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Hello All !
If anybody would like to read , I have a story to share. This
is definitely fiction but some of it is original , as original as the word
original , itself.
Hope you like it. 😊
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The evening sky looked beautiful as the birds retreated
towards their nests. The gentle breeze shook the leaves on the trees around ,
while playing with the lustrous curls of the twenty-one year old girl ,
standing in her garden , with arms spread open as if to welcome the approaching
darkness , and a smile playing on her rosy pink lips. She was of an average
height , had a petite figure , a flawless creamy complexion , her heart shaped
face the very example of the word beautiful , and as she opened her eyes , one
could feel the warmth and affection her baby brown orbs contained.
This breathtaking beauty loved the evening because it led to
night. The time when her parents listened to every word she had to say. Sitting
on the window sill , she used to narrate the happenings of the whole day to her
mother and father , and they heard her while twinkling close to the moon. She
liked to believe that they had now become the two brightest stars that shone
close to the moon. They came every night without fail to listen to her and let
her know that they loved her just as much as she loved them. It was a cruel
accident that had put the distance between her parents and her.
She watched as the sunlight receded from the land , letting
the earth be covered with a shadow. It was like the Almighty was adjusting the
brightness/contrast of the earth , while working on photoshop , earth being the
workpiece. She did not miss a moth as it flew towards the street light . People
loved to say that it was attracted to light , but she knew that the moth craved
for the darkness that lay beneath
the brightest of lights. Nature never failed to amaze her - so simple
yet the most complex.
A loud , high pitched voice broke her from the trance. "
PIYA DOBRIYAL ! WHERE ON EARTH ARE YOU ?
" The smile left Piya's lips immediately
, and the little organ in her ribcage picked up a faster pace as she dashed
towards her room. She did not want to make her grandmother angry at all. But
luck had serious issues with her , because the old lady had made herself
comfortable on the sofa , in the hall and was watching Piya intently.
" Hey ! Granny . I was in the kitchen " , said Piya without
realizing that she was pointing towards her room in the totally opposite
direction while saying so. She heard a chuckle , and narrowed her eyes at
Prabal .
Prabal was Piya's cousin , a twenty four year old
good-for-nothing , lazy fellow who aspired to be a cricketer one day , for
which , he cheered the Indian cricket team sitting back at home , and thought
that was enough to be a member of the team.
" What's this Piya ? " , shot her grandmother , " You had
been out again , in the evening , that too with dripping wet , open hair .
Didn't you notice its close to... "
" Oh ! Come on Granny , don't be so melodramatic. Those 5:30
people... I mean the supernatural creatures , don't flank at our entrance to
snatch my soul the moment they get a
chance " , said Piya , pouting. " And
its not even time yet . For the clock to strike 5:30 , still five seconds are
left " , she completed while looking at
the wall clock.
" Was left. Now its absolutely time. " said grandma. " Piya
, I warn you because I care for you. Darkness belongs to the supernatural
creatures , child. You are too beautiful for your own good. The supernatural
beings are attracted to beauty like jaggery bees to flying nectar " . " Oh !
Sorry. I meant like flies to jaggery and bees to nectar " , explained the old
lady correcting herself.
"Ofcourse she understands Mom " , said Madhu , lowering a
cup of steaming tea for her mother-in-law.
"Yes Yes Madhu , I definitely understand " , said Piya
reassuring her aunt.
" Piya ! Where are your manners ? " , scolded Madhu , trying
to look angry , but Piya knew better.
" I remember my manners , but you look too young and cute to
be reffered as aunt " , said Piya pulling Madhu's cheeks.
" I agree with you on that " , said Arnab to tease his wife
, Madhu , but immediately realized that it was quite inappropriate while his
mother was present right in front of him. " What ? I was talking over the
phone " , he lied bluntly showing the
phone as an excuse , as Piya and Prabal giggled at an embarrassed Madhu.
"Very well , first things first " , said grandmother
dismissing the matter. " I am leaving for my sister's place now and would not
return before two months. Piya you better follow the rules. " . She took another
sip of her tea and continued , " Tomorrow is your first day at work. Take care
of yourself Piya. I still don't see why should you work when we own a shopping mall . "
" Granny , not the same discussion again , please. You know
that I want to create an identity of my own " , said Piya trying to explain
herself. " And about the rules , after all these years I have them learnt by
heart ".
