Kerath laughed to himself. This would be almost too easy. Maybe he should toy with the human doppelganger for a while. What was her name again? Riya? Piya? He didn't really care. Right now, she was lying face down in the forest. The scent of fresh blood hit his nostrils and his mouth watered. This was going to be fun.
Piya's body ached. She had landed clumsily on her side, and her elbow stung. Strangely enough, she felt calm as she looked up at her attacker- a vampire, she knew, as she had seen the fangs.
She pulled herself into a sitting position and then struggled to stand.
The vampire right in front of her within seconds. Smiling eerily, he poked her lazily with a finger, which felt like a punch to her. She staggered, falling against a tree, her breath coming in gasps. Her eyesstayed locke don the predator's, her hand in her pocket. She could feel the cool metal of the hilt under her palm. If only she could be fast enough to use it on him...she would have to be. She wouldn't die, not like this...And Abhay would come anyway...she just had to hold him off for a while.
She lifted her head and looked back defiantly at him. "Hello," she said, her voice high, but steady. "Who are you?" The monster smiled nastily, then moved closer. She focused on breathing deeply, calming herself.There was no use in panicking. "Always it is the same thing," said Kerath, rolling his eyes. He affected a high falsetto. "Who are you? What do you want? I thought I'd have a bit of fun with you, but..." He trailer off, his eyes moving to the blood dripping down the side of her face. "You know, maybe I'll take a taster first," he said, grinning at her poorly concealed revulsion. He leaned in and licked her cheek.
Disgust and anger slammed through her : it seemed natural, completely natural, when she raised her arm and slashed his arm with the silver knife.
Kerath howled in anger and pain as the agony coursed through him, burning through his veins and making his head pound in pain. He released her, falling to his knees. Piya swiped away the blood from her face and stood, her hand still tightly gripping the dagger. Then the vampire looked up at her, hatred, in his eyes.
He got to his feet faster than she could blink, with murder in his eyes. She backed away as he advanced, but he caught her easily, his long nails ripping the coat into two parts. He twisted her hands behind her back and she yelped in pain, then bit the inside of her cheek.
Her mind went into overdrive, Abhayendra's words echoing in her head. Sure, he'd been referring to humans that time, but she could try, right?
She could feel the pressure increasing, but she held on to the weapon in her hand.
Abhayendra's voice echoed in her head again. She went completely slack.
Then turning her head to the side, she bit him, hard, on the injured part of the arm, then dug her heeled shoes into his foot.
She didn't know if it would even have an effect, but he hissed in pain, his grip on her wrists slackening- and Piya wasted no time in impaling his chest with the dagger held in her hand behind her back.
She heard him howl in pain, but she felt no pity as she slashed at him again. She was going to hurt him as badly as she could.
He let go of her and she made a break for it, running through the forest. Yet, Kerath recovered with impossible swiftness- quicker than Siddharth had, she realized, as he caught up with her in a matter of seconds. His sharp nails cut into her shoulder through her dress, breaking skin. She fought as hard as she could, but nothing happened, save a crack and roaring pain through her arm.
Piya froze, the dagger falling from her hands. Her right wrist had just fractured...she was going to die.
"Die well, little human," she heard him croon."Playtime's over now..."
She scrunched her face as she felt his breath on her neck, and then his fangs had pierced through.
She screamed Abhay's name as her vision blurred. Dark spots danced in front of her eyes.
The next thing she knew was the fangs wrenched from her neck, the vampire pulled away with with such force that she fell down , too, into the arms of someone. She had no idea who, because her whole world went black.
Alina cursed herself as she took in the extent of Piya's injuries. The skin on her elbows and hands had been scraped away.Her head was bleeding heavily, as were her left shoulder and neck. Her right wrist was fractured, and her bare knees were bruised. It was hard, even for Alina to believe that it all happened in the span of a few seconds. A minute, at most.
She cradled Piya in her lap, taking her broken wrist in her hand. As she muttered an incantation to settle the broken bones back into place, she surveyed the battle going on in front of her. It wasn't much of a battle, really.
