Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock.

The clock was ticking near me and it felt like the world was sinking. I am stuck in the same house that I hate the most, the same bed I was strapped to, the same room, everything that I despise a lot for years. The way the door of the room, which was still closed by now was keeping me at the edge, because if I am correct, sooner or later, one of my worst nightmares will come here and I should leave this room before he does.

I kept struggling with the rope that kept me tied to the bed and the way it got tighter whenever I struggled ended up with me crying more and more.

Once I managed to get my hands out of the rope, I untied the rope from my leg and got up from the bed. I saw that in front of the mirror, I wore the same dress as the fateful day that changed my entire life. The yellow flower-printed dress was torn from my shoulder and from the bottom, in the same way. It was when he tried to…

Not wanting to relive those horrible memories, I ran away from the room and started looking for an exit. The hallways were getting longer and longer whenever I ran and at one point when I was breathless; I sat in the corner of the room that I saw first and started breathing normally when I heard the voice of the person I hate a lot. Joseph.

“I know you are here, Reena.” He says as he strolls through the hallway. “You can’t hide from me.”

I put a hand over my mouth and started looking around for an escape, but it was to no avail. Once, I was sure that he wasn’t in the hallway close to the room I was in. I got up and sneaked my way to the house for the escape.

My attention was drawn to an unusual black door in the other room that slowly opened as if to alert me to the exit, and I walked toward it. Once I was close to the said door, someone grabbed me from behind and started dragging me to the hellhole. The same hellhole that I tried to escape again and again.

“Here you are,” I heard the familiar voice. “You thought you could run away from me that easily, babe.”

“Please, leave me alone,” I said to Justin. “I don’t want to see your face. I just want to leave. I–”

“But the fun has just started, Reena.” I heard Joseph’s voice and saw both of them together as they tied me to the same bed again. “You have no idea what is going to come.”

“NO! Please leave me alone. I didn’t do anything.”

“But you did, Reena,” Justin says to me. “You broke up with me when I tried to be close to you, but you have to be conscientious and do the right thing, right?”

“You cheated on me!” I yell at him, but he just smirks. “You got another girl pregnant from my campus and when I tried to confront you, you forced yourself on me.”

“That girl was just a pawn in my game. I don’t care about her.”

“And you tried to do the same to me,” I said to Joseph, who was staring at me. “What have I ever done to you?”

“Oh, Reena,” Joseph says as he inches his face toward me, grazing his hand over my mouth. “You were just there when I needed you. You were there looking around the house innocently, not knowing what was going to come next, and now here we are.”

“DO NOT TOUCH ME!” I yelled at them and bit his hand when he was grazing my lips. “I swear to god, if any of you touched me, I will punch your face. I am not that weak Reena, anymore. You cannot hurt me again.”

“But babe, we already tied you down. No one can save you.” Justin says as he tries to touch me. “You are in our clutches.”

When they started touching me inappropriately, I tried my very best to save myself from them and before they could do more harm to me; I heard a faint voice.

“Di, wake up!”

“Wake up!” 

“Wake up!”

I opened my eyes and saw Priya hovering over me, a concerned look etched on her face. 

“Di, are you okay?” Priya says as she pours water into the glass. “Here, take some water first.”

I sat up first and looked at the clock. It was Five O'clock in the morning, fifteen minutes earlier than my usual wake-up time. But it wasn’t the same for Priya, because her wake-up time was Six O'clock. I took the glass from her and drank the water.

“Are you feeling okay now?” Priya asks as I finish drinking the water. “You are feeling better now, right?”

I slowly nodded my head at her question and gave her the glass back. “I am fine,” I assured her. “It’s normal.”

“But you had a nocturnal panic attack, di!” Priya says to me. “It’s not usual.”

“It was just a nightmare, that’s all,” I tell ‌her. “Just go back to sleep.”

“But Di–”

“You should sleep for one more hour. I will wake you up at that time. Now go to sleep, I am leaving for jogging, okay?” I interrupted her, convincing her to go back to sleep, but she didn’t listen to me. “I told you, didn’t I that I am fine. It was just a nightmare, and it wasn’t a nocturnal panic attack. Trust me on this, Piyu, and please don’t think too much about this.”

