‘True.’
The two started searching the flat. The cupboards that were locked were broken into while the ones that were open were searched thoroughly. Kiyan searched one bedroom while Anaysha went through another. After half an hour, Kiyan found a bundle of A4-sized sheets inside the last drawer of the table that had a desktop computer on it. He had to break the lock to access it. He made a mental note to repair the lock before Kashti returned. The papers, he noticed, were clipped together. As he flipped through the pages, he understood it was a manuscript for a . . . novel. And as he went through it, he noticed the manuscript was divided into three distinct parts:
Part 1: Seduce.
Part 2: Snatch.
Part 3: Destroy.
‘Kiyan!’ Anaysha screamed out from the other bedroom. Had she also found something? he wondered and rushed to the other room.
26
Kiyan reached the other bedroom and noticed Anaysha was standing frozen with a doll in her hand. The kind of doll he had seen only in films about black magic.
‘Is this what I think it is?’ he asked, his voice betraying his fear.
Anaysha nodded. Kiyan came closer and noticed it was a male doll with real hair attached to the doll’s head. And it wasn’t a tough guess whose hair it could be.
‘I think the hallucinations you are having could be because of this,’ Anaysha said.
‘Black magic?’ Kiyan muttered to himself and remembered how Kashti had told him several times, ‘Black suits you.’ Did her compliment have a double meaning?
‘We need to destroy this doll,’ Anaysha said.
‘You believe in all this?’ Kiyan asked knowing well that he couldn’t stop himself from letting the doll scare him.
‘I haven’t ever witnessed anything like this myself, but have heard a lot about them from my grandmother.’
‘Even I’ve heard about using black magic to screw someone up. How do we destroy this?’
‘We have to burn it. But what I can’t understand is, why would Kashti keep this doll here and still ask you to stay here?’
There was a quiet moment after which Kiyan spoke, ‘Maybe we are simply presuming Kashti kept it here. It could be someone else too.’
‘Who? Tina?’ Anaysha sat on the nearby bed, pensive.
Kiyan swallowed a lump. Was Tina trying to perform black magic on him before she was taken to the US?
‘I think I cracked it!’ Kiyan said with childlike enthusiasm. Anaysha looked up at him.
‘I think Tina was doing all this nonsense black magic stuff to snatch me from you. That’s when her parents realized she was ill and took her to the US.’
‘I agree it makes more sense for Tina to be doing it than Kashti, but . . .’ Anaysha said.
‘But . . .?’
‘I don’t know. I feel an important piece of the puzzle is missing.’ Anaysha stood up, pacing slowly in the room. ‘You say no to a girl’ she continued, ‘and she goes so mad that she starts practicing black magic on you? Sounds like an India TV show plot, honestly.’
‘I know, but it adds up too. I’m sure Tina was taken to the US because of all this stupid behaviour of hers.’
‘Then Kashti coming into your life is a pure coincidence? And what about those visions of Tina you had?’ Anaysha said, as if she was talking to herself.
‘Perhaps hallucinations. What other logical explanation can there be?’ Kiyan said.
‘Hallucinations happen when something disturbs you a lot. Have thoughts of Tina been disturbing you of late?’ Anaysha said, looking straight at Kiyan.
‘More than Tina, it is Kashti who has been disturbing me,’ he said.
‘Hmm,’ Anaysha nodded and noticed Kiyan was holding onto some papers.
‘What are those?’ she asked.
Kiyan realized he had forgotten about the manuscript after seeing the doll.
‘This is a manuscript.’
‘Manuscript? Whose manuscript?’
‘I’ll have to read it to find out.’
Anaysha took the manuscript from Kiyan, flipped through it and noticed the names—Kiyan, Kashti, Anaysha and Tina.
‘It has our names in it,’ she exclaimed.
‘What?’ Kiyan frowned and took the manuscript from her. His name, along with Kashti’s and Anaysha’s was indeed on a particular page.
‘What the fuck is this about?’ he said.
‘I think we should read it,’ Anaysha said.
Both Kiyan and Anaysha went to the drawing room and sat down on the couch.
