Savyasachi turned her head, stealing another glance at the man sitting beside her. His focus was on the road, arms flexing occasionally to turn the steering wheel or shift the gears. Every time he shifted gears, the muscles in his biceps flexed, showing the veins in his arms. Sachi wondered if she was dreaming. The speed with which her life had changed its course was giving her whiplash. One minute she was arguing with her parents for her admission in Mumbai and the next, her brother was barging in like a hero, ready to rescue the damsel in distress, taking her with him. She had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she hadn’t realised that the car had stopped. The blue Ertiga was parked along the side of the road while her brother was in a heated discussion with someone on the phone. She saw him pace back and forth through the driver’s side window. His hair was matted to his forehead, sweat trickled down his left cheek. His cheeks were red and puffy, veins bulging in his neck, hands moving in the air in a haphazard flurry.

Sooner than she had expected, he cut the call and sat back in his seat. Silence overtook the car once again as they made their way to the highway. Although the two had not spoken a single word to each other since their reunion, Sahil’s heated phone call had been as good as a cooker blast in their otherwise noiseless journey.

Sachi felt a hand shaking her awake. She rubbed her eyes as the world came into clear view. ‘Not an apartment,’ was the first thought that entered her mind. ‘Don’t you dare tell me my brother lives in a hotel!’ she panicked on the inside.

“Come on, we have arrived.” Her brother’s clipped tone greeted her. Something had definitely crawled up his ass and died this morning. Sachi shook herself awake and got down from the car, following her brother inside the luxurious hotel. A set of beautiful sliding glass doors opened before her, greeting her with a blast of cold winds from the air conditioner. A beautiful crystal chandelier hung from the centre of the room, contrasting the warm interiors of the reception.

An obsidian cuboid stood to the left of the room with three men staring into their computer screens in their seats placed behind the reception counter. Sachi stood guarding her bags while her brother quickly returned with two pairs of keys for them. Two keys, they wouldn’t be staying in the same room after all. So much for hoping that her older brother was back. Sachi shook her head and silently followed Sahil into the elevator, their luggage simultaneously arriving in the neighbouring lift.

The elevator opened and Sahil led Sachi into a large suite that could have easily fit four people - two on the king size bed and two on the L-shaped sofas, one of which was pushed against a transparent wall that gave a clear view of the balcony. Her brother was quick to lock the door and draw the curtains, hiding the beautiful sight. Not sure why they were here or what exactly was happening, Sachi was about to ask a question when Sahil cut her off with a quick, “Rest, I will be right back,” and disappeared into the corridor, closing the door behind him.

Remembering her mother’s words of always locking a hotel room door, Sachi turned the lock twice before sitting on the bed with a grumpy huff. She was beyond annoyed and exhausted. The exhaustion had ceased to surprise her anymore. She was always tired, no matter how many hours she slept. Years of imagining the reunion with her brother had held her together. She had thought that his reappearance would magically cure the dark clouds hanging over her head. Unfortunately, nothing had changed. If anything, then that terrible feeling inside her had only grown. Feeling a throbbing headache coming on, Sachi rushed to refresh herself before plopping down on the fluffy bed.

Tired but not sleepy, she twisted and turned on the soft mattress in vain. With a defeated sigh, she got up, hunted down the TV remote and kicked back on the bed. Sachi reached out to a bottle of water kept on the nightstand beside the bed and took a deep swig. Watching an old Hindi serial on the fixed channels on the hotel room television, Sachi did not realise when sleep overtook her and she drifted into a dreamless slumber.

Sachi roused. She felt herself in a limbo - not quite asleep yet not quite awake. She heard the faint sound of metal creaking; someone was swinging on a swing nearby. Her eyelids felt as though being weighed down by rocks. Her head spinned. Groaning through the nausea, she managed to pull her eyes open. The world was a blur of whites, browns and greys. She blinked several times, trying to clear her vision when she realised she had not dreamt the swinging sound. There was something swinging in her vicinity.

Just then, her eyes fell on the fan above her - at least what she thought was the fan. Instead, she was faced with the severed head of a man, his eyes frozen wide in fear, mouth hanging slightly open. The neck had jagged edges with slight red lining the outside. The rope holding the head swayed on the ceiling fan from its weight.

Sachi froze, her mouth open in a silent scream. The world had stopped around her. She could not move her muscles, nor was she able to take her eyes off the atrocity hanging above her. Somehow, she got her hands to move, if only to get her mobile from her side bag that lay sprawled next to her on the bed. As soon as she got a hold of her phone, she was speed dialing the first person that came to her mind.

“Hello?” a deep voice answered. Sachi was tongue tied.

