A LINK WITHIN

CREATIVE WRITING

SUBMITTED BY
Ishita Goel
Batch: 2018-2023
Course: BBALLB
Division: B PRN: 18010224078

SYMBIOSIS LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA SYMBIOSIS

INTERNATIONAL (DEEMED UNIVERSITY), PUNE

IN March, 2021

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Ms. Shruti
(Course-In-Charge)
 A Link Within.

The sound of the wheel screeching as it took a turn hit arjun and then the
reality came stopping by. His daughter was on the stretcher. The sounds
were painful, there were too sharp and amplified with the nurses talking it
was too much for him to take in. The people around were whispering to
each other of the awful tragedy their family will have to go through. He
did not need the pity of these disgusting people, the father thought. There
were four people: a doctor, 3 nurses and him running behind towards the
operating room. The nurses were trying to give her oxygen while one of
them was trying to bring the girl to consciousness. They wanted to save
her; they had to.
His mind was not on how his breath was ratchet, how sweat was
sweeping from his body and how he was trembling to even run behind
them. He desperately wanted to keep up the pace, to catch them and still
after all this make sure that his daughter remains alive, with him and only
him.
Arjun, named after the great warrior, brave, strong was now weak. He
could not walk anymore; he could not believe what had happened. He
could not look at his own daughter’s body. Her face was badly beaten up,
it looked like somebody shot her in the face, the father had heard one of
the policemen say. Nausea took the better of him and his already fragile
body took the hit making him fall down, the only thought in his mind: He
could have saved her. He could have not done it.
He opened his eyes with the hospital lights blinding him. He covered them
with his arms to settle them to the surroundings. But the onset of today’s
incidence dawned on him. Where’s my daughter, where’s Parvati? He
almost cried to the nurses. One of them came to him and begged him to
sit down and told him that the doctors are operating on her.
Everything was dizzy around him and then his heart jumped a little when
he heard his phone ping; Beep-Beep-Beep. He fished the phone out of his
pocket and clutched it in his hands. It was a notification; it was a
message from an Unknown number. A link. The message did not say
anything as to what it is. It could have been some random message for
some random website, but something told him that it wasn’t.
He clicked on the link and the website started loading. It was at this time
he realised how cold the hospital environment is and how bitter the
hospital smells, and when he glanced at the now loaded page his hair
stood at the back of his neck. It was a journal, an online journal that
somebody must have kept. He opened the first entry, March 21, 2020.
“Her voice was like the calming ocean below the starry night, her eyes
they could make you say all the truths and the way she called my name
today, had me tumbling down irrevocably in love with her. In-the-first-
sight. She was so beautiful; how could god make someone this beautiful?
Parvati is her name, truly, the goddess come to live. She was going
towards her classes and apparently I had accidently—”
Arjun held the hospital bench tightly, he realised something was wrong,
terribly wrong. This person knew something. This person has to know
something. His heart was beating faster and faster. He skipped the first
entry to went on to read the rest of the entries.
Fifth Entry, March 30, 2020.
“She looked so cute in the dress; it was so tough for me to peak through
her dorm room to see her in that dress. Anybody could have come
upstairs and had me get caught. But I loved her, and I’ve read that love
conquers all.”
Tenth Entry April 13, 2020.
“I-am-so-furious-today. How-Dare-She. How dare she go on a date with
Aftab. I could not stand her holding his dirty hands. How-Dare-she. How
dare she kiss that awful person. How can she hurt me? All I want is her
and all she wants is him. I’m angry and sad, so angry that I could shoot
her and so sad that I could cry all the time. My love, why did you do
this?”
Shoot her. He wanted to shoot her. Arjun could not believe what he was
reading, she had a stalker? Did Parvati know about it? Arjun started to
look around in this hospital room. There was a desk with a receptionist
and there were other seats where people like him were sitting. People
who may lose someone today, accidently. The hospital was making his
nausea worse, it was too green for his liking. He went to read more.
Fifty-eighth Entry June 12, 2020.
“I love looking at her all day, walking behind her like a shadow, maybe
it’s like a game between us. She turns to look back and I hide. I can’t let
her see me though, she might get scared, it’s better this way. I know her
schedule and everything. I’m such a good boyfriend. It’s her French class
now, and at 12:30 Pm she will be free. Although I might have to again
see her hang out with Aftab, but I’ll do it. I still won’t let go of the hope
that she will be mine, someday.”
Arjun scrolled further to find the last entry this person had written.
September 26th 2020. Today. His breath got stuck. Who could be this
person? A college-friend? A random stalker? Is the sender the same as
the stalker? Umpteenth questions were racing across his mind. He stood
up because it was really hard for him to sit now. His mind was confused,
his daughter, this stalker, he might know something related to her death.
Amidst the pacing, from the corner marched in Officer Jay along with his
fellow officers. He saw arjun pacing and wondered how difficult it must be
