Some believe in life after death, some don't, but when the essence of a person is buried deep down, all notions fail and what remains is only memories.

**

How hard the mind tries to entice certain thoughts, when emotions die within you, there's no way for a second go.

So hard you try to stand up after that great fall, but every time, every effort you make, ends up to be futile when a machete pierces you again and again.

The magma filled with rage and violence boils inside your blood, but your own senses refuse to help you overcome it as you struggle with that uncanny feeling within yourself.

The equations continue to squiggle in you, not giving any sensible option, no proper ending, no chance to escape.

The wailing doesn't stop, as the despair goes on haunting you.

Even when you think you got a solution, a new ray, a hope, everything falters and fails as it turns out to be spurious the very next moment.

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Absorbed by the traces of misery that had painted its essence all over her, Khushi stirred in her sleep, her body all limp as the episode of the previous day flashed in front of her eyes, yet again.

One minute, she had her alive, talking in front of her, irritating her with her jokes and then..

She was dead.

'And I couldn't do anything.'

'Nothing at all, to prevent it from happening.'

'How could I remain oblivious when within a fraction of second she ended up dead?'

Khushi was letting her thoughts torment her yet again.

If Alexandra's powers had so much potential to make her distracted by her actions, perplexed by the outcome, then how could she even think of attaining victory while fighting them all?

The Avizhas?

It was so foolish of her to even have a thought about defeating them, she thought.

Was it that simple?

Was life really such a joke?

Was destiny really so cruel?

Her breathing constricted as she pulled the blanket closer to her chest, her tears unstoppable as she remembered the brief time span that she had known Judith, yet how definitely close they had become.

Thinking of the ill fated ending captured her in a fit of uncertainty.

Only if she knew it was to end this way.

It appeared as if she was living Wilfred Owen's "Futility" in front of her own eyes.

The only difference was, in the poem the war was among the countrymen for land, and here it was purely for a mere piece of ornament which determined the power of their kind and ultimately threatened their immortality as Khushi possessed Meredith's countenance.

So much turbulence existed in her life, that Khushi had almost forgotten all about her normal life.

The fact that she was just a 18 year old, the fact that she was a college going girl, a student of English literature, who had normal dreams, wishes. But here she was, ensnared in a world that majority in this world believed to be non-existent, but she knew it was otherwise, didn't she?

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She closed her eyes in terrible guilt, the remaining tears automatically falling from her eyes, when suddenly she felt the light of her bed side lamp flicker, making a peculiar noise in the process.

Irked by the sudden disturbance, she opened her eyes in shock, visualizing the fluctuating lights, as she noticed that the lava lamp on the other side of her room was flickering as well.

Her face adorned with confusion, as she pushed the blanket off her body, running quickly towards the lights, not comprehending what was happening.

She ran her fingers through her hair as she bit her lower lip in frustration, at the same time a small fear took over her as she darted her eyes frantically, not having any answer to what this chaos was all about!

Agitated and helpless, she outstretched her hand to touch the golden lamp on the small table near her bed, when suddenly her hand stopped midway as she realized it wasn't flickering anymore.

Not at all.

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The silence took over the room once again as the noise from those flickers were all gone all of a sudden, and the only sound audible to Khushi was the sound of her own breathing.

Still not aware of the cause and effect of this scenario, she withdrew her hand reluctantly and straightened up herself, taking a step backward, that is when her back hit someone, a tall figure and her eyes grew wide in shock.

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Afraid to have her fear come true, she didn't utter any word, wondering what if spoken fears actually came true.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she slowly turned around, with every move, every angle, her fear turned into living reality, as she saw those familiar pair of blue eyes, standing tall right in front of her.

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Gasping for air, she gulped as she saw the complete figure right ahead her with a familiar smile on his face, when she whispered in a frightened tone,

"Maso- Aloysius."

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Khushi saw his smile widen as she uttered the words, her legs urgently taking a step backward while he stood there, unmoved, bemused watching her reactions, enjoying it to the core.

There was nothing miraculous about this event for sure, but for him, it was just another mode of entertainment as she watched his broad smile seeing her fragile condition.

What she did fail to notice however was the fact that he let his gaze linger longer on her face, studying her features, which so strikingly reminded him of a certain someone from his past called Meredith.

