given me? I am not ready for it. As I was contemplating whether to speak or not, he squeezed my hand in reassurance. I looked up and stared into his eyes. The words flowed like a river and I said everything without leaving any details.

I don’t know how I got the courage to repeat all the incidents which had taken place. But I did. After saying everything we both sat in silence. I was staring blankly at the wall in front of me.

The silence stretched between us. My heavy breathing was the only noise in the room. Even though I felt lighter after saying everything to him, there was this unsettling weight inside me which was suffocating me. Then I felt a warm touch on my cold hands.

I looked up and he squeezed my hand reassuring me, his gaze filled with determination. He was about to say something when I saw a shadow pass outside a window. My eyes widened and I pointed frantically near it.

He turned towards where I was pointing and stood up to check.

“Adyanth, don’t go.” I said pulling him back. But he took a determined stride towards the window. I stood still too scared to follow him.

He opened the window and glanced outside. He turned back with a questioning gaze.

“No one’s there, Nyra.” He looked at me in concern and walked towards me.

I once again glanced near the window helplessly watching as the curtains fluttered along the wind. My heart hammered in my chest and I felt the world closing in on me. I swallowed and looked towards him asking him to believe.

Have I lost it already? After going through all of these, have I reached the end of it?

I don’t know if I am imagining it or not. But somewhere inside, my gut said that whatever I saw was true.

Suddenly, with slow movement Adyanth turned towards the window and stared at something. Then he retrieved something from outside. A paper.

He opened it and glanced at me. After seeing whatever was in the paper and looked in to his eyes, I was terrified. I slowly walked towards him, eyeing the paper as if it would turn into a snake and bite me.

With every step I took the ground squeaked due to my feet. As I reached near him and tried to take the paper from his hands, he said.

“Nyra, don’t. We will handle this. You don’t have to see this.” He warned me and tried to keep the paper far away from him. But I took it from him and opened it.

I am watching you.

The paper slipped from my hand and slowly fell down. As the weightless paper fell down, my heart felt heavy with everything going on. I sat on the sofa staring blankly thinking where it went wrong.

I slowly turned towards Adyanth to see him with a helpless expression. I didn’t know if he was helpless because of not able to do anything to help me or guilty for dragging me into this mess. We both know somewhere it all started when we both met.

I took a deep breath and tried to think of the next step instead of being stuck here.

“What to do now?” I asked him wondering what his reply would be.

“We will figure this out.” And reassured me by holding my hand. Warmth spread through his hand, heating my cold hands. I just nodded, not saying much. But I wanted to ask and demand an explanation from him.

But I was too exhausted to ask him. We both sat without speaking anything. The house was filled with an eerie silence. Everything stood still as though time had stopped. But I knew that was not the case. I just wanted an escape from this suffocating feeling. I wanted to feel normal again without all this drama.

“Do you want chai?” I asked him as though everything is normal. And we are just two people having chai.

He turned towards me and stared at me intensely searching through my eyes. But I hid all the avalanche of emotions and returned the same intensity to him. He sighed and just nodded without saying anything.

I stood up and walked into the kitchen. And took out all the ingredients required for chai. Then I peeked to see him sitting on the sofa and typing something on his phone.

I returned my attention towards the chai and stood watching it as it boiled. The chai’s aroma filled the air. I was thinking, what is my next step? Should I complain to the police? Or does Adyanth know what is going on?

Whatever happens at least I will tell my friends. Even if I die, at least they will know. Okay no negative thoughts, think positive. After a few minutes of boiling the chai was done. I slowly poured into a porcelain glass which we only use for guests and walked back to the living room.

I slowly walked into the room balancing the cup in the tray even though my hands were trembling. The chai’s aroma spread in the air filling with warmth sucking off all the cold energy present in the air.

As I went near him, he kept his phone down and his serious expression relaxed into a small smile and took the cup from the tray, lightly brushing his hands over my hand. A shiver passed through me with the small contact. I took a deep breath and sat beside him.

I hugged my knees to my chest and held the cup in both hands to let the warmth pass to me.

For a while, we both kept quiet not speaking anything, just lost in the moment and sipping chai. Then timidly gathering the courage I asked.

“Were you texting someone?” I asked in a low voice.

