-• fifty feet down •-

"The orphanage visit is pending," Yuvraaj says during the dinner that evening. Vivaan and Dad stiffens, and their response to the statement makes me alert about the incoming conversation.

"Is it necessary?" Vivaan questions.

Yuvraaj sighs, a curt nod brushing off any possible resistance from the latter.

"When?" Yuvaan leans in curiously.

"Now is not the right time," Yuvraaj replies. "Their exams are right around the corner. It's better if we put it off for some more time."

"What is this about?" I ask, clueless about what's going on. I tried to make sense, but without context it felt like pieces of different puzzles that don't fit together.

"There's an orphanage Rajawats have been sponsoring for the last fifty years." Agastya begins.

"Just not sponsor," Vivaan interrupts him. "They basically run it."

"Yeah," Yuvaan nods. "Every year, we take out a day from our schedule to spend it there with the kids. Media is invited to cover the event."

"So, a publicity stunt?" I surmise.

"More or less," Yuvaan shrugs.

"Rajawats will be there too," Arush chimes into the conversation.

"What?" My face scrunches in detest. Even the thought of Shourya puts me in a bad mood. I can't believe he's the same guy whose creepiness was the only weird thing about him. He's changed, and I'm still figuring out whether for better or worse.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure Shourya doesn't try to get closer to you." Agastya says in a tone of assurance.

Hearing that, the twins snicker. Now I really believe they are twins. I was starting to suspect it.

"What's wrong?" Vivaan question. "What's there to laugh?"

"Shourya would rather dunk his face in a boiling water than hit on her," Arush chuckles.

I glare at him.

"What do you mean? He's really not interested in her anymore?" Yuvaan frowns.

"Nah," Ayush shakes his head. "The two are nothing less that rivals in school. But to make it clear, he always wins."

"I let him," I defend pathetically.

"By acting dumb?" Arush asks innocently.

"No, because I don't care. He's infuriating." I turn to Vivaan. "Bhai, he always insults my intellect." I complain.

"Now c'mon, don't lie." Yuvaan mutters, feigning pity. "Everyone here knows you don't have any."

"Didn't you cry in a debate competition when you were in seventh grade because the other side was winning?" I snap back.

Yuvaan's face deteriorates of the smugness and he looks at Vivaan, who avoids the accusing eyes by looking around.

"Bhai!"

"I didn't tell her," Vivaan shrugs.

"I can't believe you! How could you, Bhai?" Yuvaan demands, unable to believe he was betrayed by his own brother.

"Oh, see an aeroplane," Vivaan points in the opposite direction. Yuvaan is dumb enough to look. When his muscle memory wears off, he whips his head back to his brother and opens his mouth, getting it stuffed by a spoonful of curd before he could get a word out.

We all laugh.

After dinner, Agastya instructs us to wait in the living room while he goes to bring our backpacks. We hand him our card keys and sit on the couch. The twins turn on the television, which I'm not interested in so I check my social media. My Instagram handle is managed by a PR team. I thought it'd be fun to have a whole group of people solely dedicated to monitor what I put online, but nope, the excitement wore off as soon as I realised how controlling they are of my presence on the internet. I'm not even allowed to post a photo of my own choice without getting it approved by them first.

"Take an off tomorrow," I hear Yuvraaj say and lift my head. He's at the end of the staircase with Vivaan. Both of them look serious, their bodies stripped of ease, and for the first time, I find the eerie resemblance between the eldest brothers. Vivaan appears menacing with that cold look. It sends shivers down my spine.

"I'll be fine." He says and turns to leave.

Yuvraaj doesn't let him. He stops the latter with a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be stubborn, Viv." My brows shoot up in surprise. He has a nickname for Vivaan?

"I can't afford taking an off," Vivaan brushes off his touch. "I'm a third year resident, Bhai. My work is more important right now."

