Painful Revelations

Netri and her husband came down as the storm was about to lash down and by the time they reached Netri's chambers the wind caught up at a ferocious speed. The maids had already bolted the windows and lit the candles. They left as soon as both of them arrived. The merchant was about to leave for his chambers when an ear-splitting thunder crashed. Startled by the sound Netri grabbed onto her husband in a tight embrace and so did her husband.

Suddenly the coldness of the weather inside the room changed. The seeping warmth of feelings between the two grew hotter making them not feel the cold due to the lashing storm and rain outside. It is not that they are in an embrace like this for the first time but something is different this time, something which has gone beyond their control, and both of them can feel the surging desire within themselves. Within a second it all came crashing down like a burst-out dam.

Almost an hour has passed. They both lay together without clothes on the bed sticky with sweat while the storm still raged on fast asleep. The husband woke up in the dead of the night to find Netri sleeping peacefully on his side. He glanced over her with a sight filled with love and after stroking her beautiful hair he covered her with the quilt before quietly dressing up and leaving for his chambers. He carefully looked outside before leaving to see if anybody was around but with the storm passing no one was out during that hour. After he reached his chambers the sense of satisfaction and love which has returned to him suddenly got shaken up by the truth of his life, the truth which lies in the eastern outhouse. Restless he decided to visit the outhouse which would be difficult once Netri woke up.

The outhouse is comparatively much smaller and shabbily maintained with dirt and cobwebs all around and a damp smell. The floor is cracked in places where weeds have grown. A staircase went up from the center of the entrance hall. The first floor of the house has four rooms facing opposite each other largest room is the far end of the corridor. The merchant went up to the room and pushed the door open. The room was spanking clean with a large bed and furniture that had all sorts of luxury one can have. From expensive wine to fragrant perfume, candle stands, the curtains were made of fine cloth. An incense burner burnt at a corner making the room fragrant. The handsome man at the window greeted the merchant with a wicked smirk on his face.

"It's been a while. I was beginning to think you almost forgot about the situation here. You changed a lot after that new bride of yours came here. I have seen her quite a few times now and I must say she is something." The expression with which the yaomo said the words reflected a strange mixture of lust and admiration which made the merchant surprisingly jealous.

"I just came to check that's all."

"That's all? The yaomo widened his eyes.

"You mean you didn't come to visit your sickly wife? I mean your first wife", the yoamo said rolling his eyes in a tone of sarcasm.

"Well, I don't care about what you do or want. Five days, that's all I have to wait but I must confess I am growing impatient not because this is going to be my ultimate prey but because that woman is something I have never sensed before. She seems different from the other stupid girls you brought. And I am getting to think she might increase my powers as an immortal."

The power that manifested on Netri a few days ago with the candle seemed to have a rippling effect which the yaomo sensed mildly but to his curiosity, he never quite understood exactly where it came from. Then again when he saw Netri in the garden the next day he felt a sixth sense in him that she was somehow special.

The merchant left the room and stopped in the room on his right side. He hesitated a while before entering. This room was clean and well-kept except that it was rather simple without any luxury in it. A sickly woman lay on it, her skin pale, lips dried, eyes closed and sunken, looking like the life force had already left her. A sense of guilt bubbled up inside the merchant. The series of incidents that happened and the new feelings for his new wife made the merchant guilty of forgetting the woman for whom he started all these. But he is now in deep trouble. Not only he was deeply in love with Netri but also felt a sense of responsibility and guilt toward his first wife as well. He stood in front of her for some time and then left.

The next four days passed in the blink of an eye. During this time the merchant was distraught by everything he did. With the passing second, the looming inevitable wreaked havoc on his mind. Whenever such a thing happened he used to indulge himself in the carnal pleasure with Netri to temporarily get out of it. The carnal acts between them as such grew wilder and rougher in an attempt to suppress the condensing feeling of fear, guilt, and love all at the same getting trapped in them unable to find a way out. Netri sensed that her husband was distraught about something that she noticed was growing worse day by day. But every time she wanted to talk about it her husband denied seeing it as a business-related problem. Even when it was her birthday three days back while engaging in deep intimacy after the banquet she could feel that every move her husband made seemed like he was trying to prevent her from leaving somewhere. The kisses, bites, and thrusts all became more fierce and heavy every time they slept together.

Netri did not inquire much as she was more indulged in the new romance between her and her husband. After all, after all these years the marriage seemed to be complete and Netri looked forward to a blissful life.

However, the fateful day arrived which is going to change the course of the future forever. Netri woke up with a heavy head and blurry eyes amidst a strong musty smell. Slowly when her vision cleared she found herself in an unusual place that looked nothing like the mansion. After collecting herself and sitting straight up on an old rocky bed she started to remember. Last night she was in her chamber with her husband and after they made that intense love both fell asleep and she woke up today in this strange place. She stepped down from the bed and went to the windows the sun was setting.

