Chapter 18: chapter-18
All previous chapters: http://www.tellyupdates.com/?s=%22That+Unknown+Feeling%22
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Sayyam drove harshly on the winding road, narrowly missing cars headed his way. He held the steering wheel in his right hand, and a bottle of alcohol in his other hand. He took a long swig, wiping some from the corner of his mouth. He was remembering all the moments he had hurt his mother, each painful glance of hers flashing past his eyes.
He began to lose focus of the road, gulping down the alcohol to rid himself of the emotional wounds that had been reopened by Krishna today. Finishing the bottle, he tossed it at the back of the car and opened a new one with his free hand, using his thumb to take the cork out, shifting his eyes between the bottle and the road. New and old memories clashed, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. Every mistake he had ever made- every hurtful word he’d said to both Suhani and Krishna started to muddle his brain.
He couldn’t tell the difference between streetlamps and headlights on cars anymore, and swerved to the right when he saw what looked like a truck. He crashed into a tree and was thrown forward in his seat. His head hit the steering wheel and his arm grazed a broken glass bottle, ‘probably the bottle that he’d just opened’, Sayyam thought, as his world faded to black.
——-
Suhani woke with a start, breathing heavily. Her head was pounding and her palms were sweaty. Yuvraaj woke up next to her, wondering why she was so frightened.
“Suhani?” he placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Yuvraaj…Sayyam…something happened”, she scanned the room wildly.
“Suhani, nothing happened to Sayyam, he must be sleeping in the outhouse.” Yuvraaj tried to assure her, but she flung the blanket off, stepping out of the bed.
“I’ll just check on him, then I’ll be fine” she ran out of the room and dashed down the hallway, Yuvraaj following close behind.
——
It was midnight, and Krishna was pacing back and forth in Yuvani’s room, still ranting about the incident that had just taken place. Yuvaan had fallen asleep hours ago in his room, not caring at all for what had happened.
“He took out his anger on Suhani aunty!” she frowned, “how cheap-” she was about to complete her sentence when Suhani dashed into the room looking at the two girls.
“Is Sayyam in the outhouse?” she questioned glancing at Yuvani.
“Mumma, Sayyam left after what just happened, but he must be back by now.” Yuvani glanced at the clock. Krishna was puzzled as to why Suhani was so concerned for Sayyam,
after what he had supposedly done. She felt more upset as Suhani ran for the outhouse, almost knocking a vase over.
“See Yuvani?” she started again, “Sayyam did so much with Suhani aunty and she’s still worried for him.”
“Krishna, stop it!” Yuvani stood up. She’d had enough of this; she knew Sayyam would be angry if she told Krishna the truth, but she couldn’t take it anymore. Sayyam was her drinking buddy, her partner-in-crime; he was the only one in this entire house who truly understood her. She wouldn’t let him be so badly misjudged.
“You really don’t know the whole story,” Yuvani closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
“Mumma has been having flashbacks of Sambhav, and anything can trigger them. Sayyam must have accidentally done or said something, which probably brought back a memory, and she started reacting badly. Sayyam already blames himself for what happened, and when you compared him to his father…” Yuvani sighed. “Krishna, the day he found out the truth about his father, he tried to kill himself. He’s already broken Krishna…I don’t know-“
Suhani burst into the room, her eyes filled with panic, “Sayyam is not in the outhouse!”
Krishna whirled around, her eyes wide, still in shock from what Yuvani had told her. ‘What have I done?’ ‘Please God,’ she pleaded mentally, ‘let nothing happen to him.’ She followed Suhani and Yuvani into the living room, seeing Yuvraaj, Sharad, and Bhavna already there. Yuvraaj was on his phone, repeatedly trying to call Sayyam.
“His phone is not reachable” Yuvraaj looked up, genuinely worried.
“He must have felt guilty, seeing me in that state, what if he does something to himself!” Suhani started to cry, “Yuvraaj, please bring my son back…Yuvraaj…” Suhani started to waver, looking weak, and Yuvraaj caught her just as she fainted.
“I’ll take her to our room and take care of her. You try to contact Sayyam, tell me if he returns” he stated and walked away, Suhani in his arms.
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Hey guys!!
Woah, talk about another plot twist! I feel so bad for hurting Sayyam… But let’s see what happens 😉
Also guys, I’m participating in the OS competition, and there are four SSEL entries…so I want you guys to guess which one-shot (OS) is mine, based on the writing style 😉
If you guys find it, and like it 😉 , please do vote for it and rate it
Love you all!
– Shreya <3