“What the hell! You can’t change the music like that. It’s my jeep after all!” screamed Jeh. With his one hand still on the steering wheel, he tried to fidget with the music system with the other hand. But before he could do that, he felt a sharp smack on his hand.
“Ouch!” he groaned in pain, angrily looking at the woman sitting in the passenger seat beside him.
“Serves you right!” Neeti snarled at him. “Don’t you dare put those loud funky songs and make our heads spin around. We are driving through such a serene place and all we need is some peaceful and slow music to go with it.”
“That was the reason you were geting so desperate to sit in the front seat beside me, huh?” asked Jeh, scrunching his nose.
Neeti ignored his question and instead taunted, “Seher, where did you find this loser from? I’m sure that you could have done much better in terms of a boyfriend!”
“You!” Jeh pointed a finger at her.
“You!” Neeti did the same.
“Guys, guys, can you just shut the heck up? What is wrong with you both?” Seher scolded them from behind.
“Yes, man. Jeh, just concentrate on the driving. The road is going to get bumpy ahead,” said Yash with the google map opened up on his screen.
Riddhima, who was tucked between Seher and Yash in the backseat, couldn’t help but smile at this banter. It was no big secret that Neeti and Jeh did not get along with each other very well. But nonetheless, their fights were cute to watch.
Riddhima, Seher, Neeti and Yash had been the best of friends since high school. Even though all of them had opted for different careers thereafter, they had always managed to stay in touch with each other.
But things had changed a bit when Seher had left for US for a period of two years to complete her Masters. It was only a few months back that she had returned to India, albeit with her new boyfriend, Jeh. And as soon as he was introduced to the rest of the group, Neeti had taken an immediate dislike towards him.
Riddhima looked outside the window. It felt so relieving to be out in the countryside, away from the bustling of the city. Life tended to get so busy working as a psychiatrist and seeing so many patients day after day. She really needed this much awaited break along with her friends.
She suddenly sat up straight when she saw the surroundings around her change. Now, they were no longer driving around small villages. They were venturing straight into a thick jungle.
The jeep bumped a little as it landed on a rough path covered by gravels and surrounded by thick trees on either side. The chirpings of the never-heard and never-seen before birds and insects seemed to creep the hell out of Riddhima. She hated jungles….no, the correct word would be that she had an incoherent fear of jungles. She had no idea what they were doing there and all she wanted was to get out of that place real quick.
Jeh braked the car abruptly. “This is where we are going to camp,” he announced.
“What?” Riddhima blurted out, her lips quivering. “We are going to camp in a jungle? But you never told us….”
“Because that was a surprise from my side, baby girl,” said Jeh feeling proud of himself. “So, how do you like it?”
“C-can we go back? I don’t want to stay here any longer,” said Riddhima meekly.
At this, Jeh let out a short laugh. “Don’t be such a scaredy cat, Riddhima!”
Neeti started berating him, “How can you be so insensitive to mock her like that? You might not know but Riddhima suffers from hylophobia – fear of forests.” She turned towards Riddhima, and tried to comfort her. “Don’t worry, sweetie. We’ll leave from here ASAP.”
Seher felt really embarrassed. She had no idea that her boyfriend would bring them for camping at a jungle without consulting her even once. Had he done that, she’d have told him about Riddhima’s phobia. Maybe, Neeti was right after all. Maybe Jeh wasn’t that good of a boyfriend.
Jeh on the other hand began to feel guilty. He had no idea about Riddhima’s problem.
“I’m really sorry. I had no intention of hurting or making fun of your feelings like that,” he said.
He slid his hands around her shoulders. “But this isn’t such a bad idea actually. You are a psychiatrist yourself and you must be knowing that one of the treatments for any phobia is to get repeatedly get exposed to it. Who knows that at the end of the day, your fear of jungles might even get lessened in the process?”
Riddhima looked at her other friends’ faces. She knew that they really cared for her and would even be ready to forsake their share of fun and enjoyment for her. And she did not want that to happen. She did not want to spoil their day like that.
“Look, if you want we can leave,” Seher tried to help. “But you should know that there’s nothing to really feel scared of. We all are there right beside you.”
