PLAT
PLAT
PLAT
The soft sounds of Piya's footsteps on the pavement that was wet from the slight drizzle of the night echoed in her ears as she clutched her arms to her chest, the slight cold bothering her more than she thought it would.
It had been a blur for her when she had left Sanit's hostel, through the floors, passing by curious boys and a sleeping guard.
She had been walking since then, after taking a ride back home, her mind replaying all the things that had happened the past few hours.
She partly wanted to dwell on those thoughts while also not wanting that at the same time.
When the rain started to intensify a bit more she hurried up to her gate and opened it to enter.
She saw her mother seated on the porch steps with her phone in her hand and sat up the moment Piya latched the gate behind her, a little wary of being scolded.
"I've been calling and calling. What is this? You should've informed either your father or me that you'd be out late."
Her mother's voice was high pitched sure but not nearly as bad as Piya thought it would be. She was clearly upset but with worry more than anger. Her eyes reflected the same. Soft yet weary.
Piya walked forward to get out of the rain, shivering and her teeth chattering as she loosened the straps of her slippers, "sorry ma, did I worry you too much?"
Her mom had her hands on her hips staring at her with wide eyes and open mouth, "yes I was worried obviously. Beyond that you're completely drenched."
Piya shrugged, "I just went for a walk. Got caught in the rain. You shouldn't be that worried for me nowadays ma."
"Uh-huh, well get inside before you catch a cold, seriously..." she stood aside to let Piya trudge on and wipe her feet on the floor mat, "you're my apple's eye, my fragile princess. What would we do ever without you?"
Piya scoffed at her mother's words, "haha very funny," and she tried to peel her wet clothes from sticking to her body.
"I'll bring you a towel and some clothes."
"Thanks," Piya waited for her to leave and breathed a little easier. One thing she never wanted to experience ever was their disapproval of her.
Now the entire situation seemed more manageable than earlier.
She stripped down completely and changed into a shirt and track pants her mother had got her, before walking into the living room, while toweling her long wet hair.
When she saw her father on the sofa, her eyes lit up with recognition and smiled at him.
He was a very traditional man, marrying her mother as a doctor to doctor couple and sported a thick moustache while always presenting himself in clean tucked in clothes.
He got up for her, "we were going to have dinner without you."
"Your father stopped me of course."
She sat down with them to eat, the warmth of the kitchen soothing but try as she might she just didn't have that much of an interest in the daily conversation with her parents.
She wanted to be alone and think about things.
After dinner and helping her mother in the kitchen, she went to where Tuli was kept in her fairly large aquarium that she shared with no one.
Tuli was a two-year old female octopus who had been rescued from Rakshasas when the shorelines had become a prime spot for their invasions into the mainland.
From a long journey and a close family friend Tuli had become Piya's companion since 12th grade and inseparable in a lot of ways.
"Hi Tuli, did you have your dinner?" Piya adopted a low-pitched tone females use to talk to children.
The octopus immediately shifted from it's lazy stance on the rocky base of the aquarium and leapt into action by sticking to the side walls and trying to climb to the surface.
Piya laughed and opened up the top, dipping her right fist into the water and enjoying the way Tuli gripped her with her suckers, "eek, you're always so slimy girl."
She fed her and kept her company till the mollusc got bored and sank back. Taking it as a sign Piya closed the tank and walked to her room.
A few minutes later she was busy at her desk, playing Taylor swift on her headphones while sketching. A combination that made up her favorite pastime.
She let her mind fill up about Sanit, making her sketch easier. She was after all drawing him.
Her inborn ability had let her observe things and objects with a curious gaze, penetrative and almost naked in view, that she then would put into drawings.
The walls above her desk besides others were mostly of this. They contained sketches of Tuli as a one year old, the first Rakshasas she had seen as a kid in school, her own body and its insides, the dissection of various Rakshas and their anatomies.
When her hobbies had been leaked by a once trusted friend, she had been the target for a brutal bullying campaign that lasted till her final school year.
It had got her into this devil-may-care attitude and a very punk gothic approach to her art or anything that she did contained that sort of flavor.
She had stopped short of piercings and a choker though. Hair dying and tattoos were a clear no-no, that was made very much clear by her mother who said she'd disown her if that ever happened.
She did on occasion tease her mother by threatening to do so now and then, enjoying the look on her mother's face but Piya felt it was no longer that important.
But it did sour a lot of relations with her friends who started to treat her differently once her inborn identity came forth.
It had almost been the case with Sanit too. And now she wished it had.
Two Weeks Ago
"Yuck, she's so ugly, look at that inborn trash!"
