' Why did you summon me at this time of the night? Don't you realise the dire consequences I would have faced if seen? '

Sudeshna was panting, as she removed the veil, uncovering her face.

At a distance, in the woods, the indistinct chatters of a couple of birds, the ones that stayed up all night, broke the frightening silence that clouded their surroundings.

It was 3:15 in the night, and Osman stood calm, facing Sudeshna, right behind her mansion, in the backward.

" You wish to die, don't you Sudeshna? "
His voice sounded creepy.

Sudeshna shut her eyes tight. She did not wish to hear this again.
" Osman, I do not believe in superstitions.
It's the zillionth time I'm telling you this. Get over me. We are done. I'm getting married tomorrow. 

I know I have hurt you much, but I cannot hurt my parents more! "

" I do not need to hear these as well. I'm not here to restrain you from marrying the choice of your parents.

I'm here to remind you,

Mother Universe gives signals. And you should never ever ignore them. Unless you want your doom. "

Osman's voice hardly trembled. It was clear, distinguished, and extremely dominant.

Sudeshna breathed deep.
" Those are simple birth marks, Osman. Nothing else!

I know you have immense faith in the Pir Baba you took me to, last winter. And I know too, how much convincing he sounded. But I really don't feel the desire to believe in him...or rather, I do not have a way out. "

" That's it. You believe you do not have a way. And that is why you are refusing to believe the signals of Mother Universe.

Birth marks, be it.
But the one on your neck, clearly resembles an O.

And the one, on your left arm, even a blind will know it looks like an S.... "

" So what Osman??
So...what??

I know, the Baba said, one of the two is the initials of my soulmate..

When have I ever denied you are mine???

But history has it in itself, true love hardly ends up together. Soulmates remain tied through souls for yugas, but hardly end up being physically proximate...

We are soulmates, but not meant to be together Osman...
Believe me, and calm your storms.. "

Sudeshna sounded extremely restless. Her restlessness sent ripples through the dire stillness of the black night .

Osman took sometime.

He then fixated his dark brown eyes, the eyeballs reflecting distant stars, on Sudeshna's porcelain face.

" Do you see me disturbed, Sudeshna?
In fact, today, I'm finally calm.

This is the ultimate warning I have for you.

Do you not marry the man who has been chosen to be your groom.

Sekhar, begins with an S.  "

" Stop it Osman! " , Sudeshna jerked, taking a step back.
" I do not believe in the Baba's predictions! I do not believe... that the birth marks, an O and an S, bear any significance with the initials of my soulmate....and my murderer!!

I do not! You are a coincidence. That's all! "
Sudeshna was panting.

Osman sighed.

He took a few steps towards the woods, that marked the hollow darkness right behind the backyard of Sudeshna's mansion.
He looked at the sky, and lit a cigar.

" You have denied my love, Sudeshna!

But you cannot deny Mother Universe's signals. "

" I have never denied your love Osman! We were together for ten long years...

But how do I convince you, I belong to an orthodox Hindu family! And you are a Musalmaan..

My parents have raised me for twenty five long years.

Tell me, who am I accountable to, more?

I still love you, but I do not have a choice...! "

" I do not need to hear these, Sudeshna! "

Osman's calm suddenly disappeared, as he turned to her in lightning speed.
" I do not care about what you have done to us. All I care about is you!

You have denied Mother Universe's signal that I'm your soulmate.
Now you deny, that the man with the initials of an S, will be your murderer, as predicted by the Pir Baba..

This won't serve you right Sudeshna! "

Osman's eyes burnt in the darkness, reflecting the burning cigar.

Sudeshna felt a sudden chill run down her spine.
She ran towards him and hugged him tight.

" Don't do this to yourself Osman..
I can see the pain and anxiety, that has made you defy all logics on earth..

These predictions aren't true.

Sekhar is not my murderer. I'll be fine...

And, I love you, believe me! "

An eternity later, Osman's hands slowly went up, behind her back, as he reciprocated the hug.

A long minute passed...

Sudeshna, steadily, sinked in the ocean of comfort his arms provided to her.... As always.

And suddenly, she could feel a discomfort.

She, as if, could not breathe enough.

It took a moment for her to realise, that her airway was choking...

Osman's big palms throttled her neck, as tightly as they could!

Sudeshna couldn't reflect, couldn't breathe, couldn't speak!!!

A mountain of astonishment, crashed upon a slowly impending river of death...

" Os....m..... "

Osman's eyes looked dead.
He slowly whispered, breaking the eerie silence..

" Remember what the Pir Baba said, Sudeshna?
The marks, O and S, signify your Soulmate, and Murderer........
But nobody knows, which one signifies what....

We had automatically assumed, O , Osman is your soulmate.

And there exists someone else, named S, who's your murderer.

It's true.

I, Osman, am your soulmate.

But you need to know this now.

Before I was named Osman officially, my Badi Ammi named me.... Siraj!

So, technically, I'm both, an O....and....an S...

We can never deny the signals of Mother Universe.

Soulmates need to end up together, or else, they'll survive, but dead inside. Soulmates are decided by Mother Universe! You cannot choose otherwise, Sudeshna!!!

You need to be mine alone. I am your soulmate...

And since that's being defied,.....

I end up being your MURDERER tonight! "

After a long and incessant struggle,
Sudeshna's lifeless body fell at his feet.

Osman stared at her for a long time.

Then, extremely lovingly, he picked her up, and walked towards the burial site he had already prepared for her in the evening, quite a distance inside the woods.

It's going to be a long night, and the ultimate night.

For, he, will not see tomorrow's daylight as well.

The bottle of poison shined on his desk, back home, waiting for him to ultimately meet his soulmate, out there....somwhere.

The night.... just grew darker.

______

DevaDDK suggested me to write a story based on the prompt posted in the caption. Came up with something crappy I believe, but after a looooooonngg time I wrote fiction. Deva and Anuradha, my best critics during the times I used to write on Wattpad (Sonali too but she hasn't read this yet), asked me to post it here. So I did.
If you happen to read, do drop a comment.

Thank you Muahh!