"Not more than you," then he says something more, but because of the television, I'm unable to catch the rest. I shake Arush's knee as he's right next to me. He looks at me in confusion.

"Low. Turn the volume low." I whisper.

"Why?"

"Do it," I hiss, my eyes pinned on the brothers.

He snorts. "Nosy ass," but thankfully lowers the volume a bit.

"It's been eighteen years now. I've forgotten about it." Vivaan says, his eyes barely holding the stare, mostly lingering on the walls or the floor.

"Viv," Yuvraaj accidentally looks at me and I quickly duck my head, pretending I'm busy on my phone. "Let's go to my study." He says. I close my eyes in embarrassment. Way to be obvious, Tara. Did you have to be looking at them to hear them?

"I'm done with this conversation," Vivaan tries to leave.

But obviously, Yuvraaj doesn't allow him. Grabbing his hand, he drags the man down the staircase and the two brothers disappear inside the corridor. I huff disappointedly.

"You know eavesdropping is bad, right?" Ayush asks me rhetorically.

"You know our life is boring right?" I counter.

He appears thoughtful for a moment, then hums in response. "So, what did you hear them say?"

I lean in to tell him but the bulky figure of his twin blocks my way. "Would you be kind enough to fuck off, gentleman?"

He rolls his eyes. "I'm listening too." And he makes it a trio by leaning in as well.

"So, Yuvraaj Bhai asked him to take a day off. Then Vivaan Bhai reasoned he can't let his work suffer. But the way Yuvraaj Bhai told him not to be stubborn, it's like he was stopping him from trying to prove a point."

"What point?" Ayush's eyes narrow.

"One that he was trying to prove." I deadpan.

"But what is that point?" Frustration seeps into Arush's tone.

"Why are you blowing up on me? How would I know?"

"Because you looked like you knew!" He blames.

"I would have if they hadn't taken their conversation to the study!"

"Then why sound like you did!" Arush grumbles.

"When did I do that?"

"When you-"

"Oh, just shut up!" Arush jumps in, floundering his arms between us to get us separated. "How much she heard is not important. Why that conversation happened, is." He puts his hands on his hips.

"Wait wait wait!" Arush thrashes his arms as he demands attention and gets up from the couch. "What's the date tomorrow?"

"Uhm, fourteenth of February?" Ayush replies. "Oh-"

"It's valentine's day!" I beam.

"No." They both reply at the same time.

My face falls. "What else?"

"I don't know for how long this has been happening," Ayush starts,

"But every year on fourteenth of February, Vivaan Bhai locks himself inside his room and doesn't come out until the next day. Not even for the dinner. He doesn't eat, doesn't interact with people, turns off his phone. He just cuts off all the communication from outside world." Arush continues.

My heart hurts just hearing that. "Why?" I ask softly.

The twins shrug.

"When we were kids, we used to think it must be because Mom died this month. So it's his way of grieving. But every year, on the same date, he repeats the same pattern."

"Yeah, and Mom died on second of February. Same as her birthday." Arush juts his chin in my direction. "Usually, we don't see each other on that day since everyone's busy with their own things. But at the birthday night, he didn't look bothered about it all."

"And to think, he was the closest to her among all." Arush adds.

"What's going on here?" We break apart hearing Agastya's voice. The three of us lift our heads, watching the older stroll downstairs with our backpacks. He tosses them towards us over the railing. Mine falls to my feet because I suck at catching. The boys shake their heads in disappointment at me.

"What took you so much time?" Arush questions.

"I got held back," Agastya's gaze rest on me.

So I feel compelled to ask. "By what?"

"By something that caught my eyes," he reaches me and holds out my card key.

I take it from him. He gives the twins their card keys.

"Shall we?" He glances at all of us.

The valet brings his car to the porch and gives him the keys. We pile inside the car while Agastya gets behind the wheel and revives the engine. I drop the window, letting the cool breeze invade the inside, before I rest my head on the seat, closing my eyes to catch some sleep. Agastya turns on his loud music, successfully ruining my moment of peace. I open my eyes and close the window, deciding to distract myself with the help of my phone for the rest of the drive.

