Last page last time- 3

If you guys have been following this story, you might have differing opinions on the ending. Some of you might feel it's anti-climatic...but it was always the ending i had in mind n i don intend to change it...hope u like it...back to Sachin n Radhika now...

Part-3

Cut to two weeks after that. Our phone messages started getting more intense, we started talking for longer hours, and my mind was invaded by her thoughts like never before. The only thing was we flung about the ‘L word’ a bit too much for my liking, and pretty soon it got flippant and actually pretty irritating. Not that my feelings for her had changed, it’s just that I didn’t want to be reminded of it every waking second. An attempt at explaining this to her resulted in a row and she felt I wanted out. So to prove to her that it wasn’t the case, I went ahead and got myself a tattoo of her name on my right arm (of course that’s what I told her; it was actually one of those temporary ones that faded away after six months), which seemed to settle matters. She squeaked and hugged me and everything was fine and dandy. And thus, with everything back to normal, we decided to go for a movie the next week. After much deliberation, I convinced her to come for White Noise-2, a movie about ghosts ‘reaching out from the beyond’ (ha, corny phrase!). My suggestion was based upon the age-old hope that she would get scared in the movie and hold me tightly.

And of course that’s what happened, she practically wouldn’t let go throughout the whole movie, her delicate hands gripping my arm tightly and her head resting on my shoulder. I swear man, although the movie’s story, horror, acting and background score sucked, it was the best movie I’d ever watched! By the time we were out, it was dark and I thought it would be spooky to talk about the movie then. Once again as we were walking down tree-road (get used to it), I brought up the topic.

‘So what did you think of those three malicious ghosts in the movie? Were they jobless or what??’

‘Yeah, I mean their depiction of the whole ghost phenomenon is wrong. The only reason these spirits stay back on earth is to complete an unfulfilled desire. Whether their desire is harmonious to all, or is in conflict with someone else’s interest, decides whether these ghosts are labeled good or bad. From their point of view, they are not purposefully doing someone wrong. They are just doing what they have always desired.’

A gave her an odd glance. ‘You seem to know a lot about the, ‘paranormal phenomena’, so to speak.’

When she didn’t reply, I laughed and said, ‘So what, are you now going to tell me that you’re a ghost with your own mission? Those three were probably your chums eh?’

‘You know you’ve really changed my opinion about guys. Other guys have only caused me agony, but you have given me what I was always looking for.’

She turned around to look at me slowly. And then she did something we had not yet got around to doing. She leaned forward and planted a long, delicate kiss on my lips. My entire body was electrified by her delightful touch, and although in a detached corner of my mind I was wondering how this had any relevance to our discussion, the rest of me wasn’t really complaining. When we parted, she spoke with a low, even voice.

‘Thank you Sachin, for fulfilling my wish of finding true love on this plane. I will never forget you; you have given me true peace. I will always love you, now and forever.’ Saying so, she vanished into a pulsating portal that had conjured itself up behind her, jet black one second, blinding white in another. Convinced that I was onto some sort of drug that had been mixed in my coke in the theatre, I collapsed in the street, confusing the pulsating pod with the stars that were now exploding in the insides of my eyes. The last sight I saw was of Radhika vanishing into that ether, anguish writ clean upon her face, waving me goodbye. Then, fade to black…

‘..and he’s saying that Sachin has been suffering from hallucinations. He claims that he checked out the history of the Radhika that Sachin was raving about in his fits. She died two years ago after she had been gang-raped by a group of her college mates while she was waiting for her brother near the main Jayanagar Boulevard at night. Radhika was a sweet and innocent girl, and her brother still blames himself for her hideous death. What he does not understand is how our Sachin is connected to it. What do you…?’

The words drifted down to my ears, like they were spoken from far away, getting clearer as I slowly got a grip over my consciousness. I coughed suddenly and my parents spun around to look at me. They rushed to my side.

‘How are you feeling Sachin?’ my mom asked.

‘I’m fine. What’s been happening? How long have I been asleep for? What were you talking about?’

My father took a deep breath, and sat down beside me before answering.

‘Listen son, I want you to listen to what I have to say to you with calm and open mind okay? You have been out cold for the past three days. And for those three days, you have been moaning, shouting, and pleading in your sleep. About someone named Radhika. Do you know anyone by that name? Answer me honestly.’

‘Of course not’ I lied, not really wanting to risk it.

He looked at a loss for words. ‘I don’t know then. It must have been sheer coincidence that there actually was a Radhika like you mentioned, but the only problem is she is long dead.’ He was unaware that I had overheard exactly how this Radhika had died. But I was hoping it wasn’t the same one.

‘Son you have been mentally ill for a while now, according to our psychologist. Did you have a source of stress or sorrow, for something like this to happen?’ my mom asked, anguished concern etched in the lines of her face. ‘He says you have been hallucinating about some girl, that for the past three days you have been cooking up fabricated details of this imaginary person, and have been ranting and raving about it.’

‘Oh my god, so all that was happening was just a nightmare?’ I asked, breathing a sigh of relief.

‘You remember what happened??’

‘Well, I just remember an entity, and an overwhelming fear, helplessness…oh it’s just too much! Don’t remind me.’ I cried. They did not pursue the topic.

‘Yes, whatever has been happening to you all this while was an illusion. You haven’t been anywhere but here this whole while.’

I collapsed into my bed with relief. Bad nightmares I could handle, but bad reality was something else. ‘You just rest for now son. We’ll just drop see the doctor out and come back.’ They left my room.

I sat there marveling at the power of the human brain to conjure up such a sustained and convincing illusion. It was indeed something else. Switching to a more pertinent topic, I smelt the shirt I had spent the last three days in, and obviously, it was reeking. I took it off and reached for a tee lying nearby. That’s when my entire body went numb, my blood ran cold, and my brain once again stopped making sense of my surroundings. Because right there, on my right arm, was that name, tattooed in red and black.

‘Radhika’

That was when one singular thought blazed its way through my tumultuous head and clanged into my consciousness with crushing ferocity. A thought that brought back all the misgivings, and made life a bigger illusion than the last three days apparently had been. One thought.

It had all been true…