#1 ArShi SS: The Dark Silhouette ||New thread link: Page 152|| - Page 3

Khushi Kumari Gupta stepped out of the college building holding Gauri's hand in hers. Both of them were happily chatting away, discussing about where to go next. Today was their farewell function, the last day at college, and unlike other girls who decided to stay back and cry hugging each other while bidding goodbyes, these two decided to make their way out from all the melodrama and gulp down some ice cream at the parlour that was fifteen minutes away from college. Both of them were busy giggling to something that made sense only to the two of them. As they descended the steps, Gauri froze for a moment. When Khushi saw her go rigid, she followed her gaze, only to turn several shades pale. She saw the black SUV outside the college gate, again. "Ignore and keep walking. Don't look in that direction" Khushi said and Gauri nodded.

The black SUV with tinted glasses had been following Khushi since a month now. She did not know since when she was being followed, but the first time she noticed the vehicle was when she was returning home from the local library. The vehicle had followed the auto-rickshaw all the way till home. And Khushi would not have even noticed the car, if the locality of her residence wasn't so lonely. So it hadn't really been a herculean task for her to guess that she was being shadowed so closely. What followed was even more shocking. One day, when she was walking out from college, a man in a black suit and sunglasses had come up to her and handed her an envelope, telling her that his boss had given it to her. When she opened it, she saw a stack of photographs in it. What was more appalling to her was that it all belonged to her. Candid pictures of her laughing, chatting, smiling, frowning, eating and so on. One of them was clicked when she was standing in the balcony of her house. And that was when she realized she was not just being followed, but was being stalked.

She did want to speak it out to her parents. But her Mother would only blame her for it. "You only must have given a cause for that person to follow you" she would say. However, when she spoke it out to her Dad, he said, "Don't be silly Khushi! It must be one of your college mates playing a prank on you. Moreover, I am not a millionaire for people to stalk you. I am a simple lecturer who earns his bread for his family. Your mother is a housewife who gives tuitions to children from high school. We are not royalty for someone to stalk you. Get all these weird things out of your head and focus on your studies" She knew her Dad's words made sense, but there was some unsettling feeling bothering her. As far as she knew, none of her friends would do that to her. When she had spoken to Gauri, she asked her to ignore the person. "Stop reacting to him, and he will give up!" And that was what Khushi did. She ignored the person, the photographs and the whole situation. However, that did not stop that black SUV from following her.

Presently, Khushi's heart thudded when she walked on the pavement along with Gauri. Taking huge steps, she almost ran into the ice cream parlour. When she looked around, she did not see the car anywhere close. Breathing a sigh of relief, she talked to Gauri. After a few minutes, she was happily chatting and relishing the ice cream that she had ordered.

Once done, they bid goodbye and decided to meet at Gauri's place, soon. Khushi boarded the local bus and was on her way home. Once she reached the bus stop closest to her house, she got off. The sight of the black SUV parked a few feet from her house was a nightmare to her. There was no way she could ignore this anymore. And she knew that going back was not an option. Where could she go? And so, gathering all of her courage, she walked into the lane. In quick strides, she reached the gate of her house. As she was about to go inside, the car flickered its lights. Khushi froze into a block of ice. The car flickered its lights again, and then the door of the driver's side opened.

Khushi felt her heart would stop beating. The man in a black suit got off the vehicle and leaned against the door. Pulling out a cigarette, he smoked rings into the air. She did not know if the man was looking at her since he had his sunglasses on. Strange, she thought. Even when it was slightly dark and there was no sun, this man wore his glasses. She frowned when she saw him standing still, doing nothing at all, except smoking rings into the air. Maybe he wasn't such a psycho after all! She took a deep breath. There was no point in running away. Today, she would talk to him, find out what his problem is and shoo him away. And if things would turn ugly, she always had her trust-worthy pepper-spray and a pen knife in her bag.

She noticed the man straighten up when she approached him. Taking a deep breath, she spoke up mildly. "I've noticed that you have been following me since a month. I do not know what you want, but please stop all this. You've been sending me my pictures, candid ones, and that is really creepy." The man said nothing, but continued smoking. "Hello?" she waved her hand in front of his glasses. "I am talking to you!" she said as she felt her ire rising. Then, almost raising her voice several decibels higher, she screamed, "Why are you stalking me?" And at that precise moment, the back door of the car opened. The man smoking threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it, dousing it off, and rushed to hold the door open to the person who was getting down.