"Can we go a little faster? The roads are empty tonight." Arush says, sounding thrilled.

And that's enough for Agastya to break the traffic rules.

We reach the school in record time of five minutes. My legs practically tremble in fear when I step out of the car. Ayush mirrors my feelings and together, holding each other's hand, we walk inside the double doors. The delinquents follow us with boisterous laughs.

"What was the speed?"

"100 mph," Ayush answers.

The two stop laughing.

"Did you get the proof?"

"In my camera roll." He nods.

"Short stuff," Agastya tries, I hold up my hand.

"See you in the court." And we walk off upstairs. "God, that was scary." I hiss when we're out of their sight.

"Tell me," Ayush shakes his head. "My life flashed before my eyes."

"Mine regretted existing." I huff.

The classroom is brightly lit when we enter. It's only 7:50 so it's barely filled with students. We head over to our desk and settle down. Just as I remove my water bottle to soothe the horror etched dryness in my throat, Anagha walks up to me. "I think we need to talk," the bottle halts in the middle, tilted but not yet reached my mouth. Ayush throws me a cautious glance.

Did Atharva tell her the truth? I thought he wasn't going to?

I don't know whether I'm relieved or panicked.

I put the bottle down and close the cap. Ayush takes that as a signal to stuff his legs out, providing me a way to leave.

Anagha takes me out of the school building. Given that this is a private school for privileged, the ivy covered bricked buildings are spread on acres of lands. I find myself being led to the second garden, down the staircase and beside the tree.

"Is this the scene where you kill me?" I begin jokingly.

She chuckles. "No, I just wanted to be alone and in a place that is more like me than itself." She fondly traces the writings on the bark of the tree.

It reads her name.

"Did you write that?"

She hums. "When I was ten years old. Mom and Dad had this huge fight, and then they left in a fit of anger. School was my safe place. It still is. My personal life is not very happening, Tara. Friends, academics, books, this place, that's all there is to my life." She gazes into my eyes.

I feel the guilt trickle down deeper into my conscience.

"I don't know what happened between you and my brother. But I don't want it to affect our friendship. I feel closer to you, Tara," she suddenly holds my hand. "I feel we connect. There were times when I felt left out with Kusum and Revathi. They are average at studies, so oftentimes I end up being the sore thumb between them. And their families have been close for years. They are childhood best friends. So I knew I was not really a part of them. We're friends and we love each other, but I was always the third one, you see? The one that came later. So when you came into the group, I felt so happy. Like, I've someone." Her lips lift in a broad smile. "I don't want you to drift apart because of my brother's mistake."

"It's not his fault."

"He broke up with you."

"He-" I hesitate. Selfishly, I hold onto the refuge offered by Atharva's selfless lies. "It was mutual, Anagha. I hold no ill feelings towards him."

"Then why are you ignoring me?"

Because I've been told to betray you as a punishment.

"I'm sorry if you felt that way," I murmur.

"So, everything's normal between us now, yeah?"

Reluctantly, I give in to her tone of persuasion with a nod.

"Thank you!" She hugs me tightly.

I fail to hold back the smile that replaces my somber expression and hug her back.

"C'mon now, let's go back to the classroom. It's five minutes past eight." She says in a hurry.

Holding each other's hand, we retrace the path back to the school building. Then I suddenly stop. My eyes frozen on the figure hunched over the outdoor public washbasin, washing off his hands frantically, his black hoodie concealing his face.

"What happened?" Anagha looks over her shoulder, her voice considerably low since it's night time.

I hush her with a finger on my lips, beckoning her to follow me as I walk up behind the bushes. Anagha clutches my hand tightly, peeking out along with me. She muffles her gasp and I swallow my shock down at the sight of bloody red hands being washed off under the runny tap. The man closes the tap and plasters his hands on the edge, heaving like a raging wolf before he throws off the hood, revealing his face that glints under the moonlight.

