HAPPILY FOREVER AFTER -Swasan One shot

Author’s Note:

Heyloo wonderful people!

Recently as I was browsing my old docs in my laptop, I came across one of my old OS which I had written for The Mentalist. I really like its theme and since I’m currently in a recycling mood, I modified it for our Swasan… Hmm I’m not sure how much I have succeeded in achieving what I really wanted to convey… Nevertheless I will just let you dears be the judge of whether this story makes any sense or not.

And for all those who are wondering when the hell will I update Vengeance’ fic, I will do it soon. Sorry for being MIA, real life interfered! So hopefully this OS will calm your anger towards me in the meanwhile! *sheepish smile*

Also this story is a little tricky… There is a MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH in this story which is supposed to make it a tragedy… but yet it isn’t. Confused? Well …

NOT PROOF READ. Kindly excuse the errors which I’m sure are there, happily hiding away from my currently sleepy eyes!

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TILL DEATH DO US APART… Or will it?

Premise of the story:

Swara and Sanskar were in love and their marriage was in three days and both their families were truly happy with this alliance. But one person who was unhappy or to say utterly dejected by this match was Ragini… Ragini was Sanskar’s childhood friend along with Laksh, Uttara and Nikhil. Sanskar had lost his parents at a young age and was raised by his grandparents. So his whole world were his friends. The four friends were thick as thieves and as they grew up they even started a music company together.

But as Ragini grew up she did not even realise when her friendship had turned in to love or when that love had turned into an obsession. She never had the courage to confess her feelings but one day when she finally did confess, Sanskar had politely rejected her proposal saying he never felt that way about her. But Ragini’s obsessed mind just registered the No’ as No yet’, meaning she just thought he would eventually fall for her anyway. But her apple cart was toppled when Swara waltzed into her life and she saw Sanksar fall head over heels in front of her own eyes with the new girl in their company and neighbourhood…the wretched Swara Gadodia.

Seeing their epic love story happening in front of her and not being able to do anything about it, made the already obsessed lover in her feel betrayed. She openly challenged Swara to fight for Sanskar love during their engagement as she thought she was more deserving of his love. Everyone present there were shocked when Ragini broke a few glasses and started dancing on them, challenging Swara to do the same if she loved Sanskar as much as she did! And just when Swara decided to prove her love, a loud sound was heard… Sanskar had slapped Ragini telling her she had gone mad and that he never loved her nor will he ever! And that Swara needn’t prove her love by doing such mad things!

Ragini had never felt that insulted ever I her life! She vowed that she would destroy his life, his love forever! Till now he had seen her love and he disrespected it, now he would see her hatred… her revenge!

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He rang the doorbell impatiently, he knew none of her family members were at her home at that moment because they were all at his house discussing some last minute venue modifications and as she was the would-be bride, she wasn’t allowed to join them at his house.

One more time and then he decided he was just going to break the blo*dy door! If it was some other time, he would have been cocky about this… but now he barely registered what he was doing. He was in a hurry. He was in so much of a hurry that it clouded his all other senses. He didn’t even bother to inform the others about the letter he received from her, his new friend turned enemy. He had just ran from his house in a mad dash because just then his primal need was to see her safe, he just wanted to see her alive.

He rushed inside and ran upstairs yelling her name with all the hope that his heart ever possessed. He pushed open the door to her bedroom and there he stood motionless as if he had always been nothing more than a statue all his life.

The sight in front of him was the worst anyone had ever seen. She was bathed in her own blood and the sinister red smiley face drawn on the wall with her blood. The sight would have made every sane person nauseous. But after few seconds, he regained his human form and moved towards her. He knelt besides her and started to wipe the blood of her face. When suddenly a voice spoke behind him.

“Sanskar… it’s so good to see that at last you have come on time for something for once in your life; well even though she is anything but alive.” The voice changed into an insane sadistic laugh for few seconds and then continued with the same tone, ” Hmm so what do you think of my handiwork ? This is the culmination of all the works of art I have created till now and it is dedicated to you Sanskar…only to you. So if you have regained your senses lets get to the more interesting part; the part where you want to torture me to death like I did to the person you so dearly loved… the part where you foolishly think you will achieve what you ever dreamt of.” And that laugh again… only this time it’s mixed with a mocking tone turning it into the most sinister sound anyone could ever have heard in their lifetime… a dangerously crazed laugh…

The silence was chilling. It extended for several minutes only to be broken by a small chuckle. Ragini, for first time in her life was confused. She glared at the form of her enemy to check out what he found so amusing about this situation; as to how dare he mock at her masterpiece. But her thoughts were broken when she heard him talking, no almost whispering…

” Aww… sweet heart, now who did this to you? ” the same chuckle again followed by,” you know somebody has put red color water all over your face. Now I promise I didn’t do this but I guess I know who it might be…hmm…If I’m right…It must be little Lali. You know how much she likes messing with her Swara didi. I really should tell her not to mess with your face and hair like this for I know you won’t even say a word to her even after all this. You really love kids don’t you?” He smiled conspiratorially and whispered ” we really should plan for a few you know… you will be an awesome mother.” He spoke as if he did not want to wake her up from her blissful sleep.

