Chapter 1

Somewhere in the future.....

"Arya! Open the door. I need to see you," he stood at the cabin's door and knocked with a stronger conviction this time.

"Lionel! Please go. I don't want to see you," I managed to say.

"Then I won't leave here," he said, "I would stand here all night long unless you tell me what's going on. How you could hurt Tylor like that? Because I know you love him. I can't be wrong about this one thing. Then how can you just leave him like this?" he investigated.

Shivering and wheezing, I slipped to the ground on my right knee. I still kept seeking the support of the chair in a hope that everything would be fine in a few moments and I would be able to rise again.

"Arya! Arya! Answer me. Just answer, goddammit!" he slammed the door once again.

"Plea....se...go" I uttered, my words barely reached him this time.

He continued to slam the door a couple of times and I kept trying even harder to reach for my breath, fight for it.

His presence just a few feet away on the other side of the door kept pushing me to try harder. But it seemed like the time was not on my side nor was my God. There was no light.

I realized that there is no way out for me when I began to see the same dark shadow approach me...the same thing that has been haunting my dreams appeared in front of me alive. Or was I traveling in a dream again?

I began to slip into an unconscious state of asphyxiation as I kept seeing the shadow appear closer and nearer.

Frightened and scared, I asked it to leave. But it did not budge away. I do not know who it was. Was it the devil's reaper? Because I know that I am bound for hell for breaking a little boy's faith, for shaming my ideals.

If I had even the slightest idea that what began as an expedition to fulfill my last dying wish is going to transform into the biggest sin of my life, I would have stopped long ago.

But what was done could not be undone now. And I am not going to find redemption this easily. This shadow would claim me now and take me away with it.... even my Krishna won't be able to save me.

He made a move towards the window, one of the drapes pulled by a mere couple of inches and those couple of inches, turned everything upside down.

Lionel peeked through the window in a hope to glance at me when he saw me, kneeling on the floor by the dining table, panting severely, running for breath, and my life.

"JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE HECK!" he exclaimed.

----

Today....

"Where am I? ......What is this place? .......How did I even get here? I do not seem to recall this road or these dark brooding mountains? And why on earth would I wear a silk evening gown at a cold deserted place like this? Gawd! It's freezing here? Did I lose my way?" My mind kept muttering to myself as I walked up the long-isolated road, shivering all alone.

It was a full moon night. A long dark road merely lit by the light of the moon, with not a single soul in sight, surrounded by a wide panorama of mountains, the place looked completely alien.

I couldn't recall being here ever before.

I kept walking straight.... baffled and scared.... in a relentless hope to find someone who could help me find my way back home.

"Arya? Arya?" I heard someone call my name.

I decided to follow the voice. But it is too far and amorphous.

"Arya?........ Are you okay?" His voice echoed again, only this time, clearer and sharper.

"HELP!" I made an effort to answer while the dark shadow approached me.

But I could not find my voice. My vocal cords felt stifled.

I could not make out his face, only his frame.

He was someone I was unfamiliar with. And yet, I appeared relieved to see him.

My expression relaxed and I began to walk towards him, smiling at him, when I suddenly felt a thug that pulled me back. And, in a moment, I was on the ground breathless in screaming pain.

"Nooooo!" He ran towards me in an attempt to hold me before my head hit the ground.

But he was late. I was already there.

I felt blood gush out of my body oozing through the fabric of my dress, my palm drenched in it while he supported my head in his lap and pressed my wound.

"No! You have to hold still. They would be here any moment. Just stay still. It is going to be fine; I promise." He soothed me, his face still in disguise under the black shadow brooding upon him.

This shadow looked down at me as if it had been waiting for me to reach this very spot.

"No. Not yet. I am not ready." I muttered to it in dismay before my eyelids dropped shut.

And I woke up......panting......shivering......soaked in sweat......in my bed......in my room.

*********************

"What is happening to me? Am I losing it already?" I anxiously inquired the fifty-year-old woman seated in her white leather lounge chair opposite the three-seater white leather couch where I have been lying upon for over half an hour now. I am in a vapid belief that as my shrink she'd have answers to all my questions, no matter how perfunctory my questions are.

"No, you are not," she responded, "Not unless you start believing that you are." She reverted in a composed tone glancing through her bifocal glasses as she continued to scribble something upon her pad.

Cropped hair with silver middle tones, and austere grey eyes with a gentle smile, I have known Dr. Raina Pandit, my shrink for over a year now.

Even though most of her answers are questions in reciprocation like, "How that makes you feel? Or...What do you think about it?" .... just by lending a listening ear to me while I relax on this couch and talk about my stuff, she has helped me by a great deal.

But, with time it has been getting much more difficult for me to hold on.

"Look! I would advise you to remain positive. Instead of letting your mind get clouded by what may or may not come, think of today. What do you wish to do today? What could make your day today?" she spoke and awaited my reaction.

"Thanks, doc." I sighed and got up to leave.