"You'd think she'd be more subtle or toned down but the audacity.."
The words from their mouths would hurt any one else but not Piya. She had been hardened over her school years. The girls had by now formed an entire group just to diss her.
And that too on the first day of college orientation. She thought at least sitting in the last benches would have helped her but it was not the case.
She looked up from her scribbling, her loose dark hair falling behind her shoulders, her bangs on the front of her forehead parting a little and her tight shirt sitting down to reveal a long v-neck above which rested a black choker.
Her eyes went straight to the group on the left who were staring daggers at her and Piya smiled before flipping them off with both her middle fingers.
The girls were visibly enraged but the kicker was the sudden reaction by a boy in front of Piya's bench who laughed out suddenly and they moved away from where she was.
Piya tried to go back to her scribbling but the laughing one had turned and she forced herself to look at him.
"That was just stupid fun, I'm Sanit." He had an extended hand and the most disarming smile ever.
'Who's this country bumpkin? Isn't he enjoying this a bit too much?'
That had been her first thought which eventually led her to give him the cold shoulder and when she saw him turn back, she felt a bit bitter but she wasn't in the mood for making others happy.
Not when she was already miserable inside.
But then later on she chided herself for being a bitch and apologised, "sorry it's not you, I was just having a bad day. I'm Piya by the way."
Her first impression about him was very different than now. He seemed very cheery, and extroverted which he denied being so but she disagreed.
He had this smile on his face for no reason, lighting himself up with it as he talked and talked and it was quite endearing to say the least.
Present
'He had a jawline like this...maybe a bit more crooked. And his abdomen like this...'
She had her tongue on the top of her lip as she concentrated on recollecting when she had first seen Sanit days ago and today.
When he had saved her from the Rakshasas she had seen a different side to him. It was more serious yes but also had this charm to his nature that was strangely attractive to her.
But today was a different picture altogether. In that rooftop when he had put her lips on hers she felt more fearful.
But there was also a weird part of her that wanted to test him out. To see how far he would go without her stopping him.
Her pencil dropped and she gasped inadibly at the thought before burying her head in her hands.
'What the hell am I even thinking? This isn't normal is it? But why am I not that upset about it?'
She peered through the gaps of her fingers at the two sketches she had done over the past two hours.
Both were of him naked, one was when she had first brought him home and the second was of today.
Holding them side by side while chewing on the pencil's end, she could clearly see the differences.
"The slouching one and the charming one on this side, the more aggressive and impulsive one on here," she muttered to herself.
She had detailed his abs, his muscles, his structure to the T thanks to her abilities and even traced out his internal structure in the first one.
"Anyone who sees this and not think of me as a weirdo would be surprising indeed," she smirked and threw her head back, letting her neck rest on her chair.
To say she had been fascinated by him from the first time would be an understatement but she was thinking she had a more obsessive side aiding her interest in him.
In his inborn biology. What she had seen him do and the way he fought was not nearly close to anything she had seen another inborn at least in her generation do.
'You had to ruin it all with a kiss, damn you,' she cursed at the ceiling.
It was also the way he had begun to act after that sent a little tingle down her spine. An audible snarl and a prowling gaze.
She had felt like a prey in his eyes at that time and doubted she would leave in a living state if he had acted out.
"Well one thing is for sure, that he's irrevocably changed and that's nothing like the guy I met some weeks ago."
With that thought she turned to her bed and flopped down on it face forward.
Her song paused and she groaned at the caller, "tch what's this now?"
She swiped answer, "hello?"
"Hi, is this Piyali Malhotra?" a professional voice spoke up from the other side which made Piya sit up on her bed.
"Yeah I am. Who's this?"
"Oh good, I'm speaking from the local head office of the 3A. I just wanted to inquire about a friend of yours, named Sanit. You two were friends right?"
Piya gulped and looked around, her nerves getting the better of her, "what's this about?"
The other side sighed with a bit of impatience, "do you know of his whereabouts?"
When Piya stayed silent the person continued, "you do know that his friend is hospitalized and he himself could be a target next right?"
"Ms. Piya?" the voice insisted on a response.
"Yes, yes I heard you," Piya's eyes drifted casually to her drawings of him, reminding her of his presence in a way, "I have no idea where he could be, sorry."
"Well if you do, don't hesitate to call-"
Piya ended the call and threw the phone away as she laid back on her bed.
If he was going to be anyone's curiosity, he would only be hers to dissect and prod. Only hers and no one else's.
She still had to figure out a way to stop him from pouncing on her though, but she figured it'd be less likely she was going to see him again and drifted off to sleep.