I got up from my bed and looked at the night dress I had worn last night before going to sleep. The thought of wearing the same dress from my nightmare gave me goosebumps because that yellow dress had so many terrible memories. I shook my head and hurriedly brushed my teeth, washed my face, and wore my jogging suit. Before leaving the room, I saw Priya looking at me. “What?”

“Are you hiding something from me, Di?” she asks. “I have been getting a feeling about you hiding something from us for a long time and I can’t help but wonder if it’s true or not.”

“I am not hiding anything from you, Piyu,” I told her. “And if I want you to know something about something, I will tell you. You know me, right?”

She gave me the look, the look that she was doubting me. “And you will tell me for sure?” She asks with her brow arched.

“I will,” I replied to her. “I will for sure.” Only when the time comes.

“Fine, you can go, now,” Priya says as she gathers her stuff from her side of the closet. “I will now take a bath and clean the house before you come back from your jogging, okay?”

“But, you should go to sleep. I will wake–”

“It’s of no use, Di, I won’t be going back to sleep again.” She interjected. “So, instead of wasting my time, I will take a bath and clean the house before you come back. Now go! Jennifer must be waiting for you.”

“It's Jennifer Di.” I corrected her.

“To be honest, she doesn’t want me to call her Di often,” Priya says as she stands in front of the bathroom door. “I think she wants to be the cool sister.”

“Still, you used to call her Jennifer Di when you were young.”

“I still call her the same but now she doesn’t want me to.” Priya frowns. “Do you miss that time when I first called you Di?”

“I still miss that,” I say to her fondly. “You were five years old when you first called me Di.”

“And do you remember the time when I called Mumma for the first time?” Priya asks. “I don’t remember. That’s why I asked you.”

“I think your first words were Papa, but you said that to Mumma,” I told her a memory still fresh in my mind. “That day, mom cried a little but smiled when you called her Papa for five months straight and then started calling her Mumma.”

“Do you think Dad would have loved me if he were to be here? Like if he was still alive now, would he love me as his daughter?” Priya asks hesitantly. “I always have this feeling that he might have hated me for some reason. Don’t know why.”

He wouldn’t have hated you, Piyu. Probably, he would have hated me more than I could ever imagine.

“He would have loved you as much as he loved us when he was alive,” I told her. “Papa loved all of us equally and as much as I remember, you were his favourite when he was alive for so many reasons.”

“But what about you guys?” Priya asks. “Did you guys like despised me for that?”

“No, Piyu!” I went towards her and made her look at me. “We never despised you. You should know that all of us love you completely and none of us have ever hated you.”

“Okay, but there was no type of hatred between you and Bhaiya, right?”

“Uhh.” That question caught me off guard. “Where does this come from? Who told you that?”

“No one, it’s just–” Priya looks around and avoids looking at me. “I heard Vicky say something like that when he was talking to someone on his phone.”

“Vicky said that to someone on his phone?” I said and realized that obviously, he would have noticed the behavior of both of us. “You know that Vicky is someone who is just useless and does nothing in his life, so ignore whatever he says about our family.”

“But–”

“Priya, look at me,” I told her. “Nothing bad is happening between Aman and I. Okay?”

Priya looks at me and then frowns a little. “Make a promise to me that you will tell me everything that happens in your life. I will tell you about what happens in my life like I have always done, so you won’t be keeping any secret from me, right?” She says.

“I promise that I won’t keep anything from you,” I say to her on her face but crossed my finger behind me, for lying to her. “Now, I have to go, and be ready when I come back, okay?”

Priya nods her head and does as I told her to. Once she was inside the bathroom, I made my way downstairs with Papa’s music player in my hand, and my phone on my other. I have already seen the time and reminded Jennifer to be on time ‌for our jog.

Once I left the house, I started jogging to our usual meetup place. It was fifteen minutes away from my place but five minutes away from her apartment. As I reached the meetup place, I got my headphones on and started jogging.

It wasn’t until ten minutes when Jennifer finally showed up. She was in the usual jogging suit and with her hair tied in a messy bun; she smiled at me. “Good morning, Reena.” She says in her sweet and happy tone.

“Someone is happy,” I told her as I put the headphones away to listen to her. “Is the reason for your happiness is your boyfriend? What did that guy buy for you for the anniversary?”

“He is not my boyfriend anymore,” Jennifer says, but the smile stays the same on her face. “Something happened last night.”

