He went into the bathroom and looked into the mirror. His French beard looked fine and he was happy with the make-over that he had got. He rubbed his hand on his cheeks and then with both hands ruffled his bushy black hair that sat like a crown on his head. Then he toned his muscles and looked at his own abs which were toning up to that six-pack perfect ab. He picked up his phone to take his selfie. He was happy with how his oval face glowed up after a rigorous workout. ‘That was a perfect capture’, he thought to himself. Quickly he opened his Instagram account and after proper adjustments , posted it there. While he waited for the likes and commentsto flood his notification, he quickly scrolled to check other posts as Insta is the right place to find the best beauties on a single platform. All he could find was a lot of Black and white photographs of beautiful ladies with a caption as #challengeaccepted.

His lustful eyes were glued to each picture that looked seductive. Suddenly his fingers stopped scrolling and he looked closely into the eyes of one of those snaps as it strangely looked familiar.

Wooosh….. there was a gust of wind and he almost felt displaced from where he was standing. There she was standing gracefully with her hair till her waist with glossy fair skin resembling like a mermaid just out of the sea. Her rose-colored luscious lips, kohl smudged eyes, and a perfect curvaceous figure were enough to make any man become her slave.

He was already wondering if what he saw in front of him was real or just his illusion! And the next turn of events just made him absolute still, he was frozen and was no more in his senses.

The woman in front of him had started undressing herself. She was completely in her skin now and gave a seductive smile and made a walk towards the shower area while signaling him to follow. Aroused by the events in front of him, he was too smitten by the gorgeous, dreamy like reality that he did just as commanded. He followed her silently. The lady had already put on the shower and then she slowly put her arms around his neck. The scent of her body was so intoxicating that he was already feeling magic in the air. He then saw her come towards his ear and then there was a loud scream…… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh……

It was so loud and it was the exact voice that he had heard when she had cried out. He placed his hands on his ears to stop the noise but still, the shrill voice continued unwrapping the memories that he had been trying to hide for such a long time. ‘It was Shruti’s voice for sure’, he thought to himself.

He could see everything in front of his eyes now. Shruti was his ex-girlfriend. They had broken up over trust issues. He could never commit to a single person. He had wanted an open relationship and Shruti always wanted commitment. However even after breaking up with her, he could not tolerate seeing Shruti with anyone else. He had tried to scare her, tease her, and did everything to break her spirits hoping that she would come back to him. But she was one tough nut to crack and hence, he resolved something. One day he had followed her while she returned from work. Tactfully he found one isolated stretch that she had to walk just before reaching her house. And then he gripped her hair and pulled her to a remote place beside the road.

“Wait… what are you doing? How can you even think of all this? Let me go now… please…”, Shruti had shouted out loud and had punched him hard only to realize that she was nothing in front of the brawny power that easily overpowered her. He tore apart her clothes while she constantly begged for mercy. He had as if become a monster who wanted to feast on his prey at that moment. Shruti was in tears and was praying to God, ” Please save me O, my Lord! Please…”, but there was no one to hear her scream of despair.

He then slapped her hard. “You bitch, you whore …how dare you even think of being with anyone else! I will not let that happen. If you are not mine, you will not be anyone else’s”

He spread her legs with force and while she tried her best to push him away, he forcefully entered her . He kept scratching her soft skin in his rage like an animal. She had started bleeding profusely and her body had become almost numb while he continued to abused the body as per his own will. She lay there like a corpse, unable to comprehend that this was the man whom she had loved once. While she could see everything, she could do absolutely nothing.

He then took his belt and with a vicious smile strangulated her around the neck. Slowly, Shruti felt the pain of not being able to breathe, and then there was thick blackish blood that came out of her mouth. Her eyes were wide open while her heart stopped beating. A tear had flowed from her eyes. The last words before she was strangulated were a deafening scream… Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

He came back to the present. This was the same scream!! There was panic, trepidation and there was sweat across his forehead now. He was almost shivering in fear.He felt energy less, completely paralyzed to even push the naked ,dream girl that by now had buried her face in his neck.

He did not know what occurred next. All he could feel was a sudden pang of guilt . His mind knew that this was the color of vengeance that he was seeing in front of him. His body started to feel as if it was set on fire and he suddenly fell to the ground with a thud.

***

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The police came after being informed and all they discovered was the dead body of entrepreneur Vansh, single and a top-notch businessman in his early forties known for his aggressive business moves, lying down on the bathroom floor with scratches all over his body. The post mortem report could not give any clarification too except for two suspicious deep holes near the neck which had turned dark and seemed very mysterious. It looked as if some bizarre animal had attacked the neck with its teeth to draw out blood.

Vengeance is best served cold!

Disclaimer: This post is intended to highlight the femicide that is prevalent where gender-based crimes happen. The below article has been an inspiration to write this work of fiction where the intention is to sensitize the readers about the dark realities of our so-called ‘civil’ society. You can click the Reference to know more about more real life stories.

I have decided to take up an emotional joy ride with this year’s A2Z challenge where my focus is to showcase different aspects of human behavior . I will be penning down pieces of fiction centered around emotions in alphabetical manner. I have a title for my theme and it is : A little bit of you; A little bit of me . 

I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z -2021

You can click on the alphabets below to read the stories that have been published so far.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Love,

Chinmayee