Originally posted by: apoorvaarnav
Honestly this is one of the most unique and interesting stories I have ever read!
Brilliant
Originally posted by: littlesnow
i guess arnav is in coma ...is it..??well I am curious to know his past...and the reason why only khushi could sence him...
i feel arnav would soon realise and dedicate "Jaane tu ya Janane Na "song to her"Tera mujhse Hai Pehle Ka Naata KoiYuhin Nahin Dil Lubhaata Koi..Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
Maane Tu Ya Maane Na..."wonderful chapter...👏
Originally posted by: drfizaahmed
this is a very different n amzig story ... after ages im commenting on a story at IF .. feels good to read sum thing different .. will love to read it further ...if u pm .. do add me in the list
ghost can b this cute didnt know... i so wish he is alive sumwhere thy way his skin grows warm with her touch makes me hope... she is giving him hope to live n come back ...
Chapter 9 - His and Her
It was a week into the month of June. Arnav stood in the balcony watching the sunset. Some news channel played on the TV in the background. He peeked at the wall clock in the drawing room - It was 6:30pm.
Khushi was coming later than usual that month. Generally she'd be home by 8 but nowadays it would be 10 or maybe even later. Arnav liked to stand in the balcony and watch her get down of the taxi, walk the narrow alley way till she reached the garden in front of the house.
Prior to her, he had no concept of time. Days turned to nights and back to days - yet life remained same for him. Now he could feel a change in him. He would sometimes count minutes till she came home. He'd feel lonely when she was at work.
To pass time he'd either watch TV or sometimes do some household chores - something minor, some thing that she wouldn't notice. Khushi was still iffy about objects moving in air and she'd actively discourage him from doing any thing in front of her.
So he did what little he could - sometimes wash a utensil or two; sometimes dust the furniture. He grinned at the thought of how homely he had become.
A ghost, cleaning and dusting!
He thrummed the railing of the balcony with his fingers as the sun set beyond the horizon, immersing the locality in a red hue before turning dark. The children playing in the garden headed home. The moon - a crescent tonight, came out and along with it some shining stars. Slowly people went in their houses; the area was now deserted.
He peeped in the drawing room again. It was close to 11pm. She'd be coming home soon.
A few minutes later, just as he had expected, a cab stopped across the street. Khushi got out of it, paid the driver and started walking toward the house. She was covered in partial moonlight but from afar he could tell she was exhausted. There was a lag in her step and she craned her neck and massaged her shoulder.
Khushi, while gently pressing her shoulder with her palm, looked above - at the balcony of her first floor flat. Arnav who had been watching her tonight, and most nights, froze on spot. He thought of ducking or something, as a reflex but got a hold on himself.
She can't see me. He mentally face-palmed himself and relaxed. It would be awkward maybe, if she found out, how desperately he waited for her to come home.
Unaware, Khushi resumed her stride to the house when all of a sudden, a hooded figure grabbed her, one hand around her waist and the other on her mouth, before pulling her in a nearby alley, into the darkness.
"Khushi!" he yelled her name out loud for the first time. He couldn't see her. Who was that? Why had they grabbed her? Were they going to harm her?
A few seconds had passed but to Arnav it felt like an eternity. She was in trouble; he could feel it. He rushed toward the door and opened it with a bang. He tried to walk past it; to cross the boundary of the house but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't cross it.
He groaned in frustration and threw a chair at the open doorway. The chair passed through and smashed at the wall on the outside.
Time was running out! His heart was beating wildly in his chest. He rushed to the balcony to see if she was back, his eyes frantically scanned the deserted neighborhood. There was no sign of her.
He rushed back again to the open main door. With all his might he pushed, as hard as he could. The lights of the room began blinking unstably; the TV channel started flickering. Though the barrier remained firm in its place.
Growling like a feral animal, he gathered all the strength that he could muster and pushed past the invisible barrier - he had to get to her, no matter what. Every ounce of mental and physical strength that he had, that he could gather, he directed at the resistance.
With a loud bang, the TV went out and the lights shattered. Darkness fell upon the house.
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Khushi struggled in the grasp of the hooded figure. Her legs frantically kicked the air and she tried to scream, but the grip on her body and her mouth was tight. There were 3 hooded figures. They carried her nearby, to a small vacant garage and locked the door behind them. They turned on a small bulb, which bathed the stinky room in a dim yellow light.
One of them, the biggest one, still had his hand on her mouth to prevent her some screaming. They were somewhere in her neighborhood and there were houses nearby. If only she could shout once, she was sure someone would hear.
The man shoved her roughly against the brick wall. He was a towering figure, he took Khushi's chin in his huge hand and forced her to face him. With his other hand he removed his hood. The despicable face of Shyam came in view.
Khushi let out an angry muffled protest and tried moving her hands and legs. The other two guys had pinned her each hand.
"Not so catty now, are you?" Shyam practically breathed on her face.
Khushi's face contorted in disgust. She was angry, she was scared out of her wits. But she'd not let him see her in tears. She held back as much as she could.
"You want to hit me, don't you?" he hissed, followed by a small laugh. Khushi twitched angrily in response.
Shyam's free hand slid into his jeans pocket and he took out a shiny object. Khushi's eyes widened in fear; when she realized it was a knife in his hand.
The other two guys, who Khushi assumed were his lackeys from the other day, loosened their grip on her wrists. They looked unsurely at one another before reluctantly addressing Shyam, "Bhai, what is this?"
Shyam laughed derisively, "I'll cut your tongue out, you little minx. That'll teach you a lesson." He waved the blade in front of her face, which had now gone pale.