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"Ah, you can call me Mason. I'm quite habituated you know. All these months, I like this body now."

He said in a theatrical tone, making her feel disgusted towards him for being in the skin of her dead childhood friend, who was everything that this beast wasn't.

A minute passed as she now realized that though Mason was his vessel, but this voice now, it was so not his.

It was too confined with evil, as if run by the demon that possessed this body.

"What are you doing here?"

Khushi asked in a low voice, while he gave her a you-already-know-it look.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't scared, but truth was her courage today was beyond her fear, and hence, she put up a brave face as she looked at the monster standing in front of her eyes.
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"I wonder Mommy dearest hasn't recovered yet from that terrific drama from days back, has she?"

He said as he grabbed the Rubix cube kept on one shelf in Khushi's room and started playing with it, acting so darn casual as if things were so easy, and human life had no value to him.

Deaths were no big deal.

It made Khushi's blood boil as the excruciating pain flooded through her veins, at the same time the biggest fear of losing her family at his hands took over her mind.

Her breathing hitched as she looked at him with a frown on her face, her heart begging him to not use the innocent ones in his dirty game, but when was he the one to show some mercy?

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"Come to me and hand over the bracelet, Khushi."

His gaze pierced her as he said those words, the smile all gone from his face and a serious expression took over it.

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She didn't find her voice to answer him with anything as her heart ached with pain, clueless of what she could do now, her hands tied by the love of the people who mattered to her unlike anything else.

"Time is ticking away, MAKE YOUR CHOICE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE."

Khushi watched in terror as his penetrating gaze questioned her reality and made her weaker and weaker with every second as he spoke those words, the evil grin tugging at his lips.

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"TICK TOCK!"

He mocked at her as the tears flooded her eyes, and within a fraction of second, she watched in horror as the Rubix cube in his hand crushed down to pieces, his actions conveying it to her, what could happen if she didn't comply with his orders.

It proved to her that every single being was to be crushed by his hands, killed by his powers, and she was going to lose it and bear the consequences.

The disgusting feeling never abandoned her as she was spellbound and he continued to give her his evil smile and she shook her head in negative, broken by the call of the impending disaster as she yelled on top of her voice,

"No!!!"

"Please No!!"

"Don't do it!!"

"Please! PLEASE!!"

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"Hey! Hey! Hey! I'm here..I'm here.. It's nothing.. You are fine, okay? You are fine.."

Khushi jerked up, as her eyes opened in extreme shock, only to realize Arnav's hand was wrapped around her as they both lay on her bed, the golden light of the lamp shimmering all the way.

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Her breathing was laboured, as her chest heaved and she looked everywhere frantically.

She was shocked to see the rubix cube placed in that shelf, untouched, the lights not flickering at all.

Everything looked normal.

She rubbed away the beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand while she panicked in fear, and snuggled closer to Arnav.

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"I..I- saw him- I-"

She stuttered as he held her tighter and kissed her head, whispering softly to her,

"Ssshh..Everything's fine. It was just a nightmare."

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Khushi looked at him in awe, her mind still refusing to believe that how could a nightmare be so real, reminding her of those endless nightmares, of the fire and the violet roses once again.

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"It was Aloysius, Arnav. He threatened to kill everyone I love. Everyone."

She cried as he hugged her closer to his chest, the warmth from his body making her feel alive, when she was already dying every minute from inside.

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"It was a nightmare, Sunshine. You are here, with me. Nothing can happen to you. Calm down."

He shushed her as he caressed her hair, and moved away the few strands that were on her face.

She pulled away slowly as with the going minutes, she finally succumbed to the reality and understood that it was really a nightmare and hadn't happened for real.

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But for how long?

The unanswerable question quizzed her.

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"It's all because of me, Arnav.. Mom, Judith..Ev-Everything."

She spoke with difficulty, as her tears made her choke on her voice.

He rubbed her back with his hand while he wiped away her tears with his other hand and said,

"No! Stop blaming yourself."

"Your mother will be all right. Nothing will happen to her. Believe me."

"And you cannot help what happened with Judith. Alexandra did it without any warning."

"So stop considering it as your fault!"

He ordered.

Butfor Khushi, still it couldn't undo the wrong.

It couldn't change the time.

It couldn't change the fact that Judith's life was taken without any mercy, she died because of this mess.

