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Chapter 1
“Please just leave me alone, Abhay,” Piya said, voice heavy with frustration. She turned her back towards him and began to walk, leaving him behind in the dark.
Another day, another fight. There hadn’t been a single moment in the past week where they talked without falling into a shouting match.
“Go on. Walk away! It’s not like you will ever understand the things I fear.” Abhay yelled after her, equally frustrated.
“As if you understand how I feel, or what I feel! All you like to do is stir up a fight,” she yelled back, without sparing him a glance.
He didn’t say anything after that. Fed up, Piya stomped away, and her eyes started to well up. She blinked them rapidly, refusing the tears a chance to fall down her cheeks.
The path ahead blurred as she walked on wet muddy ground towards what she thought was the direction of her home. Why couldn’t he see how much pain he caused her, in all his attempts to protect her from so-called dangers? He might protect her physically, but what about the trauma he will cause to her mentally and emotionally. How will he protect her from that?
She wiped her tears and ran as hard as she could, without looking where she was going. It was getting darker and darker as the night made itself cozy, and it was a miracle she hadn’t hit anything around her. Eventually, her clumsy legs slipped and before she realized what was happening, she fell down into the cold waters below.
“Piyaaa!!”
She heard Abhay’s shout from the top of the cliff. She flailed her hands and legs, trying to get to the surface, but the weight of the water soaked into her clothes pulled her down. Her lungs felt heavy, though not painful, rapidly filling with water. She kept gulping it more and more in failed attempts of trying to breathe. Weirdly, the water reminded of her time spent at the children's fair. It tasted just like the cotton candy she used to get there, when her mother was alive, the only thing she could afford back then. The sweet memory filled her mind and her tears fell profusely merging with the blue water. She heard the sound of the second dive, thinking it must be Abhay, so she tried to look up. But her eyes were getting heavy and her breath, fleeting. The last thing she felt before falling into a deep sleep was the water surrounding her like a blanket and the hope that Abhay would come soon and take her back.
No! No, I’m coming, Piya!
Abhay’s stomach gave a lurch seeing her limbs still and undisturbed, like a dead body. His hand wrapped around her wrist, and he pulled her up into his arms. He tapped on her cheeks, and when she didn’t respond, he yelled her name though it was muffled by the water he gulped. Luckily, he didn’t have to worry about it being fatal. He kicked furiously and pulled Piya and himself both to the surface. Her head flopped onto his shoulder, rolling slightly with his movements. She had gone pale, her hair, clothes and everything clung to her body.
“It’s okay. I’m here.” He murmured, more to himself than her. He once again gave gentle slaps on her cheeks, but she didn't move. He put his hands on her chest, one over the other, and pressed gently, aligned with the rhythmic sounds of her heart. Water gushed out of her mouth, until her chest rose with a gasp for air, bursting into a fit of coughs. She got up with a jerk, breathing heavily and opened her mouth to murmur a quick thanks. Her voice was meek and she was shivering. He would have given her his jacket, but it was also very soaked. Instead, he just carried her back to his car and turned on the car heater at full blast. He was moving fast.
“Let's get you home soon and into dry clothes,” Abhay said decisively. Piya weakly nodded, and she kept rubbing her hands together and then let out a warm breath to keep them warm. She kept her eyes closed on the way back and only opened them when Abhay had stopped in front of the Dobriyal mansion. Helping her get on his back, he climbed the pipes against the walls as quickly as he possibly could and entered inside her room. The windows were always open from the inside, seeing as he made trips there often when her family had gone to bed.
“Change into some dry clothes quickly,” he said, pushing her towards the bathroom. He waited outside as Piya came out wearing her pajamas and drying her hair. She was still shivering slightly. He pulled the blanket from the bed away, and Piya got in bed, pushing all the pillows she had put there as a makeshift body. He covered her head to toe with the blanket.
“Are you sure you are going to be okay?”, he asked, sitting at her bedside.
“I will be fine. Don't worry about me,” she mumbled, bitterness lingering in her voice. She rolled onto her side, back turned to him.
“Okay. I guess I should leave then,” he said, walking towards the window. He stopped for a second to say something, perhaps explain himself for some reason. He turned to look at her, but then couldn't find anything to say.
“Take care, I am here if you need me.” That was all he could muster, before jumping out the window.
Within a few moments, Abhay was at his home. He changed his clothes and laid on his bed. Once again, he had broken her heart. For a guy who loved her as much as he did, he sure managed to contradict that sentiment very often. But what choice did he have? She didn’t understand his world at all. She doesn’t understand that theirs was a relation that would never be accepted. She didn’t understand that if the vampire council found out about their relationship, they would suffer fate worse than death. She couldn’t grasp the fact that his was a world where no humans were allowed.
