Dedicated to weird_poet005, who might be presently trekking off into wilderness (do give your reviews on your return)

" Kathy!" Ira shrieked as she entered my room.

The floor shook and the glass paper weight wobbled precariously before falling on the floor. I dropped my book and stared at her agape.

"What is it? An earthquake?!" I shouted as I ran towards the door.

" What?" She stared at me, confused for a second before finally saying, "No!"

" Huh? Then why was the floor shaking?"

" Oh! I was jumping because I was so excited!" Ira grinned like she had just won a lottery and I glared at her.

" What is it?" I asked annoyed.

" It is about RJ V!" Another grin.

" What about him?" I acted all nonchalant but my stomach was currently doing ballet.

" I found his official profile."

I raised an eyebrow at her, " Really? You do know that I have been stalking him for two years and any sign of his genuine official site- Nada!"

" I know this one is genuine, little sister. See this", she said pointing to the screen of her laptop which she had previously placed on my bed, " is the newly opened site of the radio channel and this", she clicked on an icon, " is the list of the profiles of their RJs with their photos."

A quietness ensued. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale... yes, don't forget to breathe Kathy.

" So you mean that we can finally see him."

" Yes!" She laughed and turned to me, " I haven't seen his picture yet because I thought that you should be the one to look at him first."

" Stop your mushy nothingness, Ira." I blew a raspberry at her and quickly clicked at the name- RJ V.

" Mom was right after all- still a child." She was muttering under her breath.

" Now there, Ira, don't start talking to your own-self or I'd be tempted to drive you to a psychiatry ward."

Ira just glared at me.

" Awww.. sis, you are so sweet." I tried to hug her but she pushed me away.

Laughing I turned to glance at the screen but the bubbling laughter died down in my throat. A page had opened up with the words- 'I am the voice of your nights.' and a photograph was being loaded.

Everything was finally going to make sense, I can finally know that who is this enigmatic RJ, was he someone I knew or not?

I waited. Inhale. Exhale. Keep breathing. Up till now only those raven hair were visible- slightly disheveled and utterly appealing.

Half a minutes later, Ira noisily cleared her throat, "Okay. So this is him."

I did not give much reaction either. He did not look like a monkey, nor did he look like a superman, actually he did not look much like anything- just a tall shadow leaning in a dark corner of an otherwise illuminated room. His face was not visible, just a the dark silhouette of his muscular arms against the paler backdrop.

" At least now we know that he is tall and probably works out." I informed Ira.

She laughed, "Oh geez! Don't we just know a lot about him", her sarcasm soon died down, "We can't expect the radio channel to make his identity public after all. It is his whole air of secrecy that draws in his viewers."

"One of the reasons." I quickly pointed out.

"Yeah, kid. So, you really thought it was an earthquake." Did I ever mentioned that my sister can be very annoying when she wants to be?

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I stared down at my heels and frowned. These were not the kind of foot wears I usually wore but after my mom threw out my age-old flats, I was forced to wear one of Ira's black leather heels, the kind which practically shrieked "Dominatrix here!" . It drastically changed my cool-yo leather jacket and faded tight jeans into something more appealing. Funny what just a pair of shoes can do.

Did that fellow over there looked at me? Na, just in my head.

"Wow, little nymph. Looking good today." Dave smirked as he greeted me.

"Please, Dave." I rolled my eyes at him. He knew that I would never wear such a foot wear of my own accord.

" Don't drill such false ideas into her head, Dave."Tanya, the menace was attached to his arms and I was reminded of a Monkey hanging from a tree for it's dear life. The tree in reference is Dave, so you do get who is the monkey, right?

" Tanya!" Dave snapped at her angrily.

" Oh it is okay, Dave." I told him calmly.

" It should be", she interjected, " Because it is the truth. No matter how much you try, you can never be like me." She threw back her thousand- shades highlighted hair and fixed her obnoxiously pink 'not-much-left-for-imagination' costume.

I smirked, " Of course I can never be like you", on seeing her self-satisfied smile I further added, " after all my brain can never be reduced to the size of a pea."

She frowned at me, trying to understand my statement. Yes, pea-headed indeed.

I did not waste anymore time on this Tanya character and entered the class room.

"Did I miss something?" Vir said as he joined me near the class room door which was getting crowded as everyone was trying to enter all at once.

"No, why?"

" Its just that Dave is fighting back a smile and that Tanya girl is looking as though she is thinking very hard, I don't remember seeing that expression on her face ever!"

" Oh! That", I smiled, " Don't worry she won't decipher it even though she thinks about it the whole day."

The crowd moved and we found some front-row seats for ourselves.

At some point, I turned around to talk to Vir but something else in the back row caught my gaze.

Ved sat alone on the last seat. A hand was placed on his book but his eyes were not focused on it, instead they were staring at me. Those untamed seas of blue looked even more beautiful without his usual glasses and that gaze did not held any contempt as it had done last time, this time they were curious, gentle and...... maybe even appreciating?

On being caught red-handed in this game of staring he looked away. Damn! Now I need a mental filter too.

