Till Human Voices Wake Us: Last Part: Page 175

Till Human Voices Wake Us

A short series where in characterization of Maan and Geet aren't canon.

Maan here is ACP - Assistant Commissioner of Police who starts investigating a case in which Geet is closely associated with the victim. As the case unfolds, hidden relationships, buried pasts and thinly veiled deceits are revealed.

Index:

Chapter 1 - Page 1
Chapter 2 - Page 4
Chapter 3 - Page 6
Chapter 4 - Page 9
Chapter 5 - Page 12
Chapter 6 - Page 17
Interlude I - Page 23
Chapter 7 - Page 27
Chapter 8 - Page 31
Chapter 9 - Page 34
Interlude II - Page 37
Chapter 10 - Page 40
Chapter 11 - Page 43
Chapter 12 - Page 48
Chapter 13 - Page 52
Chapter 14 - Page 56
Murder board added - Page 59
Chapter 15 - Page 61
Interlude III - Page 66
Chapter 16 - Page 69
Chapter 17 - Page 76
Chapter 18 - Page 80
Chapter 19 - Page 84
Chapter 20 - Page 87
Chapter 21 - Page 90
Chapter 22 - Page 94
Chapter 23 - Page 101
Interlude IV - Page 106
Chapter 24 - Page 109
Chapter 25 - Page 114
Chapter 26 - Page 119
Interlude V - Page 121
Chapter 27 - Page 125
Chapter 28 - Page 129
Chapter 29 - Page 136
Chapter 30 - Page 144
Chapter 31 (Last) - Page 144

The series ends in Chapter 31. And following chapters are pages ripped from Geet's personal diary.

Sublime I - Page 160
Sublime II - Page 162
Sublime III - Page 167
Sublime IV - Page 173
Sublime V - Page 175


New characters:

Inspector Satya: Played by Sushant Singh. Satya was his name in the movie "Samay" and the way he uses "sir ji" is similar to how Satya addressed his boss - Sushmita Sen as "Madam ji". All the mannerisms of this Satya is borrowed from Samay.



Doctor Vic: Again from "Samay". Except for how I have pictured him, everything else is original.



Emily: Emily Prentess from Criminal Minds.



Mal: She was "Mal" in the movie Inception. Played by incredibly talented and wonderful actress - Marion Cotillard.



The Killer: (Just for kicks 😆 and I happen to like the guy in this picture)



The black vase: Chinese roses blossom with pink enchantment over the dark, warm grain of a mango wood vase.

Chapter 1:

She picked up another tissue from the box and wiped her tears. Once she cleaned up her tears, she splashed a dollop of Dettol hand sanitizer on her palm and vigorously rubbed her palms together. Once satisfied with hygiene factor being met, she reached for the tub of ice-cream. She sniffled as Julia Roberts apologized to Cameron Diaz on screen and broke into a wan smile when they hugged each other.

She frowned when the doorbell rang. She checked her watch. It was quarter to eight. Her roommate had texted her earlier in the evening saying that she wouldn't be coming in before midnight. She peeked into eye-hole and saw a familiar face. She smiled involuntarily as she opened the door.

She opened the door and started chattering about the movie she was watching, bad traffic, late monsoon, Rahul Gandhi and her hardworking roommate. She poured a glass of wine for herself and for her evening company and placed it on the table.

"Can I have a glass of water first?" The question came in a soft voice.

"I'll get it", she said and walked back to kitchen.

Once she came and handed over glass of water, she continued talking about the wine and the cheese her roommate had recently purchased. She sipped on wine with fine elegance and was being a good hostess.

Ten minutes later it had begun. It was an odd tingly feeling that started out just below her eyebrow. She felts her eyelids were terribly heavy and fought very hard to keep them open. A panic settled in her stomach and her eyes fixed on the person who was calmly sipping wine. She felt her limbs had turned to rubber and there was a continuous buzz hammering in her head. She saw the person break into a wan smile as she succumbed to welcoming darkness.

And that was the last thing she ever saw.