Khushi's jaw hung open when she saw the man getting out. Tall, well-built and dead-drop handsome. He was too damn handsome for his own good, and the arrogant smile on his lips told her that he knew too well about his charisma and charming looks. He stood in front of her in a three-piece suit and sun-shades. What was with the obsession about sunglasses, she thought. He took off his glasses and looked straight into her eyes. She saw that his eyes were pale green. The ones that could even melt frozen steel. The man who was smoking a few seconds back, closed the door and slid into the driver's seat after bowing at this man.

"He wasn't stalking you. He, being my driver, was just following my orders" The man spoke in an authoritative voice. That voice was so powerful that it demanded respect. He seemed to have an aura of power around him. Khushi took two steps back when he took a step forward, and that amused him. The haughty smile on his face returned and he took another step forward, while she took two more steps back. This went on until she felt the cold cement wall against the back, and she had nowhere else to run. He placed his hands on the wall on either sides of her waist, blocking any escape route for her.

Leaning into her, he inhaled her feminine scent. A mix of honey, lavender and citrus. And he loved it well. "Your hair smells good" he said, causing her eyes to widen. Her jaw dropped when he said, "Do you smell this good, all over?" God alone knew from where she gathered the strength and courage, but she pushed him away with all her might, causing him to take a step back. "How dare you?" she squawked at him and expected him to flare up with equal rage. Instead he stood about two feet away from her, looking on in sly gaiety. She turned to leave, but he caught hold of her arm and pulled her towards himself, crashing her soft frame into his huge, hard one in the process. No matter how much she struggled to get out of his strong hold, she just could not.

After several attempts of tussling out of his grip, she gave up. Weakly she looked up at his face and he smirked at her. "I like the fire in you. Very captivating" he said in his deep, bold voice. Trying to free herself from him, she grappled again. "What do you want?" she screamed out at him. "Now we're talking" he grinned like a Cheshire cat, almost frightening her. Bending down to her ears, he whispered, "Sleep with me" His words almost sent her into a trauma for a whole minute and he felt her body shiver. Khushi felt a cold dread creep up her spine with what he just said. She leaned back and looked at his face. He was not amused at all. In fact, he was quite serious about what he just said. "What. Did. You. Just. Say?" she asked him in an undertone. He looked at her with a conceited simper. "You heard me clear. I said, Sleep with me. And if you did not understand, let me elaborate. I want to ravish your body, thoroughly" Khushi was completely anaesthetic for a minute or two, until she let the meaning of his words hit her. "f**k off, you bas***d!" she screeched at him, and his grin grew wider. "Oh Khushi Kumari Gupta, a sweet little mouth like yours shouldn't swear. Your mouth must be used only for something pleasantly pleasurable, something like this..." And with no warning, he leaned into her, placing his lips on hers. Even though his hands gripped her like steel, his lips fell soft on hers. Khushi felt tears in her eyes. She tried to move, but he held her firmly, not allowing her to move. She felt disgust in the pit of her stomach and bile rising in her throat. She was on the verge of being raped, that too in front of her own house. The man pulled away and looked at her. She had tears streaming down her cheek. He wiped one cheek with his finger, and another with the back of his hand.

Suddenly, he left her and stood away, still smiling, completely unashamed at his barbaric behaviour. She caressed her hand where an imprint of his hands made a light bruise. "You jerk!" she screamed and raised her hand to slap him. An in a flash of a second, her hand was against his cheek. She slapped him so hard, that she felt her own hand burn, but it hardly made a difference to him, except for a tilt of his face by a few degrees. Crying uncontrollably at what just happened, Khushi ran inside without turning back. He stood watching her retreating figure and smiled as he caressed his cheek that was just slapped. "At least, you touched me" he whispered with a grin. And then, his smile vanished. "You just made me want you more than ever, Khushi Kumari Gupta. And I swear, I will make you mine. For, Arnav Singh Raizada always gets anything that he sets his sight on. And you, sweetheart, are mine. Only mine. Whether you like it, or not!"