The Rose & Her Thorn

Part 20

"That scumbag! Did he-did he touch you inappropriately? Is that why you agreed to marry him?" asked Sunaina. She knelt beside her sister, who sat in the chair, supported by Rajeev.

Sunaina could not muster the courage to look into the bloodshot and agonized eyes of her darling sister. Her piercing gaze shot daggers of accusations at her wounded conscience, and waves of remorse incited by her tempestuous heart tore through her soul.

She had sheltered and cared for Shikha as a mother hen, and she did not know that she would abandon her to vultures and hawks in the same way too. She could not find the will to seat herself beside her sister after her vicious words in the hospital.

Shikha sniffled. "No. No, he has not. He-He threatened to-to kill you all. You. Jijaji. Rohan. My entire world and the reason for my existence. I could not. I could not let him carry out his threat."

Sunaina sank into the vortex of regret and anguish. She felt the repentance strangulate her from within, and her breath refused to replenish her with the quintessential oxygen.

Her sister. Her baby sister. She consorted with the Devil to gift them freedom and life. And what did she, the ignorant and delusional sister, do? She walked away, and instead of lending her support, she added to the worries.

"You did not have to do it for us, Shikha. It is our duty to safeguard you, not yours. You did not have to take the responsibility of my life or Sunaina's life. The life won over at the cost of your freedom is not a life that we would have wanted."

Sunaina held her sister's arms and forced her to look her in the eyes. "Yes. Yes. Reject him. Don't marry him. Don't do this, Shikha! If it costs our life, so be it. You cannot be an offering to the Devil. I won't let that happen!"

Shikha shook her head in negative and let out an exasperated sigh. "What good will that do? He will still do what he wants - claim me. Except, I will lose you. That does not help the situation at all, Jiji! I won't have anyone left in the world. I will be bereft of all the peace if I allowed that to happen."

"You cannot resign to fate this way, Shikha. There must be a way- "

"There is not, Jijaji. You know what he is capable of. You know he won't hesitate before turning his threats into reality. You know he always gets what he wants. I did not, and now I have learnt my lesson. There is no way to stop him!"

Shikha broke out into sobs. The ocean of darkness drowned her and made it difficult for her to breathe. She could not and did not want to imagine her future. Her insides churned with dread, and she felt nauseous. She could feel the bile rise in her throat. How could she trust the man and idolize him?

"We can't just give up! We can't let him win!"

"He has already won, Jijaji. He has nothing to lose. No heart for the repercussions to wrench. No conscience for his deeds to scar. No soul for his intentions to tarnish. He is all brains, and filled with lust - of power, of women, and of control. Nothing to lose."

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Shikha grasped her scarf between her fingers, staring at the ceiling fan through a tremulous film of tears. Her eyes were heavy after the relentless onslaught of remorse and disappointment, and the noose of helplessness around her neck had left it burning and aching.

Shikha wanted to surrender to eternal peace and end it all. The man, who laid his claim on her, had shattered the last remnants of confidence, swiveled a dagger of paranoia so deep into her consciousness that her own shadows petrified her, and had plunged her into a bottomless ocean of disappointment with no rescue boat in sight.