Chapter-6: The Uncloaked Dream

12th January, 2015...

Have you ever felt like your consciousness has a mind of its own? It experiences what you experience and sometimes contradicts your actions. Keshav sat in that conference hall yesterday with his heart in his throat as he watched Aadhira sing her heart out. She looked so at peace that he wanted to kiss her, and in the last few days, he had to accept that the desire to kiss her had risen quite a few times. Then she opened her eyes as the songs ended, and he kept looking at her. She sat beside him, and he ended up circling his thumb over her cheek as he held her face, and she let him. He doesn’t even remember what they talked about, but all he could think of at that moment was the gentle curve of her upper lip as she was talking to him with a smile on her face. Her eyes clearly held the same desire as his, but he held back. He has to. He is not the ideal boyfriend that Aadhira wants, and she is an elixir he doesn’t deserve.

Keshav lies on his bed, his eyes closed, resolving thoughts of her as he slowly slips into sleep. By the time he woke up, it was late in the evening. He has an assignment deadline tonight, so he sat on it for the rest of the day. The next day is the last day of the fest, and he volunteered to help in the preparations, as did Aadhira. He’s going to see her again. Despite not wanting to face her, he couldn’t help himself as he dressed up in a white shirt, jean jacket, and washed jeans with a pair of sneakers. He fought a smile as he looked at himself in the mirror. For the years to come, he would wonder how he managed to stay by her side without breaking out into a blush. He sets out for the preparations with a barely hidden smile.

On the ground where the fest is going to be held, Aadhira waits for Keshav as she helps the seniors set up the stalls for the fest. As she places the final items on the table of stall number 11, which is a food stall, she turns around and stubs her toe on a ladder, which causes the ladder to shake, and she puts her arms forward in an attempt to shield herself, but an arm wraps around her instead. She peeks at the person, hoping to find Keshav, but it was Vedhansh who held her, the senior from the medical department who is a brick wall in expressing himself. Vedhansh holds Aadhira with one hand as he steadies the ladder with the other.

"Be careful." Vedhansh says in a stern voice, and both Aadhira and the guy on the ladder wonder who he is addressing, but before Aadhira can thank him, he leaves her standing there with an open mouth, and the guy on the ladder exchanges a knowing look with her. The guy gets down the ladder and introduces himself as Venkatesh, a third-year mechanical engineering student. From afar, Keshav looks at their interaction in silence as the man who just held her walks away, but Keshav has already seen what he was supposed to see: the interest in that man’s eyes. He walked toward her as his heart faltered. She notices him approaching and a smile takes over her lips. Aadhira was wearing a simple light blue t-shirt with a pair of jeans, and his teenage heart couldn’t help but defy his mature mind into thinking about her cute outfit and her cuter smile.

"You’re finally here. Why are you late?

"I slept late yesterday. Let’s get to work. What do I need to do?

"Go to Priyanka Didi (the elder sister or female senior); she will assign you the task."

Keshav went in search of the senior named Priyanka but couldn’t find her, so instead another senior named Riya asked him to help with the lights.

"Can I help with the stalls instead?" Keshav asks before he can stop himself.

"Why?" He has no other excuse but to tell the truth.

"I want to help Aadhira." The senior raised an eyebrow, and he was so sure he was going to get scolded and, even worse, be laughed at, but instead he was asked the he couldn't find an answer to until now.

"How serious are you about this?" Priyanka had seen way too many students who would find these events to be a place to flirt, but she had to say that this junior surprised her. She has never seen Keshav as anything but the most disciplined student, which is why she didn’t straight out smack him for asking such a thing. But if she is helping, he should be at least clear-headed enough.

"As serious as it can get for me." That is the most honest Keshav had been with his feelings. Priyanka just smiles and nods in the direction of the stalls, and Keshav, who is still in shock about what just happened, takes off into a sprint towards Aadhira. He had never been willing to get close to someone in his entire life, and the first time he did it, it was for Aadhira, and he will remember that for the rest of his life.

For the rest of the day, he followed her everywhere, helping her carry and place things. The sun went down, and they were so exhausted that they could barely make it back to the hostel. Keshav hit the bed as soon as he got back, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

***

What’s that sound? Keshav wondered as he slowly lifted his head and opened his eyes. As soon as he did, he was hit with the same terror he had once tried to desperately escape from. He finds himself sitting in a dark warehouse that looks too shabby to be of any use. Broken tables, chairs, sticks, and wires are lying everywhere. It's the same place again. He is tied to a chair with a rope. As he looked at his ten-year-old tiny hands trying to free themselves, he watched in horror as a silhouette of someone tall formed in front of him on the other end of the room.

His panic grows as he frantically tries to free himself, but it's all a futile attempt. The silhouette doesn’t move for a while, and his head starts clearing as he tries to get a good look at his surroundings, and yes, he is at the same place as he was 8 years ago. He looks back at the silhouette, and now he knows exactly who it is, as that is a face he would never forget because it was etched into his memory in the most disgusting way possible. Now that he knows who it is, the fact that it is not moving doesn’t calm him at all. Instead, he grows more anxious about what’s about to happen. He struggles with ropes around his body, but he doesn’t give up. He shouldn’t give up. A small sound of something clicking catches his attention. He looks to his right to find many reporters standing there watching him with a grim expression on their faces. The noise of their simultaneous questions fills his ears, and he can’t concentrate on what's happening. He looks back at the silhouette, but it’s closer now. He can feel the wetness of pee in his pants and realizes it’s all happening again. The silhouette moves closer and closer, and slowly it is illuminated by the flash from the cameras that are taking pictures. A bright flash goes off, and the man’s face looks ominously disturbing with his eyes trained on Keshav. Keshav can do nothing but put all his strength into tearing the ropes around him. The figure is growing and growing above him, and his heart feels like it is being squeezed tightly, his breath falling short.

"Nooooooooooooo!" He screams into the void as the darkness grows. The cameramen disappear, but the man approaching him moves faster and faster. Keshav’s nails dig into the hand of the chair, and he can feel the nails burning inside. Please, no. He begs his mind to stop, but this is a place that he returns to inevitably.

"Keshav?" He snaps to his right at her voice. Aadhira is standing a few feet away from him. He turns back towards the man, in fear of his attention moving towards Aadhira, which is the most dreadful scenario he could imagine, but he’s nowhere to be found. He looks back at himself and finds himself free of the ropes. He’s no longer in the warehouse, but it’s still dark. He looks at Aadhira again, relief taking over as she smiles at him sweetly.

"Found you." She says this with her eyes filled with tears. Why is she crying? He wondered.

He takes a step towards her to approach her, but a black hand grabs her around her mouth and drags her into the darkness.

"Ah, ADHI!" Keshav leaps up in his bed and looks around in search of Aadhira, but he realizes she is not here. She is probably safe and sound in her hostel, sleeping peacefully, while Keshav's mind can’t hold a single thought anymore. That is the moment it hits Keshav that if he is in love with Aadhira, this is what he brings into her life. This will be the cost of their love. At that time, the baggage he carried into their relationship seemed to weigh more than his willingness to overcome his fear for her. But will his fear be enough to hold him back from Aadhira? Will it be enough to make him give up on his one chance at love?