She knew from previous experience that a riled up Abhay was a dangerous opponent. And an Abhay with a murderous intent...
Well, he was merciless on the vampire, almost toying with him, prolonging the agony he was no doubt feeling from the wounds on his chest. She felt no pity when Abhay staked him at last, decapitating him.
A soft pop made Alina turn her attention back to Piya. The broken wrist had healed and Piya was just coming round.
"Abhay," she muttered, without opening her eyes.
Abhay closed his eyes as the vampire fell. Piya. He had to get to her.
The insane urge to kill and destroy was vapourizing rapidly, and fear was taking its place. Had he been too late?
He hurried to her, not breathing at all, knowing that once he smelt her blood, he would be useless. She was lying on Alina's lap, eyes closed. She could have been asleep, almost.
Shrugging off the blazer he was wearing he covered her semi-conscious form, then lifted her off Alina's lap gently. Don't breathe, don't breathe, don't breathe, he reminded himself silently, over and over in his head.
His eyes met Alina's in a shared emotion of fury and shame. They'd both almost failed her.
Then Alina bent down and picked up something from the ground wordlessly. It took him a minute to recognize Piyali's knife, it was coated so thickly with the vampire's shining blood.
"She fought," said Alina softly, almost to herself. "So some good did come out of sending her to the past." She held it out to him.
Abhay looked away from her. Then he adjusted Piya in his arms and rushed to his house.
Piya was vaguely conscious of what was going on. Someone had been holding her before Abhay. But now, she knew it was Abhay who held her. She could feel that overwhelming feeling of safety. Wind whipped past her face, stinging...and then it stopped. She realized he was climbing, and she opened her eyes, drinking in the sight of Abhay's face. His was staring straight ahead, his jaw clenched. Dimly, she wondered if he was going to yell at her.
He kicked a door open and she saw that they had entered his room. He deposited her gently on the bed , then went to the door, shutting it. Then he was in front of her, looking into her eyes with something like desperation. Oh, god, she'd thought she'd never see him again...
"Don't leave me," he whispered. "Stay with me, Piya, please...stay awake..."
"Abhay," she whispered in a hoarse whisper, unable to take her eyes off him. She'd been about to die, without seeing him...
He closed his eyes. Then he gently touched the wound on the side of her head. She hissed in sudden pain. He bit the inside of his cheek as the fangs descended, forcing himself not to bite her...not even to take a taste. The wound healed under his fingers.
"Thanks," mumbled Piya. He opened his eyes, staring down at her. She was looking up at him, her expression adoring- along with something else.
"Is that the only one on your head?" he said softly. "I'm sorry, I-"
"Yes, it is," she answered. "Are you going to heal the rest of me, too?"
He forced a smile. "I'm going to give my best try, Piya."
Carefully,he peeled off his blazer from her , and she left out a little squeak. He didn't speak, his eyes travelling over her, zeroing in on every one of her injuries. Then he let out a low curse. "Sorry," he gritted out, his eyes travelling to hers. "Can you just talk for a bit? I- I need-"
"Is it difficult?" she asked, her forehead crinkling in worry. "The blood?"
"It's nothing I can't manage," he forced out, his gaze on her bloodied shoulder. He ran his hand his over wounds, healing them, but they were deep. "Talk to me, Piya," he hissed, his palm resting over the wounds, watching them disappear.
"I-" Piya couldn't think. What was she supposed to talk about? "I, um...I knew you'd come," she told him, watching him intently. "But towards the end, I was afraid I didn't buy you enough time. I mean-" she broke off as he leaned down and his mouth touched her half-healed wounds, taking away all the pain and replacing it with another emotion entirely. Her mouth went dry.
His mouth left her skin, his eyes locking with hers briefly, before he took one of her hands, bringing the palm to her lips. "And I- and I'd like to work with you," she gasped. "With- with your mother, I mean-"
"I'd like to have you next to me 24 * 7," he answered, as his lips moved to the bruises on her arm and elbow.
Hadn't her arm been broken? Who'd fixed that?
