A Heinous Crime

“Don't you dare touch me, bastards!” Ananya hissed as she snuggled towards the corner of the room.

“Aw, we are soo scared..” The hoarse voices of four drunk men echoed in the room, knitting into an audible laugh at her helplessness.

“Yell for all you want, baby doll. Nobody is gonna hear you, and nobody can save you from us.” The words drilled her heart as she fainted, with her senses scattering along with the last shreds of their humanity.

When she pryed her eyes open, she found herself in a pool of blood, and she could make out that a guy was standing next to her but her blurred vision fed the sensation of danger towards her brain.

“You, bastard,” she screamed as she grabbed a belt left by one of the men and lashed at the guy, thinking he belonged to the gang.

“Ananya, stop, please..” Rishi was yelling but her mind was numb to a point of oblivion, and she couldn't register him as she could only hear the wailing screeches of those four men, tearing her apart. She lunged at him and beat him, screaming, “I won't let your dirty hands touch me, anymore..”

She yelled aggressively gathering her strength until her sound turned hoarse and collapsed into a whisper as she broke down into his arm.

Rishi stood still, with bleeding scars he got by her lashing but his eyes were focused on her, his crush, whom he was about to meet that day which was doomed because of her kidnapping.

With the help of police and his skills, he tracked down her phone which was taken by her kidnappers. But what he found was her damaged soul, cursing and yelling to let it out of the trap of her body.

Ananya was admitted to a mental aslyum as she was declared a maniac and was outcasted by her family.

Rishi found her and took her to a better place where she was taken care of.

“Ananya, it’s been 3 years since you have talked.” Rishi stood outside her cell, where Ananya sat near the corner of the room, like a statue, glaring at the wall.

“Ana, I thought it was just a mere crush until the day you drop out the college to do jobs, for taking care of your family.” Rishi said.

“I missed you everyday, your smile, laugh, dance, cringe filled jokes..I..I love you, Ana.” He vaguely smiled though his memories were clouded by her screams which always gets triggered in his nightmares.

“The cafe you worked, I went there everyday to get a glimpse of you. Nobody can make me feel the way you do. But I must say, I hated coffees. I started drinking it after I came to know that you loved it.” Rishi paused for a moment as he slid against the wall and sat outside her cell.

“I came to tell you that, this will be our last day. I have got a transfer and I will be going tomorrow. Otherwise I can't pay for your bills.” Rishi clenched his fists, squeezed his eyes shut as tears pricked them.

“Bye, Ana.”

Silence trapped the words which Ananya craved to utter. That day smeared her mind with her own blood oozing out of her body as the four men surrounded her to thrash her.

“I love you, Rishi. You are the love of my life. I wanted to propose to you. Instead, I beat you and made scars on your body. You have to let me go.”

“So you got the promotion transfer, congrats!” Aman hugged Rishi.

“Thanx yaar!”

“What about Ananya?”

“I have paid the nurses extra money to take care of her.”

“Man, I envy her. You just can't let her go.”

“Well, I love to fight for her, protect her because she is mine.”

“What happened to those rapists?”

“What do you think have happened?” The corners of Rishi's lips curled upwards forming a smirk.

“As usual they must have been fed by our tax money by the central government as the court sentenced them for life time imprisonment.” Aman sighed as he slouched on the couch.

“Not really. I could manage to lure some of the goons using money in that jail to beat them up every freaking day. And the night they were captured by police, I managed to sneak into the jail and beat them to pulp by myself.”

“What the..Why didn't you tell me, Rishi?”

“Why?”

“I would've joined you if you did” Aman laughed, patting his shoulder.

“Ok, then. I need to leave.”

“Rishi, I am so sorry but Ananya was violent today. When we opened the room to give her sedation, she escaped by thrashing us.” The nurse apologised, rubbing her head.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rishi's nerves wreaked havoc as they squirmed under the wrath of fury which rushed through him.

He sprinted across the streets, his eyes searching for Ana. But there weren't any signs. He asked the pedestrians but none had seen her.

Rishi felt dizziness as his mind was hurling stones of accusations against him.

“Ana..” he yelled, kneeling in the sidewalk. Tears drizzled down which trickled his vision.

Suddenly he stood up and strolled to the park opposite to the hospital where she was admitted. He narrowed his eyes as he searched her traces there. But he couldn't find her.

The places which she loved, splashed his senses but she wasn't found.

He cried, yelled and cursed as he trudged towards the meadow where he used to lay down at night with his eyes glaring at the moonlight which illuminated the darkness.

“Looking for someone?” A soft voice pulled him out of the trance.

“Anaaa..” Instead of words, breeze escaped his lips as his vocal chord was numb by her sight. “I..Was..Terrified..Where were you, idiot?”

“I felt this choking sensation when you didn't come today. I don't know what happened after that!”

“The other day, your doctor told me if I wanted to retrieve you from the trance you have been caught in, I need to go away from you. I could have got a promotion here but I opted the transfer, painfully.” Rishi heaved a sigh and glanced away from her.

“So? You would leave me? Just like that?” Ananya snapped, her glare made him tremble as his heart flustered at its intensity.

“No. I don't want to be that hindrance in your life, Ana. You need to gather your life. There is a future ahead of you.” Rishi wrapped his arms across her shoulders.

“You are my life. I never talked to you because I wanted you to let me go and move on. But..”

“But?”

“Ugh, Rishi. I don't know. I just don't know.”

“Ssh, I got you, Ana, and I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“But how did you come to this place?”

“After dropping out college, I wanted to see you again. So once I followed and found you lying on this meadow.”

“I thought I was being a creepy guy by coming to your cafe..But look who's talking? Haha.” Rishi giggled. “So you loved me too then, Ana…”

“No.”

“Yes, yes, yes..

“Yes, ugh, I mean no.” She nodded as both broke into laugh.

“Ana, how did you escape from the hospital?”

“I was healing myself from past years but yesterday when you told you were going away, I planned my escape as I knew the ways of that hospital.”

“Uff, you are a genius!”

“Anything for you, Rishi!”