“Exactly! Why do jungles even frighten you? Are you afraid of the animals hiding within or….” Jeh brought his face closer to Riddhima and whispered. “Or is it the ghosts that make you paranoid?”
Riddhima’s face became pale. To be honest, she never knew why she had this phobia. She tried hard to find out if there was any specific reason or any past incident that had triggered this fear in her heart, but to no avail. In fact whenever she tried to think about that, a faint image of an unknown jungleΒ would flash before her eyes. At this, she’d feel scared and then in order to distract her mind, she’d start thinking about something else.
“Seher, will you hit this man or should I do that instead?” said Neeti charging towards Jeh. Luckily, Yash held her back. Yash was that one friend who stayed calm in all situations, and who’d resolve everyone else’s fights in such situations.
Riddhima did not like that her friends were fighting amongst themselves because of her.
“Jungles frighten me because it is difficult to make out what deep secrets they are hiding within them,” she said slowly. “You never know what thing you’d encounter next. They are so damn unpredictable…..” She took a deep breath. “But I think you’re right, Jeh. It is high time that I face my fears, because this is what I tell all my patients as well.”
“Are you sure that you want to do this?” asked Yash getting a bit worried.
“Yes,” she said determinatedly.
Jeh hooted for her and gave a see-what-I-told-you look to Neeti. The other three were happy that Riddhima was taking such a brave step to overcome her fear, but they were also quite skeptical. They just hoped that things did not go out of hands any point of time.
Soon, they all got down to work. They pitched out the tent at a suitable place, close to their jeep. After bringing in some wood, they made a fire out of them, roasting some corn, nuts and marshmallows over it.
Even though everyone else was enjoying themselves, but Riddhima wasn’t. Every now and then, she peered over both her shoulders to make sure that no one or nothing creepy or dangerous was there around.
After getting bored with the nonchalant talk and a long game of antakshari, Jeh came up with a plan to do something different yet daring.
“Listen guys, I’ve an interesting game for us.” He stood up and clapped his hands to garner everybody’s attention. “When I went into the forest to collect some wood, I came up with a splendid idea. I took some playing cards with me and placed them near a large banyan tree. Now each one of us goes one by one to that tree, picks up one card and brings it back. The one who takes the least time would be the winner.”
“That sounds like a really good idea,” Neeti agreed with him causing Seher to relax a little bit. To be honest, this whole tension between her boyfriend and bestfriend was making things worse for her.
“I’ll go first,” said Yash getting up.
Everyone hooted for him, except Riddhima of course. She couldn’t imagine how they could like the idea of venturing into the forest all alone.
Seher kept count of the time and soon enough saw Yash returning all smiles with a card in his hand.
“The stopwatch shows 3 minutes 40 seconds. So the next persons have to make it quicker in order to win,” remarked Seher.
With everybody else consecutively completing their respective turns in the game, it was clear that Jeh was leading the way with a time of 2 minutes 50 seconds.
He turned towards Riddhima expectantly, “Now, it’s your turn.”
Riddhima’s eyes widened in astonishment. Walking alone into the jungle was too much for her, and she couldn’t possibly do that.
“Don’t be stupid, Jeh!” Neeti admonished him yet again. “Now you know about her phobia, yet you foolishly suggest something as atrocious as this.”
“But this is part of the therapy,” Jeh tried to explain his view. “Part of the therapy to make Riddhima face her fears and overcome them.”
Yash who was calm until now wasΒ also beginning to lose his temper too.
“She is already trying so hard, sitting with us in this dense jungle. Don’t you think that’s quite a lot in itself?”
Jeh however wasn’t comvinced. “But she can try some more. Plus, the sun is still high up in the sky. What wrong can possibly happen in broad daylight?”
He patted Riddhima’s back. “I think that I’m your only true friend over here who wants you to become so fearless, that nothing can frighten you anymore. C’mon girl! I know that you have it in you to do it! Besides, isn’t what systematic desensitization is supposed to be all about?”
Systematic desensitization was an effective therapy deemed for phobias and anxiety problems where the patient was gradually exposed to the fear. Being a psychiatrist, Riddhima was well versed with this treatment. But she was surprised about how Jeh knew about this.