She knew how much Arnav tried to conceal the grief of this loss, after all she was his friend, they had grown up together.

He couldn't hide the emotions from Khushi, regardless of how much he tried.

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"We know this is a battle and there has to be bloodshed. We are at war Khushi! It was Judith this time, next can be me, but-"

She stopped him midway as she placed her palm on his mouth, refraining him from even daring to say anything further, begging him to not hurt her this way once again.

He realized the grave mistake he committed, as he slowly removed her hand and held the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him as he softly brushed his lips against hers.

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If heaven existed, then she didn't know what it looked like, what it felt like.

But when she was with him, it was nothing less than God's haven.

The only place which defined Peace for her, his embrace.

His feathery touch momentarily eased away the rampant tension in her mind as he softly whispered against her ear,

"I'm sorry.. I didn't intend to-"

"It's okay. But don't you dare try to say that again."

She warned him as she deepened the kiss, her tears finally drying away while he brought her closer to him.

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Minutes passed as she rested her head on his shoulder, the blanket covering them both when she thought of something.

The nightmare was still so fresh in her mind that it only felt more than realistic as she recalled Aloysius' words to her.

The membrane between dream and reality appeared to be negligible, when she thought about what she wanted to do.

What she had to do.

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But this wasn't going to be an easy decision.

Not at all.

But it was more than important.

For her and for everyone.

Letting out a deep sigh, she thought of having some time alone, some solitude.

Though the idea of being apart from Arnav even for a second felt suffocating to her, but this was so essential that she didn't have a choice.

"I will go get a glass of water."

Khushi said to him as she pushed the blanket off her and began to climb down the bed, when he held her hand tightly and said,

"You wait here. I will fetch that for you."

.

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It wasn't easy to evade him.

Never was.

Never will.

But she had to, anyhow.

Not having any other choice, she spoke,

"Arnav, please? Let me go. I just need to get some fresh air and spend some time alone."

The hurt expression on his face at her words hurt her even more.

But she knew she had no other option.

Reluctantly letting go of her hand, Arnav nodded as he whispered,

"Fine. But not for long. I will go and check on you. And stay in the house, no need to go out."

He ordered like a real possessive guardian.

Khushi knew his care and concern for her was beyond ordinary and broke her heart all the more that these days she was hardly being reasonable to anyone including him.

Letting out a deep sigh, she nodded her head in affirmation and said,

"Okay Mr. Demanding. I will be right back."

And then got off the bed and walked out of the room as she saw him smile slightly at her approach in levity from her last words, though inside, only a surge of guilt addressed her as she was not really going to follow his words this time.

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She rushed to the kitchen as she opened the door of the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water quickly as she opened the cap and took a sip, thinking about the choices she had, which were actually none and therefore, the judgement was already set.

It was time to execute it.

For how long was she going to sit and watch the show, as the demons got her loved ones killed?

For how long was she going to live in the fear of darkness?

For how long could she afford to risk the lives of her beloved?

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The decision was already made in her mind as she thought of making her way through the dark forest as she kept the bottle on the rack of the refrigerator and snapped the door close, when the uninvited figure standing in front of her unannounced instantly accelerated the adrenaline rush in her.

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"Khushi."

The now familiar British accent greeted her as she saw that tall woman standing with a smirk on her face,and Khushi could already demarcate that this time it was no dream as she sensed her thudding heart beat and indefinable fear.

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"I wonder after that little Blonde bid adieu to you, you would be finally back to your senses, but I guess you are still your old adamant self, hmm?"

Alexandra mocked as she gazed Khushi from top to bottom like the last time, ravishing the fear in her, laughing at her helplessness.

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Khushi didn't answer anything as she stared at her, her fingers curled into fists while her mind boggled at the thought of what was she going to do next, when suddenly she realized Arnav was upstairs, and what if she knew it?

Her muscles tightened at that realization and she begged the Lord to not test her vulnerability this way, for heaven's sake.

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"I hear little Jasmine is in New York,huh?"

Her words blended with a warning made Khushi's eyes grow wide in shock as she stared at her puzzled, the fear of losing once again tugging at her heart, only the name replaced this time as she mentioned Jazz's name.