She forgot about it as he ran a gentle finger over the bruises, leaving her skin as smooth and unblemished as ever.
As his eyes went to hers , she felt the terrible guilt rush over her. "I'm sorry," she said, ashamed. "I should've listened to you... I should've talked to you before-"
"Yes, you should have," he agreed, his tone mild, taking her other hand and meting out the same treatment to her other arm.
"You're a disobedient brat," he told her , looking at her, yet she knew instinctively, that he was not really angry.
He moved to her legs, running his hands over both her knees and her left thigh. She shivered, trying to formulate a reply.
"Are you going to punish me, then?" she asked, her face the picture of innocence as Abhay's head shot up incredulously.
"Are you seriously flirting with me minutes after almost getting killed?"
"She coloured, her mind reliving those horrible moments, that feeling of being crushed like a bug- "I thought I'd lost you," she blurted out. "My god, I thought I'd die without-oh!" His lips had touched her ankle. "And you blame me for flirting with you?" she accused.
He grimaced. "Oh, so it's my fault now, is it? You were the only one worried, is it?"
"Yes," she said petulantly. "It's all your fault. I-" Pain seared her arm as she tried to move her head.
"Your neck," said Abhay. He sounded angry, yet almost fearful. "Piya, he bit you...I'm going to have to-"
"Do whatever the hell it is you have to," she choked out. "Bite me, suck it out, whatever-"
He didn't waste time. His mouth clamped down on her neck, sucking out the venom, trying to resist the temptation to take her blood. Just a taste...it wouldn't kill her, right?
Piya shivered. It had disgusted her, terrified her, when that vampire had bitten her- but now, when it was Abhay... She found his hand, lacing her fingers with his. He grew rigid, his head jerking upwrds. She saw his tortured gaze, his eyes gleaming that unnatural violet-indigo shade, his fangs extended, laced with blood. Her blood.
Then he leaned down and licked the puncture mark on her neck. She let out a strangled cry of want. "Abhay-"
He jerked away from her , staring down at her in horror. He let go of her completely, moving to the opposite side of the room in half a second, not daring to face her. In spite of every effort he'd taken to tame the beast inside him, he'd failed. Now she would be disgusted at him.
"Abhay?" Piya called. "Abhay, what- why- did I-?"
"I'm sorry," Abhay's voice was choked. "I lost control. Please don't be afraid. I swear I won't hurt you. I'll go now, you can rest here, you're safe, I wouldn't ever -"
"No- wait-" Piya struggled to get up into a sitting position. "Abhay- please- please don't go!"
He turned to her, his eyes dark. "Are you suicidial, woman? Do you WANT to be killed?"
"You won't hurt me," she pleaded. "Please don't go. I know you won't hurt me. Please don't leave me, Abhay...please."
She forced herself to get off the bed, but before her feet could touch the ground, he was there, his hands under her knees, placing her back on the bed.
She wrapped her arms around him. "Stay," she begged. "Please?"
Abhay was still for a full minute,then he felt him return the embrace. "I don't want to hurt you," he said, stroking her hair. "I came too close to losing you today, I won't be able to bear it if I ever-"
She tugged at his collar, bringing his face down so that it was on the same level as hers."Kiss me," she implored. "Abhay, please- I just want to forget it all- I feel so dirty-"
Abhay cut her off, pressing his lips to hers. "Mine," he stated firmly, pulling her to him, his mouth devouring hers, setting off all sorts of fireworks inside her.
"Yours," she agreed between frenzied kisses, pulling him down on top of her. He let go of her lips, only to nibble at the pulse point of her neck, and she cried out his name. "More," she begged."Abhay, I-" "Damn it, Piya, you're supposed to stop me now, not say the opposite," he rasped. "I want to be yours," she told him firmly. "Haven't I made that clear?"
He didn't answer, simply kissing her now bare shoulder. "I love you," he said quietly. "Then show me," she said simply, looking into those hypnotizing orbs.