Reading her mind, he said, “I studied a little bit of psychology too.”
Riddhima right now felt like a complete hypocrite. She herself went around using such therapies for her patients and encouraging them to face their own fears. But when it came to herself, all she wanted to do was to wrap herself in a blanket closing her eyes, shutting all the fears away from her. Who knows that maybe at the end of this, she’d be able to understand the psychology of her patients in a much better manner and help them in an even more effective way?
Even though her heart was racing and her breathing had become rapid, she tried to maintain a calm and confident face.
“Fine. I’m ready to do this.”
“No! You don’t need to!” Neeti and Yash protested together.
“No, I’ve already made up my mind,” replied Riddhima. “Nobody wants to live his entire life with a phobia, neither do I. And this might be one of my only chances to get rid of this. And I don’t want to miss it.”
In spite of the rest of the group’s pleas, Riddhima renained adamant and stepped deeper and deeper into the woods.
As her friends’ voices became more and more distant, Riddhima could feel her pulse throbbing with an even greater force. She didn’t know why she had even agreed to Jeh, but now she was beginning to regret it. Even though everything looked crisp and clear in the daytime, yet she couldn’t stop herself from shivering in fright.
“It’s okay Riddhima. You can do it,” she encouraged herself. “Just a little distance more until you reach that wretched tree. And then, all you have to do is to turn on your heels and run…..”
She jumped up in startle when she saw a squirrel scurry right past her. That’s what she hated about jungles. Any damn creature can spring out from anywhere without any forewarning.
All of a sudden, she heard a blood curdling roar echoing in her ears. Dreadfully, she turned towards the source of the sound and to her utmost terror, she saw a ferocious looking tiger approaching towards her from a distance.
Panicking and screaming at the top of her voice, Riddhima began running as fast as her short and thin legs could take her, in the opposite direction.
Even though she knew that as a human, running away from a tiger would not help her to evade from it’s clutches, but right now, she didn’t know what to do. Her mind had stopped working and her entire body was under the control of the hormones that were raging inside her.
Her legs began turning weak and she knew that in no time, the claws would be on her tearing at her skin…..
But just then, she bumped into something hard that brought her to a complete still. Squeezing her eyes shut, she was waiting for the inevitable to occur. But strangely, when nothing happened, she slowly opened her eyes and was surprised.
She saw the most beautiful, bearded man she had ever seen, towering tall over her, and looking down at her with those sharp eyes. Don’t know what had happened to her, but she kept staring at him, caught in a complete stupor. She felt so weak that she felt the need to clutch at the lapels of his black coat.
Reality struck her, and remembering the deadly creature who had been chasing her, she turned around fearfully. But she was shocked to see that there was no sign of any tiger anywhere nearby.
“Where did it go suddenly?” she wondered, when she saw Seher shouting her name and running towards her.
She took her friend into a deep hug. “Are you okay, Riddhima? We became frantic when we heard your screams and that’s why hurried to find you.”
Seher was left aghast when she heard Riddhima narrate about how a tiger had started chasing her out of nowhere and how it suddenly disappeared from the sight too.
“Thank God for this man who saved me.” Riddhima turned to introduce the man in black to Seher, but was puzzled to see that he too had disappeared. There was nobody anywhere.
“Where did he go? He was right here!” said Riddhima getting a little anxious. “How did he manage to get away from here so quickly?”
Seher consoled her. “Relax, don’t take so much stress. Let us go back. If the tiger is still on the prowl, then it is not safe for us to stay here any longer.”
“But….”
Seher took Riddhima’s hand and pulled her alongside her. But Riddhima on the other hand, kept glancing back. She could not make out what had just happened. Where did that man vanish suddenly to? She couldn’t even say a thank you to him. And why did the tiger run away when it saw the man?
When both the girls returned to the group, they heaved a sigh of relief.
But Jeh was left a little confused. “Are you sure you saw a tiger behind you? Because tigers are usually supposed to hunt in the middle of the jungle, not on the outskirts of it. Plus, it is said that a tiger’s roar can be heard from a few kilometers away which we did not happen to hear at all. We only heard your screams. How is that even possible?”
This was enough to make Riddhima furious and she started shouting to defend herself.