“Yes, there is a friend of mine who will help in this kind of situation.”

“My situation?” And he gave me a look saying you know what I am talking about.

“I just wanted something normal. When everything was simpler.” I said helplessly looking at him.

“Well at least I came to know that you do chai well. Something good came out of this.” He said with a small smirk. I just laughed momentarily forgetting everything.

Then for a while he just kept on making silly jokes reducing the tension which was built due to stalker. As we both kept the empty cups on the table and glanced at the clock. I was shocked to see that we had spoken for 2 hours straight. We both stood up.

“I will talk to my friend and we will meet, so he can help us.” He said and side hugged me.

“Everything’s gonna be okay.” He reassured me and walked towards the main door. I walked behind him slowly and stood near the entrance as he stepped out.

“Don’t hesitate to ask for help.” And sat on his bike. As his bike sped off, I was left with a heavy silence. I stood until his bike was visible and walked inside.

The empty feeling was back since I was alone. I saw the paper lying down innocently. I picked it up and caressed it, a shudder passing through me as I read the sentence again. I kept it inside my bag. And sat for a while. I decided to go to the hospital. I had messaged one of my colleagues to cover for me.

I just washed my face and took my things and went to the hospital. The whole time I was just immersed in work and not getting myself distracted with the stalker thoughts. I spoke with my parents and it was not very difficult to hide it from them. But I was contemplating how to say this to my friends.

I decided that the day after tomorrow we will be meeting then I will say everything. I wanted to say it in person, so I didn’t call them.

The whole day passed in a blur. The rhythmic beeping monitors and the hustle of the nurses all of it kept me in the present. But sometimes in between I would fall into a hole and get lost in the middle of somewhere. Then some person would snap me out of it.

I had to do the night shift since I didn’t come in the morning. This distraction was good. Somehow, I thought less about it. But in between a chill would pass through me raising goosebumps making me feel as though someone is watching me. I kept reassuring myself that I am overthinking.

Every hour Adyanth used to call me and make sure I was okay. He also informed me that tomorrow we will meet his friend. I sighed in relief when he informed me. Maybe his friend would help me.

Somewhere his reassurance in between helped. He kept his promise and took care of me. But for how long? I don’t know. It’s just the beginning of something between us. And I can’t expect him to do more. Nor can I trust him fully. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know I should talk with my parents and friends.

But I am also scared that I would lose everything. Freedom, independence, everything. Maybe the situation is different.

Andddd. She has officially lost her mind. Please help. (She needs sleep.)

I ignored it and went on with my day. Or night.

The whole night passed and the sun was rising. I felt exhausted to the core and I just wanted to crash on my bed. Hopefully, my mind will let me sleep.

I went to the washroom and splashed cold water on my face. It woke me up. Barely. Then I went to the canteen to drink a cup of coffee. I should be able to drive my bike at least to my house. I inhaled the caffeine. It calmed my nerves. I sat for a while sipping coffee and staring into the distance.

After drinking, I threw the cup and took all my belongings and went to the parking lot. Within no time, I reached home. As soon as I went inside I fell on the bed and fell into a deep slumber.

The ringing of my phone woke me up. With my half eyes open I took my phone and saw it was Adyanth. I received his call.

“Are you ready? I am waiting outside your house.” When my mind finally registered what he said, I woke up and unfortunately my legs were tangled with the bedsheet and I fell down.

“5 minutes.” I said and cut the call and got ready fast. This is the fastest I have got ready. It should be recorded in Guiness records. Shit, what am I thinking? And ran fast.

I checked if I had turned on any switches and went out locking the doors. He was already waiting for me on his bike. I went and stood trying to breathe normally.

“Hi.” I said gesturing with my hands too as if he didn’t understand.

“Well hello there.” He said with a small amused smile.

Then we both stood just staring at each other not saying anything. The silence spoke volumes. I don’t know if I am making the right decision trusting him. Like every time I am trusting my instincts and going with the flow.

“Ready?”

I am so very sorry guys for not updating for a very very long time. But I was not able to write. It felt as though all the creativity as been taken from me. I tried writing but was only able to write few words.

Now I am back. Please show the same love. And like the story and comment.

Thank you. I will update soon.