“Did you guys break up?” I ask her. “Is that bastard cheating on you? He got someone pregnant, didn't he? Do I have to punch someone in their face?”

“OH, MY GOD!” Jennifer says while she stops jogging. “Do you think so low of him to even think like that?”

“That’s because guys are exactly like that,” I told her. “First, they show their sweet side, which always turns out to be fake, then they show their real colours, and when you confront them about the same, they abuse you. That’s the exact reason I don’t like guys.”

“Saying that from experience?” Jennifer asks, after seeing my outburst. “Because there is no way that you were in a relationship. Because if you were in one, you would have told me, right?”

“I didn’t say that from experience,” I told her, feigning my emotion. “It’s just what I read from some articles online.”

“Well, I must tell you one thing,” Jennifer says as she gestures to me to lend her my ear. “Not all guys are the same. And my Arnold is one of the sweetest guys who ever existed.”

I barfed up at the comment and she punched me on my shoulder. “Come on, he is nice.” She frowns and says. “I was in a jolly mood today because I was going to tell you that he asked me to marry him, but here you are, who is making fun of him?”

“What?”

“What, what?”

“He proposed to you?”

“Yes, he proposed to me, and I said yes.” She says and shows me her ring. “He said that he loves me profusely, and he wants to be with me his entire life.”

I love you so much, Reena, that I want to live with you our entire life. That’s what he said to me as well. But ended up breaking my heart. 

I promise to never break your heart. He said to me and that’s precisely what he did. Break my heart into millions of pieces.

“REENA!” Jennifer yells and she looks at me concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am fine!” I told her. “So, he proposed to you, didn’t know that guy had that much guts to propose to you, but congrats.”

“Reena, don’t be like that,” Jennifer says, but I started jogging to not ‌waste time. She, being the adamant person she is, follows me by doing the same. “You know how much he cares for me, right?”

“Yeah, I know how much he cares for you,” I said to her in my deadpan tone. “He cares for you so much that he—”

“Lied to me about getting my birthday present months before, right?” She adds. “Trust me, I knew about this lie, on the day of my birthday. I saw him panicking for not getting my gift months prior, but considering he is busy as is, I get why he lied to me.”

“But a lie is a lie,” I say to her. “Even a single lie can turn into chaos in the future.”

“But if you lied to not hurt the person close to your heart,” Jennifer says, and she stops me. “It’s because they care for you.”

I know that Jennifer; I know! Because I have been lying to all of you guys, not to hurt any of you, those who are close to me.

“Fine, and what will you do when he lies to you again?” I asked her. “Will you let that go easily, then?”

“Well, considering how you almost wanted to punish him in your way, I will let you handle it,” Jennifer says as she puts her arm around my shoulder. “I am sure Arnold will let you punish him for lying to me.”

“Don’t joke about matters like that,” I say to her and let go of her arm. “Because, even if I want to, I can’t do any harm to any person who is close to people I care for.”

“AWE!” Jennifer says, and she makes me stand in front of her. “That’s why I am friends with you.”

“Is that so?” I glared at her.

“I thought you became my friend because my mom made delicious food for lunch, which, by the way, was of your standard. Spicy and delicious at the same time.”

She pokes her tongue at me. 

“Guilty!” she says as she raises her hand in defence.

“Drama Queen!” I shook my head and let go of her and started jogging again. “Make haste! I don’t want to get late for my interview today!”

“Oh, yes! I remember today is your interview for Romano, right?” I heard her say from a distance, she was in a few seconds at the same speed as me. “Aren’t you excited to meet the CEO of the company?”

“Why would I be excited to meet someone I don’t even know?”

“You don’t know Jake Romano?”

“I just know that he is the new CEO of the company, but nothing else. Why?” I ask. “Is he famous or what?”

“Is he famous?” Jennifer mockingly said. “Girl, he is not just famous, but everyone’s heartthrob.”

“And what am I supposed to do? Aachar banau?”

(Make pickle)

“He does look like a good snack.”

“Now, I am worried about Arnold. What will he do when someone tells him that you called a guy, that to someone who is way out of your league a snack? He would smack that Jake on his face, correct?”

“Well, he wouldn’t because he already knows I have a crush on him,” Jennifer says and stops me to listen to her talk. “Having conversations like this is good in a relationship. Like I know who he likes, and he knows who I like. In that way, we both are not keeping anything from each other. Except for…”

“For what?”

