Chapter 1
It was a dark room, only one passage for a ray of light to enter, was through the curtains that moved to and fro the window, letting some light in from it. The ceiling fan rotated at a high speed, and accompanied with the cool air from the air conditioner, only letting the curtain move to and fro faster. the clock had struck 2 in the morning.
she sat on the bed, cigarette in her hand, as she exhaled the smoke from it, her glance fell on him. he lied in a deep sleep right next to her, profoundly unaware of anything around him, maybe that explained the peace she was trying to chase, and that's why she couldn't help but feel some disgust as she looked at him, for it.
suddenly, the bell rang. He, as expected, was unmoved by it, she crushed the cigarette on the ash tray, on a nightstand beside her bed, frustrated. she got up, carrying the ash tray with her, to throw the many cigarette butts in the dustbin along her way. she placed the ash tray along with other utensils in the kitchen, before going to answer the door.
she opened the door, shocked at seeing a woman, distressed.
"purvi?" she questioned, worried, as her glance fell on a child she was carrying in her arms, atleast 5, and a man along with her, carrying two bags in both of his arms.
"kavin.." she blurted out the man's name upon seeing him.
"sab thik hai?" she questioned, as kavin and purvi exchanged their glances, somehow enough for her to know.
she got aside, letting them in.
she served glasses of water, to kavin and purvi, who were seated on the couch, in the living room. they both accepted them, as she seated herself on the couch, opposite to both of them.
suddenly, she heard the door of her bedroom open, as he came out.
"ishita, kaun hai?" he questioned, rubbing his eyes, still trying to wake up, when his glance fell on kavin and purvi.
"purvi?" he questioned, upon seeing her, as she got up from the couch.
"sorry, bhaiya, iss waqt disturb karne ke liye..." apologised purvi, as kavin too got up from the couch.
"haan, dushyant woh, humara aaj raat hi nikalna zaroori tha...hotel room bhi nahi le sakte the, shayad humare IDs trace ho jaate..." stated kavin.
"nahi, nahi, koi baat nahi..." obliged dushyant, as his glance fell on the child, sleeping on the couch.
"kamra hai humare paas spare, tum reh sakte ho..." pointed dushyant to the room next to him.
"thanks a lot, really.." expressed purvi her gratitude.
"thanks ki koi zaroorat nahi hai...kaafi raat ho gayi, so jao tum log bhi.." stated dushyant, as purvi picked up the child in her arms.
"main sone daal deti hoon isse.." informed purvi, as kavin nodded in agreement.
"seriously yaar, thanks." insisted kavin on his gratitude, as dushyant just smiled at him.
purvi sat next to the child on the bed, as she placed a blanket on him. kavin entered, the room, closing the door behind him.
"utha toh nahi na?" asked kavin in a whisper, as purvi shook her head in no, and kavin sat next to the child.
"dawaiyaan kaafi strong hai iski..." stated purvi, as kavin nodded in agreement, and brushed his hands across the child's hair.
"dawaiyaan haina iski abhi?" questioned kavin, as she nodded in agreement.
"bas, yeh thik rahe, baaki sab dekh lenge..." expressed kavin his wish.
"abhi toh najane sab kaise thik hoga..." expressed purvi her concern, as kavin, couldn't really find anything to say for that.
dushyant entered the room, walked to the nightstand beside ishita's bed, making sure she still hadn't arrived yet. he opened the first drawer of the nightstand, finding a bottle of pills, he popped open to check how many were there. he was confused to find the bottle half empty, but he had to immediately keep it back, as he heard footsteps approaching towards the room.
he jumped to his bed, and rolled over to his side, covering himself with a blanket, and closing his eyes, pretending to fall asleep. ishita entered, annoyed to find him already asleep, as she switched off the light and walked towards her side of the bed, where she found his slippers.
she glanced at him, and then at the first drawer of the nightstand, slightly open it appeared to be, and upon opening it, when her glance fell on the bottle of the pills, she knew what had happened.
she shut the drawer loudly, before lying down too.
he turned from his position to her, only to find her back facing him. she too, felt him turn, and closed her eyes immediately upon it. His hand was about to touch her back, when he stopped, shook his head and turned back to his side.
she turned back immediately, found his back facing her now, as she went back to her side, and closed her eyes to fall asleep.
author's note: ok i know yeh story maine bina iske baarein mein before hand kuch bataye start kardi, but basically all you need to know is that it will focus on themes of interfaith marriages, and what is not often shown in romantic stories, ki shaadi joh happily ever after hota hai, uske baad kya hota hai. ismein bhi kaafi twists honge, as meri har story mein hote hain, so you'll have a lot of suspense to look forward to. and to explain the ending of haunted, veer represented patriachy, and dushyant's death signified that the fight against patriachy is not just women's fight, it's men's too, as they are too hurt by it.