Chapter 9: Game of death

📖 Scene 1: The Diary and The Slap

Kartik sat alone in his hostel room, trembling hands clutching her diary.

Each page was soaked in obsession—violent, disturbing words scrawled in ink:

> "Rudra had to go.

Anyone who tries to take Kartik away... deserves to vanish."

> "I'll cut the strings. I'll burn their world.

He's mine. Only mine."

Kartik closed the diary, tears flooding his eyes—guilt tightening around his throat like a noose.

> "My best friend died because of me..."

"I brought a monster into my life…"

Just then—click—the door shut.

Tanvi entered slowly, her expression cold and unreadable.

She locked the door behind her.

Without saying a word, she walked up to him, kissed his lips softly... and gently took the diary from his hands.

Kartik snapped. Fury surged in his eyes.

He slapped her—hard.

> "YOU'RE A MONSTER, TANVI!"

"I'M BREAKING UP WITH YOU!"

Silence.

Tanvi stood still for a few seconds.

Face calm. Eyes empty.

Too calm.

---

💀 Scene 2: The Game Begins

Her eyes changed.

Rage. Madness. Obsession. Possession.

> "A slap... a breakup...?"

"Now you're not just my property, Kartik—you're my betrayer too."

That night, Kartik stepped out for a walk—without telling anyone.

From the shadows... a sharp prick in his neck.

An injection.

Darkness.

He collapsed—unconscious.

---

🌲 Scene 3: Torture in the Woods

Kartik awoke.

Tied up. In the middle of nowhere—an abandoned house hidden deep in the forest.

Tanvi stood before him.

Holding a blade. A lighter. And that damned diary.

> "This... is your punishment."

"For that slap.

And that BREAK-UP."

She didn't kill him.

She broke him—slowly.

Mental, emotional... even physical torment.

But the real pain wasn't on his skin.

It was crawling through his soul.

Kartik cried out, his voice raw:

> "What did I do, Tanvi?! Why me?!"

Tanvi screamed back:

> "YOU LOVED ME!"

"And in love — there should be no one else but me!"

> "No one can take you from me.

Not Rudra. Not Khushi. Not Reeva.

And if you try to leave…

I'll kill you first.

Then kill myself."

Kartik's body went limp.

Mind shattered.

And darkness took him again.

---

🩹 Scene 4: Guilt, Tears, and the Toxic Apology

She brought him back to a hidden room in the hostel.

She cleaned his wounds. Applied medicine. Made him soup.

He remained unconscious for a week—fragile and fading.

Tanvi wrote in her diary:

> "I love him. I can't break him.

Whatever mistakes I made... were mine.

Forgive me, Kartik..."

Seven days later, Kartik finally opened his eyes.

Tanvi sat by his feet, crying.

> "I'm a horrible person, Kartik...

But please...

Promise me—

You'll never leave me.

I'll change.

I swear I'll change.

Just don't leave me... please?"

Kartik's heart screamed: Run.

But his lips whispered:

> "Promise…

Whatever punishment you deserve,

only you will suffer it.

Not my friends."

Tanvi smiled gently.

She held his hand.

Kissed him.

> "Then I'll love you even more…

Because now...

You're mine.

Forever."

---

⚠️ Chapter End — Diary Entry:

> "He promised.

No one can take him from me now.

Because if they try...

I'll start the game again.

And this time...

No one will survive before it ends."