Not many words were exchanged after that. He undressed her carefully, yet swiftly,his eyes on her. She returned the favour with shaking hands, and then his hands were exploring her , his fingers not sparing even an inch of her. She felt the now-familiar ache inside her intensify, and she squirmed, pulling him closer. "You're beautiful," he told her, his mouth tracing her face, while his hand brushed against a puckered nipple as if by accident. "Damn you," she muttered, her nails digging into his back."Is this your punishment?"
He smiled, kissing her on the lips, possessively marking her, his hands drawing feathery patterns over her ribcage. "Abhay, damn it, if you don't-"
"You asked for this," he interrupted, his finger over her lips. "So if you want me to stop now-"
"I'll kill you," she threatened, her hands balling up into fists. He let out a soft laugh, his mouth unhurried as it descended, ghosting over the flushed skin of her shoulder. He paused over her curves, looking at her, triumph in his gaze. "Say the magic word," he teased, drawing circles around the taut peak, without touching it. "Say it."
Piya trembled. "Please." She whispered.
He relented, his mouth finally touching her breasts. She clamped her hand over her mouth to contain her scream as he suckled on them.
He was carefully slow in his actions, drawing out the exquisite torture for her. "Piya." He raised his head, staring at her. All traces of mischief were gone from his eyes, his eyes a deeper blue than usual.
"Abhay," she gasped. "Abhay, I want you so much-"
He pressed a kiss to her diaphragm. "What do you want?" he said, his fingers travelling over her knee, on the inside of her thighs. Her eyes grew wide. Surely he wasn't going to-
She lost the thought midway when his mouth touched her navel. She gripped his hair, her eyes rolling backwards. Abhay raised his head and looked directly at her, and in that moment, as they stared at one another, Piya was convinced that the world had tilted, or she had gone insane. Her heartbeat certainly had.
His hand travelled higher, touching her essence, where the ache filled her. Piya let out a soft scream, her senses haywire, her thoughts blank,her entire being focused on Abhay, and his eyes, which still bored into hers.
And when she thought there would be no greater pleasure, he broke eye contact with her, kissing her where she'd never been kissed before. Stars swam in front of her eyes as she felt herself explode into a million, million fragments. His mouth came down on her hers, urgent and seeking, muffling her screams. She was almost in tears as she clung to him desperately, wanting him, all of him.
A swift pain shot through her, and then it was gone, replaced by wonder and happiness and love and so many other things she would never know how to describe, because he was hers and she was his , because they were one...
For a long time after, they lay together in silence, entwined in the most intimate way. Abhay stroked her hair gently. "Piya?" he said quietly. "Hmmm," she said, her lips against his chest. "You aren't hurting, are you? I didn't-" She raised her head and kissed him lazily. She smiled as she felt him respond, but he pulled away too quickly for her liking. "What?" she asked, pouting.
He smiled slightly. "The sun's about to set. Don't you want to go home?" She frowned. "It's only evening. Are you trying to get rid of me?" He kissed the tip of her nose lightly."Don't be cheeky. You parents won't approve."
She rolled her eyes. "They'll deal with it. I'm not a child, nor a nun." "Definitely not," he agreed, stroking her arm. "Certainly not either of them."
A thought hit Piya suddenly, and she cringed. "Abhay! Your parents- won't they- did they- I mean, we weren't exactly being quiet-"
"Speak for yourself," he said , smirking. "I wasn't making half so much noise as you." "Shut up," she told him. "It's not my fault you were being mean. How am I going to face them?"
"I wouldn't worry about them," he told her. "Mom...well, apparently, she and Alina got our room soundproofed a few days ago." "Piya stared at him. "B-but, why?"
Abhay scowled. "I was in a bad mood, thanks to you. So Mom decided, and I quote, "You can never know with hormonal teenagers." I can't believe she so conveniently forgets my age every time she feels like making me her entertainment," he groused. Piya stared at him for a moment, then burst into laughter. "It's not funny," he grumbled.
"Yes, it is," she gasped between giggles. "You are so-" she giggled ,"Cute!" she finished.