" Oh ! Is that so ? " , inquired grandma , " I would love to
listen to all of that from you , young lady . "
"Okay Granny " , said
Piya , " the rules are ..."
"Wait " , interrupted Prabal , " shall I bring popcorns ? "
"Shut up you sloth " scolded grandma , while Piya shot
daggers at him.
"Oh ! Yeah the rules " , continued Piya , as grandma
signalled her to go on. " Firstly , I am not supposed to walk out of the house
alone with open hair after 5:30 pm , because there could be witches , wizards ,
vampires , draculas , spirits and what not waiting for me . Second , while
walking on the road if a vehicle comes to an abrupt halt anywhere close to me ,
I am supposed to move away as much as possible , because someone could possibly
kidnap me. Third , if somebody calls me from behind , I shall not turn as it
could be a bad omen . Fourth , if I
sneeze while eating , I must stand up
apolozise and then get back to eating , Goddess Annapurna gets angry otherwise.
And the fifth and newly included ,
during the train journey to my office and back home , I shall be aware of the
3G people . "
"3G people ! That's new . Kindly update me on that please "
, said a curious Prabal.
"As if you don't know it already " answered Piya . " They
are the people who belong to 3 Groups , very distinct ones. Hence the name 3G
people. The first group consists of women who try to be very nice and polite ,
and could drug you and sell you to God knows who. The second group has men that
could be dressed as women , and may be hidden in the washrooms , to take
advantage of females entering and locking the doors , without looking for
anything inappropriate. The third group has people that continuously stare at
you and if you stare back , they could hypnotise you and could make you their
slave. "
" Does any of that seem funny to you Prabal ? " asked
grandma with a stern expression that made goosebumps rise on the poor boy's
skin.
" You silly girl . Better follow the rules " , he told Piya
sternly .
Then after repeating the rules over and over again , grandma
left for her sister's place , blessing and wishing luck to Piya.
***************************************
" Good work Miss Dobriyal " , said Piya's boss Jeh Khurana
going through the rough sketch of the website Piya had designed for the company.
" I am proud to have a talented and beautiful worker like you. As soon as you
can finish the work , the website would be put to use. "
Mr. Khurana was a young successful businessman with emerald
green eyes , short and somewhat spiked black hair . He was quite muscular and good looking . She felt color rush to her
cheeks as he smiled at her and praised her work. " Thank you Sir " , replied
Piya before exiting his cabin , missing the malicious smirk that spread over
his features as he said almost to himself , " You are welcome Piya . Welcome
back . "
"Lucky girl. He doesn't usually praise " , said Piya's co -
worker Ruhi who loved only two things - talking and going overboard with
make-up , as Piya analysed within the six hours they worked together. "Oh my God ! See you tomorrow Ruhi. I have to
get going now " , said Piya waving Ruhi goodbye. Piya did not see Jeh Khurana s
car following her.
When Piya reached Dehradoon station back , it was already
5:25 pm and her way back home was a total twenty minutes journey , which could
be cut down to four minutes if she got a bus , cab ,an autorickshaw or anything
with wheels , immediately. But as you know about her luck issues , this area
was situated on the outskirts of the city and buses or cabs hardly showed
themselves , and autorickshaws would ply only after ten minutes.
" This is the fault of the person that rescheduled the
train's timing. Seriously the only train scheduled at this time would make me
late on my way back home. " said an annoyed Piya to Prabal over the phone , "
Walk back girl. I ain't going to pick you up and Dad would return later , so
don't expect him. You have no reason to worry since granny isn't home. Or are you
scared you might encounter somebody on the way ?" . " Obviously not bro. I very
well know that the five thirty people don't exist. Okay see you at home. Bye. "
Piya had not seen a
man with shining green eyes whose face could not be seen properly as he stood
in the dark.
Keeping the phone back into her purse , Piya turned to leave
and nearly lost her balance as she collided with a pillar. She should have
fallen , but that didn't happen because somebody caught her by the waist. As
she opened her eyes , she found that the pillar she had collided with had
somehow morphed into a man , and that too a gorgeous one .
