A one sided love

Her body couldn’t stop trembling no matter how much she tried preparing her mind for the inevitable. What she was going to do would ruin her forever, and she knew she would loath herself till the time she will be alive, but did she regret doing what she was about to do? The answer was crystal clear; no. She was ready to live with disgust and self-hatred than to lose someone special in her life.

John’s words were ringing in her mind, stay where you are and don’t move an inch, as if her body was at ease to roam around the dangerous mansion she was brought to by John. If not for money, she would never even look at such a place. She knew the bigger the house, the greater are the secrets, and two, she was content and happy with the middle-class life her father had provided his children.

Even in the cold weather of December, she can feel a trail of sweat gliding down her spine, her bare back visible out of the backless top was glittering with sweat beads while she was constantly wiping the sweat from her face with her trembling hands. No matter how much she tried to practice deep breathing, her pounding heart and anxiety refused to calm down. She was on the verge of crying, mainly at her helplessness.

Adah was seated on a single armchair in an unknown room of the mansion when John left her to make the arrangement. She felt disgusted in the sheer black saree and the net blouse that was barely covering her skin. Her glance fell on her reflection on the nearby window glass, and her breathing quickened when instead of her, she saw someone else, someone who looked ready to seduce any men.

She abruptly looked away in shame and was again drowned in terror. The only thought that kept her rooted in her spot was the very reason she was there for. She wipes the sweat beads from her forehead with her good-for-nothing saree while her hand kept trembling in anticipation. Her fear slowly weakened her resolve, and she started wondering if only the wait is killing her; what will she do if it happens?

To divert her mind thinking of the disaster she would be soon walking into, she stood up on her weak legs to breathe in the fresh air. She felt suffocated even though the room was bigger than half of her apartment. Her palpitation worsened her breathing, and she walked out of the room, hoping that free air would bring her breathing to be normal. Not knowing her way out, she followed the direction she could feel the breeze was coming from.

She abruptly stopped walking when she heard a strange voice, and without giving a second thought, she walked towards it. She intently listened to the voice and realized there was more than one voice. In her intrusiveness to find the sound source, she didn’t know she was walking deeper into the dungeons.

Her steps halted when she witnessed a partially opened door and peek inside to what was happening. Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw a man was lying on the floor, and the next moment another man hovered over him and slit his throat, saying, “Traitor.” Adah let out her held breath in pants, and instead of hiding, she made the mistake of screaming her lungs out.

When she caught the men's attention inside the room, her sense was back, and she ran, hearing their hurried steps. Running for her dear life, she didn’t stop or halt in the track; she just ran, forgetting why she was there in the first place. Human instinct won’t let you think of secondary thought; it only enables you to believe in survival. Not knowing her way out of that gigantic mansion, she took unknown turns, and finally, she could see the familiar grand staircase she walk-on before.

Her saree was making it difficult for her to run, and as any sane person would do, she got rid of her problem by grabbing it and raising it a little so that her legs were free to run. She was at the threshold when she heard a gunshot, which made her cover her ear, screaming her lungs out. Crossing the main door, she turned around quickly to see if anyone was following her, and when she turned her face back to glance ahead, she bumped into a hard wall.

Any sane person will only think about saving themself and then think about others. But Adah never fit into that category; she was born with a motto, thinking of others before herself. Her teary eyes saw only a pair of deep black iris looking at her with fury while she was a panting mess. When another gunshot was heard, she grabbed his hand and tried to drag him out of the mansion.