Abhay shook his head, but an odd constriction formed in his chest as he stared down at her laughing face. He'd wanted to put it off for as long as he could, but now the awful realization of what he was doing stared him in the face. The thing he'd forced himself not to think about all these days...
"Abhay?" Piya touched his cheek ."What happened? What-"
"If I were a human," he blurted out, "I would've asked you to marry me. Not now, maybe, but in a year...I would have wanted to...but I can't." Piya grew serious, studying his face. "Why? Vampires can't marry?"
"It isn't that," he muttered. "It's just...someday, we'll have to separate. I can't take your life. I wish..." She propped herself on an elbow. "Then turn me. Why can't you do that?"
He shook his head. "It's - I can't. I can't take your life, PIya- it's not just that simple- do you really want to live like this?"
"So...this is a past time to you, is it? " she said scornfully. "Everything between us?"
"If you mean living on borrowed time, yes," he said. "I can't lie to you- you are everything to me. It's so easy with you, pretending to be alive, like I'm as normal as you- Alive."
She bit her lip, sorrow filling her at his words. Her heart ached to take away his pain. "You're not pretending," she told him. "You are alive. You're more human than so many other people. Get it?" He smiled, but she could tell it was forced. "Come on, Abhay," she pleaded. "Piya, denying it won't make it true. I-"
This time, she cut him off, kissing him before he could finish the sentence. If he could play dirty, she could bend the rules, too. She felt his surprise before he responded, almost against his better judgement, and it gave her courage.
She pulled away, moving to kiss him on his chest, his arms, lingering over them. And this time, it was Abhay who moaned, Abhay who repeated her name, over and over. "You were saying?" she said coyly, her hands tracing the hard planes of his chest.
"That's...cheating," he gritted out. "You are unbelievably-" He broke off as her tongue touched his navel, much the same way as he had. "Piya, stop," he said. "You win."
She grinned at him impishly, before moving lower, and what little control he had left shattered. Her lips and tongue moved over him, bewitching him, so that he felt as though he was little more than a marionette in her hands.
He yanked her up to his, his mouth clashing with hers fiercely as he rolled over, pinning her under him, and a few moments later, they were one again.
Maithali screamed in anger, staring at the headless corpse of Kerath. She turned to Siddharth, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. "You swore you would distract him!" she yelled. "You promised me!"
Sid's own eyes flashed. "Don't take that tone with me, Maithali. I am not your puppet, not your slave."
They glared at each other for a few seconds in silence, then Sid broke it, lowering his eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that-"
Maithali's anger dimmed and faded, replaced by guilt and a strange fear. "No- no, it's all right," she said. He had never raised his voice at her. "I overreacted- I am sorry. I am so sorry, Siddharth, for every time that I took you for granted-" the words tumbled out of their own volition.
Sid shook his head. "No matter. I ... I thought it would have been enough time for him to kill her... I miscalculated." "It isn't your fault," said Maithali. "Sid, it's never your fault. I've been so thoughtless, so blind..." She gazed down at the mutilated body and seemed to regain her composure. She turned to Sid. "We'll have to do this ourselves. We'll have to find a solid plan to contain Abhay first. " Sid nodded, staring fixedly at the body, which was now evaporating, as all vampire corpses did after a while. "Of course. We'll never get to her otherwise. What do you propose we do?"
Maithali frowned. "We'll have to think of something," she muttered, almost to herself. "No more loopholes...we'll have to be careful..."
"I'm sorry," Abhay apologized for the umpteenth time. "I should have been gentler-" "Stop killing the mood," she told him, yawning. "You must be the most unromantic lover in history." "Would you prefer me writing sonnets in your praise, then?" he said sarcastically. She pushed him. "You're a jerk." "And you're a brat," he retorted, getting off the bed, and dressing. "It's dark now," he said, glancing out the window. "And I'm taking you home. And you will rest tonight."
"Yes, Sir," she said demurely. "I promise not to overexert myself. Now can I have my dress back?"
He fought back a smile, then bent down and picked it up.
