The Jealous Dead

Tanya ran,she was late for her train.  

   𝑶𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅,𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒕.    Sunny strapped to her chest was squirming in discomfort.Just a few more seconds of jostling and he would start yelling his head off.Her wheelie case clattered behind her.    

   Pushing her way through the crowd,she tried her best to keep her pace.Her hair came tumbling down, much to her discomfort.   

  𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍.𝑵𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅,𝒓𝒖𝒏.𝑹𝑼𝑵 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏. 

Sunny started bawling.His mouth was right next to her ear and her eardrums felt like they would explode.She would soothe him when she gets on board,no point bothering now.     

By the time she reached Platform number 5,the train had already started gathering speed.She missed it...  

                                                               𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌. The passengers inside stared at her as they moved.One even craned his neck to get a better look.She flashed a middle finger at him.His eyes widened in shock.𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆.  

                                                             Suddenly,Tanya felt self conscious.Here she was,having clearly missed her train,panting at the edge of the platform,a baby crying louder than a chugging engine strapped to her chest.Her hair streaming like molten lava.𝑮𝒐𝒅,𝑰 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕.She mopped her brow.𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆.

                                                             "Hush my child,"she tried to soothe him but to no avail.He continued to cry.She dived her hand into her bag to retrieve the nipple bottle.It slipped from her grasp and rolled to the feet of a man seated on a bench near her.   

                                                             𝑶𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍...     The man had headphones on and was typing something.He seemed to have not noticed it and that annoyed her more.  

 "Excuse me?"   

  He looked up and Tanya froze.   

 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒂 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒕...   

    A couple of years younger than her,he had an eye colour she had never seen before.A dazzling mix of hazel,green and golden fanned by incredibly long lashes.He had a jawline sharp enough to chop carrots.   

   "Yes?"

  "Umm ...Ahh...the bottle."She sounded as nervous as a school kid.𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 13 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆,she screamed at herself.   

   "Oh...I'm sorry,"and looking visibly embarrassed,he handed it back to her.     

  Tanya almost wrenched the bottle out of his hand as if he had an intention of not giving it back to her and huffed to the spot where she had left her luggage.She continued standing there,feeling utterly ridiculous.    

    Sunny gave another wail,as if in reminder.May be she has gotten so used to having him strapped to her that she had forgotten him.𝑰'𝒎 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 

  She felt his eyes trained at her back.Tanya instantly felt her palms blooming with sweat and a shitton of butterflies flapping their wings.

  𝑯𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈.𝑨 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅. 

"Its fine baby...Momma has got some milk for you.But we will first go to the waiting room,kay?"she murmured against his hot cheek,feeling guilty.

 She marched to the waiting room,determined to not look at him again.But she couldn't resist taking a side long glance at him.

He noticed it and his lips curved slightly upwards.He seemed to radiate the vibes of someone who knows how absolutely good looking he is and is used to women making a fool of themselves over him.She glared at him and his lips widened to a grin.   

   Tanya fastened her pace to the closest waiting room.𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝑩𝑻𝑺 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍.   

     She entered the room and saw an empty row of seats.Gratefully she sank down on one of them.    

  Tying back her hair,Tanya freed Sunny from the strap and started feeding him.Sucking it hungrily,he looked more like a thunder cloud.    

    She absently patted head.𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒎 𝑰 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒖?

                                                            Sunny had started dozing off and she continued to stroke him.She gazed at him intently,taking in every little detail.He gave a sleepy grunt of satisfaction and smiled with his eyes closed,two tiny teeth peeping out.Love rushed blindly through her veins.She was prone to have sudden love attacks.   

    Out of nowhere,a figure of a man materialised and was seated beside her.It was the same man.  

                                                            Tanya became so nervous that she clutched Sunny as if her life depended on it.Being rudely awakened,he immediately protested as loud as possible

   She loosened her hold.𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒑 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍."Shhh baby...Hushhh...Calm down,"Tanya crooned,trying her best.

  It did not work.The quiet restroom was now heartily disturbed and many were shooting filthy looks at her.She pointedly ignored them and the man beside her who was surely laughing.   

                                                                Tanya stood up and tried bouncing him.But the screeching continued..More people stared at her accusingly.                     

      𝑯𝑬'𝑺 𝑨 𝑪𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑫.𝑯𝑬 𝑫𝑶𝑬𝑺𝑵'𝑻 𝑼𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑫,she wanted to scream at them.   

