- Reid: I've been thinking about it; the whole time I've known Hotch, I don't think I've ever seen him blink.
- Garcia: I know. It's weird.
- Reid: It's classic alpha male behavior.
- Garcia: Do you think he stared down that Foyet?
- Reid: Maybe. Could be what saved his life.
- Garcia: Do you think he stared the whole time, like with each stab? [Mimicking stabs]
- Reid: I have no idea.
- Garcia: Is he okay?
- Reid: I wouldn't be, but... I'm a blinker.
--- Criminal Minds
Chapter 15: Blink
"You look disturbed." Arnav noted when Khushi's pensive face started to annoy him. Her usual curious self was long gone after that blasted ACP met her. She hadn't spoken anything since previous day but seemed to be pondering about an important issue in depth.
"Your move," she said quietly and leaned back in her chair. She was suddenly weary of the whole deal. No wonder her parents gave up on her when she less than seventeen. It was abnormal and unnatural.
"Payal had en episode during dinner last night." Arnav said casually as he studied the chess board. Khushi had gone back to her room after Shukla's visit and had only come out for lunch next day. The doctors and the nurses thought that death of her friend had shaken her but in reality she was incredibly scared.
"What happened?" She asked mechanically without bothering much about anyone or anything else for that moment.
"I think she remembered the night she chopped off her family." Arnav said lightly. "Your move," he said looking at her flabbergasted expression.
"What?" Khushi all but screeched.
"Oh, you don't know why Payal is here?" Arnav asked lazily. Khushi shook her head and resisted an urge to growl at him. He shrugged.
"Have you ever heard of systematic emotional abuse?" She looked at him questioningly.
"Payal was subjected to that?"
Arnav nodded. "Her husband and her in-laws never laid a finger on her but managed to abuse her anyway. In every step of the way she was always scolded, humiliated, teased, taunted, put down, ignored etc. Everything she did was wrong and incorrect. Six years after continual emotional abuse, she snapped."
"She killed everyone?" Khushi asked here interest piqued.
"She killer her husband first. Poor thing didn't even see it coming. It was Sunday afternoon and they had just finished lunch. Her in-laws were downstairs and Payal's husband was upstairs in their room. She stabbed him over forty times before realizing that he was dead. She then went downstairs and saw her mother-in-law napping her room. She was second. Her father-in-law rushed to room hearing his wife cry out. She killed him then."
"That's horrible." Khushi exhaled loudly.
There was a strange glint in Arnav's eyes. "Do you know what she did afterwards?" Khushi could only stare. "She cleaned the house and then surrendered herself. Thankfully her neighbors attributed to the emotional abuse the family put through. The prosecution admitted battered wife syndrome and she was sent here."
Khushi couldn't respond. Payal had always seemed like a nice girl with bi-polar disorder but this was far from it.
"She tried to kill herself before?" Khushi could bet on it.
"Several times, actually. The family always blamed her for her depression." Arnav shrugged.
Khushi was even more surprised about the sheer apathy in Arnav's voice. The detachment gave her a glimpse of his social apathy but there was something more she couldn't put her finger on.
She leaned forward and examined the board again. If she continued her defense, she could have the game in seven moves. She slowly understood Arnav by the way he played chess. The start of any game was with defense but accompanied by a solid opening. However he shed his defense during mid of game and tricked the opponent to think that he was playing for the stalemate while his attack was only a move away.
She wasn't nave to believe that he had befriended because he was feeling lonely. Arnav rarely did anything without an ulterior motive. She fathomed he knew about her even before they started to know each other but reasons were cloudy at best. She had to go with her gut instinct that he was playing a dangerous game with her and she didn't even know what. He was helping her, telling her things about others and listen to her theories. It was however strange that he never asked about Punisher. She almost expected him to badger her about it once they were comfortable enough around one another but the questions never came. However her skin had chilled when he enquired about Tara.
"Did you really kill those people?" Khushi asked casually. If Arnav was surprised, he didn't show.
He sighed deeply. "I didn't kill them Khushi. I told them to do something and they did." He shrugged carelessly.
"You asked them to kill each other when they were severely drugged. They had no idea what was going on. You used them as your f**king pets." Khushi hissed. She didn't know why she was getting worked up. She had seen his case file and she had felt disgust at his actions. She was no clean chit, she knew that but Arnav according to her, had crossed a line of perverseness.
"I don't see why you are getting so worked up. It's not like I asked you to do something," he snarled. Before she could rebuke him, he left.
The transcripts had indicated Arnav being a sociopath but the root of illness wasn't explored.
"Some people are born this way." Akash sat in the chair Arnav had recently emptied. He started to rearrange the board without asking for permission.
"How do you know that?" Khushi blurted.
"Once upon a time it was my job to figure out such things. Besides Arnav was my father's patient. And after my father's retirement, I took over." He said casually.
Khushi looked at him open mouthed.