"How long did I sleep exactly?" Netri thought.

She felt something uneasy and unusual settling on her mind and ran towards the door to leave the place only to find it closed from the outside.

"What is going on? Why I am trapped here? Who did this? Did my husband do this to me? But why?"

Questions flooded her mind while she desperately banged on the door screaming to let her out. Suddenly she heard someone approach followed by the sound of unbolting from outside. Shock flashed on her face to see her husband standing with an expression of desperation and regret.

Darkness descended outside with the sun completely set. Her husband caught her arm in a strong grip and dragged her along the corridor into the room of the yaomo who was unusually handsome with a sinister supernatural aura around him. His eyes glowed pale yellow with the pupils turning into slits like that of a snake as he cast his eyes on Netri. The first wife was brought into his room too and laid on the small table at the center of the room facing the bed which had been decorated with flowers. The room was lit full of candles and an incense burner burned to fill the room with a floral aroma.

"I am sorry. I have to do this. I loved you but I don't want to lose my life too." The merchant said with apologies in his eyes. Netri was petrified with shock and confusion. She asked with tears of fear in her eyes.

"Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

"It's not your fault but I have to sacrifice you for my well-being and life."

Finally, the yaomo spoke, "Oh I see you are unaware of the whole story. And obviously, if he told you then you would have come here. Let me enlighten you."

The yaomo told Netri the truth and after hearing it a deep sense of shame, betrayal, and anger crept up in her heart and all of those emotions came out as tears as she looked at her husband with a disgusted look. She was so lost in the betrayal that she didn't realize that her hands had been tied with one magical hand gesture by the yaomo. The merchant was told by the yaomo to go take a seat beside his first wife while he proceeded to take his last prey.

With another magical spell, Netri was lifted and thrown on the bed, her hands tied again with the bedpost. Slowly all her clothes started to strip off while the yaomo already shed his clothes. His human was form still at it, with handsome features with tight arms, shoulder and abdominal muscles, and an unknown evil aura that was supposed to create the illusion of attraction in women. But surprisingly Netri had an opposite reaction to the handsome nakedness. Her eyes filled with horror and disgust. Not what the yaomo had expected. He exclaimed with bewilderment.

"Normally, women gave in themselves to me by now, but you. You are something I have never seen in my entire being. Looks like you are hard to get and trust me I have a feeling that you are the key to my immortality."

The yoamo gave an evil lustful smile while he proceeded to violate Netri, while her husband turned a blind eye, tears in his eyes. He ultimately chose his life over Netri's.

Netri's screaming grew louder but the whole place was enchanted with a spell that prevented any sound from going out. As the yaomo proceeded to suck her life force out an overwhelming power surged from Netri's body. All the sense of being violated without her consent, betrayal from the person she thought was the love of her life, and self-hate for getting too lost in emotions and almost giving up on her dreams for him manifested itself in a violent surge of psychic power. Her eyes turned fiery. A suddenly invisible tsunami of force appeared and created a blast so powerful that the yaomo was thrown up in the air twisting his body in every direction and crushing it slowly.

Netri's appearance had undergone a complete change. She stood up with her eyes glowing like fire. With her hands, she flicked and the yaomo was thrown away again towards her husband. Netri looked like a calm yet deadly being that did not have a tinge of innocence and sereneness in her. She proceeded with small steps towards them. Seeing such a scene unfold the merchant went down on his knees with folded hands.

"Please forgive me. I made a mistake. I was too scared to lose my life. I loved you nevertheless. You are the love of my life."

When he said that Netri was so overcome with disgust at his shamelessness she glanced towards the woman lying unconscious.

"Then who is she?" but she was too scornful to ask this, knowing that both she and the woman and all the nine others before her, were nothing but mere means for the merchant to fulfill his craziness and obsession involving his honor and survival. Nothing else actually mattered to him. And Netri gave him her all, both emotionally and physically. The feeling made her eyes flow with tears and she gave out a heartbreaking scream letting all her emotion out which took the shape of surging psychic power that made the fire in candles all around condense into a blast of the fiery ball, creating an explosion burning away the yaomo, her husband and the woman who was possibly suffering an insufferable pain. The impact of her powers was so much that it spread in the form of a deadly flare-up all over the place destroying away the entire mansion and the considerable area around it.

Netri fell unconscious and with that, everything became quiet and dark. She lay on the rubbles and before completely slipping down into unconsciousness with her scrambled hazy vision, she saw a floating fluid-like something descending in front of her with three glowing lights on it.