He was talking to his wife, his Swara… for in his world she was his wife and they were living happily in a small house; small because she did not prefer huge mansions which of course he could easily afford but she had always felt too lost in those things. She preferred their small house in their quiet and friendly neighbourhood which had lots of children . And all those children loved their Swara didi and Sanskar Bhaiyya. He still was the boss of his Music Company and she was still his annoying yet loving Raga consultant. The only difference was that Ragini never existed in that.

Meanwhile, the lady with the sinister voice who stood baffled watching this whole scene unfold in front of her felt deceived…deceived of her victory. She wanted Sanskar to suffer the loss of his beloved Swar just like she had lost him. She knew how very important she was to him. she had waited these 3 months after their engagement, just for that… for them to become closer than ever. She actually wanted to kill Swara just on the day of her wedding but then she seemed to be always surrounded by her huge group of wellwishers that she decided today was a chance she couldn’t miss. Weding functions would begin the next day and she couldn’t miss her window of opportunity. So she had bribed a small kid to deliver a letter to Sanskar which simple said ” SWARA” written in her own blood of course! She very badly wanted to see the pain in his eyes when he would see his Swara. After all he was her obsession… Somehow everything she did in her life was always about him… first she was obsessed in love and now in hate… ever since he had insulted her on his engagement day, all she ever wanted was to taunt him, to torture him and to defeat him..

But now suddenly all those months of waiting seemed to had gone into vain. She couldn’t even cherish her victory. She had spared his life because she needed him for her sick little game… to show him that he was a fool to let her go for some stupid little girl… to show she would always win… to show him how losing in love feels… But now he himself was gone… her enemy was gone… There was nobody to whom she could gloat her victory to, for victory wasn’t victory if she could not gloat about it to his fallen enemy. And now it did not even seem like victory at all. There he was, her enemy smiling happily leaning on the corpse as if she, Ragini didn’t even exist! There never can be worse insult than that… it was worse than the insult he had meted to her at that engagement party!

Just when she was contemplating how to deal with the greatest insult anybody have ever subjected her to, the police and family arrived barging through those wretched doors. She was so unsure of herself that the only thing which came to her mind was to finish this game before they caught her. So he shot him. And there was that deafening silence again which was broken only by the blaring sirens.

There were two lifeless bodies on the floor and one severely wounded person. Laksh, Uttara and Nikhil stood there in some abnormal daze staring at the two lifeless forms and a blood drenched back of the wounded person. But what brought them out of it was the slow whispering noise coming from the person with blood drenched shirt. His face wasn’t visible. And they could barely hear his whispers but what they could decipher in their current mind set was something like,” hmm now what do you want for breakfast today? I think blueberry pancakes with your favorite scrambled eggs and yeah… not to forget you divine but oh so unhealthy elixir you call coffee to go with it. So what say darling? ” a small pause and it continued, “oh OK I will let you sleep till I finish it… now no need to frown in your sleep” he chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose.

Everyone stood shell shocked unable to believe today was anything but real. The whole day had been so unrealistic… Yet the sense that it was all nothing but the brutal reality set in when they could hear Sanskar shouting and fighting wildly with the paramedics who were trying to pry him away from the lifeless body of their Swara, without even a small recognition about not only that he had a severe wound which seemed potentially fatal, looking at all the blood loss but also that his Swara was not just sleeping for the time being but was probably sleeping forever now…

They at last took him away after they gave him a shot of sedatives and then after the Police sealed the crime scene, the bodies of the victim and the perpetrator were both zipped up and taken away.

Everything seemed surreal to Nikhil, Uttara and Laksh… everything just about every thing seemed like it was just a scene out of their worst nightmares. Two of their best friends were dead, one killed by the other and one by the police and then another was fatally wounded…

They realized woefully that reality of it all hadn’t even begun to set in fully and it all seemed so hopeless…what would happen if they really started to feel it? They didn’t even bother to imagine.

One week later:

Three remaining friends were driving to a place where they normally would never have. It had been 5 days since the newest and cutest addition to their friend’s group was laid to rest in her permanent resting place, amid a huge crowd of people who were touched by her during her brief but productive life. All but one important person was missing in that crowd of tearful faces that bid her a last adieu. He, Sanskar Maheshwari was nowhere to be seen but no one questioned his absence.

The three now arrived at their destination. It was a huge and spacious building surrounded by many trees but there was an air of sadness surrounding it, at least for the people who came there to visit. They were now in front of the ‘ National Institute of mental health and research’ building.

They inquired in the reception and then set to climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator; they needed time to prepare themselves to the sight what they were about to witness. They know it can never be easy…not now and not ever.

He had woken up in the hospital shouting for his Swara, who for some reason whom he claimed was his wife. He was trying to pull out all the IV lines and tubes connected to him. His wound was not as fatal as it seemed, the bullet had not hit any of the vital structures as it passed through the back of his neck narrowly missing his carotid artery and the jugular vein and the blood loss was to the deep laceration in the flesh, nothing too grave. But still it was substantial enough to keep him on IV fluids considering his already weakened state of the mind.