"But it's entirely-" she started in horror. The dress, once a pale blue, now looked like a soldier's uniform, with mud caked over it. "Well, I guess you can't wear that now." He said, completely straight faced. "My coat," said Piya sadly, staring at the mutiliated remains of it on the ground. "Bloody vampire. What am I going to wear?" Abhay opened a closet, and threw something to her. She stared in surprise at the top and jeans."But these are..."
"Yours," he told her. "Go on, wear them. I think they should fit all right." "They're not mine," said Piya slowly, staring at them. She touched the top, touching the fabric. "What's wrong?" said Abhay, concerned. "Wrong label?"
"No," she said to Abhay. "Abhay..these don't look like your mom's clothes..."
"I told you, they're yours," said Abhay. "If you don't like them you could always choose something else." She looked , really looked up at the closet, then. Women's apparel was neatly arranged in one half, the other half, Piya saw, was glaringly black- and masculine, in sharp contrast.
"You bought clothes for me?" she said in surprise. He shrugged. " You keep coming here, and then I have to ask Mom... I figured you'd want your own dresses, rather than borrowed ones...so..."
Piya stared at him, lost for words. "Thanks," she said finally, knowing he wouldn't appreciate anything more.
"So..um.." her cheeks flamed. "Could you, um, go out for a while till I finish changing?" He rolled his eyes. "Bit late for modesty, don't you think?"
She blushed harder. "Fine,"he said, taking pity on her, "I'm going."
He left, and Piya threw off the covers and dressed. She suddenly realised that she probably looked like a fright. A wave of gloom punctured her happy bubble. She should have thought this out, planned it out. She'd lost her virginity looking like hell.
She ran her hand through her curls, trying to pat them down. "You done?" came Abhay's voice. "Yes," she answered back. She felt tired suddenly, and she wanted a bath. But she would have to get home first...
"Are you all right?" She looked up to see Abhay standing in front of her, frowning. He tilted her face to his. "What is it?" he asked gently. "Piya?"
She blinked. "Nothing," she said. "I- I just need to use the washroom and -"
"Piya." His voice was soft, but firm. He would not settle for anything less than the truth, which, thought Piya, he already knew.
"I look like a mess," she mumbled. "My hair is awful, my make up is smudged, and -"
"I think you'd be better off without this modelling business," he cut her off. "You'd never worry about silly things like make up then. And, just for the record, you look lovely no matter what."
She sniffed. "I didn't want to disappoint you," she said, feeling like a child. He kissed the top of her head. "No, you didn't disappoint me. You couldn't if you tried."
"You're not just saying that, are you?" she said hopefully. "I don't want you to coddle me just because-"
He snorted. "Coddle you? I wouldn't dare. Besides,you'd only molest me if I did."
She blushed fiercely and pushed him away. "I didn't molest you! You were perfectly willing-"
"Of course I was," he rejoined, his voice carrying an undertone of laughter. "Feel free to molest me any time you see fit, madame." She began to giggle, wiping away the tears.
Then another thought struck her as she glanced at the bed, and her smile faded. "There's blood on the pillows- and the sheets," she muttered. "And my clothes-"
"Stop worrying about them," he told her, now clearly annoyed. "It will be taken care of."
Something had snapped inside him. Why couldn't he keep her smiling for more than a few minutes?
Ms Gupta opened the door to see Sid standing there. An odd frown passed over her face. What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms.
"Can I talk to Alina?" Her eyebrows lifted. "Oh, I see. So now you want to talk to her?" she said coolly.
"It's important," Sid snapped.
The woman glowered at him, and he was strongly reminded of Alina on a bad day. "Alina!" she called.
Alina came almost at once. "Dishu, I don't want to talk-"
"He says it's important," snorted Ms Gupta. She turned and went back inside. "Call me if you need anything!" Alina nodded.
She turned back to Sid, glaring at him. "Yes, Sir?" she said in a clipped voice, infusing all her contempt into the last word. "What was so important?"
Sid exhaled. "You know what I mean. Piyal-Piya."
"Why?" said Alina coldly. "Planning when to attack her next?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it again. "Just answer the question, Alina," he said finally, and he sounded weary.
