FF: The Beautiful and the Condemned (Completed) - Page 12

The next morning was a rough one. Rudra hadn't gotten any sleep after his confrontation with Parvati. The memories and pain flooded him all at once, and he did his best to erase it the only way he knew best: alcohol. He didn't drink himself into unconsciousness, but he was close. When Rudra woke up, his head was pounding, but he disregarded it as Parvati's words entered his mind once again. Immediately, he was filled with anger. Parvati wanted to hurt him, but he wasn't going to let that happen. If she wanted a fight, he'll give her a bloody war. Without changing out of his black t-shirt and jeans, he shot up from the bed and let the monster within him take over.

On the other hand, Parvati was exhausted. In the darkness, she wasn't sure if her eyes were closed, or if she was staring into the darkness around her. It was so cold. So cold. Her shoulders were still paining from the way the jallad forcefully grabbed her last night. Parvati remembered everything like it was etched into her mind, and the one thing that frightened her was the look in his eyes. It was a psychotic look, as if he would strangle her right then and there, as if he was ready to kill her in the most terrible way possible. She didn't know when she laid down against the cold floor, or when the tears had stopped. She felt that she could keep crying, but nothing would fall from her eyes. All Parvati could do know was let out a small whimper every now and then, whispering for Bholenath to protect her.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a door creak. It was the cellar door. Parvati then knew her eyes were closed, because she couldn't see the light coming from the ceiling. She tried opening her eyes, but the exhaustion was too strong. She continued to lay on the ground and waited for the jallad to come. She heard his voice.

"Wake up," he stated coldly.

Parvati stayed quiet and didn't move.

"Get up now."

She didn't move.

Rudra watched her laying on the ground for a few minutes. She was conscious, he could tell by the way she twitched her nose when he spoke. She was really trying to upset him now, and it was working. It wasn't smart to defy her captor. He never repeated orders, and here he was already commanding her twice with no response. He had already angered him with her comments yesterday, and now her actions weren't improving the situation. Tense, Rudra went back upstairs and came back a few minutes later with a bucket filled with ice cold water. Without giving it a second thought, he dumped the water onto Parvati, making shoot up like a missile.

To say she was shocked would be an understatement. She didn't think she had energy, but apparently the coldness of the water must've given her a certain adrenaline rush if she was able to go from fatigued to hyper. The coldness seeping through her clothes made her feel like she was thrown into the ice waters near the North Pole. Parvati looked up at Rudra to see him holding the bucket. He was still upset, she could see it clear as day. She tried to wipe her face, but she with her hands cuffed behind her back, she was helpless.

She observed him as he walked over to the table to place the bucket on it. From there, he also picked up a silver plate. She knew there was food in, the aromatic smell of sabzi and roti overwhelmed her senses. Parvati was surprised that he brought her food, especially after their argument yesterday. Then it dawned on her that he may have done something to the food. It was quite possible, after all, she had practically given him the idea when they first met. Rudra put the phone down in front of her, and without uttering another word, unchained her hands from behind her. Now, Parvati had the ability to move her hands freely, but they were still cuffed. Parvati rubbed her arms as she felt a surge of pain as she was finally able to move them around. She then brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, trying to warm herself up from the unannounced shock of coldness that had been thrown at her just moments ago.

Rudra looked down at her indifferently, "Eat."

Paro turned her head away from him, "No."

"You really want to start this again?"

Her teeth clattered, but she refused to answer.

"If you don't eat, you'll die."

"Wh-why d-does it m-m-matter t-to you if I live o-or d-die?

"It's important you stay alive. If you die earlier than planned, I could lose my job."

"S-so I-I have to w-ait for y-you to kill me?"

"And believe me, when I do...I will make you regret ever picking a fight with me."

Parvati, still shivering, finally looked into Rudra's eyes. He stood rooted in his spot as he saw the innocence within her eyes. The innocence...and the willpower that never seemed to falter even towards the man she called the jallad. Those hazel orbs, which seemed magnified in size by her tears, still held onto the determination within her. He could clearly that that if she lost that, Parvati would break. Rudra should've been thinking of ways to break down that resolve, but instead he was lost in those hazel eyes.

"Why should I give you the satisfaction of killing me?" she asked softly.