Shourya.

Anagha and I look at each other in shock, our eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. I signal her to stay quiet and we look back, but he's already walking away. The two of us slowly lower to the ground, our faces marred with a mirage of unstable emotions. I hear a heart racing loudly, but fail to comprehend who it belongs to. We both are terrified out of our wits.

"What was that?" She whispers.

"Bloo-Blood."

"Whose?" Her voice comes out squeaky.

I shrug, my stomach dropping low at the possibilities. It could be anyone's blood. Animals, birds, humans.

"I don't know." I shake my head. "And I don't want to know."

She nods. "Curiousity kills the cat."

We both retreat inside, our lips sealed, eyes wide open and minds failing to believe what it just witnessed. The moment we enter the classroom, Shourya's presence becomes palpable through the air. Anagha and I glance at each other, before looking back at him.

When he suddenly looks up in our direction, our heads whip to each other. "Laugh,"

"Ha ha ha," she offers weakly.

"It was funny, right?" I say, my voice rising above the normal level.

"Yeah," she nods, forcing a grin on her face.

"Let's forget about it," I murmur and walk up to my seat. Ayush steps out to let me in. I settle down and open my notebook, burying my head into it for the remainder of the self study period.

For the next two hours, I reel in the aftereffects of what I saw, barely keeping my head straight throughout the lecture. The drive back home is spent in light debates and bargaining as the delinquents try to make Ayush delete the picture.

"Tara, what's your opinion?"

"Huh?" I respond, clueless about the recent update on the conversation.

"Bhai is offering us ten thousand rupees." He says excitedly.

I nod.

"So, it's a yes?" Agastya glances at me in surprise.

"No, wait, what's going on?" I try to keep my head straight.

Just forget about it, Tara. It's none of your business. Haven't you landed yourself in enough troubles for poking into the matters that don't concern you?

That's right.

"I'm offering you ten thousand bucks, take it." He commands.

I roll my eyes. "In your dreams. Ayush, we're not that cheap to be sold in ten thousand bucks."

"What do you want then!?" Arush demands roughly.

"Right now? Nothing." I state. "You're indebted to us. And if you slight us in the future, remember what we have on you." I warn the two.

"This is all your fault!" Agastya grunts, eyeing Arush with a glare through the rearview mirror.

"What!? How is it my fault!?"

"You told me to increase the speed!"

"So?" Arush counters. "If I say in future, give up on your share of property for me, would you?" He asks sarcastically.

"No," Agastya drags on the word.

"Exactly, I suggested it, you made the choice. Don't dump it on me, loser."

"The heck you calling loser!?"

"You!" Arush snorts and crosses his arms on his chest, staring out the window looking disgruntled.

"They also fight?" I look at Ayush in awe.

"They do. And it's always fun." He chuckles.

The night feels thick with drowsiness when we enter the palace. It's dark and quiet, walls lit up dimly, the air almost lazy. I rub my hands against my arms, shivers crawling down my body at the sound of howling winds outside. I walk in close proximity with my brothers, scared of the dark.

Surprisingly, Agastya tags along with me to my room. "Do you have something to say?"

"Open the room." He simply commands.

I obey and push the door open. He walks in first, I follow hesitantly and close the door behind me. "What's wrong?"

He walks over to the bed and kneels, replacing my confusion with horror when he pulls out the painting from underneath. He unwraps the canvas and turns it to me. "What is this?"

"A- A painting?" I shrug, lost on words. I need to think of something before I'm compelled to tell the truth.

"Of whom?"

"It's a character inspired painting."

"From where?"

"A- A book!" I exclaim. "Yes, a book."

"Which book?"

"It's an online fan fiction."

"Fan fiction?" His brows furrow.

"Yup."

"About whom?"