Dressed in a wet black jeans , black t- shirt and black
hooded jacket , the man looked like a Greek God with electric blue eyes. He
helped Piya stand up properly and asked ," Are you okay , Miss ? " , concern
dripping from his velvety voice that sent shivers down Piya's spine and not
with fear.This man was very well built as could be made out from the way the
t-shirt clung to his body giving a hint of planes and grooves.
The presence of this blue eyed stranger made the green eyed
man vanish.
When she found her voice , Piya regretted opening her mouth
because at once the words that flew out of her mouth were , " Are you for real
? ".
" Yes ofcourse " ,
came the amused reply. Piya tried not to drool over his features and that husky
voice. " Why are you looking at me like that Miss ? Have I grown horns , or
wings or maybe a big tail ? " asked the
Greek God.
" Oh ! I am sorry .
And I'm fine and thank you for saving me " , said Piya , hurrying towards her
home. "
You can breathe while talking you know " , he said with a smirk
while keeping with her pace " And don't think I'm stalking or something. My
destination is in the very same direction as yours . " .
" I was not thinking
of anything as such but have you newly moved here . I have never noticed you
before " said Piya defending herself. Jerk , she thought how did he know what
she was thinking of.
" Oh Yes , I just moved in today. And I live near the
hospital if you wanted to know " , he went on to say , " and by the way , I am
Abhay. Abhay Raichand " .
" I had not asked for your address Mr. Raichand. You could have answered in a yes or a no " , replied
Piya not looking at him at all.
" Call me Abhay and I
didn't get your name " , said Abhay , " And what do you mean by 5:30 people ? "
.
Piya looked at him at
once stopping in her tracks , " You were listening to my conversation ? Now I
ll never tell you that my name is Piya. " , said Piya and her hand immediately
clamped her mouth as she realized the mistake.
His smirk only
increased as he said , " Nice to meet you Piya. Tell me more about the 5:30
people and I won't listen in on any conversation , if you don't yell over the
phone. And keep walking its getting dark ."
Piya knew her cheeks would have been red due to
embarrassment by now. She avoided looking at him. But since he kept pestering
her , she had to tell , " Don't laugh when I complete . The 5:30 people are
supposed creatures that show up only after 5:30 pm . They might talk through
their nose like Himesh , their feet may be strange with toes facing their back
and ankles on the front profile and they might look awfully scary . They could
be witches , draculas or spirits . They can kill you and merge with your soul
to become more powerful " .
" Who told you all that? Even I met you after 5:30 , what do
you think about me ?" , asked Abhay clearly amused but not laughing at all.
"My grandma and you don't seem to fit into the category " ,
replied Piya looking at him carefully.
" Good. If you can
trust me we would walk back home together every evening because even I return
from the gym at the same time. " , offered Abhay .
" Gym ? Well the effect is visible . " , said Piya poking
his biceps.
" Oh ! Thank you so much. I work as a gym instructor just close to the station. And if we walk
together , I promise none of the 5:30 people will ever disturb you " , stated
Abhay with a smile.
" Really? An instructor. Lots of girls might be visiting
then. The guys don't envy you ? " , asked Piya raising an eyebrow.
" Check for yourself someday. I am sure all the girls would
definitely envy you when all the male species including myself won't be able to
take their eyes off you " , said Abhay as a knowing smirk spread over his face
.
" Flirtatious jerk " , remarked Piya which had Abhay
grinning wide as he took a bow .
" Mansion and all.
Yet you walk on the way home. Not fair. " , said Abhay teasingly as they
approached the Dobriyal Mansion . Piya didn't answer as she unlocked the entrance
gate. The watchman was on a sick leave.
While Piya unlocked the gate , she failed to notice Abhay glaring
threateningly at the surrounding forest and the lurking shadows receding into
it.
" See you tomorrow Mr. 5:30 " , said Piya waving him goodbye
with a smile as she pressed the doorbell and waited for the door to open. He waved back to her and waited until she got
in and closed the door.
" Beautiful. Very beautiful , and all mine " , breathed
Abhay disappearing into the darkness.
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A/N : This is the longest thing I have ever typed. Please forgive me if there are any mistakes . If you liked it , do let me know. 😊
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