Together Forever   

 

 

 Together Forever   

He pushed her. Naina crashed against the dressing-table, before toppling down onto the floor. The bottles of cosmetics sprucely lined on the dresser, shattered on the floor, the glass piercing her at places.     

He tottered up to her and, with calculated malice, placed his boot on her hand, crushing it against the shards. She winced aloud in pain.     

Hunkering down, he snarled viciously, “You can’t get rid of me, woman! You like that, Mehra, don’t you? Don’t look so surprised, darling wife.” He lifted her chin and sneered, “You’re stuck with me! Until death …do us part!”     

He cackled maniacally; the phrase seemed to amuse him greatly. He ambled towards the door, rattling savagely in his brash, arrogant voice, “With me! Until death!”     

Naina clambered up. The glass pieces had buried themselves into her flesh; tiny beads of blood had pooled around them, making them glimmer. It reminded her of the crimson lehenga studded with Swarovski crystals she had worn for her wedding.      

How it had sent her heart aflutter when Subodh had whispered, in her ear, that day,” You’re mine! Mine till death do us part.”     

She clamped her eyes shut. In a matter of three years, Subodh had transformed from a doting husband into a jealous hound. He would spin yarns around her whenever she’d attend social gatherings. More often than not, it culminated in egregious episodes like this.     

****     

She loaded a fork and was about to take a bite when Subodh snatched her plate and flung it on the floor. One by one, all the glassware landed down, smashing into smithereens.     

She looked up; he was seething with anger. He grabbed her hair and jerked her head back, the muscle on her neck strained through her skin, bracing to wring free. He blustered, “That’s your level, eh… security guards now, huh! You sl**!”     

He released her suddenly and snickered,” You are mine! Till death…”   

…do us part, she finished the oft-repeated line in her head.      

She had virtually caged herself inside to avoid his anger. The security staff had been strictly instructed to deal only with Subodh. The complication had arisen because a new guard had approached her for some inane stuff.     

****     

Subodh stepped inside. He threw a glance at her; she looked ravishing. Her face was beaming.    

“I’ll always be with you, like it or not,” she rambled. 

He hastened after her, his anger mounting. She needed to be roughed up again.    

She stopped suddenly, her smile devious, her eyes glowing like cinders. He lunged forward, angling towards her throat when he stumbled over something and fell forward.     

A scream died in his throat when he spotted the cause.  

It was Naina’s lifeless body, lying in a thick pool of blood that was trickling down her wrists. 

He felt a cold hand slither around his neck, and then he was hurled against the wall. “Together forever!” Naina’s words vibrated in the air as her malevolent laughter echoed through the house.  

 

 

-copyright reserved

I wrote this story for a prompt-based contest by the Asian Literary society. The prompt was to weave a story around ‘Until Death Do Us Part.’ This story was chosen as one of the winners. You can see the certificate here-

https://supriyasbanter.com/outstanding-performance-short-story-contest-until-death-do-us-part/

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