"A tiktok star," I blurt out.

He throws off the painting like it burnt him. "Ew, where are your standards, short stuff?"

"I've decided to keep them unrealistic as of now."

He huffs and shoves his hands in his pockets. "I thought it's another of your boyfriend." He makes a move to walk out.

"I just got out of a relationship," I remind him, stopping him at the threshold.

"So, it's not normal to find someone sexy when you're committed?" He muses thoughtfully.

"No!"

"Oh, I'm better off single then." He shrugs and walks out, leaving the door open. I hit it close.

Thank God.

Wrapping the painting once again, I drag it to my closet and hide it behind my clothes. This is my private space. The painting is safer here than outside in the open.

The next day, Anagha and I pretend to have forgotten about what we saw near the field. But unintentionally so, our eyes betray us, and oftentimes stray towards the main character of our nightmares. Shourya appears fine, unbothered even considering the attitude he shows me during English lecture when we argue about literature and its preferred tenses. He irks me to the point I almost scream at his face but stop at the last moment. If the blood on his hand was of a living organism, I don't want to be in the red list next.

"Can't we skip these steps?" He points to the solution Mr. Qureshi wrote on my notebook.

"You can, actually. But Tara here won't be able to understand if I do that."

"Right," Shourya nods, sounding bored.

I grit my teeth. "What's your problem with me?"

"Except that you're wasting my time along with yours, nothing else really."

"You're busy too, Rajawat? I thought you've so much free time that you go slamming into trees to pass it in Comatose." I deadpan.

His jaw muscles flex.

"Taranya, don't be rude." Mr. Qureshi warns.

I sigh and look back down at the notebook. The lesson continues, and I painstakingly sit through it.

Upon returning home, I go to my room and toss my bag on the bed, ready to take a shower. Grabbing a fresh towel from the washed pair, I head inside the bathroom and strip off my school uniform.

After a relaxing shower, I put on my uniform and step out, dismissing the thick cloud of steam into the air. While I'm drying my hair with a blow dryer, a knock on the door stops me. I glance at the clock. It's already seven pm. I turn off the dryer and walk up to the door, opening it to see Yuvraaj standing at the threshold, a tiffin box in his hand.

"What?" I ask, surprised at his sudden visit.

"Vivaan won't be coming home for dinner tonight. And I don't think he has eaten anything throughout the day. Maybe you can make him eat something?" He stretches his arm forward.

"Where is he?" I take the strap of the tiffin box hesitantly.

"At the hospital. I've kept the car ready." He steps aside to let me go.

"My school?" I ask, lifting my head to meet his eyes.

"You can miss it tonight."

I feel relieved. "Okay," a smile comes over my lips and I return inside the room to grab my phone. I randomly pick a clutch and hook it into my hair before exiting the room.

A black Mercedes awaits me outside the palace. I settle inside and the driver revs the engine, pulling the car out of the driveway. The night is heavy in mist, thick fog clouds the distance. I request the driver to increase the heater.

When we reach the hospital, I find Rohit waiting for me on the ground floor.

"Where's Bhai?" I frown.

"He's at the rooftop. He left his phone in the office so your brother called me to attend you. Do you want to wait in the office or go up to the rooftop?"

"I'd rather go to him than wait here," I say with a shrug.

"Alright," he leads me to the elevator. "I've a round to make, but you can press on the R and it'll take you directly to the rooftop." He instructs.

I nod with a smile.

He shows off one of his own, a charming grin with dimples and all and I sigh dreamily when the doors fall close on us.

The elevator ascends slowly, overlooking the huge lobby of the hospital before it stops and opens, revealing a sight I would rather see in my nightmares than reality.

"Bha-Bhai," I voice out feebly, afraid the weight in my voice might carry him off from where he stands, and into the pull of gravity.

Forever.

We hit the fifty mark! Yippee!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. A lot happened in this one. Don't forget to vote and comment. Makes my day.