COMPLETE#T2:ArHi FF:Wicked Wings|LAST CH+EPILOGUE| Link on Pg 1|May 11 - Page 28

Can the ravine current turn back

The many memories that it witnessed,

The core of all beliefs that existed

The ones which were always tested.

With the dash of darkness that succumbs

To the wicked and gory history

Has there existed ever a dimension

Far away from the deafening mystery?

Do we accept this as reality?

When the dark clouds tell otherwise.

Can we sustain the deadly hailstorm?

When trust dies a slow demise?

My beliefs shaped me.

They rendered me to the point of who I am as I stand here today.

Yet I don't know what to believe in anymore.

The dark days were etched since the time I first set my foot in this world, because for people like us, choices never existed. And ruling out the possibility of its existence thoroughly, whatever remained, only a little of that could be conquered by us. Although for the onlookers, out kind was always a gift from the mighty, reality was far different than they could have ever envisioned.

If a child's mind is as dynamic as water that takes the shape of any container, what different was it ever for even someone like me? The one who only craved for love, affection, nothing more, nothing less.

But if any of the word stood true from that sentence, it was only one. Nothing.

But I am glad it doesn't feel daunting anymore.

Having your entire family massacred at the hands of the evil is no new story, but even then, for each of those people who actually faced it, the evil, the battle, the bloodshed, it was always like living the nightmare, over and over again.

There could never be an end to it.

Or so I thought.

When Ralph Sciarrone had found me and taken me into his home, invited me into his life, and made me a new member in his family, I had only too little gratitude to show.

I don't know if I can ever redeem myself for the zilch compassion I ever showed to the man who did so much for me, but how can I ever deny that I have been a man long dead, ever since the moment my family was brutally killed.

All that remained of me though that was passed on to me from one generation to another, as a legacy was only one thing.

Knowledge.

And that was invincible.

And with that knowledge, came power, responsibilities, and along with that, a cauldron of resentment.

For the Avizhas.

.

.

If mercy was a word, the Avizhas didn't have literacy.

If empathy was a feeling, the Avizhas didn't have a heart.

If humanity was a truth, then the Avizhas didn't have a soul.

And neither did she.

Meredith.

.

I had lived so many years of my life after that massacre, my heart and soul playing only one thing in a loop.

All the massacres caused by the Avizhas, and from where it all started.

Each inch of that coven spoke of only one thing and that was the dark souls that each one of those people possessed, that knew only how to shed innocent blood, just because they didn't have any other vessel to toy with their jaded reality.

But in all of them, if I despised someone the most, it's only and only Meredith.

.

.

Someone who could kill her own.

Someone who could betray for power.

Someone who felt nothing but power.

M E R E D I T H.

She defined the epitome of hate for me. And there was Aloysius of course.

A power monger who could stoop to the lowest of the lows to achieve immortality.

It was on his order that my family was taken away from me, yet I never knew why my hatred had only grown in multitudes for Meredith more, when I had never seen her for real, but only in visions from the past century.

As if those visions had become a carving on a stone, giving me that excruciating pain and urge of going against all boundaries and letting that fire in my head end for good, but no matter how hard I tried, the fire would still say.

Burning.

Churning.

Inside me.

Something I wish I could bury in the moon dust, but I could not.

Yet I tried.

Tried with all my will, all my power to have those visions of her killings from the past not ruin my sanity, my present.

With Ralph and Aaron around me, perhaps it became a tad bit easier, yet the unwarranted visions of those killings hardly ever left me. Still I tried.

My admission to the South Eastern Verman College was something I was extremely sanguine about, and to me it was a much needed change and beginning of a new beginning, or so I thought.

When Ralph intimated me about the wrong publishing in the newspaper for our upcoming event, I had dodged his query and asked Aaron to take care of it.

But somewhere, a small part of me felt ounces of eeriness as I heard Aaron talk to Ralph and then get ready to take off to the Verman Times Association office.