One of the guys weakly protested, "That was not the plan. We were just supposed to scare her, not mutilate her."
In the midst of their conversation, the guys had almost let their grip on her go. Seizing this as her only chance, she kicked Shyam, who was standing right in front of her, on his groin, as hard as she could. Shyam keeled over in pain.
The two guys, froze for a second, processing what had happened. She didn't waste another second and made a dash for the door, yelling "Help!" at the top of her voice. As she was trying to open the latch of the door, she felt Shyam's strong hands grab her hair and yank her inside. He threw her on the floor.
Khushi hit the scratchy surface of the floor and yelped in pain.
Shyam picked up the knife and snarled as he loomed over her, "You b*tch! I'll gut you alive."
She tried to crawl away, but Shyam grabbed her leg and dragged her to him.
"Shyam... Bhai," the two guys whimpered in fear, "What are you doing?"
Shyam paid no heed. His face was dripping with rage. The dim yellow light behind him made him look like a monster in dark.
Khushi had tried hard not to cry but the pain in her arms, the thick blood she could feel dripping from her head, and the face of this beast in front of her, with a shiny knife in his hand, poised to strike her down - led to tears pouring down her face - she was terrified.
Shyam took a short breath and with a grunt raised the knife above his head. Then it came crashing down. Khushi closed her eyes as a reflex; the last thing she saw was the shiny metal making it's way to her chest.
At that instant, the door of the room burst open and shattered the dim yellow light - Shyam dropped his knife, shocked at the sudden sound. Khushi opened her teary eyes.
The room was dark, lit by the partial moonlight. The 4 humans in the room looked for the person who'd burst the door, off its hinges. There was no one. And then one of the guys went flying in the wall. He crashed his head against it and fell down, unconscious.
The other guy looked at his fallen friend in shock and then ahead of him in fear. He was pulled to the side instantly and his head bounced back and fro, blood seeping out of his mouth as he hit the ground.
Shyam, who was kneeling over Khushi, stood up. Fear was visible in his eyes. He looked around the darkness; sweat dripping from his forehead. There was something in the darkness.
---------
Arnav balled his fists - nails digging deep into his palm as he eyed Shyam. The predator was now the prey. He had never felt so much rage, coursing through his body that he felt tonight - at the sight of this man.
Taking a step closer, he punched Shyam hard in his stomach and Shyam spit blood out of his mouth. Arnav held his drooping body by the neck and planted punch after punch in the same spot. Shyam began violently coughing up blood, his body shaking with each hit, till he was moving no more.
Arnav let the unconscious body fall to the ground. He could hear a faint heartbeat from Shyam. The b*stard was alive. He picked up the knife, which Shyam was planning to use on Khushi, his Khushi. This vile creature had laid a hand on her, had caused her pain. He had no right to live.
Arnav's grip tightened around the handle of the knife, ready for his first kill, ready to plunge it in the black heart of Shyam when he heard a soft moan, "Arnav... don't."
He turned around, the knife still in his clutch. Khushi, who was bleeding from her head and arm, had stood up. She eyed the knife, which to her was floating in mid -air.
Her voice trembled, "Don't kill him."
Arnav dropped the knife and walked to her. She looked up, at his face and between tears, whispered, "Thank you... for saving me."
Arnav's insides churned when he saw her in that condition. She raised her hand in front of her, trying to feel something. When her palms made contact with his chest, she covered the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him.
She sniffled in the fabric of his shirt, "I was so scared."
Arnav slowly wrapped his arms around her frail body and put his chin on her head, "You are safe now. I won't let anything happen to you."
She nodded against his chest, shutting her eyes and clutching him even tighter, their bodies pressed together.
Arnav gently rubbed his hands up and down her back, trying to soothe her. They didn't now how long they stood there, embracing one another.
She was the first to pull away. Her face was red and her eyes were still teary. "Take me home please."
If it was on Arnav, he'd have carried her home in his arms but they were a few houses away from her flat and the street was lined with other houses. Anyone could stumble upon a girl floating in air and that would not bode well for them, especially her.
He wrapped one arm around her waist, supporting her as she rested one side of her body on him and walked back to their house.
On reaching home, Khushi got herself back together and called for the police. Arnav wanted her to rest but she said she would only when those criminals were behind bars.
The siren of the police van had woken some of the neighbors, who got a first hand account of the events that had transpired. As the night rolled over, more and more people were made aware of the story.
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By morning, Khushi had become somewhat of a local hero. The tales of how she took down 3 goons were spreading like fire. Some of them stayed close to the source, some were far away from the truth.
She had been tended by the doctors; called by the police after they had arrested Shyam and the two guys. She had suffered some minor injuries, which would heal completely in a few days.
Payal had rushed to her house as soon as she got to know. She didn't give a second thought to the ghost haunting the house. She had made a home-cooked meal for Khushi who was resting on her bed.
Payal was surprised by her bravery and appreciated her strength for taking down 3 guys. Khushi simply smiled. She had let the events play out as it is. There was no point trying to tell anything. It was a simple story - the guys tried to hurt her and she fought back. Trying to add any other element to it would only draw more attention. All she wanted was for the story to die down as soon as possible.
Payal was chatting animatedly as she placed a table-mat on the bed and her lunch. Avoiding Payal's eyes, Khushi gazed at the door of her bedroom.
She couldn't see him but she knew, without doubt, that he was standing there, looking over her. A soft smile curved her lips - he was her guardian angel... her savior... her ghost.
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