‘We will burn the doll once we finish reading the manuscript,’ Anaysha said. A preoccupied Kiyan asked, ‘What if Kashti gets to know?’
‘She isn’t coming back so soon.’
‘True.’
‘And even if somehow she gets to know then she will never know you are the one who destroyed it. And she can’t inquire about it either. Not from you at least.’
‘Correct,’ Kiyan said. Without further delay, he started reading the manuscript out loud. It took Kiyan close to six hours to finish it. Though he could have finished it much faster if they hadn’t paused often and stared at each other in shock. There were scary monologues by Kiyan and at times Anaysha throughout the manuscript. The manuscript was an account of whatever had happened between Kashti and Kiyan since the New Delhi book event. It was almost as if he had been under surveillance since day one. From the photographs to the Pune pub and the love bite to the steam room. All of it was there. And that wasn’t all. The weirdest part was that the manuscript was unfinished, with the last line reading, ‘Kiyan reads out the manuscript he found at Tina’s place to Anaysha. And they both don’t know what to do next.’ They didn’t speak for some time.
Anaysha suddenly spoke up, ‘Was this manuscript written before the events or after? If it was written after, then it is a documentation of sorts but if it was written before, then this is a plan. No ordinary plan, of course.’ She paused and said, ‘For no ordinary reason, I guess.’
Kiyan ran his fingers through his hair, panic taking over his face. What am I up against?, he wondered, feeling his throat dry up.
27
‘Tell me something, Kiyan . . .’ Anaysha said while searching the kitchen for water.
‘I checked when I came in. There’s no drinking water. We should have brought ours,’ Kiyan said, guessing rightly what she was looking for.
‘We’ll get it in the morning. Anyway, whatever you read, did all of it happen for real? I know some of it did happen, like you not showing up for our engagement,’ Anaysha said.
‘It did. Word to word. It is almost like I was inside a story and someone was writing it. As if whatever happened since the New Delhi book event wasn’t real but was happening the way it happens with a character in a book.’
‘Does it also mean you didn’t tell Kashti you were supposed to get engaged to me?’
Kiyan wasn’t ready for this question. It was evident on his face. He could have dealt with it if it was only an accusation in Anaysha’s voice, but there was hurt too. And he didn’t know what to do except look down at the floor and say, ‘I didn’t know it would lead to this.’
‘But why didn’t you stop pursuing her after the love bite incident?’
Kiyan had no answers. Anaysha went to the drawing room. He followed. She picked up her purse from the couch and dashed towards the main door. Kiyan rushed ahead and blocked her path.
‘I need you, Anu.’
‘You have been saying that, but every time I try to help you out you make it even more difficult for me. I hope you understand that,’ she said, pushing him out of the way and walking out of the door.
‘Shit!’ Kiyan slammed his fist on the door. He knew Anaysha was the only person who would help him. Only genuine person. What had he got himself into with one slip-up? Why had he given in to Kashti’s seduction? Impulsively, he called Kashti but cut it before the call connected. What would he tell her? He wasn’t even sure who had kept the doll and the manuscript there. It
could be Tina as much as it could be Kashti. He sat down on the couch with a thud and didn’t know when his sleep-heavy eyes shut.
It was the sweat that made him wake up. He was sweating profusely. But when he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see anything. He realized his eyes were covered. That was not all. He tried to move his hands but found them tied by a chain that was locked at the base of the couch, he guessed. He was right. He tried standing up but couldn’t as he felt the metal tip of something sharp on his forehead. His breathing increased as he called out, ‘Who is it?’
‘Who is it? Really, Kiyan?’ a female voice said.
Kiyan knew it was Tina.
‘You aren’t dead. I know you aren’t dead.’ He wanted to say more but the sharp tip started moving down from his forehead to his chin.
‘Don’t move, Kiyan, or the face that so many girls are crazy about may get spoiled.’