A conundrum so grave had clouded me so bad, that I was hardly aware of what could be the end of it. And in no time, my senses had prompted me to do something I never thought I would do less than a minute ago.

'Hey Aaron? You heading to the publishing place, right? Mind if I come?''

'Dude! Why do you even need to ask! Of course, you can come with me. Let's go!''

.

And we had taken off.

Hardly aware of the fact that we were going to come face to face with our worst nightmare. A nightmare we thought existed only in theory.

About deadringers.

Doppelgangers.

Until of course, I saw her.

.

.

Could rage ever be so endless, like the oceans that subjugate this earth?

Could hatred ever be so deep, that its semblance seems a little too uncanny?

Could a dilemma be so strong, that you feel like wreaking havoc on this planet?

.

I felt all of that.

The moment I saw her.

.

If nightmares could turn real, I felt it then.

If beauty could be deceiving, I felt it then.

If history could repeat itself, I felt it then.

The surge of anger and recollection of the evil from the past had struck me like a thunder as I had watched her look at me.

Her hazel orbs, pale white snowy skin, and petite frame, making every frame from my nightmares, the fire, the agony, the cruelty, turn true in just flesh and blood.

.

Yes, she was beautiful.

Yes, she looked scared.

Yes, she looked intimidated by the way I looked at her.

And yes, she was hurt when I manhandled her.

Yet I didn't care.

I vowed to not care.

It was her.

Meredith.

Wasn't she?

.

I never boasted of my powers, neither did I use it where it wasn't required, but in that one moment, I felt like being an outlaw. I felt that breaking all rules, all laws was never going to have me rebuked if I could wipe off the abomination that Meredith and the Avizhas were on this planet.

And I would have.

Killed her.

Had Aaron not intervened.

.

.

He saved her life.

While I stood there, my hatred for her quadrupling incessantly with each tick that the wall clock in the room made and my eyes refused to blink, taking in the full fledged sight of the atrocious entity that the girl was.

Khushi Elise Vermount.

.

.

The enunciation of those three words from her name came as a slap of reality on my face, as Aaron warned me while we entered the elevator.

'WHAT WERE YOU THINKING ARNAV? THE GIRL IS A LOOK ALIKE! It's NOT Meredith!''

He had helplessly gritted through his teeth after he saw my behavior with her moments ago, and before I could even process anything further, the doors of the elevator closed, but not before letting her tear-filled hazel eyes and intimidated face flash before my eyes. A sight that I never knew was all set to haunt me for the days to come.

.

.

Whoever said learning was difficult, never knew what unlearning was all about.

Because when you learn, you come with a blank canvas, and start a new painting, where you create a new story, with new turns, new developments.

But when you unlearn, it is like forgetting the valuable painting that you had so difficultly created, with all your passion, effort and sweat, and erasing it all for starting something anew.

It's harder than one can ever think.

And the same thing happened with my belief that night, when our clan sat together to discuss the very same entity who had effortlessly pricked my mind since the last five days that I had seen her.

Khushi Elise Vermount.

Granddaughter of Amelia Vermount, but a descendant of Meredith.

The same Meredith who was responsible for a lot of ruins of so many of us today.

'She is NOT Meredith, Andrew.''

'That doesn't mean she wouldn't become Meredith as time passes. It's her blood that runs in her after all.''

'Don't forget that Amelia too was a part of that family and she has contributed a lot to our kind. She was nothing remotely close to her ancestor.''

'Doesn't mean that Khushi won't be.''

.

That night was all about verbal arguments, contradicting, backing up, all about what and who this Khushi Vermount would be.

Amid all this, I could hardly care about the debacles, for in my mind, there was a new nightmare that had started hindering my sleep.

Those tear-filled hazel eyes.

.

Why was the fire gone?

I thought I could make peace with it.

Why was the pain gone?

I thought I could live with it.

But those eyes, that hurt, those tears..

I knew they were going to be the death of me.