-- Around 2 AM --

She dragged her feat as she opened door to her flat and switched on the hallway lights. The conference call with the customers had taken longer than expected and her team had moaned in agony when their boss made them document meeting minutes and asked her to re-validate proposal estimates. She was an IT engineer by profession and coming home late was an unwritten clause in the contract with her employer. She didn't mind too much as they paid her well and the quarterly perks were also decent.

She tiptoed through the drawing room and softly opened her room door. She fell on her bed without bothering to change or even drop her handbag. The soft comforter smelled of the luxurious sleep to come and rest her lower back was demanding for.

And then she saw.

She broke into a big smile seeing a glass of hot chocolate and two cookies on her bedside table. The glass had lost the initial heat and it was now just warm. She thought of going to her roommate's room and surprising her with a shriek and a hug but decided against it after seeing the time. It was too late for theatrics. She sighed and got ready for bed. Thankfully it was already Saturday meaning she could sleep in late.

-- Morning, 8 AM --

She hated it when she got up early on a weekend. She finally gave up trying to sleep as too much of tossing and turning had only made her lower back ache even more. She decided to cook breakfast for Anjali, her roommate, to thank her for the hot chocolate. It was little after eight in morning meaning Anjali would be in the process getting ready for work and she still had ample amount of time to whip something up. She was surprised at the stillness in her house when she tumbled out of her bedroom. There was no Anjali bustling around nor were there any sound coming from her room.

Could she have left already? She thought. But as she neared kitchen counter, she could see Anjali's copy of house and car keys set lying which meant she was still in the house. Maybe she really did oversleep. Or maybe she didn't have to go to work that day and that's why she was oversleeping? She sighed. She decided to check on her once anyway. Prevention was better and all right?

There was no response from her room when she knocked. She opened the door and saw that Anjali was still in bed. Curtains were drawn in and her room was dark.

"Anjali, are you not going to work today? It's already 8", she said drawing out the curtains with one hand and balancing a glass of water in another.

"Anjali, really..." Her breath caught in her throat when she Anjali looking at her with eyes wide open. She dropped the glass of water in haste and her heart hammered in her chest when she saw the cold look in her roommate's eyes.

"Anjali", she whispered and moved her comforter slowly away from Anjali's torso.

She screamed at the sight of Anjali's bloody upper body and screamed continually for next four minutes.

-- Later --

"Who is the victim Satya?" The Assistant Commissioner of Police asked the inspector walking into the house and slipping in on a pair of gloves.

"Jai Hind Sir ji. Anjali Dwivedi, age twenty-seven, worked as a personal shopped in a high end boutique. She lives in this house with her roommate", Inspector Satya gave very brief info on the victim.

"A roommate? Where is she now?" His boss, asked.

"She is at a neighbors. She is pretty shaken up as she discovered the victim this morning. As per the people next door, she didn't stop shivering and mumbling for at least thirty minutes." Satya diligently reported.

"I would like to meet her first and then go to crime scene. I hope crime scene is still in intact shape and not contaminated, right Satya?" Satya didn't miss the gentle warning underlying his boss's words. He withheld the urge to roll his eyes.

"Of course sir, I will take you to her. Crime scene is preserved in perfect condition sir", he replied walking towards the door.

The two men walked around handful of people - forensics, additional support from police department and few men from local hospital. The next door neighbors gave them worried look when they asked for the woman who also lived in that house. The not-so-warm welcome made them share a rueful look. Neither liked this part of the investigation.

"My name is Maan Singh Khurana and I am the Assistant Commissioner of Police."

"I am Geet Handa. Anjali's roommate."

To be continued.

Very interesting start. Would love to read more.

congrats !!!!!! on new one ...

Hey

ii's really a very interesting concept...
would love to read more...
plzzz cont. soon...
and add me in ur pm list too...
take care...🤗

"The more you read, The more you know. The more you know, The smarter you grow. The smarter you grow, The stronger your voice, When speaking your mind, Or making a choice"

~Your bookmarked!

wow!!

I loved the beginning. A familiar face? Who poisoned Anjali? Can't wait to read more. It's times like these when I wish this was a book, not an an FF, so I could keep reading. Thanks for the PM!