She always placed the blame on him, that he never understood her or her feelings. But nothing could be farther from the truth. He very well understood that she loved him, and like every other couple, she wanted to spend time together, go out on dates and attend parties as a couple. He had seen the longing in her eyes when she saw Angad and Tracker sharing ice cream in the canteen, when Kabeer presented gifts to T, when Alina planned dates and outings with her boyfriend, or when Misha was getting pampered by Shourya.
He understood her feelings. He felt the same things. But he was not human like those other guys. He wished so much to be able to do all those things boyfriends did when they were with their girlfriends, but he had his hands tied. There was nothing he could do, not without the council knowing and thus endangering her life. And there was always that trace of self doubt upon himself that he would lose control and…he shuddered to think of the outcome. But did she understand that? Certainly not.
Well how could she when you have never let her in?, spoke a small voice in his mind.
He did, he always tried to understand all her feelings, even though she claimed otherwise.
Are you sure you understand her?
He shook his head trying to push the thoughts aside, but he was fighting a losing battle. He eventually resigned and decided to turn his body off for the day. He got out of bed and bent underneath it . From beneath the bed frame, he pulled out a large casket. He opened it and laid down in it, closing it, slipping into the dreamless, lifeless sleep of a vampire.
*
Piya was also having trouble falling asleep, after having yet another damsel in distress moment. She smacked her head into a pillow, thinking about her fall in the lake mere moments after their fight. Sometimes she surprised herself by how often she managed to get into trouble , and today was another one of those days. And just like many times before, he found a way to save her again. Resting her head on her fluffiest pillow, she went over the details of their fight in her head over and over again.
It's not like you will ever understand the things I fear, his words ringed in her ears, full of anguish.
He expects me to understand his fear, but when has he tried to understand me?, she thought.
It would take a miracle to make Abhay come out of his own world and notice or understand her side of the story. Her mind was filled with these thoughts, which on their own exhausted her, and soon she dozed off to sleep.
The morning sun rose uneventfully, shining its rays on the floors of their respective rooms.
Piya had quite the strange dream. She dreamt that she was trapped in some kind of wooden box, unable to breath or see any sort of light. But when she opened her eyes, nothing changed from dream to reality.
“Am I still dreaming? But-“
She felt very much awake, but this wasn’t her bed. She wasn’t even in a bed. Did someone kidnap her? And what was this box? She pounded on the top, which opened much more easily than she expected. She sat up, and looked down. Those weren’t her legs, or her pajamas. She looked around the room. This wasn’t her room.
She was in Abhay’s room, and sleeping in what looked to be his personal casket. Her hand moved to her chest, except it wasn’t her chest.
“Maybe I should go back to sleep and everything will fix itself.”
She laid back down in the oddly comfortable casket and closed her eyes, muttering “it's just a dream. It will be over soon. ” But nothing seemed to change, and she didn't seem to wake up. Or rather, she couldn't go back to sleep.
“What is happening?”
Perhaps she was hallucinating, and a good splash of water on the face would do her well. She was feeling thirsty too, but there was no water in sight.
“Yes, I have to be dreaming. There’s no way.”
She hurried into the bathroom, but everything felt funny. It didn’t take long after the quick face wash to find Abhay’s face staring back at her in the mirror, a discovery that could only end in a horrid scream. It sounded just like him too, except she had never heard him scream in that shrill voice.
*
Abhay felt this urge to pee, but the warmth of the bed and blanket was too enchanting and he didn't want to get out. He didn’t remember the last time he had such a sweet sleep in a soft bed. It must have been ages, centuries really. He woke up with a start. He never felt warm anymore.
Am I dreaming? But I haven’t dreamt in ages, only when I was human.
Confused and rubbing his head, he decided to relieve himself in the washroom, and merely that experience inside gave him an utter shock. With his eyes wide, he checked himself in the mirror. Piya stood where his own reflection should have been. He moved his left arm up to touch his ears and the reflection in the mirror imitated him. He felt his heartbeat speeding up now and it gave him another shock. His heart didn't beat, but now it was. Faster and faster, with a bead of sweat on his forehead. He looked around, and for the first time after waking up, realized he was in someone else’s room and that someone else was none other than Piya. He pinched his arms to check if he was dreaming, but the only thing that happened was that his skin turned red where he had pinched and it stung.