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"Please, don't-"

Khushi's panic stricken plea was broken midway as Alexandra intervened, feigning a bored look and said,

"Oh! Not again. Please! Stop this boring drama, woman. You are stretching this for too long now."

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Khushi stared at her, shocked at the tall woman's lack of any single emotion when finally she struggled with the baffling thoughts in her head and with a lot of difficulty yet conviction, finally uttered,

"I..I have made a decision."

Khushi saw her expression change from mocking to curious as she became suddenly inquisitive, pondering about what Khushi was referring to.

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Alexandra stepped towards Khushi as the latter held the sides of her night dress, clutching them tightly, hoping to not regret her choice when suddenly she saw Alexandra's hand approaching to touch her.

What was happening now?

Was she going to be destroyed now?

Did she already know her decision?

The evil smirk returned to her face as she brought her hand forward to touch her bracelet, knowing that she couldn't have it unless Khushi gave it to her by herself, but as if she was mesmerized and greedy by the shimmering stones in it, she was lost in its essence when a sudden sound made her jerk and at the same time made Khushi stumble and move backwards.

For a long minute, she couldn't fathom what was happening anymore.

And as realization slowly began to dawn, her eyes grew wide in shock.

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Alexandra's face twitched, as she grimaced all of a sudden as if attacked by some pain, while Khushi stared at her, totally puzzled by what was this new nuisance.

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Her grimace deepened and voice turned louder as she now screamed as if some pain tormented her devastatingly, when suddenly Khushi saw her falling on the floor on her back with a loud thud, revealing the sight of Arnav standing behind her rigidly, as he held the silver knife in his hand.

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Khushi's mouth flung open as she saw the fresh blood on the knife, Alexandra's blood, after he had stabbed her on her back and immediately withdrawn it to know the outcome.

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Khushi ran towards him as he held her hand tightly and they watched the woman lying on the floor, screaming in pain, her body melting with every second as if intoxicated by something and within minutes there was no trace of Alexandra at all.

She was gone.

The entire essence of her body was nowhere to be seen or felt.

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Khushi shuddered in shock at the sight of it, the evil woman now turned into only ashes without any fire as Arnav held her firmly in his grip, and she turned her face to look at him in surprise and then shifted her gaze to the knife in his other hand.

The knife of his biological father.

The spell cast on it against the Avizhas..

Was it really real?

Could it be possible?

Really?

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The day resurfaced in her mind when he had shown the knife, the only heirloom and legacy he had from his original family, to her in his room that day, when he had taken her to the Sciarrone Mansion.

That one secret that he had shared with no one but Khushi.

Only her.

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"It.. It worked."

She stammered as Arnav nodded in approval, both shocked by the scene that had unfolded moments ago.

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"My father was right. The knife's capable of killing an immortal."

Arnav spoke, still dazed by the shock.

Khushi smiled at him victoriously, hugging him sideways when his silent words gained her attention and faltered the recently risen hope within her,

"..But, we could use it only once. And we already did it."

It slashed water on her only hope as she looked at him with a frown, his face equally disappointed by the hard truth.

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After a period of brief silence, Khushi uttered,

"..But Arnav, what if we can use it more than once? I mean, until today it was dicey whether it could actually kill an immortal or not, but it did! So, what if-"

She couldn't complete as he stopped her and said in a tone of warning,

"No, Khushi! There is no way I'm taking a risk again. Do you realize what could have happened if I didn't reach here on time?"

He panicked as he held her by the shoulders and jerked her to show her the rational side of things, as if trying to convey his obvious worries to her.

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"I- I'm sorry, Arnav. But trust me, I believe this will work."

She said softly while he gave her an angry look and added,

"NOT one more word! I cannot risk you DAMN IT!"

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Khushi found it difficult to reply anything to him when he looked at her suspiciously, and that made Khushi's heart skip a beat.

The initial shock all gone, he scanned her face keenly as he narrowed his eyes, and asked her in a low but dangerous voice—

"What decision were you talking about to her? What decision did you take?"

It incremented the fear in her as she looked at him to meet his heated, interrogating gaze while her insides churned, knowing what would be his reaction to her decision, but for now, she just wanted to feel the essence of her haven, and hence she threw her arms around him and hugged him close to her, not answering anything, but just wishing for him to understand her.

It was in the best interest of all of them and she silently hoped he would understand.


**