Arhi SS: The devil is back COMPLETED parts 1-9 - Page 8

I know I haven't written in ages, but in an attempt to make amends I have made this update extra-long😊. I hope you enjoy it! 😉

Part 7

Khushi stood near the poolside, took out her phone and was about to call Payal when she stopped short. There was that same black glimmer she saw from this morning, but this time it on the poolside door. She looked closer, and gasped...was that a camera?

Why was there a camera in their room? Who would do such a thing? It daunted on her that the only person in the house who would do that was Shyaam, but how could she confirm this? She wiped an imaginary stain on the poolside door, hoping the viewer would not see she knew about the 'hidden' camera. She turned her back on the black spot, her eyes darting towards the hallway when she heard Arnav's footsteps. Could the viewer be a listener as well? Was there more cameras? She let out a frustrated growl under her breath.

"Yes, cancel it," Arnav said into the phone, his expression turning from slightly worried to pure confusion as he took in her demeanour.

"Bye," he said, ending the conversation with his accountant. "Khushi, what-"

She grabbed his arm, leading him out of their room and out of the house. She didn't stop until they were in the park that was situated across the Raizaida Mansion, however Arnav did not come quiet, he was losing patience as they approached the park, "Khushi, stop!" He exclaimed, ripping his hand from her grip.

"There are cameras in the house," Khushi replied, sending Arnav into a more baffled state.

She explained how she had seen one in the hallway and one in their room. Arnav looked down at strands of green, his mind whirling. Khushi told him, she suspected Shyaam, making him look up. He nodded slowly, "I think you're right, Khushi, I got a phone call from the accountant, he told me that the receipts didn't match the amount of money spend on Di's credit card, he said someone had used the card to buy a bunch of cameras and a tablet"

"A tablet?"

"Yeah, like a portable computer to view things'like images from a camera'" Arnav's face turned into shock, so Shyaam had used Di's credit card to buy camera equipment so he could spy on the house?

"What a freak," Khushi said, matching his thoughts.

"I'm gonna kill him," Arnav fumed, advancing towards the house.

"Wait-" Khushi grabbed onto his arm a second time, "I have an idea!"

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"Khushi, no bloody way!" Arnav replied, taking a step away from her, turning his head slightly.

"It'll be fine, I'll be f-"

"Khushi, I said no, didn't I?"

"Do you want Di to know what kind of scum she is living with or not?" Khushi replied.

Arnav gritted his teeth; I guess this was the only way.

"Fine," he said, painfully, hating the position he was now in. "How can you be okay with this Khushi, I don't under-"

"Don't worry, Arnav-ji," Khushi said, lacing her fingers with his. She could see his eyes were full of desperation for another way out of this. "Let's go."

The sun slowly fell, burning a bright scarlet, showing its defiance towards the night. The sky followed in its wake, growing darker, the whirls of white now turning a bold grey colour as night slowly overthrew the sky, challenging anyone to oppose it.

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They walked into the Raizaida Mansion hand-in-hand. One of their hands was shaking but they couldn't tell which one it was. There he was, leaning against the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, his eyes on the TV. They paid no attention to him, as discussed; it was good only Shyaam was in the room, allowing the spotlight to only be on the couple.

Khushi's brave front was now slowly crumbling; Arnav enveloped her in his arms, feeling Shyaam's eyes on his back. They stood there for a while, putting on the act, yet performing each movement truthfully. "You don't have to do this, Khushi" Arnav whispered into her ear, his hands pressing her against his chest. She shook her head, leading his heart to sink, why was she so stubborn?

On the other side of the room Shyaam was beginning to burn, his red-hot temper flaring, little did he know the match had been lit on purpose by the two people that stood right in front of him. His Khushi was touching someone else, was with someone else. He pressed his nails into his palm, clenching his jaw, trying to gain some sort of control on his anger. He would get her.

Arnav unburied his head from her hair, she looked up at him, still secured in his arms her heart was beseeching him not leave her, but her eyes disguised this emotion, trying to tell him she would be okay. He placed a hand on her cheek, eyes flickering, attempting to persuade her to not go through with the plan, to let it go. She gave him a sad smile and nodded, he closed his eyes, hating the devil.

Opening his eyes, Arnav announced to the house that he would be going back to the office for a few hours, not looking at Shyaam. Anjali appeared at the top of the stairs and chimed, "is Khushi-ji not coming with you?"

"No, she's tired," Arnav replied, his eyes on Khushi, one last look and he was gone.

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Khushi was now in their room, sitting on the bed, not at all ready for the storm which was to come any minute. She grabbed a fistful of the bed sheet under her, feeling abandoned. It was now totally dark outside, adding to her gloom, the bedroom light doing little to deflate it.

Khushi's heart rate began to pick up, the dread of the devil's arrival was killing her. She buried her face in her hands, trying to keep her breathing steady, she closed her eyes thinking of Arnav's smile, immediately calming her down.

You can do this, you can do this, she thought to herself.

She freed her head from her hands, instantly back-tracking her thoughts, dread making its way through her system, the cold eyes above her paralyzing her.

There he was.

Standing right in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest, looking at her. He had a traumatizing smile on his face.

She gulped.

"What are you doing here?" She asked the monster, still sitting on the bed.

The devil merely smirked. He took a step forward, his eyebrows raised, as if she had asked something absurd. "I came to see you, Khushi-ji."

"What do you want?" She asked, standing up. She took a quick glance at the black camera behind him.

"You, Khushi-ji," Shyaam whispered, sending ripples of freezing cold air down her spine, "I want you, and I want you to want me to," he said simply. His eyes making its way over her body.

"Leave me alone," she no longer felt she was doing this for an audience, she wanted to get out, away from him, her lower lip began to quiver.

"Khushi-ji, no..." Shyaam said tutting, "I'll tell you what the problem is, okay? I love you, and want you to love me too, not Arnav," Shyaam's eyes flashed at his last words.

"I-I-"

"Yet, you touch him when you are mine," his eyes began to harden, his breathing picking up, the rage once again showering upon him.

"Di-"

"Forget Rani Saiba!" Shyaam bellowed, grabbing onto Khushi's arms, leading her to cry out in pain. "I don't love her," he hissed. "Did you hear that?" Thrusting his face into hers, "I don't bloody love her, she can rot in hell for all I care."

Khushi's eyes widened.

"Don't you understand Khushi-ji? I would do anything for us, anything, that's why I disabled the brakes of Rani Saiba's car, I've tried to get rid of that thing inside her-" he began to struggle for words, in his pathetic and failing attempt to impress her.

Tears began to make there way down her cheeks, Khushi knew Shyaam was evil, but she had never imagined that he was a danger to Anjali. She snatched her arms away from him and said, "you deserve to rot in hell, you don't deserve anyone's love not Di's or her baby's and I will never love you," her voice shaking.

"Oh yeah-" Shyaam replied, placing his hand firmly on her neck-

"Shyaam-ji!" Anjali's voice ringed from downstairs.

"Doesn't this lady ever give up?" Shyaam seethed, and with that he went out the room.

Khushi stood there for a moment, her body stiff, her eyes glistening with tears and her lips trembling.

"Khushi!" Arnav called, he was rushing into the room, his voice hoarse. She ran towards him, allowing him to take in her shaking body. "Sssh Khushi, I'm here, you're safe." Arnav soothed. "We're going to show everyone who he is," he whispered into her ear before placing soft kisses in her hair, one hand holding Shyaam's tablet.