“What do you mean? Do you think that I’m lying and making this all up? Or do you think that I’m hallucinating all of this? I literally witnessed all of that with my own eyes! Why don’t you guys believe me?”
As she said this, she began to feel giddy and was about to tumble backwards. Luckily, Yash caught her in time.
“It is okay. We all believe you,” he caressed her face and made her drink some water. “Stop taking stress.”
Giving Jeh a piercing look, he said, “I think it’s high time that we leave from here. If Riddhima says that there’s a tiger on the loose, then that must be the truth. We can’t keep waiting here waiting to get attacked by it.”
Jeh was about to say something more, but Seher pinched him. He swallowed when she gave him a nasty look. And it was then that he knew that he had messed it all up and there wasn’t any use to argue anymore. Not only was his carefully thought of plan to have fun was disrupted, but also he’d have to get an earful from his girlfriend as soon as he reached home.
As they sat in the jeep, all ready to drive back into the city, Riddhima stared back at the jungle, recalling all the mysterious happenings of today. Who was that man? Why did he manage to leave such a deep imprint over her in such a short span of time? And would she ever be able to meet him again?
Hello everyone! I had gotten tired of studying at a stretch, so decided to take a “short break”. But like always, the short break became quite long, lol.
Anyways here is a new story, and do tell me in the comments about how it is. It is going to be a short one though, preferably around 10 or more chapters. Also, I’m going to be quite irregular with the updates, so kindly bear with me. And kindly bear with my sloppy writing too because it has been written in a hurry with a mind preoccupied with exams.
Question for you all : What do you think about the man that Riddhima encountered in the forest?Β
65 Comments
I think it’s Vansh… Nd tell r u planning vampire nd human love story bcs whi lgri hai
Well, I won’t say anything now. Because then, it will spoil the fun. But we’ll see if your guess is correct or not….
Dear Nia, another wonderful ff. I enjoyed reading. I think that the man who Riddhima bumped into was Vansh . I also
think.that he was the tiger too. . Nice start to your new ff. Well done.ππππππ¦πΉ. You wrote brilliantly. Riddhima n her friends were pit for the day n Jeh decided to camp in the jungle as he wanted some fun. Seher was getting annoyed with him n also jeh was confused as Riddhima said she saw a tiger chasing her. Jeh was confused and asked Riddhima if she was sure she saw a tiger. Riddhima got angry n shouted. Finally they all.left the jungle n Riddhima stared back at the jungle wondering weather she would see the beautiful bearded man ever again. Nice tobsee you back Dear Nia. πππΉ. β€ππββπ»πΌπΌπΊπΉπ₯π₯ππππ«π«π¬π¬π§π§π¦πππ₯°π₯°π€π€π¦. Lots of love, hugs, kisses n loads of blessings flying over to you β€π¦πΉ. All the emotions, feelings n reactions were perfectly portrayed. Well done once again πππ. Looking forwards to next episode. Until then, please take care n stay safe πΉππ¦π€. Lots of love for you.β€ππππ₯°πΌπΊπΉπππ€π¦πΉ.
Thanks a lot! You summarized the whole chapter into a single paragraph. Glad to know that you liked it!
Lots of love, hugs, kisses and blessings to you too dear!
Dear Nia, another wonderful ff. I enjoyed reading. I think that the man who Riddhima bumped into was Vansh . I also
think.that he was the tiger too. . Nice start to your new ff. Well done.ππππππ¦πΉ. You wrote brilliantly. Riddhima n her friends were out for the day n Jeh decided to camp in the jungle as he wanted some fun. Seher was getting annoyed with him n also jeh was confused as Riddhima said she saw a tiger chasing her. Jeh was confused and asked Riddhima if she was sure she saw a tiger. Riddhima got angry n shouted. Finally they all.left the jungle n Riddhima stared back at the jungle wondering weather she would see the beautiful bearded man ever again. Nice tobsee you back Dear Nia. πππΉ. β€ππββπ»πΌπΌπΊπΉπ₯π₯ππππ«π«π¬π¬π§π§π¦πππ₯°π₯°π€π€π¦. Lots of love, hugs, kisses n loads of blessings flying over to you β€π¦πΉ. All the emotions, feelings n reactions were perfectly portrayed. Well done once again πππ. Looking forwards to next episode. Until then, please take care n stay safe πΉππ¦π€. Lots of love for you.β€ππππ₯°πΌπΊπΉπππ€π¦πΉ.
