VIBGYOR

by Keerthana Jayaraj

  I help my breath, my eyes fixed on the bloody knife in Shiva’s hand. My Raghunath hadn’t noticed it. His attention was too fixed on his daughter’s face. Neither had it occurred to him…

  The squishy sound and the renewed smell of blood…Shiva’s eyes were emotionless as her father screamed, clutching at the wound in his stomach. The smile was still stuck on her face like a weird. Sticker.

  “Shiva…” He cried. “What…”

  She stabbed him again, bringing out a fresh surge of blood. And before he could fight back, she stabbed him in the chest, laughing hysterically.

  “What if I don’t need help, Dad?” She screamed. “What if I don’t mind giving up my whole life for this?”

  Mr. Raghunath hit the floor with a thud. He gazed helplessly at his daughter through half closed eyes. “Shiv…” A painful hoarse noise escaped his lips. “I hate you…I hate you…I…” Shiva yelled, each hate louder than the last. “Right from the first time you tore out a little story I scribbled out in the back of my notebook…I’ve always hated you. You just gave me away to a man I hated…You… You murdered my daughter…You killed a man who…was a dear friend…you…” “Shi…”

  Shiva sat down beside him and held the knife to his throat. “How does it make you feel? To have your own daughter to hold a knife to your throat?”

  Mr. Raghunath groaned in pain as she pressed the knife hard. “I…I…” He whimpered.

  Shiva shushed him. “No more flimsy excuses Dad…When death stares at you in the face, it’s best to be honest.”

  “I…” He half lifted his hand but it fell back. The front of his suit was a bright red. “I…I…” Shiva hit him right on the chest would. He let out a painful cry. “This is for my daughter…This is for the many days I spent in my room like a mad woman.” She punched him again and again on his stomach wound, deaf to his cries. “This is for Jacob…And Dan…”

  “D…a…n…” Mr. Raghunath groaned.

  “Yes…Dan. A man you hurt terribly by taking his friend away. It didn’t occur to your sophisticated self that he was there because he liked Jacob, did it?” “I…”

  “Don’t you dare say you didn’t mean it to happen. You did…You wanted him to die.” “Happy…I…wanted you…”

  “Don’t you dare say that. You…You…” She clutched the knife tight. “Why? Why did you have to break apart the life of two men? Why did you kill a good man? Why… Why did you murder my little Shakti…Why…Why the hell did you think that doing these things will make me happy?”

  “Shiva…” He clutched at his chest, tears starting in his eyes. “Shiva…” “Shhhhhh” Shiva pressed a finger to his lips. “I am a horrible executioner. I do not extend a courtesy of granting your last wish. Nor am I a character on TV to grant you a ‘touching final words moment’. You will die, plain and simple.”

  “My…” He writhed, trying to reach towards her face. She caught his hand and twisted it, a vicious grin on her face. He did not cry out loudly but simply moaned. It was as if he had lost even the last bit of energy.

  “Girl…My…Girl…” He said slowly. Shiva pressed harder on his arm. He looked at her sadly, tears flowing down his eyes. His mouth opened and closed his mouth continuously, some incoherent words mixing with his groans. The chill of sadness spread in the room mixing with the cold of death. Suddenly, the whole room felt spread in the room mixing with the cold of death. Suddenly, the whole room feltVIBGYOR unbearably suffocating. I wanted to run. Run…Run…Run…

  “Shiva…Shiva…My Girl…” He was taking horribly painful looking breaths. “I… I…” She hit him in the chest again, telling him to stop. “I…”

  “What excuse do you have now?”

  “I…I…I” His breaths were strange and hoarse. Blood was squeezing out of the two deep wounds. “I…love…”

  Shiva slashed at his throat in one quick motion, laughing as blood splattered on her face. She looked at his wriggling, writhing body for a minute and then stood up. “You lie.” She spat on his face. And then she covered her face with her hands and began to cry. “Three people have been murdered.” Two hours later, Shiva spoke on the telephone. In the room where the three corpses rested, flies buzzed restlessly. In a broken voice, she told them it was the murderer who was talking. The note her mother had written was shaking in her hands. After she hung up her phone, she lit it on fire.

  “You are right.” She said, as the fire ate it up. “Coward…”

  I felt as drained as her, strangely hollow on the inside. A sob escaped my lips.

  “It’s over Violet.” The girlish giggle…I couldn’t even bear to turn around and look at her. She had no such problems though. Just walked around and faced me. “So, what do you think? Can you exist like forever with this on your conscience? Shiva is a lost cause now. Jacob is dead. Dan is heartbroken.”

  “There’s really no need to list all the awful things you’ve done.”

  “I can’t make people do things they wouldn’t normally do. I can only speed up the invincible.” “Shut…”

  “I’m going…I think I’ve seen all the fun in this household.”

  My last bit of energy, fueled by my disgust and resentment at the Red, drained away as she left. Left for good. She had new victims to torment and new drama to stir up. But me…A curse who couldn’t fulfill her purpose. What was left for me now? I looked at Shiva, still in her soggy blood soaked clothes, seated at the dining table. All that was left was to bury her somewhere or cremate her. Whatever made Shivani Shivani was gone.

  She didn’t speak a word to the men in brown who clasped handcuffs on her. I had a horrible feeling when they pushed her into the back of the jeep. She was heading for a mental asylum…I just knew it…Shiva…Shiva…

  An officer locked up the house and marked it crime scene. The jeep rushed out. I knew I should have followed it but I couldn’t. Shiva’s empty eyes and pale face haunted me so much that I couldn’t bear to be near her. She had given up her life for revenge. I wanted to say it was a terrible choice but…In my heart I couldn’t blame her. She was just so damn tired of people breaking her dreams and stamping on them.

  That night, I sat alone in the dark house. To say I felt lonely would be an understatement. Shiva’s moments of insanity kept playing over and over in my head. I could feel her in every corner. Her heartbroken sobs echoed in my ears. The Red taunted me in my thoughts saying that everything was my fault. I needed a distraction. Anything…I walked over to Shiva’s room, trying not to retch at all the blood. The pages of her last manuscript lay here and there, some of them covered in bloody footprints. I picked up the one that was only half filled.

  And just like that he was gone. He was afraid of the whispers and taunts. He was too broken to endure, to extend the hand and free her from the broken chains. As she saw his corpse lay on the riverside, all the hope inside her died. Guilt ate her up. She couldn’t bear the thought that she was cause of the torture he had to endure.

  She didn’t believe in fairy tales but…after she met him she badly wanted to believe. She wanted him to rescue her and release her from her suffering. She wanted to ease his pain and make him smile.

  Unfortunately…

  Tears had soaked the last word. All that remained were two words Shiva had scrawled with a sketch pen.

  The End.