III

*Preview*

"Let's go." Shaira said as she patted my shoulder and we both left the hospital premises. We talked about our day. Even though we sit opposite each other everyday we don't get to talk, given the facts that our lunch breaks are at different timings to avoid waiting time of patients.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" She asked while taking out her metro card. It was just a fifteen minute walk to the metro station.

"Yup." I replied "See you. Don't forget-"

"I know, I know. I'll message you first when I reach home." I smiled and she reciprocated, before hugging me and walking towards the entry of the station.

I chuckled. Everyday, we both went our ways with a promise to meet each other again tomorrow morning at metro station but it never happens because she was always early than me.

But I didn't know that from today I would never be able to keep that promise even if I wanted to.

Chapter III

Author

Krystle entered her house after seeing off Shaira, with a promise of meeting each other tomorrow at the metro station. Going to her bedroom, she placed her bag down on the table and went to take out her night suit. Shutting the cupboard, she went straight to the bathroom to take a shower, unaware of the another presence in the house.

The person knowing every little thing about her, from her love for sweets to her fear of dark, was waiting for her in her house. He knew exactly when her shift ended and about what time she would come to her house. He feared his boss more than anything in this world. He slowly and silently walked into her bedroom. It looked just as any normal bedroom looked with bed, a study table, cupboard and dressing table.

Hearing the shower turning off, he hid behind the curtains of her bedroom.

Krystle closed the bathroom door after her and turned on the air conditioner. The rain in the morning had left humidity behind it, forcing her to turn on the air conditioner. She let the damp towel dry on the chair and went to apply the cream before going to the kitchen to make her dinner. The man behind the curtains watched her every move like a predator, waiting to pounce.

Krystle stood in front of the microwave as it heated poha(Indian dish) when she heard rustling behind her. Startled, she turned around to see nothing. Confused, she turned back again.

"Must be the wind." She brushed off the thought as the microwave pinged, announcing that the dish was heated. Krystle opened the microwave and took out her meal. She grabbed a spoon and mixed ketchup in poha before turning around.

She liked it that way.

Turning around, the bowl slipped from her hands and dropped down on the floor before breaking into many small pieces as a shriek left her mouth. In front of her stood a man, whose face was covered with a black mask and his black eyes glinted in the light. Dedication and hunger were evident in his eyes which scared Krystle more. Something else also glinted in his hand but before Krystle could do anything, the man slapped his hand on her mouth.

"So you are the one he wants, huh?" His voice was as rough as his hand. He could feel the girl shaking. Beads of sweat sliding down the sides of her face as fear settled in her wide eyes.

Good. She should be scared of me.

He thought.

Krystle could feel her fingers touching something cold on the kitchen counter. She grasped the object tightly in her hold before she flung it, with all her strength, to the attacker's head. The pan hit the man harshly on his head. He screamed as his hand dropped from her mouth and he held his head in his palms. Taking his moment of surprise for her an opportunity for her to escape, she pushed at his chest making him fall down and ran out from the kitchen before throwing the pan down.

Krystle could care less as her feet got cut by the glass shards while she ran towards the front door. She couldn't hear anything above her heart's loud beating. A cry of joy escaped her lips as her fingers clasped around the steel handle of the main entrance door. But before she could open the door of her escape, she was pulled back by her hair. She screamed as she felt her scalp on fire. She was so sure he would pull her hair out before he finally threw her to the sofa. Her head slammed against the side of the sofa and stars swayed in her vision. Everything went silent for a minute before Krystle came back to her senses. She held her head as she slowly stood up. She could feel liquid on her hand.

A gasp left Krystle's lips as she saw blood on her hand. She looked up to see a sinister smile on her attacker's face. Her body hurt and everything around her was spinning and slowly becoming hazy.

"Now, we can do this my way or your way." He spoke while looking at her body in a hungry way with lust in his eyes. "That man wants you alive but he didn't say anything about fun."

"Which man?"

Krystle could feel her getting light headed by his nasty words. There was no way she was going down without fighting this jerk. The man lunged at her, making her fall to the ground which only worsened the condition of her head. She scratched his face with her nails and drew blood, kicking him with her knees, doing anything and everything to make him leave her. But it angered him more and he slapped her, hard, making her head turn to the side. Krystle could now also feel blood on her lips.

"Bitch!" He cursed out as he wiped his face, looking down at the crimson streaks on his hand. He looked at her with death in his eyes and started kissing her neck as she squirmed beneath him but his hands only tightened around her wrists. He forced her hands above her head while his lips kissed her neck

There was nothing she could use as a weapon. She thought of screaming but she knew that the windows were still closed because she locked them everyday before going to work and only briefly opened them in evenings when returns home early. However, she still screamed as loud as she could before she was silenced with a slap on her face and a hand on her mouth.

His hands started roaming around her waist and Krystle put all her strength to throw him over but lost as he was really heavy. She could feel black dots in her vision, her mind screaming at her to do something but her body disagreed as she laid still under him, exhausted. Tears which were pooling in her eyes, finally flowed down her temples as she felt completely helpless. His hand on her mouth further prevented her to breathe properly as her breath was rising each passing second.

But before she could succum to her body's wishes, she heard a crash from her side. She heard a loud thud and the noise of glass falling on the tiled floor. Suddenly, the weight above her was lifted and she felt like she could finally breathe as that man's hand was removed from her mouth. She turned to her side and gasped for air through her coughing fit. She didn't know if she was hallucinating or it was real but her rescuer momentarily stopped hitting the attacker when he heard her cough so harshly. He only came back to his senses when he heard the man beneath him groan.

After calming her body down, Krystle looked at the scene through her half opened eyes. A black figure was beating her assaulter where ever it could find place. She could tell it was a male by his broad shoulders and height. A wave of dizziness hit her and she turned her head towards the ceiling. She could still hear the loud noise of skin hitting skin and her tears were falling relentlessly but she couldn't do anything except closing her eyes. A ringing noise making its way into her head.

Sleep.

This was the only thought going round and round in her mind when suddenly everything was quite. An eerie silence dropped over her house. She was sure she would hear the sound of a pin dropping if anyone would let it fall but right now the only thing she could hear was his harsh breathing after beating the attacker unconscious. After a moment, shuffling sound reached to her ears before the sound of crunching glass pieces.

"Krystle? Krystle!" A voice shouted her name but she couldn't respond even if she wanted to so much. She screamed at herself to open her eyes, to look at the person but the ringing inside her head intensified.

Something touched her cheek. It was warm and soft but at the same time rough but she couldn't tell what it was as the ringing grew loud and all her thoughts left her mind making her fall into an abyss.

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Who do you think saved Krystle?

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Kaur D