Akash looked up from the board after finishing arranging the pieces and smiled humorlessly. "Ironic, isn't it? The doctor and the patient are on the same side."
"What is Arnav up to?" Khushi asked shedding her inhibition. She was already neck deep in this shit. There was no reason why she has to play close to her heart. Arjun was someone who knew her better than her parents. The person who was her friend, confidante and competitor was Tara who was dead. Arjun was her childhood friend who was also dead. For the first time in her life, death of her friends, affected her.
"It is impossible to know. My best guess is – looking for adversaries to play mind games with. Like I told you Khushi, Arnav is designed in that way. When he was a boy he didn't even react to his own mother's death. Everyone thought that he was in shock but my father's notes say otherwise. Arnav's father refused to get him treated early on which has resulted in him being what he is. Can you believe he hasn't even finished high school?"
"It's hard to believe, I agree." Khushi's voice was quivering. She had no idea why she was the 'chosen' one in this screwed up facility.
"He chose me first." Akash said making his move. He smiled looking at Khushi. She was aghast. "I convinced his father that he needed immediate psychiatric help. But before that he had to undergo detoxification after substance abuse. Arnav didn't like my suggestion as his father threatened to cut him off from his estate if he didn't agree to my counsel. After that, he agreed to go to rehab but I knew that he was going to do everything in his power to make my life miserable."
"Why?" Khushi asked.
"Simply because I injured his pride severely. He is a narcissist. I am not saying in the way the word gets thrown around in a general conversation. I am talking about the primal psychological behavior. It's one of the most dangerous psycho pathology a man can be attributed to. Add sociopathy to that, you've got poison on your hands." Akash explained. "I hurt him where it hurts the most – his ego, his pride and tried to destroy his bloated personality that he has constructed for himself."
"What did he do?" Khushi asked fearing the answer she already knew.
Akash smiled sadly. "He got my family killed. He didn't do it because it's not his style; he gets it done by other people. His plans are elaborate and it should never occur to anyone that it was a mitigated murder. It would be long winded contrived way of dealing which no one can ever understand. Arnav gets off on that obscurity." Akash's voice was hard.
Khushi didn't dare question him further and continued with the game. She didn't believe Akash with his theory but she didn't have the heart to contradict him. He was in this facility because of his personal vendetta against Arnav, that much she understood. Akash believed that Arnav was the man behind Punisher. Arnav wasn't the man who went on street and killed but got people to do his bidding exactly the way he wanted. Khushi couldn't refute that argument. With Arnav's way of thinking, it was highly probable that Punisher was just a mask worn by several people while the brain behind it was Arnav. But…it didn't add up. It didn't make sense to her. Something was missing in this argument.
Suddenly she remembered Akash's parting words from previous day. "When did you meet me?" She suddenly asked.
"You don't remember?" He asked smiling a little. She was glad that there was no sadness in that smile.
"My wife banged your sister's car pretty bad. I think your sister was driving. The witnesses told the police that your sister didn't let my wife pass and they both were speeding. Your sister suddenly slowed down and my wife couldn't control the wheel. She hit your sister's car pretty hard. My wife was with her friend and thankfully no one was hurt badly. I think you were also there in the car, isn't it?" Arnav asked.
Khushi shook her head. "Not that time, no. I was in another car couple of minutes behind Tara. I wasn't driving though." She said softly. Akash peered at her face and saw that she had gone pale. He probably triggered an unwanted memory. "It wasn't the last time Tara got involved in a car accident either." Khushi said unhappily.
Akash didn't prod further though he wished to know.
*****
"You promised me goodies," Malvika said grinning. Shyam looked up from his laptop and rolled his eyes.
"I don't know what you are talking about," he shrugged.
She held up her cellphone. "Anjali texted me to give her feedback about the dinner she prepared last night which is currently in three neat Tupperware containers for me to consume, enjoy and critique." Malvika grinned again.
Shyam threw his head back and guffawed. "Here you go." He said placing a jute bag on the table.
"I called Anjali this morning but she didn't pick the phone. She texted me later saying it was a busy day for her." Malvika said and waved at him.
Shyam shrugged. Malvika stopped for a moment. "It's strange that I have never spoken with her on phone or met her face to face yet we talk constantly and it feels like I know her very well."
"It is weird. But I don't have the strength or energy to understand the complexity of these conversations you have with her." Shyam said blithely.
Malvika laughed. "Women are complex creatures Shyam. You are married to the most complex one after all." She left him alone in his thoughts.
"Don't I know it," he said to himself softly and immersed in his work. He hadn't recovered his file yet and he was nowhere close to finding it.
His phone buzzed indicating an incoming message. It was from Malvika. "Thanks for an amazing lunch Anjali. I owe you a dinner."
He smiled at the text and promptly responded. "I hope you love what I have done with Pasta. Shyam loves it and I hope so do you. Cheers!"
He placed the phone back on table and continued with his work.
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