Awesome
Amazing
Best start
All the best
Update next soon
It’s vansh or vampires
@Mary Thank you! Glad you liked it. Well, you’ll have to wait to find that….
Dear Nia, another wonderful ff. I enjoyed reading. I think that the man who Riddhima bumped into was Vansh . I also
think.that he was the tiger too. . Nice start to your new ff. Well done.ππππππ¦πΉ. You wrote brilliantly. Riddhima n her friends were out for the day n Jeh decided to camp in the jungle as he wanted some fun. Seher was getting annoyed with him n also Riddhima said she saw a tiger chasing her. Jeh was confused and asked Riddhima if she was sure she saw a tiger. Riddhima got angry n shouted. Finally they all.left the jungle n Riddhima stared back at the jungle wondering weather she would see the beautiful bearded man ever again. Nice tobsee you back Dear Nia. πππΉ. β€ππββπ»πΌπΌπΊπΉπ₯π₯ππππ«π«π¬π¬π§π§π¦πππ₯°π₯°π€π€π¦. Lots of love, hugs, kisses n loads of blessings flying over to you β€π¦πΉ. All the emotions, feelings n reactions were perfectly portrayed. Well done once again πππ. Looking forwards to next episode. Until then, please take care n stay safe πΉππ¦π€. Lots of love for you.β€ππππ₯°πΌπΊπΉπππ€π¦πΉ.
Sorry. My comment got posted 3 times.
Amazing episodeβ¨. It’s very interesting. Loved itπ.
Thank you !!
Amazing πβ€οΈ. Post soon
Thank you!!
Wow… Nice start nd very unique…
The concept is brilliant.
And the cover is also beautiful β€οΈ!
Is he Vansh?
Idk just guessing .
All the best for your exams.
Being irregular isn’t a bad thing, we understand!
Excited for next chapters!!
Aww thank you! Glad to know that you liked it! Next chapters kab aayenge main khud nahi jaanti.
Ohk, I’ll read the chapter afterwards!!
First things first!
YOU HEREEEEEEEEEEE? ππ³
Am shocked would be an understatement, saw that you have posted here something, went back on Wattpad to check whether I had missed something out but your account seemed normal to me!!
.
.
Abb pata chala aap yaha pe likh rahe hai, BTW weren’t you on a break!! Padai nahi karni? Exams nahi dena?!
PS: Now its my time to pull your leg *remember the incident that happened in the month of March, someone said that even though I say that I won’t update before an assigned date but still does* π
Omg lol! Wattpad pe toh main dikne wali nahi hoon. Because maine bhai se kehkar uska password hi badal dala! So now only my brother knows the new password and he’d tell that to me only after my exams get over! May God keep my brother happy always!
.
Oh yes I remember that very nicely! It was like uparwale ne meri sun li thi because mujhe tumhara new update padna tha and Tadaa!
Tbh, maine bhi March me kuch aisa hi kiya tha. Ab all I can say is ki hum dono ek jaise hi toh hai!
Aur zyada khush mat hojana because next chapter exams ke baad hi aayega. Hopefully π.
Waah waah! What an idea! Thank you so muchhh…..
Abb toh main yeh hi karungi! Mumma ko laptop padkda dungi and I’ll ask her to change the password!
Won’t ask my brother because I’m not sure if he’ll leave me, jab tak uski jadd tak nah pauch jaaye ππ
Lucky girl, looks like your brother isn’t like Ishaan!!
Sunday ko maine bhi log out kar hi dena hai won’t procrastinate much!
.
Thoda khush hone ki zarrurat nahi because jald hi tum ek aur upadte de hi dogi π*dances*
Haha yes my brother’s a sweetheart!
Oh God, if I tell my Mom then she’ll be like “accha, toh iski wajah se padhai nahi kar rahi ho. Chalo main tumhara account hi delete kardeti hoon”. Toh obviously, I can’t take such a big risk, hehe.