Kiyan sat tight, feeling the metal tip travel across his chest, abs and lastly, his groin. It was then he realized he had his T-shirt on, but his trousers had been pulled down to his knees along with his briefs. The cold metal tip started moving gently over his balls. Kiyan’s heart was in his mouth. He held his breath.
‘What do you want?’ he muttered.
‘I want to chop your ego off. Unmask your fame.’
‘Tina . . . please . . . remove . . . that . . .’ Kiyan couldn’t feel the metal tip any more.
‘Tina?’ Kiyan yelled. He heard the doorbell ring urgently.
‘Anaysha? Help me!’ Kiyan lamented. He heard someone unlocking the door. He felt someone unlock the chain and remove his blindfold. Kiyan couldn’t believe it was Kashti in front of him.
‘What the fuck are you doing here? How did you get in?’
‘This is my Di’s flat. I have the keys. And what the fuck are you doing here all chained up? Are you fucking around behind my back?’
‘Cut the shit,’ Kiyan said. He stood up, pulling up his trousers.
‘First tell me what you are doing here.’
‘You answer me first,’ Kashti said. Kiyan noticed she had no luggage with her. Rage made him catch Kashti by the red shrug she was wearing and push her up against the opposite wall with force.
‘What are you doing?’ Kashti looked at him with utter shock and pain in her eyes. He had pushed her quite roughly.
‘I’m doing what I should have done the first time you showed me your birth certificate. Tell me what this is! Why have you written the manuscript? Why do you keep playing Tina’s voice to me? Where is she? I’m sure she isn’t dead.’
‘You think I’ll joke about my sister’s death?’
Kiyan held her chin roughly so that Kashti wasn’t able to move her jaw.
‘I’m not in the mood to take shit.’
‘So . . . you . . . going . . . to . . . hit . . . me?’ Kashti babbled. Kiyan controlled his urge to hit her. There was a smirk on Kashti’s face.
‘You look like such a bakra!’ she said. Kiyan slapped her hard across the face.
‘First you fuck a kid. Now you hit a kid. That’s two crimes, mister bestselling author.’ She still had a condescending tone. Kiyan looked at her for a few seconds and then punched her in the face. Kashti’s eyes rolled back. As he let her go, she collapsed on the floor, seemingly unconscious.
‘You better confess what the fuck you and your sister are up to when you return to your senses,’ Kiyan said and left the flat. A few seconds later, Kashti regained consciousness, crawled to her purse, took out her phone and took a video of herself, saying ‘What do you do when your love does this to you?’ She uploaded it on the ‘Kiyan and Kashti’ page and chuckled, muttering to herself ‘We are almost there, Di.’
28
It was around 7 a.m. when Kiyan decided to return to the flat he shared with Kashti. He was sitting on the stairs of the Metro station, wondering what was going on in his life. He was trying to make sense of it all but after a couple of hours of going over it in his head, he knew it was in vain. There were too many questions. Was Tina really dead? If Kashti had him by his balls with the underage thing, then what was the manuscript all about? If she was really taking revenge for her sister then why didn’t she go to the police and register a case of rape or sexual assault after they fucked on the beach? She kept saying it was her antidote to the insecurity she felt for him. If it was only fame she was after, she had already fed off his popularity. With what had happened between him and Kashti, he was sure she wouldn’t come clean to him now. What would be her next step? Kiyan decided to go to his and Kashti’s flat. He found the door locked. He glanced at Anaysha’s flat. She was home. Kiyan couldn’t blame Anaysha for walking out on him last night. Anyone would have done it. He only wished he hadn’t slipped up with Kashti. He went into his own flat, drew all the curtains and stood by the window, looking out at the morning sky. There were no calls from Kashti. After a long time, he felt free. The time he had spent with Kashti had brewed rage under the surface, and when he hit her, it was because of all the frustration venting itself. He knew he shouldn’t have hit her, but now that he had, he wasn’t apologetic about it either. What she had pulled since Goa was not something an average, good human being would do. His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. He opened the door to find the morning newspaper by the doormat. He picked it up and closed the door behind him. Kiyan kept the newspaper on the couch and was about to turn to fetch himself some water when a page slipped out of the newspaper. He paused to pick it up. One look at the page made him sit down on the couch with a thud. For a few seconds, his mind went totally blank. He realized his hand holding the page was shaking. He had to do something. And quickly. He left his flat and rang Anaysha’s doorbell. He waited impatiently till she opened the door.
