Tears started flowing freely from the corners of her eyes as soon as the doctor left her in the haunting four walls. Blinking away the tears, she kept staring blankly at the High ceiling where a massive chandelier was hung in the centre.

She wasn't in that haunted mansion but neither was she in the hospital amidst the safe hands! An unknown fear started creeping inside her heart on hearing nothing but the intense silence that was pursing in the room for so long.

It's been a week since she was rescued from the hell but there was no sign of mental improvement in her. Infact she started having more nightmares and sometimes she even started having auditory delusions...

"Madam! It's time to change your bandaids",a maid appeared inside her room carrying a first Aid box. She simply nodded her head and complied to her words by sitting upright on the bed.

She was habitual to seeing the maid since yesterday for three times a day for changing her bandages and applying the ointment on her wounds. But neither did she spoke a word to her nor ever tried to. She just kept listening to her words with no emotions on her face like a ghost.

"You know madam! I've never seen so strong and beautiful women like you in my entire 45 years of life",she suddenly spoke out of the blue making Aranya to snap her head in her direction.

Fresh tears started rolling down her cheeks on listening to her words... Strong? When she wasn't able to save herself from being assaulted multiple times. And beautiful, it is like a curse word for her which was responsible for her pitiful condition making it hard for her to breath freely.

"B-but I-I'm f...filthy and a l-loser",she stuttered while sobbing hardly making her look even more pathetic. The maid immediately embraced her in her arms tightly and caressing her hairs lovingly, she said "You know madam! I had a beautiful daughter of your age whom I'd lost in cancer few years ago.

Sometimes god tries to test us by breaking us in the worst possible way. But we should never forget that after each dark night, there is a bright morning. Just we should wait for that morning to come.

Thinking about the abyss of darkness rather than embracing the light would only hurt and punish our own self conscious and eventually god..."

She didn't said anything and just kept sobbing nonchalantly in her solace arms. After a while she broke the hug and started proceeding towards her right ankle.

But she knows that she's not as strong as the people are thinking her to be! This morning when kavya came, she was sleeping or rather pretending to be asleep to avoid any sort of conversation with her which would only intensify her mental pain by remembering the whole incident once again that still haunts her whenever she's alone or in her sleep.

She wants mental peace for few days till she can atleast calm her aching mind and that's the reason, she kept distance from everyone she knew so that she doesn't feel pathetic and also doesn't need to remember that horrible night all over again...

"If you're feeling pain then you can tell me",she asked while gently removing the bandage from the wound near her stomach. She simply shook her head and kept staring at the maid who was too engrossed in her work.

After a while, she started feeling a bit nauseous and her head started throbbing painfully...She immediately placed her hand on her forehead to ease the pain when suddenly she felt the bile rising in her stomach.

"Are you fine?!",before she could even react, Aranya slapped a hand on her mouth and went hurriedly inside the washroom. Opening the lid of the toilet, she emptied all the contents in a go with tears stinging her eyes. When she felt a bit relived, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hands and turned towards the washbasin to wash her hands.

Instantly as if something clicked in her mind, fear started seeping inside her heart. Am I pregnant?

No no no, this can't be!! I can't carry the child of a criminal who raped me and tortured me brutally. This can't be true! You're such Hallucinating things...she tried to console herself but as soon as the reality struck her, she felt her heartbeat stopping...

But my periods are fifteen days late!!!

Her eyes immediately widened in fear and her mind stopped processing anything. Shame on you for carrying the child of your rapist! This is not your child! Kill it! Kill it! What're you waiting for Aranya, just finish it! Don't forget that it contains his filthy blood in it...kill it now!!!

"AHH!!JUST SHUT UP!!!",she yelled loudly by keeping her palms over her ear to prevent herself from listening to her subconscious but they kept chanting inside her brain

When she couldn't stop the voices that kept getting louder and louder, she punched the mirror in aggression and immediately it dashed into pieces...

Her knuckles and palms got badly bruised but she didn't wince a little in pain. Instead she grabbed the broken piece of glass and sticking it near her radial artery she pressed it on her skin firmly ready to embrace death without thinking twice.

But before she could slice her wrist, the door immediately got opened with a loud bang and instantly a hand swiftly grabbed her trembling wrists, forcefully taking the broken piece of glass and throwing it away...

"Are you mad? What the hell were you tryin' to do? You're going to take your own life??",her teary brown orbs instantly met with the furious ones that was intensely glaring at her.

Seeing Akshat crouching so close to her while holding her wrists tightly in his iron like grip, she instantly started shaking and hyperventilating in fear and the hairs on the back of her neck stood erect in his presence.

Immediately panic started settling in her body and she started clawing his wrists terribly in defence to let get of her hand but he didn't...

"Pl-please leave m...me! L-let me die! I c-can't b...bear th-the pain of c-carrying m...my rap-rapist's ch...chi-child!",she finally pleaded breaking into loud sobs with tears glistening her eyelashes while on the other hand, Akshat went into utter shock.

His mind stopped processing anything and involuntarily, he left her wrists...He wasn't able to think straight!! His eyes immediately darted towards Aranya's crying face then trailing his gaze down towards her belly, he started staring at her belly with an unknown emotion flicking in his eyes. She's pregnant with that bastard's child?

The one whom he tortured with his own bare hands and handed over to the police. She's now become the mother of a child which contains the blood of her abuser?!

She immediately closed her eyes letting the hot tears of shame and disgust spill all over her cheeks...

Finding him lost in his thoughts, she found it an opportunity to kill herself and without wasting a second, she swiftly grabbed the mirror and as she was about to slice her wrists...

SLAP!!!

•

"Don't go, don't go to sleep! Don't go, stay up and don't go,

Tired of feelin' like I'm trapped in my damn mind

Tired of feelin' like I'm wrapped in a damn lie

Tired of feelin' like my life is a damn game

Nigga really wanna die in the night time"

Like and comment mochas :)