Rudra didn't respond.

"You have no answer?"

Rudra watched as she squinted her eyes at him. He was about to kneel down to her eye level, but what Parvati said next shook him to the core.

"What I said yesterday...it bothered you."

He froze like a statue. He couldn't believe what she was doing. She...was reading him like had done to her the very first day. And from the looks of it, Parvati was reading him like a book.

"It's still bothering you," she said softly.

"You don't know anything," Rudra retorted defensively. "Stop trying to think you understand me because you don't! Don't forget, you're a prisoner here, and you will be until your last breath."

Parvati's eyes widened.

"It seems like you don't understand your place, Parvati. If you don't want to eat, then don't. Sit alone in the dark and starve for all I care."

"How can you be such a jallad?"

Rudra didn't respond to her. Instead, he marched his way back upstairs. He shut the cellar doors and made his way out of his home. He was so furious that he couldn't even stand to be near her at the moment. Rudra needed a walk to calm himself down. His blood was boiling in his veins. He couldn't believe what was happening. This prisoner was trying to act as though she understood him?! She knew nothing about him, what he had gone through, or who he was. Yet, she was trying to understand him, her own captor...why? It was probably because she wanted to weaken him so she could find a chance to escape. Well, if that's what Parvati was planning, then she was going to be disappointed. No one has ever broken Rudra, and no one ever will. A little more than a week was left. Whether Varun returned the money or not didn't matter. Rudra was going to kill Parvati, and he wouldn't even hesitate.

Suddenly, her voice echoed in his ears, almost as if she was there next to him, whispering in her ear. How could a mother and father raise a monster like you? What would they say if they saw this-. Rudra felt the scabs of his wounds being picked away at slowly. He couldn't even find the words to describe how he felt. It was just a mix of rage and pain. He wanted to hurt her, break her, but then her words were ringing in his ears, causing him to stop. If she hadn't said those words, Rudra most likely would have let her starve today, but his conscience decided to peek its eyes open to tell him that something wasn't right.

By the time Rudra returned home, it was nearly dark. He contemplated whether or not he should go down into the cellar. He knew that if he said something about his parents again, about him again, he wouldn't hesitate to render her unconscious. What bothered him more was that there was something poking at his insides when he thought about hurting Parvati. Never had he once felt this odd pin-like poking, so why now? He shook the hesitation out of his body. Don't let her words get to you, he thought mentally. She's just a prisoner, her words don't matter. A dying person's words never matter. With this in mind, Rudra pulled open the cellar doors and made his way back down to confront her.

The light was already on as he hadn't turned it off when he left. His eyes caught a glimpse of her as he descended the stairs. She was laying on her side on the ground with her eyes closed. Even though he was a few yards away, Rudra could hear the sound of her teeth clattering softly. She was shivering. Although he was wearing his leather jacket, he could feel the cold of the concrete walls closing in. It was like being in a large freezer. Because today was a cool, cloudy day, there wasn't enough warmth to seep through into the cellar, making it much colder than usual. Rudra smirked thinking that the cold may have helped her come to her senses and not argue with him.

The smirk and victorious feeling began fading as Rudra moved closer to her. As the light hit her face, Rudra saw that the once pink-tinted face was now pale. Her body was as white as snow, and she was shivering. Her hair was a mangled mess, and her clothes were clinging to her body. He knelt down in front of her. Even in her sleep, she would move away from him, but this time she didn't. Rudra felt his heart pound loudly in his chest as he slowly extended his hand to touch her head.

Rudra frowned, "Parvati ge-."

He was unable to complete his sentence. The second Rudra touched Parvati's forehead he retracted his hand back in shock. She was burning up. He sat dumbstruck. How in the world had she gotten sick?! Then, like lightning, it struck him. Rudra leaned in closer and touched the sleeve of her choli. It was freezing cold and still wet. Of course, he had dumped ice water on her this morning. Her clothes weren't able to dry properly because of the freezing temperature of the cellar. On top of that, she hadn't eaten or drank properly since she had arrived. Parvati was so hell bent on fighting with him that she was willing to put her own health at risk. Rudra sat silently for a minute, contemplating what he should do. Should he let her die? She was going to die anyways, the jallad in him reasoned. At least there won't be any blood this time. You could watch her suffer for a few days. Rudra was agreeing with the jallad in him, until an unexpected voice took a different stance in his mind. He couldn't believe it...it was Parvati's voice. What would your parents have done if they found out what you've done, her voice asked softly. Would they be proud to know that their son let a woman suffer? Would they rejoice knowing their son watched a woman slowly, mercilessly die?