They had tried to calm him and even tried to tell him the truth that she was no more, but he wouldn’t take a word of it and almost slapped the nurse who dared to tell him that his Swara was not alive in this world. They had then kept him on sedatives for few more days hoping that when he wakes up he would be calm enough to face the reality. But all their hopes were in destroyed when he woke up on the fourth day; two days after she was laid to rest…because this time he seemed to be different; he was calm none the less but just too calm and composed for comfort. He said he was waiting for her to wake up from her slumber as she was tired after their latest music album. And almost after 2 hours of this unnatural calm state he started talking to his wife again, but only this time there was nobody next to him, not alive nor dead…

The friends arrived at the third floor of the monotonous white building in search of one of their own, their old team mate.

The sight they saw was nothing like they expected which was too see a sad, unhappy…broken Sanskar. But instead there he was, even though not in his usual tailor made two piece suit he looked happier than they had ever seen him! May be this was how Sanskar would have been if he was married to Swara as planned… one which their beloved friend never got to see in her lifetime.

They then approached Sanskar carefully as if either he would break or maybe they would. And in some part they dreaded that in his alternate universe there might be no place for them, they might not even exist there. And that thought hurt. But they needn’t have worried for Sanskar and his wife would never forget them, they were always his beloved friends for him, no matter where they were.

Sanskar spoke,” Ahh there they are Swara, weren’t you just asking me as to where they had gone without informing you, now you can scold them to your heart’s content.” Looking at them now he said in a low conspiratory tone,” you guys should have at least told me where you were going, now she is really mad. We made this awesome tune and wanted to play it to you guys but now madam is angry!” He almost chucked as if he saw her rolling her eyes at his comments. And he turned back and continued his conversation with his Swara about something which the friends assumed was some sort of imaginary theory about an imaginary music they were supposed to be creating. They stood there speechless looking at him. They were back to the state they were when they heard him talk to her first at the crime scene.

Just then a doctor came towards them and said she wanted to talk to them and motioned them silently towards a room. The four of them moved into what seemed like an empty room with few chairs and benches rather than an office.

” I presume you are Laksh, Uttara and Nikhil? Hi, I’m Dr. Lalita Raj, a junior doctor here and I’m incharge of Mr. Sanskar’s case.” They nodded in approval wondering how she knew their names but they unspoken question was answered as she continued again, “Mr. Sanskar keeps speaking about you all to his wife… Oh I’m sorry I mean late Swara Gadodia who I believe was his friend and if I presume right, yours too?”

They nodded gain in approval and she continued. “He now lives in a world where he has hallucinated versions of each one of you. In his world he is happily married to his friend and they still create beautiful music along with you guys who belong to their team. And the rest of us here at the hospital are almost non-existent to him; we are all like the people who just come and go by your office or passerby on the street.”

She paused for a moment, her reactions almost indecipherable and then continued in a more clinical tone. ” We are giving him medicines which we believe will cure his disease but to say frankly we have little hope regarding his condition, as it seems as if he really doesn’t have any reason to come back out of his imaginary world.”

The three came back to see Sanskar… but it didn’t seem he missed them as he was busily talking to the imaginary version of them! They stood there… sadness etched on their face…with all the poignant memories of their good times together flooding their minds.

Then suddenly they heard him laugh… a truly genuine laugh which they were sure they had never heard from Sanskar for all the years they have known him. This had them wondering whether hoping him to come back to reality where everything is dark and completely filled with loneliness for him was a good thing at all… Because here he was happy… here he could still be with his Swara… He could still joke around and believe nothing bad had ever happened at all. What did reality hold in comparison to this happiness he possessed? Nothing… nothing at all. And they thought, what right did any of them, the so called sane people had, to call Sanskar insane? Because the reason that they couldn’t see what he saw was too feeble for that. For no one knows what happens to the soul after life… they may never know… but there could be a possibility that they may exist. Well at least in his case, whatever the truth may or may not be… the imaginary world he seemed to have created for himself seemed far better than their sad reality.

Just when they were about to turn and leave him to hisown blissful world… all three of them saw something which neither of them would ever say it aloud, even to each other… They saw their Swara standing with an arm around her prince’s shoulder, talking to him happily and then she slightly turned back and gave them a wink accompanied by a truly happy smile as if to convey the point and then she vanished away, now to exist only through her beloved Sanskar’s eyes…

If they had any doubt remaining … it was dispelled and a small smile came on each of their lips, even on the lips of the ever skeptical Nikhil. Now they were all convinced. After all everyone…everyone including their oldest friend and his loving consultant deserve a ‘happily ever after’, regardless of which ever world they are in… And according to these three no deserved it more than those two.

AN: Was it all crazy much? Are u all sufficiently confused? Hehehe Whatever you felt, do let me know…;) I’m impatiently curious and jus trying my best to act patient here… So err what did u think?! 🙂

And yeah, Happy 2017 guys!! May God bless u all!