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A week later I found myself standing in front of Dave's condo and shouting my head out.

"What do you mean you are not home?!" I growled.

" Please calm down Kathy", Dave told me patiently, " I'll be home soon."

" But you were the one who called me over! God knows where this Vir has also disappeared ?!"

" Actually", he sounded guilty, " he is with me. We'll be there in 15 minutes."

" What am I supposed to do in those 15 minutes?! Play all chummy with your apartment door?!"

He sighed,"Kathy you know the password."

"But it'll be rude to enter a residence in the absence of it's owner."

" Stop acting like you have never done that before", he sniggered, " Just wait inside for us. Make yourself comfortable on the couch. I am sure there is some chicken in the refrigerator and a juicy novel in the living room's shelf."

He had to say no more than juicy novel when I started punching in the password.

"See you then, Dave."I hung up as I entered the living room.

A sprawling beige coloured room with pale mustard sofas, indoor orchids and money plants greeted me. I threw myself in a comfortable arm chair which was facing the sliding glass door and started reading 'The Phantom of Opera', story of a dis-figured social outcast, who used to see his Christine from the shadows but one day just admiring her was not enough and he took her with him.... into the sewers. I wrinkled my nose, I could think of a thousand more romantic places to take your girl to. This phantom character reminded me of V, a creature of night, who always observe you from the shadows. I shivered, not out of fear but of this strange excitement that spread through my body. Knowing that he knew me was strangely exhilarating, even forbidding. Who was this V? Was it V for Vir? Maybe, seeing as both had similar nature and if Vir modulated his voice, just a bit, he might actually sound like V. Or was it V for Ved? I bit back a laughter, to think that the meek, nerdy boy would be anything like the confident, mysterious RJ! Ved was the first name I'll scratch from my "might be V?" list.

The silhouette of V's well built form flashed through my mind and I closed my book, no good now- I won't be able to concentrate on it any longer.

I went to stand in front of the glass sliding door and peer out at the heavily falling rain. I remember that as a kid I used to love rains and would often run across my roof top, dancing and singing until my mother would come to retrieve me. " You'll get sick!", she used to say.

A smile unconsciously found its way on my lips. I slid open the door and stepped outside, there was a promise of freedom in the air- freedom from the thoughts of the voice that had haunted my every day or night-dream to the point that now I could feel a migraine coming up.

He was a virtual being, not even a reality,yet I invested a lot of thought, emotions and even time on his carefully created mental image. He was the pain but he was also the balm.

The rain came down cold and hard. Only the hazy outline of the adjacent skyscrapers was visible. I turned my palm upwards and felt the cold drops of liberation falling on my face.

"You need to go away V. I know that I can never have you, so, it is best that you leave my head before I fall into this little trench called Love." My lips whispered of their own accord. Crazy, I know.

" That might not be so easy, Kathy love." That snarky omnipresent voice in my head whispered.

I sighed, the cold wind stung against my skin and my palazzo pants were now sticking to my skin. Suddenly a pair of arms encircled my waist and the warmth rushed back into my arms.

" You should not be here." A voice murmured in my ears and I tried to turn around but the arms tightened.

A crash of thunder illuminated the dark sky and I suddenly realized that standing in the balcony of a 60th floor penthouse in such a harsh thunderstorm was not a very bright idea.

" I will never understand your crazy ideas", the voice continued to whisper, "You'll catch cold, so let us go inside."

I laughed, " You sound like my mother, Vir." It has to be Vir, I mean Dave was not considerate enough to come and fetch me. Clearly they had just arrived.

The arms around my waist loosened, the shoulder , which was supporting my head, tensed and then Vir was gone. What? Did I say something wrong?

I turned around but all I could see was the trailing edge of a blue shirt before it disappeared behind the concrete wall of the living room.

"Vir!" I called out as I followed him inside but the room was already empty.Persian rug, which was thrown in front of the sofa set, was wet as though someone had freshly stepped on it, a vase on an ivory table at the end of the room was overturned as though someone has knocked it over in a haste. What on Earth....?

The digital sound of password being punched was audible and the front door swung open, admitting Dave and Vir into the room.

" Kathy, you look like you had a swim in that costume", Dave said as his gaze swept over me.

I was petrified, my limbs felt numb.

"Kathy, are you okay?" Vir replied as he tried to rub in some warmth in my frozen limbs.

I simply shook my head and a bead of warm moisture escaped my eyes. Traitorous eye fluid!

" What happened?" Dave was standing in front of me, frowning.

" Dave," My voice was croaky, I gulped, " Dave, your home is haunted by a ghost."

Both of my best friends gasped before the world swirled in a depth of black nothingness, that means yes, I fainted !

A/N:- Another chapter, yes! Believe I did not intend to publish this one so soon but the publish button just got clicked on it's own,don't blame me. So, Dave's apartment is haunted and we found out the reason behind Kathy's sense of alienation. We'll know more about this Phantom in the chapters to come. Hopefully, the next chapter will be more eventful, ciao!