Spandan was rifling through the last few pages of an article on Recent Medical Advances when the grandfather clock in the hall chimed twelve and Anika entered his study, a chocolate cake topped with a solitary gold candle in her hand. “Happy Birthday idiot” she said with her heart-stopping smile. Lately, everything about her seemed different to Spandan. The way she talked, laughed, how her eyes scrunched up and how she bit her lip while concentrating.
“What now? Why are you looking at me all weirdly Spandex?”
“Uh no, nothing. Is that a cake? And what are you doing here?”
“No, it’s a soft toy shaped like a cake. And I promised to give you a nice surprise. So here I am. I always keep my promises.” Anika retorted, her voice laced with thick sarcasm. “Truthfully, I’m seriously considering dumping this cake on your head. Perhaps that will shove some sense into your thick skull?”
“Wh-what did I do now?” mumbled Spandan.
“Why weren’t you picking up your phone? I’ve been calling you since eleven! Thank God I had a spare key.”
“You’ve been calling? But I didn- wait a sec” Spandan snatched up his phone from the table and saw 39 missed calls from “Don’t call her”. “Oh, sorry, it was in Silent mode” he murmured, ashamed, while quickly deleting the call log.
“Yes, I pretty much figured out that for myself in the end. Now cut the cake” she said, handing him the knife. Their fingers connected and he felt that a jolt of electricity passed through his spine.
“How is it?” She asked, her eyes wide with child-like eagerness.
“Mmm, it’s good. Far better than Gourmet Bakery.”
Her cheeks flushed by this unexpected praise. Damn, she’s beautiful, he thought with a pang.
Outside, the sky shook suddenly and thunder roared. Then it started raining.
“Dang. Now how will I go home?” Anika looked pained.
“I do have a spare room, you know? And it’s tidy. You can hole up there for the night, if you want.” He offered.
“Hmm, I guess I’ll take up your offer. I’m borrowing a shirt and a pair of camo pants of yours.” She got up and headed towards his bedroom.
Spandan turned his attention to shutting down his laptop, every nerve in his body tingling with adrenaline. She’s here, in his house, and he’ll be having her to himself till the morning.
“Okay, I’m going to sleep now. You better go too. You’ve got a seminar tomorrow nah?”
“Yep” he nodded.
“Goodnight then.”
“Yeah, goodnight.”
He started cleaning up his desk and his gaze fell on the knife. It was slender, with an ornately curved handle. Too ornate to be used as a kitchen knife in fact. Mesmerised by the light dancing on its blade, he felt that the blade was beckoning his deepest desires. The cold steel needed to feel warm blood. His veins sang with bloodlust. He needed to feel the pulse of a vein. He needed to see blood gushing out of an artery.
As if hypnotised, he grabbed the hilt of the knife harder, and walked noiselessly towards the guest room, where Anika was sleeping. Anika slept in an awkward angle, with her left jugular exposed. He crept towards her bed, knife at the ready. He knelt down to her level and was about to make the cut when her eyes opened. With surprising agility, she sat up, grabbed both of his wrists with one hand, and slapped him hard across his face.
“Spandan! Come back to your senses! What are you doing?” she shouted.
He looked, horrified, at the knife in his hand and dropped it. “I-I don’t know what came upon me. I didn’t mean to do this. No. No. Just No. I don’t want to be a monster.” He broke down at her feet.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Go to sleep. I’m here.”
Settling him in the bed, Anika walked off to the balcony. She fished out her phone from her pocket and dialled Rohan from the hospital drug store. “Thanks, Lunesta is working.”
“Hey, I’d told you, it can cause hallucinations like no other. Now, about my money...”
“You’ll be getting the same amount you received primarily.”
“You’re generous wow. When do I get it?”
“Bloomdale Park, in fifteen minutes?”
“Sure things.” He hung up.
Anika picked out a vial of aconite from her bag and mixed it with a can of beer. One down, one more to go.
She had promised her sister in her deathbed that she’ll find out whoever is behind the acid attack and burn their lives down, like they did to her sister.
She always kept her promises.