for him. He wanted to know each and every detail as to what led to the
attempt of murder, from what he knew this family used to live in the
poshest area of Delhi. These were reputed people. What went wrong?
Ahem-Ahem. Arjun heard someone say, hesitantly he looked up at the
person towering over him. His body seized. It was the police. What are
they doing here? he thought trembling.
“Hello officer” he said.
“Are you fine?” the officer asked sincerely.
“Yeah-ah, I-I th-think so” Arjun burrowed his eyebrows and looked down
at the floor.
“We’re doing our best, sir, the doctors as well. There’s still hope.”
Arjun looked up at him and nodded to go back to watching the single ant
on the floor, dancing around and playing at the crooks of the titles.
Officer Jay turned around to glance at his colleagues and then went on to
say, “Um..do you have any idea who might have done this?”
Arjun darted his eyes surprisingly at the officer. Did he know about the
link? His eyes grew bigger as his mind could not comprehend what was
going on.
“It might help with the investigation” the officer added on.
Arjun was confused. Should he tell them about the link he received?
Should he not? What if the link leads to nowhere and what if it leads to--.
“No..” he whispered lightly
“No-No. We did not have any…”
“any?”
“Any enemy. We don’t have suspicion on anyone”
The policeman nodded off, something was off. He had dealt with so many
cases in the past, he knew something was off. His phone buzzed.
Unknown Number. A link.
Seventy-fourth Entry September 25th 2020
“It’s her birthday. I got her a gift; she’ll be so excited to see this!!!
Recently, I’ve been trying to communicate with her, I leave random gifts
at the gate of her house and leave after ringing the bell. She is always
resistant to taking them and also looks around to see who is leaving
them, I don’t like that, she should not be afraid of m---”
Arjun slumped back in his seat. This person was leaving gifts at their
house, he knew their address. His daughter. She never mentioned these
gifts. Will she be fine? He told himself that the doctors are working on
her. There’s a chance. He went back to read the journal.
Seventy Fourth Entry September 25th 2020
“—e. Aftab and her were in their our favourite restaurant. They were
siting just across from me. I was listening to their conversation up close.
Honestly, their conversation disgusts me and makes me want to puke.
“oh my god, I love you so much, you make me happy” the same old
Bullshit. But this time. Something was different. I know very well how
much Parvati loved movies. And sadly, Aftab knew that as well. The
waiter brought two flutes of champagne and I knew what was going to
happen. My heart was sinking and sinking as she took each sip until her
lips touched the diamond ring. Her eyes gleamed and she gasped to say a
yes. And my eyes saddened to gasp a no. What was happening? This
wasn’t supposed to happen. She was supposed to realise that Aftab was
not good for her. S-she was mine; she is mine. I was so angry that I
stormed off as soon as I saw them hugging and other customers rejoicing
their unholy union. I have to get her.”
The lights of the hospital seemed to be hurting arjun more and more. His
eyes were red. He was tired. He wanted to sleep. He wanted all this to be
over.
He opened the last entry September 26th 2020.
4:30 Am.
“I’ve woken up with one purpose today. Seeing her yesterday engaged to
Aftab pained me. I want to make Parvati mine and if not mine then no
one else’s. It’s still early in the morning, 4:31. I had totally forgotten to
give her gift yesterday. I also plan to gift her me as well.”
12:00 Pm.
I had left my house at around 5 in the morning to give Parvati her gift, to
my surprise it seemed like she was up. The lights were on they were
sneaking out of the gaps in the curtains of her room. I tiptoed to watch
her and stood against the window. The curtains left a space for me to
witness everything inside her room. I could see her talking to someone on
call and the way she was laughing it was most probably Aftab.
Who is this person? What was he doing here? OH MY GOD.
“I tried opening her window and to my shock it was open, did she actually
want me to come inside? I could have not been happier at that moment.
But as soon I stepped inside her room, she looked scared. “Baby, no, you
don’t have to be scared” I cooed. I loved her; I would never do anything
to her. But, the bitch told me to get out, she was about to scream that
would have made everyone know and I took my gun out. I had kept it as
a reinforcement, because if she can’t be mine then certainly not Aftab’s.
“Shush” I cooed again. I did not want to hurt her, but she wasn’t
listening. She should have listened. She was crying. I went towards her,
touched her face lovingly brushing away all the tears. Aftab was still on
the call and I could hear him coming towards her house. No. Not again. I
would not let him. I cocked the gun towards her head. “please leave me”
she cried, but how could I? and I shot her in the head. I saw her face
being butchered and her body lying flat on the bed. Her blood everywhere
and even my hands and face. I had never been happier and sadder at the
same time. I wish she would have listened.”
Arjun couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t forget the time he
heard the gunshot, oh how he wished to have moved faster to look his
daughter. How he would have caught the guy. All he could do now was
clutch the hospital bench tighter, with tears and cries emerging non-stop
from his eyes and wish that the metal taste, the bitter smell and the
green room stopped and he had his daughter back.