“Last night, after proposing to me, he left for work. Or in other words, to help his ‘friend’.” Jennifer said with air quotes. “He saved the contact as JR, and I know everyone from his workplace. No one I know name starts with J and R as a surname. He did come home early from helping his friend but I don’t know, this happened twice in front of me by now.”

“What does your heart say?” I asked her. “Although I'm glad that you're doubting him now, I'm not that foolish to be like that, so what do you think? ”

“A part of me thinks that I am overthinking, considering, he doesn’t hide anything from me, but the other part of me keeps nagging me, saying something is wrong.”

“You trust him, right?” I asked her.

“Yes, I trust him more than I trust myself.”

“Then all I could say is communicate with him,” I said to her. “Communication is one of the major keys when it comes to relationships. If you communicate to him about your doubts, I am sure that he will clear your doubts.”

“That saying of single people giving good relationship advice is true,” Jennifer says. 

“If there will be any relationship advice that I will need in the future, I would come up running to you, Reena madam,” she bows her head.

“Makhan mat laga, drama queen.” I say to her and she laughs at me. “Chal warna, tujhe main tere pasand ka special food nahi banaungi.”

(Don’t flatter me, drama queen. Let’s go, otherwise, I won’t make special food for you.)

“Tum mere liye mera favorite food nahi banaungi, aisa kabhi ho sakta hai?” Jennifer says in her American accent. “Kabhi nahi.”

(You and not making my favourite food for me, this ain't gonna happen, Ever.)

“Sometimes, I regret teaching Hindi to you,” I tell her as I resume my jogging. “Now, can we please focus on our jogging now?”

“To be honest, it was Neena Aunty, who thought me Hindi, not you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Same thing.”

Once we were done with our jogging, Jennifer left for her place, while I was on my way to my house. Birds were chirping in the sky and the sky looked gorgeous with clouds covering the city. There was a chance that it might rain today, as the clouds were covering the city.

I am a person who loves to stroll in the rain but that fateful day has changed me, New Reena who has no happiness in her life has to live her life with the pain in her past, and everything that did happen to me, is because I deserved it. I have to live with that pain throughout my life and no one can change that. There’s not a single guy in this world who would like a girl like me with scars. Scars from her past.

You are one of those people who will never find love in life, because you have this expectation from people who you think can love you selflessly and in this world, no one loves a person like that anymore. It happens only in fictional stories. No one in this life can love a person like you like that, because you don’t deserve to be loved like that.

These words keep echoing in my head again and again, taunting me, reminding me that I will have to live a life with no one to love me. It was as if, his words were slowly yet painfully turning out to be true. Because who would love a person like me? Who is Scarred and Unattractive?

“You are the reason why our relationship failed, Reena. Do you know that?” He says to me as I was on my way out. “You always have to be this good girl that wants to do good deeds but have you ever realized that doing that will not make you one?”

“What do you mean?” I ask as I turn myself towards him.

“Do you think that your family will trust your words over mine?” He says as he walks towards me. “Your top is torn, your hair is disheveled and I have marked you as mine. Do you think that you can call the cops on me?”

“You know what, Justin,” I say to him as he tries to grab my head towards his face. “Go to hell. I regret meeting you. I regret that you are the one I fell in love with. And so what people won’t trust me, my family will trust me. And that’s what matters to me.”

“Is that so, babe?” Justin says as he tries to kiss me again, but I backed away. “You think your beloved brother will trust you too?”

“He is my brother before he became your friend. So, yes, he will.”

Justin cackles at that comment.

“I will wait for that to happen, for now. You must remember one thing for me. You and your life is controlled at my fingertips. Just with a snap of my finger, your happy life can be ruined by me. And when the time comes, I will meet you again. Be Ready for that to happen because you cannot run away from me, babe.” He says, and the words gave me a chill down my spine.

 “You cannot control my life, Justin.”

“I can and trust me, it’s going to be messy from now on.”

And he was right. He is controlling my life now, messy as well but it’s going to stop here, right? He isn’t going to control my whole life.

My legs staggered when I felt something hitting me, and the roads seemed to be closing down on me as I looked straight and slowly my vision was blurring. I was gasping for air as I felt suffocating and felt myself not able to walk properly. I couldn’t hear anything and the last thing I remembered was seeing a face, that looked somewhat similar to my father's.

“Papa…?”