Something was wrong. He needed to talk to his parents immediately. On instinct, he went to the window to open the curtains and looked down the window. He thought of jumping as per his usual habits but his body refused. The fear of falling and breaking his legs engulfed his mind and he decided to take the stairs. He slowly opened the door and snuck out, hoping everyone would be asleep and no one would notice him sneaking out of Piya’s room. He tiptoed out and towards the main hall and front door like a thief. As he reached the hall without any hurdles, he almost broke into a sprint towards the door, but by the time he passed the huge hall, the lawn, the front yard, and finally the front gates, he felt his chest contracting. Running was suddenly very exhausting. There was no way he could survive all the way home. Struggling to breathe, he decided to come back and look for the car keys. He must have made some noise because a servant came running. He tried to hide behind a pillar or something but the servant opened his mouth.
“Piya memshaab, you are up early? Do you need something?”
So he sees Piya. Right! So maybe just act like you are piya, Abhay decided.
“I uh…I…yeah I need the car keys. I think I lost them,” he said to the servant.
The servant went behind the right corner wall and came back holding the keys and handed them over to him. “Where are you going so early in the morning, memshaab? Should I pack your breakfast? It will only take me a min–”
“No, I have to go right now. Thanks though. Bye!” he said, cutting the servant off. He rushed outside and sat in the car. He breathed a sigh of relief as he was outside the Dobriyal property, and soon he was driving to his home, hidden away from humans far deep into the forests. Parking his car outside his mansion, he rushed inside to find his parents sitting there with a guy who looked exactly like him. Or maybe it was him.
“Mom, what's happening?”, he asked Chand and Haseena. He was looking at his body and found the body was looking at him too. If he was in Piya’s body, could it be that Piya was in his body? He frowned in confusion.
“Abhay?!” There was a hint of surprise in Haseena’s voice.
His body looked at him immediately.
“If you are Abhay, and I’m Piya, then….”, said the body, looking at him, then at Chand and then finally at Haseena.
“How come… what … mom, dad, I don't understand.”
“Settle down, both of you.” Chand said, looking at both of them. He was sure that this wasn’t some prank. He had noticed that Abhay was behaving oddly since the day began. That scream was not like him at all. It slowly made sense. He had swapped bodies with Piya. “Tell me. Did anything strange happen recently?”
“No! I mean—“ Piya blurted. “We had another fight last night…but that’s all.”
“That’s all?! You nearly drowned last night.” Abhay turned to his parents. “She fell off a cliffside and into a lake. All I did was save her and take her home. But we were fine up until this morning.”
“A lake, you say? Anything strange about it?” Haseena asked.
“I don’t know anything about strange lakes. But the water tasted sweet, like cotton candy.” Piya replied. “That’s all I can remember.”
Chand placed his goblet down on the table and pressed his fingers together before his face. He had heard of such a phenomenon before, of a lake that grants wishes. What these two had wished for, however, was beyond him. He could only deduce that it was the cause of their souls swapping bodies.
“It seems like this lake is the reason you both have swapped bodies. It grants wishes to those who drink from it.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Did you two—wish for anything after that?”
Abhay and Piya looked at each other, still a little freaked out at basically staring at themselves, and went into deep thought. They both recalled their thoughts from the night prior, sparking a possible revelation.
“Maybe…,” they both said in unison. Remembering their fight as a result, the two looked away from each other.
“Idiots….” He mumbled into his palm, eyes closed. “Who gave you both the stellar idea to go bathe in strange lakes?!”
Now he was standing and shouting. Neither could answer the question, and stayed silent. Haseena gestured him to sit down. He shook his head and swiped the goblet off the table, emptying it in one go like it was a shot of alcohol.
“I have read some texts on such lakes before. Historical records. The effects should only last 24 hours, but it cannot be reversed before that.” Haseena said, with a calming smile.
“24 hours?!” Piya said loudly, startling Haseena and Chand. They had to keep reminding themselves that Abhay wasn’t actually Abhay at the moment, and that the quiet one that was their son was currently in Piya.
Piya shrunk back and folded her hands in her lap, embarrassed. Abhay was glaring at her. This seemed like a horror movie, where an alternate version of herself was haunting her.
“Yes, 24 hours.” Haseena said firmly. “Patience is a must.”
One word sums it all - hilarious 🤣
This was really wild, waiting for part 2
thanku sweetie. Fun to abhi shuru hua he 😉Originally posted by: DelusionsOfNeha
One word sums it all - hilarious 🤣
This was really wild, waiting for part 2
Originally posted by: DelusionsOfNeha
One word sums it all - hilarious 🤣
This was really wild, waiting for part 2
🤣🤣🤣 Glad to hear you liked it 🤗
Originally posted by: Abhiya_cute
Wow, that just unique concept. 🤣
It was Nikki’s idea ⭐️🤣
Nice one MeKki 😆
Ye idea aaya kahan se... It's an alternate universe Jahan sab ke pairs Bina confusion ke Bane huye hain .. Misha & shaurya howww 🤣
Next update me maja aayegaa but I have a question, kya Abhay ke pas aatma hai 🤣
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