‘Kiyan?’
‘Anu, I . . .’
‘I really don’t think it’s a good idea for you to stay here with me,’ she said.
Without saying anything more, he handed over the page to her. With a frown, she took it from him. It took less than a minute for her to read it.
‘Come inside,’ Anaysha said. Kiyan stepped in. She shut the door.
‘It reads like a continuation of the manuscript,’ she said, standing by the door.
‘It is.’
‘But unlike the rest of it, this isn’t true. Kashti is travelling, right?’
Kiyan looked at her as if he was preparing to strip himself emotionally. He nodded, swallowing a lump.
‘God, you mean she is here? You hit her? She uploaded some video, like it’s written here? Tell me I’m wrong.’
‘I want you to check the last part. I’m not sure about the video.’
Anaysha shot an incredulous look at him and rushed to her bedroom. She came back in a flash with her phone. She checked the ‘Kiyan and Kashti’ page on Facebook. There was a ten-second video of Kashti first looking into the camera, with her face and lip bleeding, and a bruise around her eyes. She was then weeping and talking about not knowing what to do. She noticed the post had been boosted, thus reaching about 85,000 people in the few hours that it had been uploaded, with a high number of Likes and comments. Anaysha scrolled down the page and realized Kashti had removed all the other pictures and videos she had uploaded till then. So the page had only one video now, showing Kashti as a victim of violence and Kiyan as a bad boyfriend. And a terrible human being.
‘What is this girl up to?’ Anaysha asked. Kiyan had no answer.
‘Just help me, Anu. Just help me. I’m defeated,’ Kiyan said and hugged her tightly. For a moment, Anaysha thought she would be crushed by his hug. He was hugging her like this after a long time. She broke it before he thought she wanted to keep hugging him and said, ‘We need to stop Kashti. We have to stop her before she destroys us.’ A pause later she corrected herself, ‘Destroys you.’
Kiyan registered it but ignored it. ‘But how?’ he asked, ‘I doubt Tina is dead.’
‘Why do you say so?’
Kiyan told her what had hap
pened after Anaysha had left. Before Anaysha could say anything, Kiyan’s phone rang. It was Natasha.
‘Hi Natasha,’ Kiyan said.
‘What the hell is wrong with you?’ Natasha sounded like she had already judged him. He knew exactly why.
‘I would have told you,’ he said.
‘Who asked you to upload such a video? Have you read the comments on it? Just remove the video. Now!’
‘I don’t have the password,’ he said, recollecting Kashti had once told him the password, which he didn’t remember now.
‘Then ask Kashti to remove it.’
‘She won’t. She uploaded it.’
‘What’s wrong with her? Negative publicity is one thing, but this is sure-shot catastrophe for your image.’
‘Just give me some time. I’ll call you back.’
‘Call me or not, just get the video off, Kiyan,’ Natasha said and cut the line.
Kiyan looked at a pensive Anaysha, who said, ‘I think you will have to call it a truce with Kashti. Get your hands on those videos she has of you in Goa and only then we can do something. Otherwise, you are her puppet.’
Pet, Kiyan corrected Anaysha’s last word in his head and said aloud, ‘But how do I find it?’
‘I don’t know. Get to her Google drive, iCloud, phone or whatever. Make sure the video and all its copies are deleted. Then we can corner Kashti and get her to confess what the fuck she is after. And why.’
‘Agreed. But first, we also need to be absolutely sure if Tina is dead or not.’
‘You had Kashti’s parent’s numbers, right? Last time they said she is no more. Let me tell them I had a talk with Tina today and see how they react.’
Kiyan didn’t wait. He unlocked his phone and called one of the numbers, putting the phone on speaker. The next second they heard a mechanical voice say that the number had been temporarily withdrawn.
Black Suits You Page 16