.
As far as your last sentence is concerned, I’ll try my best to prove you wrong. Hopefully.
Amazingπ
Thank you
Wonderful
Thank you!
Amazing..
Thank you!
OMG…. It’s soo super interesting πππ
Wonderful π
Even I think it’s Vansh .. all is up to you now π€
Regular yahan pe sirf Parita and Aisha di hain π
All the best for your exams!!
Aww thank you! With everybody’s classes and exams going on, most of the authors have become irregular. Otherwise I remember there used to be a time when there used to a long list of FFs updates every single day.
Hi Nia,
Happy to see you again…..
I must say it is a good start.
I don’t mind that you will not post regularly but I am happy that you are back with another interesting story……
I was missing your updates……
When saw your name, I felt that I am in heaven…( I am little bit filmy π€)
All the best for your exams….
Keep rocking…
Waiting for your next update
Lots of love β€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈ
Aww thank you so much! That is so sweet of you to say that! I did read your comments on the last chapter of my previous FFs, but I was quite busy to reply to them. I’m so glad to see you comment on this FF too!
Awesome
Thank you!
Fantastic
Thank you!
Fabulous
Thank you!
Amazing
Thank you!
Amazing episode dear Welcome back dear missed you and your ff very much I think the person is Vansh I think this story is about like supernatural eagerly waiting for next update
Thanks a lot! Aww, even I missed you guys a lot! We’ll see if your guesses turn out to be correct or not….
Tbh, I myself have no idea when the next chapter would come, so can’t promise upon anything.
This was amazing di. The way you described the jungle seemed realistic.
I loved it. β€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈ
And about the man I guess it is Vansh.
Btw have you posted it on wattpad? I checked it but I did not get it anywhere.π π
Thanks a lot! I’m happy that you liked it.
Haha, I logged out of wattpad and would return only after my exams get over. Ngl, but wattpad is very distracting.
Oh!
Indeed it is distracting. So ALL THE BEST for your exams. May you pass with flying colours.β€β€β€
Thank you!!
Nice…. Vry unique story… Please update soon π
Thank you!
Dear Nia,
I missed you and I am glad that you are back:).Sloppy writing? You must be kidding, its superb and full of suspense.
I dread to guess as except on a few occassion, I always guess it wrong. So here I am taking a wild guess. Somewhere in the middle section, you had described of Riddhima as …”faint image of an unknown jungle would flash before her eyes.” This reminded me of the same jungle on the last episode in Colors TV i.e. the jungle scene and the start of the jungle scene on OTT of IMM2.
On the same note, could it be that Riddhima have had a bad experience in the jungle in the past which she can’t now remember but its stored in her subconcious mind resulting in the flash of memory.
I think the individual who saved her from the tiger is Vansh but its her hallucination or subconciously she remembered the past event which could have involved a tiger. Am I right! or Am I right?
Hi Jayanthi! So good to be talking to you again. And thank you! I’m glad you liked it.
Well, your guesses weren’t wrong everytime. I remember how you had correctly guessed Vansh to be an undercover agent in ‘Bound To You’ even before I had revealed it.
I wouldn’t want to say much except that maybe your guess can turn out right this time as well.
This was awesome di!
Another wonderful ff and episode by you! Good to have you backβ€
Wow this story is really exciting and i’m really interested!
Is Vansh the tiger? Haha lol me and my nonsensical theoriesππ
Post when you can, will be waiting!!
Thanks a lot! I’m glad you liked it. Oh, so do you want to suggest that Vansh might be a were-tiger? It’s not a nonsensical theory, rather quite an interesting one. But you’ll have to wait to find out if it’s right or not.
Awesome diβ€β€
Told you I’m your fanπβ€
Thank you! Aww, I’m truly touched dear!
Wow amazing πβ€οΈπβ€οΈπ
I really happy u come back πππ
Thank you so much β€οΈπ
Keep rocking π₯π₯π₯
Thank you dear! Good to see you too!
Super πππ
Thank you!
Wonderful ππβ€οΈπ
Thank you!
Wow fabulous πππππ
Thank you!
Fantastic episode πππβ€οΈπβ€οΈ
Thank you!
awesome di
Thank you!