Alina chewed her lip for a few seconds before she spoke.
"She's fine now. She was badly injured."
"And she is with Abhay?" he asked doggedly. "He saved her?"
Alina scowled. "Yes, he saved her. I wouldn't expect anything less. Your brother is nothing like you."
Sid smiled suddenly. "Funny you mention it. We might have more in common than you'd think. We do seem to have a preference for the same face, do we not?"
Alina's eyes flashed. "Get out," she snapped. "I have nothing more to do with you."
"You love me though," he said, grinning. "Don't deny it."
"I think that's enough," said another voice. Dishu appeared, like a foxhound on a trail. Sid's smile dropped. "Can't you keep your nose out of business that doesn't concern you?"snapped Sid, irritated.
Ms.Gupta didn't react at all. "Everything related to Alina is my business and does concern me," she replied neutrally.
"Oh, shut up," said Sid."You're the one who makes all her decisions , just because YOU don't have a life-" He knew he had struck a nerve, because Ms Gupta's mouth thinned.
"Siddharth," said Alina quietly, "It will be you who does not have a life if you do not leave- NOW."
He turned his stare on her, to see her eyes glowing gold.He laughed mockingly. "Touching. Does she even know what you are?"
Alina's response was to bang the door shut on his face.
"Piya Dobriyal, Piya Dobriyal..." Misha scanned the list. "Oi, where are you?"
"I don't know!"squealed Piya nervously. "I've failed!"
"No, silly," said Misha, still scanning the list. "There!" "Where?" said Piya, but Misha was already pointing to the fourth name. "Cool. Fourth. Not bad."
"No, not bad,"said Piya in a small voice. "At least I passed."
"Yeah, and you're in the top five, you moron. Be happy and help me look for mine. It must be at the bottom."
Piya and Misha's eyes scrolled down the page. "It isn't there,"said Misha finally. "I must have failed."
"You haven't," said Abhay, who had been sitting silently in a corner of the room as Misha and Piya scanned their results. Piya looked up. She had almost forgotten he was still there, she'd been so nervous about the results. "How do you know?"
Abhay smirked. "I saw her name. Keep looking, ladies." His eyes danced,as if he were enjoying a private joke.
"Shut up, Raichand," said Misha, still looking down the list. "My name's not here. You must have confused one Dobriyal sister with another." She looked glum. "Even that bimbo T passed. There goes my job."
Piya took the mouse from her and scrolled up. For Misha, whom she knew had studied- seriously studied - for the exams, she had a gut feeling she could not fail. Her eyes moved up the list, mocing over Ratul Sharms, who was fifth, Piya Dobriyal, who was fourth, Ananya Khanna third, Misha Dobriyal second, Abhay Raichand first...
Wait.
Her eyes wide, she read the list again. "Holy-" she broke off, staring at her sister. "How the hell did you do that?"
"Do what?" said Misha. "I didn't do anything.Mom will be the one doing everything once she finds out."
Piya glanced at Abhay. A smile was playing around his mouth. "Maybe you should check the name below mine, Misha," he suggested drily. "I think that resembles yours."
"That's Abhay-speak for 'you've come second', you idiot!" Piya squealed, as she pounced on Misha and hugged the shell-shocked girl.
"You idiot!" she yelled. "You came second! You're such an idiot, Misha!"
"Hey, hey, hey. Whoa." Misha pulled away and went to look at the screen, eyes widening when she read her name.
"Mom!" Piya screeched. "Dad! Misha came second!"
Abhay winced slightly at the volume. He got up, deciding to take his leave, but then, Madhu and Arnab Dobriyal arrived, congratulating their daughters as well as him.
He didn't know how to respond, having never been smothered before,so he made his excuses and departed. As he stood at the door, he turned back for one last glance at Piya, so happy, so vibrantly alive. The very sight ought to remind of the chasm between them, so why was he feeling as though she was simply an extension of him?
PS. I really, really need comments...pleasee? And my exams are still going on, so some prayers would be nice, too.
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