At that moment, something snapped within Rudra Pratap Ranawat. He quickly got up and ran back upstairs, only to return a few minutes later with a metal bin, some rags, his black kurta and pants, some lighting fluid, and matches. Rudra quickly put the bin near Parvati, but not too close. He took some rags dumped them in the bin, then pour lighting fluid in the bin, making sure the cloths were fully soaked in it. He lit a few matches and tossed them in the bin, within two minutes a large fire was ignited in the metal bin.

Then, Rudra turned to Parvati, with the next task in mind. He grabbed his black kurta and pants and knelt down next to her. He placed his clothes on the floor and pulled her to sit up, despite the temperature of her skin against his. Her head was lazily dangling as she was slowly slipping in and out of consciousness. Rudra knew he had to be quick. He held her shoulder with one hand, and patted her face with the other to try to get her to open her eyes.

"Parvati," he said, concern laced in his voice. "Open your eyes."

Her glazed eyes opened slowly and focused on the blurry image of Rudra before her, "Hmm?"

"Listen, you need to stay awake for a few minutes. Your clothes are still wet. You need to change out of them. Here are some clothes. Change now, then you can sleep. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Parvati looked at the clothes, then back at him and nodded her head very slowly. Rudra handed her the clothes and went back upstairs to give her a few moments of privacy. Why he gve her privacy, he did not know. Why he didn't just change her himself, he did not know. All his mind was focused on was Parvati, making sure her condition didn't worsen. He went to his cupboard and grabbed a large, thick blanket from it. Then, he went into his bathroom and grabbed a towel. Rudra went back down to the cellar, and found that she had changed her clothes.

His black kurta and pants were large on her. The bottom of the pants were bunched up, and the sleeves completely covered her hands. Her clothes lay in a pile next to her. She was laying back down on the ground, almost in a fetal position, to stay warm. Parvati had scooted a little closer to the small fire Rudra had created. The shivering seemed to have calmed significantly, as he could no longer hear the sound of her teeth clicking together. Rudra knelt back down next to her and covered her with the blanket. She instantly grabbed it and wrapped herself in it, trying to warm up. He quickly took the towel and dried her hair before observing her again. He could still see that she was coming in and out of consciousness, but when he touched her head he found that it wasn't as hot as before. She was getting better, but with the cold continuing to creep in, the rest of the night was going to be difficult.

Parvati peeked her eyes opened as she stared at her caretaker. Even though she recognized the blurry figure as her captor, she didn't move away from his touch. Because of her state, she was unsure if what was happening was real or just a hallucination. She was dazed. In a soft tone, Parvati called for him, "Jallad?"

Rudra paused as he looked at her. His hand didn't leave her forehead, but his eyes locked with hers. His heart pounded loudly in his chest, unbeknownst to him why. His hard expression unconsciously softened as her hazel eyes met his molten brown ones. Parvati called for him. The way she called him a jallad was almost...endearing. It wasn't the cruel taunt, but an innocent cry. It was as if she was calling him for comfort. It was as if...Parvati was calling for him...to make sure he would be there...by her.

Unfamiliar with the protocol of caretaking, Rudra did what felt natural. Without a hint of anger in his voice, he gently patted her forehead and said softly but firmly, "You'll be fine. Get some rest."

For the first time in his life, Rudra didn't heed the jallad's words. He hadn't noticed the sudden, unprecedented change in his behavior because he was only focused on one being...Parvati. Like a prowling lion, he guarded her that night, checking on her temperature every hour, making sure she was warm, making sure the fire never went out. Rudra didn't leave the cellar once. Even as sleep overcame him, Rudra was asleep on the stairs leading out of the cellar, his body still facing her. She was not treated like a guilty prisoner that night, but instead she was treated...as Parvati, the woman who had, unintentionally, managed to take the first step in meeting the human underneath the jallad.

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