                                                               "Madam,this is a restroom.Can't you just make him stop.We are getting disturbed,"a fat bloke insolently said.    

    Tanya turned as red as the Communist Manifesto.    

   "Before commenting,you should try taking care of one single handedly,"a voice next to her retorted.  

   "And who are you?Some bloody Romeo?"   

                                                                   "Nah...Just a man who respects a struggle."Adonis' voice was calm.   

     "One of those feminist pussy worshippers aren't you?"and the bloke let out a guffaw.  

    Tanya was open mouthed at their exchange.    

    "I'm atleast blessed to worship some,unlike you,"and he deliberately looked at the man's paunch.    

  He bristled and was about to come over when a railway employee stepped in.    

                                                             "There there sir...You cannot fight here,"and he imposed his bulk,preventing the bloke from moving towards them.  

  "I'll bloody show him,"and a vein was throbbing in his temple,his face purple in rage.He reminded Tanya of a purple cabbage and a smile slipped out of her.The man noticed it and began to struggle with the employee.   

                                                                   "You stupid bitch,"he yelled at her.    

  Two security guards burst in and pushed him out of room,bundling his luggage behind him. 

   Sunny had thankfully stopped crying.Tanya sat back down and stared at the floor,dreading the fact that she had to something to him.     

  She turned to look at him and he seemed to be enjoying a private joke of his own. 

"Thank you for standing up for me."𝑨𝒘𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆,𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔.   

                                                             "That's basic human decency ma'am." 

"Don't call me ma'am.Am not so old,"Tanya blurted out. Blood rushed to her face yet again. 𝑺𝒉𝒊𝒕,𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕,𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕,𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒚???    

   "You could be of any age,"he composedly returned,his gaze lingering on her face.      

     It sounded like a compliment coming from him.    

       "I'm 31,if that's what you are wondering."𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒊𝒓𝒅.    

   "As I said,you could be of any age.I'm 27.I know you wanted to know."    

    She suddenly felt old.     

   "By the way,you also missed the train like me?"      

   "You missed it too?"Tanya asked.𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒎?    

  "Hell yes.We need to find an alternative way.I mean I need to find an alternative way,"he corrected himself hastily.    

    "Oh I wouldn't mind finding one too.The next train to Jammu is in three days.I can't afford this delay."She somehow felt he would find a solution.He had a reassuring aura.    

      "See,the only thing available is a rental car.Chandigarh to Jammu.Is that alright for you?"    

  "Sure.I don't mind."𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖.    

  "Let's go then. The hiring counter is just round the corner," and he stretched luxuriously.   

    Sunny had fallen asleep.She took hold of her wheelie case but he gently pulled it from her.   

 "Let me handle that."     

    They were about to set off but Tanya wanted the loo.She was ashamed to say that. 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅.    "Umm...I need to go to the washroom,"she mumbled.    

   "Oh sure...Here,let me hold him for you,"he offered.  

                                                              Somehow,Tanya trusted him implicitly.This stranger whose name she doesn't even know.She trusted him enough to hand him her child.    

  Tanya felt relieved as she emptied herself.Fancy being in an over night bus with a full bladder.

    Stepping out of the washroom, she paused for a second,looking at him.

He was gazing at Sunny with absolute joy,walking around as he slept.He gave his forehead a careful kiss almost like he was Sunny's father. 

  𝑨𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒚'𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.

Tanya's eyes filled up.Being a single mom was exhausting for her.Her husband had died without even knowing that he was going to be a father.     

   Hastily blinking back her tears,she composed herself and held out her hands.He almost seemed reluctant to hand Sunny back.

They walked out. A quietness had settled between them.

On reaching there, he strolled over to the counter.

She peered at him and he somehow looked uncomfortable, shuffling from foot to foot. He called her over.

"So you can book the car... Its you, your wife and your son right?"

Tanya couldn't believe her ears.

"Right," he replied smoothly.

She was about to interrupt but he shot a warning glance at her.

"There's the car," and a man flicked his thumb at a model she did not recognise. 

"What was that?" she asked hotly once they were out of earshot.He glanced at her apologetically.

 " Well, for your safety, they wouldn't have allowed us to travel in the same car if you aren't related to me."

"So the only thing that came to your mind was husband and wife?" Tanya raised an eyebrow.