And I barely knew that my presumption was only going to turn into a living reality, the day I saw her at the cemetery, placing flowers on the grave of her late father.

.

.

I knew she had seen me, but her illusory mind was too weak to conclude it for real that I was there.

I hated it.

Seeing her with all the unceremonious anger bubbling inside of me, for reasons quite conspicuous due to the nightmares I had so closely lived with all these years, where her face, her hands had claimed the lives of so many innocents and ended their lives as if they had no value.

A part of me constantly whispered, 'It wasn't her.''

But I still chose to shun it off and cloud it with that budding rage in me for her that had conspired since day one that I had met her.

That day, maybe I would have confronted her, hurt her, ended her, had that one thing not come to my notice.

Her necklace.

.

She had run away from that cemetery hastily, but in the process I knew she had lost something precious to her.

From grimoires and journals, all that I had known of that simple silver-ruby embedded necklace was the fact that it was a purity necklace for witches, that is passed from one generation to another, and if you ever sin, the necklace would never stay in contact with your skin and it will burn you.

So the fact that it was with her all this while was an alarming announcement that she was not even remotely close to her sinister ancestor.

And although this fact was proven long ago during the arguments we had back at our mansion with the clan, to me it was yet another reminder that perhaps my anger and hatred for her was unjust.

Yet I didn't want that realization to take over, because my life had always been one way. Even a little care turned toxic and in the end, it was always my soul that burnt.

And this time, I was not going to let it happen.

Little did I know that what I was thinking was going to be the beginning of a new beginning for me, was also going to have her, as an unwarranted guest.

South Eastern Verman College.

.

.

It was difficult.

Very, very difficult to pretend like I hadn't seen her.

To pretend that I was with Judith, when I was only acting for her own reasons.

But I wanted that pretense to look real. For her, or myself, I don't know.

I tried hard, but even in that spree, I did notice the naivety she had in her, the way every pairs of eyes of the guys darted at her, whenever she spoke something, the way her cheeks so easily flashed scarlet, as if she owned the color, and of course her accomplice who never left her said, Mason.

.

.

It got far too worse when I could read her thoughts every time I stood around her, and for me it was the first time I had access to the power, because everyone else among us always adapted to the shielding spell. But this girl..

Her thoughts were loud and clear and had not even an iota, an inkling of the world that she really belonged to, and that's when I knew..

She had no idea, who she was.

.

But why did it matter to me?

Of what she knew, what she didn't.

What she felt, what she didn't.

What she did, and what she didn't.

But it did.

It did.

.

The night I saw her dancing close with Mason Sean.

On Fresher's Eve.

.

.

Something felt like a pinch of salt being splashed all over my wounds, when I witnessed her standing close to that guy friend of hers, who had his hands roaming all across her body.

I could feel bile rise in my throat and the worst was yet to come, and so it did, when he lifted her off the ground, twirling her like she belonged to him. Like hell I would let it happen!

But before I could put the quick-paced surge of anger from within to the outside, Judith had held my hand tight and that's when I noticed the lights flicker a little and I knew immediately at that moment what damage my negative energy could actually cause in that room full of people. And so I did the only thing I could do.

I left.

But I was never at peace.

Hours passed by, the party was long ever, and everyone had left, yet I had come back.

The reason even I didn't know.

But maybe it was what it had to be like.

That night I knew some members of our cult were performing the ritual to find leads on the Avizhas in one corner of the college, but what I didn't know was the fact that she was going to come back to the college.

For what, I had no idea.

It was only when I saw her, rushing towards the restroom and coming out with her cell phone in her hand, that I realized she must have forgotten it. But my premonitions showed me the worst, because that night in the ritual, even Andrew was present, and I knew it quite clearly that if given a chance, he would outrightly try to harm her.

Harm Khushi..

And that thought could never settle with me.

Me being with her was earnestly important at that time, but I knew the stubborn lady she was, she would never let me have her way with him, and so I had to do what I could do.

I forced her.

