“Tis-”105Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlUuQnCVUym
“It was weird, right?” he responded.
“What? What was weird?” she said casually, sitting on her study chair.
“She didn't even get hit so hard, but she was bleeding brutally, and not to mention her half mouth was black.”
“No, I think my brother's elbow hits hard-”
“It's almost like she already had a wound there,” Tis said.
“What? No, she didn't.”
“Did you see her before? Did she have it?”
“I was in school and after coming home I was in my room, so I didn't.”
“Yesterday?”
“At night? She was wearing a face mask.”
“This is it.”
“What?”
“We are killing her tonight.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Yes. She killed that prisoner; he tried to fight back during the process, she covered it up. She is the Hucia thief, I am done here. I found her.”
“What, no!!”
“This is not an assumption anymore. You are doing what I will say, or I will make sure you won't see another day,” Tis said in a grave voice, glaring, before he vanished.
After a long moment, the clock finally hit two, the time Tis had asked her for the mission of killing her own sister. She could run away or do anything, but right now, after trying everything, she didn't know if she had any power to do so. Her plan was easy: do whatever Tis says, and if it kills her sister, then she will die too, after crying for her like a real sister would.
“She is in her room,” Tis said to her as she sat gravely on her bed.
“Yes. Now do you want to ask me what I have to do?”105Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSEw4lfMgy
“I don't want to do it-” Vyani tried to resist.
“Go in her room and provoke her, say that you know her and attack!”
“No, what if she isn't her?”
“I have already given all the proofs.”
“I can't kill my sister, sorry, no matter how much I understand.”
“I will kill her, just help me do the human proceedings.”
Vyani went to her sister's room and knocked.
“Appu! Appu! Open the door!” Vyani said in a very small voice.
But no response, no action.
“Why isn't she opening? She probably sensed my presence and-”
“Stop it, Tis! I think she is sleeping; she had period cramps; she is sleeping now. Go away; we will do it later.”
“What the fu-”
Suddenly the door opens in small creaks, like it doesn't want anyone to hear that it's opening.
“Here,” Tis said, pulling Vyani with him behind the wall.
“What-” Vyani whispered before her eyes traveled to her sister leaving the room in her blue top and a shawl over it and running towards the main door.
“Where is she going?” she whispered to Tis.105Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjNuzoJZd4q
“That’s what we are going to find out, genius,” Tis replied as they both followed her quietly.
“What is she doing? I can’t believe it. I don't want to see it. Can we go back, please? I don't want you to see what happens afterwards. She is going out of the house at this time of the night. What does she mean by that?”
“Will you shut up, or she’ll hear us,” Tis replied.
Vyani looked at him to figure out his mood, if he was angry at her, satisfied that he finally found his target, or just worried like she was, or maybe horrified like Vyani would be if this all turned out to be true.
They were hiding near the main door, her one hand on the cold wall and the other hanging in the open. She was letting that numb gravity that held her hand attached to her body sink into herself as her eyes again followed her sister, who was hugging someone. Her sister was hugging someone. Black and yellow bike, yes, it was yellow. They leaned against it. A T-shirt, a T-shirt that usually looks like something a boy would wear, yes, and the hair confirmed it. It was a guy, and she was hugging him.
“Oh my God, are you seeing this, Tis?”
“Yes. Do you think he is her accomplice?” Tis replied.
“No! It’s her boyfriend, my sister has a boyfriend, oh my God.”
“What? So what does that matter?”
“It matters!” Vyani said when suddenly the guy was too close to Apoorva, laughing, too comfortable with her. A hug anyone would think she needed. She leaned onto him for a second before he tightened his grip, too tight. She tried to move her legs, push a little off his grip, and whimpered-
“Rivan-” Apoorva whimpered.
And before Vyani and Tis could comprehend what was happening, a loud, rough sound of a brutal slap echoed through the night. He slapped her. Her hand went to her cheek, rubbing the area where the sting of the slap was dancing brutally.
“When I already told you to call me at 10, then why did you ignore my message?” he screamed at Apoorva.
“I-I was with my mummy and didn’t see the message-”
“Are you still planning to go? Did you talk to her? Answer me-” he said to her, then pulled her behind the pillar, their voices inaudible to Vyani and Tis now. Both of them were in pure shock and terror. Vyani couldn’t move, and Tis was just looking at her face like he didn’t know how to interpret this human move.
“Why did he slap her? And why didn’t she slap back? What are they talking about? I will go ask her-” Vyani said before moving in their direction.
“No, stop, stop, you are not thinking straight, Vyani.”
“Shut up, it’s all because of you!!!”
“What? Because of me? Are you kidding me?” Tis said before Vyani stepped back and stepped on a nearby empty Bisleri bottle, which squeezed with a sound, creakkkk, as she hid behind the scooty parked nearby.
