❝ In fairytales when it's midnight miracles take place. In my story, a monster rises. ❞

end || ❛ rebirth ❜

Devika

He hovers above me, his eyes turning black while a malicious grin etches on his blood coated lips. "Sweetheart, I hope you've said your last prayers."

My breath clams up in my throat, suffocating me. Tears make their way down my cheek as a familiar exhaustion and fear wraps around me.

He will kill me.

The cold metal of the blade pricks my throat, moving in slowly. I cough, struggling in pain. My body lays numb and stiff, making it impossible for me to fight back. The temperature increases tremendously, making me sweat profusely.

He laughs, his devilish laughter echoing in my room. He leans in, too close for my comfort. I can see fear, my fear, reflecting in his eyes.

A certain roughness rubs against my hand, leaving behind a wet stain. A small whining sounds as my bed dips slightly to my left and he disappears, leaving behind a frightening trail of silence.

My body relaxes and I sit up with a start. Catching my breath, I wipe away my tears.

It was just a dream. He isn't here. He cannot kill me. He cannot do anything to me.

He died months ago!

A small weight lays on my legs, whining softly for attention. I look down to find Chestnut on my lap, looking at me worriedly.

He pauses and gets to his paws, climbing on me. Tilting his head slightly, he stares at momentarily before licking my tear stained cheek.

Smiling a little, I pull him in my arms and kiss his face. He wags his tail happily before jumping out off my arms and running out of the room.

My hands travel upto my neck, touching the spot where his knife was once placed. The small scar stings and I withdraw my hand, getting off the bed.

Washing my face, I sit at my desk and pull out my diary, writing down my second entry of the day.

'Five days.

Just five days at a friend's house showed me how wrong I was with many things. Trusting people easily, chasing love, pleasing people, trying to get some attention and what not.

My first case of love, unrequited and buried in a corner of my heart, didn't hurt as much as the betrayal from the second did.

Harish was a married man.

A fact I was unknown to for a long time. He didn't realise that he wasn't playing with my life alone. His act of loving me also tangled the relations he had with his entire family, which now lay in ashes.

Mridula, his wife, is now behind bars for the act of misusing her medical practice and using Yash to be her monster puppet.

Hours before she could be given an award for her contribution in the medical field, the police arrested her and she confessed, without a trace of regret on her face. I didn't hear much after she stopped talking about the hate she had for me.

It even made me hate myself. My very existence.

And yet, it is funny how she thought that ending me was a better option, over confronting her cheating husband.

Yash was a criminal. Born and taught in blood, hate and thievery. He had committed many murders before, the inspector told.

A wanted gang was his.'

I lay back on my seat, glancing at my contacts. No calls today either.

Neither from Anika nor my family.

Once upon a time, these people promised to have my back at all times.

Once upon a time, I used to receive their calls on a daily basis.

Once upon a time...

But now, five months later, I cease to exist for them. Turning to my diary, I continue to write.

'It's been five months since I've escaped from the clutches of a demon with the face of a friendly human.

So many lives have been ruined. So many bonds have been broken.

Anika doesn't call me anymore. She's scared. Scared that I'll end up making the similar mistake many times, endangering the life of her family and her, over and over again. She has decided to keep her distance.

I don't blame her. I would have done the same, if in her place.'

Probably.

Picking the diary and pen, I walk over to the bed and take a comfortable seat.

I still remember the look on Ashika, their daughter, face when the news reached her. She was devastated and... broken. Beyond repair. She lost had her family.

Her father, filled with guilt, stays locked in his room. She was faultless, and yet, she is the one tolerating the most.

I shouldn't have trusted Harish blindly.

Gulping down a glass of water, I pick my pen.

'That night, I thought it was my last. I had given up, exhausted to the very last cell.

And then, came my saviour.

He broke the lock of the grill and had me taken to the hospital.

Yash couldn't be saved. He died in the ambulance.

But, there are times when I feel death would have been better. Atleast I wouldn't have to wake up in the middle of the night, paralyzed and shivering re-living the memories of those nights.

His presence follows me like the winter winds - coarse, cold and sudden. I often see him, pressing the knife, wrapped in my palms, down my throat.

I still have a long way to go before healing completely.'

Stifling a yawn, I rub my eyes. Placing the pen between the sheets, I toss the diary into my drawer and turn off the lights.

"Chestnut." I call.

Minutes later, he runs in, a worn out toy in his mouth. Dropping it beside my bed, he looks at me wagging his tail.

"Time to sleep." I pat beside me and he jumps up, curling into a fluffy ball.

Cute.

Pulling the blanket, I turn towards the window, staring the night sky. It is a full moon night and the stars twinkle brightly, each spark representing a new hope.

It is so silent.

I feel someone breathing down my neck, but I know there is no one. I remember double checking the locks of the doors and windows before retiring to my room.

One bad experience can traumatize you for life. I want to go back to the old me but I person I am now is stronger than my yesterday.

Humans are indeed mysterious creatures - they are never satisfied with what they have in their hands.

They always want more.

* * *

||THE END||

❝ Was is it her love for him or her hate for me that drove her to the prison? I shall never know, never try to know. ❞