I clutched her arms and didn't let her go, till the cold rain waters dampened her fiery essence and she fainted into my arms like a fragile doll.

That day for the first time, I saw her innocence. I felt her purity.

And if not anything else, I never wanted anyone else to have their right over her. To touch her.

She was not to be touched by anyone else.

Other than me.

.

.

And so when her best friend Rebecca volunteered Khushi's name for the Salsa duet, I could never let anyone else pair up with her.

It had to be me.

.

.

The rest was history.

Seeing her embrace her reality, our reality, was perhaps the most difficult yet the beautiful part of our beginning of existing together.

It amused me seeing how even the littlest of the things from our world could spark her eyes and lift her spirits, when all of it in my life could never manage to fill the biggest void that my biological family's death left me with.

But she was hope.

She was magic.

And her fire, magic, and innocence, together made me look at everything in a different light.

Seeing her transition from the nave girl to the empowered lady was daunting as well as mesmerizing.

Because seeing the woman you love so powerful is magnanimous, but in the process seeing her stand on the edge of making it or breaking it is like a sword hanging above your head, which can cease or sort your own existence.

And so amid those numerous dance practices, our confession, and courtship, if it all came down to one thing at night, right before I would fall asleep, it was just one thing.

I could never let anything, anyone hurt her.

NEVER.

.

.

And that's the reason when I was trapped in the parallel world that night, without any forewarning, without any visible agenda, all that struck my mind was only one thing.

Someone wants to hurt her.

.

In the 48 hours that I felt in excruciating pain and agony in that hell of a world, there was only one thing that bothered me.

Why did she have to be a part of my world?

She didn't deserve anything of this.

And if Aloysius was truly omnipresent in the town of Verman Hills, then it only meant one thing. Khushi's life was in danger.

I couldn't care less about the bracelet that Aloysius wanted, because all he has always been is a predator and predators are always selfish. He wouldn't care or even blink before ending us all, but as long as I am alive, I would never let him hurt her.

NEVER.

Could I have ever thought that it could happen to me?

Me, Arnav Sciarrone Ray, in love with someone?

It doesn't make any sense, but isn't that how most truths are?

They don't make sense, but they just are.

And if I had to sum it up, it will all come down to something too simple, yet remain to be the biggest truth of my life as well as afterlife.

She is life, she is hope, to me.

Among the gifted powers to me, she is the true magic.

I look at her and I am bewitched.

I know the spells and I know the loopholes, but the spell her eyes cast every time she looks at me, is irreversible. Because it is magic.

Magic is her. Magic is Khushi.

And I can never let anyone take my magic away from me.

Never ever.

And so that night when she told me about everything that had happened while I was gone, especially about Mason and what happened and could have happened between them...

I felt nothingness cloud me and bring me back to the hell grounds.

I felt whips thrash me and put me down to zero once again.

But I rose.

I had to.

Could I ever blame her?

I could not, I would not.

Because I am madly in love with her.

But dare anyone lay even their eyes on her, and I will rip them apart.

And I would have.

Mason Sean would have seen his last day on that planet that night, but he didn't.

Because my magic and her sprinkles in the form of her voice soothed my aching heart. My sunshine, her warmth made me feel alive after being as good as dead for 48 hours.

Feeling her lips against mine, restored life in me once again, resurrecting me from the land of the dark demons to a subtle reality.

And as I stand here a day later at the edge of the same precipice, looking at the ocean from the spot where I had confessed to her about my feelings, I only wonder..

'What have you done to me, Khushi? Can it ever be easy to live without you?''

**

A/N: I know guys this update was long due, and I am sorry for the delay. Work these days is keeping me too occupied as a result of which I am not getting enough time to sit and write long updates, but I plan to update WW regular from now on. For all those who wanted to know ASR's point of view, I hope you are happy 😳 And I can promise you one thing, that some real surprising elements are in store for you guys, in the coming chapters. 😉😊

Best,

Simi