“Is someone there?” Apoorva’s boyfriend asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Apoorva replied.
“Now go inside and talk to her, or else I will make sure you won’t be able to leave the house, forget the city.”
With that, he kissed her knuckles with an innocent smile and left on his black and yellow bike.
Vyani came out of hiding as soon as he left and yelled-
“Apuu!”
Standing behind Apoorva, who turned around.
“Vyani-”
“Why didn’t you slap him back?” she asked, going closer and touching her sister’s cheek.
“Vy- he is my boyfriend.”
“I know, I understood it… you guys were hugging and… ugh, can you please tell me why he slapped you??”
“Will you please listen to me?” Apoorva said. “It doesn't concern you, I am about to break up with him, so please stop overreacting.”
“I am not overreacting, I need to know why he slapped you!! And how can you say it's not my concern? Of course it is!”
“He was- he was just angry at something I did.”
“And he slapped you? And you let it happen? I mean, I thought you had self-respect and a brain, but I-I can’t just comprehend what just happened!!!”
“Vyani, I told you we are about to break up-”
“That’s not the thing, tell me, did he ever do this before??”
“Why are-”
“No, I asked something, Appu, just tell me!!” Vyani screamed, pure rage mixed with confusion.
“Vyani!! I don’t know what happened to him, we were doing just fine and then-”
“I don’t want to listen or understand anything, just tell me, did he ever slap you before?!”
“Can you at least let her speak?” Tis interrupted, as Vyani glared at him, whispering in her mind, “You are no one to speak in this matter.”
“Yes, once, and I told him I wanted to break up, and that’s how it all started.”
“What started? Why didn’t you just stop seeing him? Are you-”
“Let her talk,” Tis interrupted, more like he screamed at her, as she startled.
“I-I told him I wanted to break up after he slap-hit me in a random argument about something. I-I don’t know… I don’t remember, it was about R, and then he-he slapped me again, Vyani, and said that if I ever said it again, he will upload my-my pics online—”
“Pics?” Vyani asked in a panicked tone. “What=-what did you send him? Are you-” Vyani took a deep breath, a pause, the breath she takes when she knows it wasn’t something she was supposed to hear.
“I didn’t- he took screenshots from our FaceTime.”
A minute passed in silence. Apoorva was panicked, but Vyani couldn’t believe what was happening. It all happens in movies… and not the right kind of movies. Why does it have to be her sister? It would all be so easy to ignore if it was someone else, and the worst kind of pain is when you don’t know what to apply for relief. It stung the same. Her brain wasn’t working, just panicking with an ugly face of rage, anger.
“Mummy papa will kill me, Vyani, if he did something, and he-he thinks it’s a joke. He treats me like a joke. He said that to me laughing, like I-this isn’t a joke, and I told him I will not break up, that I will stay, but then he started demanding for me to not go to college. He isn’t agreeing for long distance and said if I went somewhere else, he will send my pics to my friends. I-I messed up so bad.”
“No-no, it’s not your fault!!!! I mean, it is, but no… this can’t be happening,” Vyani started panicking, her hand on her forehead. “He-he will regret this, I will try to do something.”
“We should tell mummy papa, right?” Apoorva said, not understanding what Vyani said.
“No, are you kidding me!! No, we can’t tell them anything. I-I have a friend who can hack phones. Stop panicking, I will get them deleted from his phone.” Vyani yelled at Apoorva, telling a brown family about something like this was nothing but a invitation to death.
“What if he already saved those somewhere else… I-it’s impossible now.”
“No,” Vyani hugged her sister, Apoorva’s head on her shoulder, “I will try. Wait for some time, and-this,” Vyani pointed to her sister’s neck scars.
“Oh, it— it… me and Ridha tried to explain him everything silently, but he didn’t understand. Ridha started threatening him and he started even stalking me. Like that night when you were acting all weird because of a nightmare, he was on the road, down the window. I-I never expected him to become like this… and before that, Ridha and I confronted him again, then he tried to hit me on the way home. An uncle saved me… that prisoner… who died some days ago. I am afraid if Rivan did something, but I-I never wanted this, Vyani. He—he was in my school…”
“Listen, let’s go inside and start packing for Delhi. Don’t waste time. I will ask my friend for help.”
Apoorva nodded. She didn’t even hear her sister’s solution. It was worthless. Vyani doesn’t know Rivan like she does, and no high school kid can hack like that, but telling her everything felt easier than she thought. It was strange but comforting as she hugged Vyani again.
Vyani went to her room after giving her sister a water bottle she filled while thinking how she would kill this Rivan guy.
“You will kill him?” Tis asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Yes, good thing to practice everything you taught me that day.” Vyani said, her voice still in her throat.
ns216.73.217.39da2
and then Add to home screen.