Story
The Oculesics
Beneath The Emblem
There is a kind of silence that comes just before thunder-heavy, suffocating. That was the silence in Sahastra Tripathi's heart. He had walked away from privilege and power-for love. For Sparshika. But she wasn't Sparshika. She was Urvi. And everything he had abandoned was now burning behind him. "What happened, Urvi? Did you forget your name or think I was a fool?" "I... I was going to tell you-" Two strides. He grabbed her hair. CRACK! Her head slammed into the kitchen counter. Plates shattered. She cried out, collapsing, blood gushing from her forehead. "Sahastra ji!" she whimpered. He yanked her back up. SLAP! Her cheek snapped sideways. She fell again, lip split open. "Please don't hit me..." He pressed his shoe on her cheek, grinding it into the marble. "You lied to me. Your name, your past-everything was a lie." "No... I love you!" He crouched, grabbed her face. His eyes burned. "My father was on the brink of death... because of you." She blinked, stunned. "What?" "Still pretending?" SLAP! She hit the floor again. "I really don't know..." He didn't let her finish. He lifted her, threw her over his shoulder, stormed into the bedroom and threw her onto the bed. His belt came off. He tied her wrists to the bedposts-tight, ruthless. He crouched again, jaw clenched. "Because of you, my father is in this condition." "You gave away his location, didn't you?" "But too bad... he survived." "But now he can't walk. And neither will you." He grabbed her foot-twisted. CRACK! She screamed. He smiled darkly. "Don't stop screaming. Your pain soothes me." He grabbed her other foot. Twisted-slow, calculated. Stopped just before the break. "I could break it... but not yet." "I'll break you. And your legs. Slowly." He stood, breath ragged. Eyes hollow. "Just like my father can't walk... you never will." He turned, slammed the door. Urvi lay tied, broken, bleeding. She could no longer tell what hurt more-her body, or her heart.
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