" Well, that's what we look like right now, for sure." He kept a poker face.

 The tension in the air evaporated and they burst out in laughter. 

"So what's my dear wife's name? 

" Tanya Goel and your's my dear husband? 

"Akash Khurana and our little son?" 

"Oh he's Sunny," and she smiled. 

"Right, we are sorted now," and they entered the car. 

It felt more intimate than Tanya had expected.She understood why he had lied about their relationship.He took the driver's seat while she sat beside him, strapping Sunny in the back seat. In no time they were cruising along the deserted highway. 

In the darkness, she felt a different kind of energy. They were careful as to not brush against each other accidentally. 

The conversation had dried up. She felt tongue tied and awkward.An inadvertent movement and her arm brushed against his. It felt like a jolt of current running through her body. 

"I'm sorry." She noted that she sounded all sparkly voiced. 

He did not answer but took a very deep breath. The tension in the air was palpable. 

"Fuck it," he growled and suddenly stopped the car. Their lips were right next to each other. Their breathing sounded terribly loud in the stillness. 

Their lips finally met. Gone was his gentleness, his playfulness. His lips moulded hers with an urgency that was almost painful but that was what Tanya wanted. 

After her husband's death, she had to not allowed herself to feel this pleasure again. Her starved body throbbed with desire. 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅,𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒈,𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒎𝒆. 

He grazed his teeth on her neck and she moaned. 

"Hush," he whispered and nibbled her ear. 

"You beautiful beautiful woman," he breathed. 

Tanya's eyes were filled with tears. Her husband had said that on their nuptial night. 

Her body shook and he held her face in concern. Her cheeks were wet. 

"You alright?"and he gently rubbed his nose against hers.

 She did not answer but hugged him tighter. He pulled her deeper in his embrace instinctively. 

" See, it's fine."He patted her head."Go back to sleep," and he kissed her forehead. 

Tanya had no idea how long she slept but the bumpy road penetrated her sleep. She found that distinctly odd.A highway would definitely be smooth.

 Her eyes flickered open and close the she checked Google Map. No signal or network was available. 

She jolted upright and peered outside. It was pitch dark. She couldn't see a thing, yet they were driving along at a breathneck speed. Even the headlights were off. 

"Akash?" 

She was dumb founded. 

There was no Akash. 

It was her late husband driving the car.He was marble white in the darkness, his eyes a fiery shade of red. 

"Laksh?" she whispered. 

He turned to her with a grin which distorted his demonic features even more. 

"Yes my love? Did you miss me? I guess you didn't as you were shagging around with other men." 

"Wh... Where is he? Tanya was filled with dread. 

" Your husband is right here in front of you and you are worried about another man? "He looked anguished, blood streaking down his eyes."I thought you loved me. But you clearly didn't. Still no one dares to touch my woman." 

"Bb... But you are... were dead.You would always remain an important part of my life," Tanya stammered.

"An important part? No my love," He reached out to caress her cheek. His hand was ice cold and she flinched. 

All this time, their deadly pace continued. 

"Laksh, slow down please. SLOW DOWN!" she yelled Sunny started wailing in the back too. "Please, I'm sorry... I won't look at another man. Let me go. I would always love you." 

"WHY, WHY should I let you go? So that you could get hold of another man again. Why?" and he accelerated even further. 

The engine started shuddering. 

"PLEASEEEEE," Tanya desperately tried to get hold of the steering wheel but he laughed. The speed increased even more. 

"I returned all the way from the dead to take you back with me. You should be thankful. We would live happily ever after, my love. You, me and our son.I need to bond with him too," he dreamily said. 

The car reached its maximum speed limit. 

"THERE," he SHOUTED, pointing to the edge of the road. "ONE JUMP AND WE WILL BE UNITED FOREVER. NO ONE WILL COME BETWEEN US AGAIN. I LOVE YOU! TELL ME YOU LOVE ME TOO!" 

Tanya couldn't do anything apart from screaming and begging incoherently. 

"PLEASE, PLEASE LAKSH. LET ME GO. PL." 

He muffled her screams with a kiss. It was the kiss of the dead. His mouth seemed to suck the soul out of her. 

She clawed his face desperately but he didn't even flinch.She broke her nails instead while he was lost in pleasure.

And the car lurched. There was an eerie calm. They were in thin air. 

"Only mine," her dead husband whispered at her and the car fell into nothingness.