“Hello? Can you hear me? Hello?”

“Dead ceiling fan,” was all she managed to whisper.

“T-th-there is a dead ceiling fan in my room!” she cried.

“What are you talking about, Sachi? How can a ceiling fan be dead?”

“I-it’s dead and hanging and oh God!” she was panicking now. Her breath came in gasps, heart pounding so harshly that she thought it would burst through her sternum. Just then, her eyes fell on the wall. In block red letters were the words :

I’M COMING FOR YOU SACHI!

Savyasachi screamed.

“Hello? Sachi? What happened? What’s wrong?” Sahil’s voice rose.

“Th-They’re going to kill me. They’re going to kill me, dada,” her voice was a whisper. She was scared to death and yet not a tear fell from her eyes. She cursed herself for being so insensitive to the situation even though she was shaking like a leaf caught in a storm.

“Sachi, stay right there. I’m coming. Also, don’t cut the call. Stay with me.” Sahil’s voice was frantic.

“I won’t. Please come quickly, dada.” she requested. the desperation in her voice made Sahil pick up his pace. In no time, the door to her room was thrown open and her brother came in running. He saw the writing on the wall to his left before turning his eyes towards his petrified sister. She sat in the middle of bed; her hair was a mess, terrified like a deer in headlights. Sachi pointed a single finger towards the ceiling. Her brother looked up and took a step back in shock. He held out a hand and Sachi was quick to take it. He pulled her out into the passage and made a quick call to some mysterious genie and within the next ten minutes, she was placed in another room with all her luggage intact.

As soon as he had made sure that his sister was well settled, Sahil disappeared once again. Sachi let out another defeated sigh. So much had happened in the past seven hours. All she wanted was to curl up in her brother’s arms while he patted her to sleep with a beautifully cringy fairytale. Alas, her brother was not there and even the thought of falling back asleep alone in yet another hotel room revolted her like nothing had before. So, she did the only thing she could - watch trashy Hindi serials on the hotel room TV.

Sahil entered the room with two cuboidal boxes in hand, the larger one below the smaller one. Sachi sat up on the bed on seeing her brother. He placed both the boxes in front of her, on the bed and said, "These are for you. Be ready at 7 sharp." Just like that, he disappeared once again. Sachi heaved a disappointed sigh and opened the boxes. The smaller box on top held black, open-toe chunky heels. The shoes slid on like butter. Sachi tried to walk around the room in them. Stumbling at first, she slowly gained composure to move about in the heels. Not only were they her size but they also had cushioning so that her feet would not hurt in the long run.

‘He remembered,’ she thought.

The second box held a pouch filled with cosmetics and a small booklet that guided her on how to use them. Below the pouch was a beautiful black evening gown made of satin. The upper neckline and sleeves were made of black net, making them see through. The three-fourth sleeves of the dress ended in beautiful designs of black flowers. There was a satin strap on the dress that separated the blouse from the skirt. Below the dress was a strapless bra that matched with it.

Looking at the gifts for her, Sachi was awestruck. Suddenly, a thought struck her mind.

‘Is my brother, a made man? No, no. It couldn’t possibly be. Could it?’ The questions swirled through her head. She thought of the books she had read while trying to ‘fit in’ with the girl gang at college. How a made man would kidnap his bride, give her shoes, dresses and make up and parade her around his entire mafia like a trophy wife while in private would whisper dirty words in her ears and take her as he pleased.

Sachi quickly shook her head. ‘He’s your brother Sachi! For goodness’ sake! What were you thinking? He’s too old for you and he’s your biological sibling!’ Blaming the thoughts on her hormones, she took a look at the time. It was 5:30 pm already. If she had to get ready on time, she would have to start now. Her dress and shoes were on in no time. It was her makeup that took forty-five minutes while she pinned to tiny twirls of hair on wither side of her head with her trusty tic-tac clips.

Satisfied with the blush, eyeliner (which she had taken 20 minutes to apply after numerous failed attempts) and lipstick, she dug through her suitcase for her jewellery. Since the dress was a high neck, she forewent the necklace, instead opting for beautiful drop earrings that had a polished black stone dangling at the end, her favourite platinum ring and a bracelet that matched her earrings. Her left wrist held a silver watch with a black dial.

Sachi looked at the time - 6:53 pm. She was ready. At sharp seven the doorbell rang. Sachi checked the keyhole before letting the visitor in. After the afternoon mishap, she was not ready to take any chances. Sahil stepped into the room wearing a black tuxedo, white shirt and a matching black bow-tie. His curly, black hair was slightly tousled even after combing. His face was clean shaven.

Sachi stared at her brother for a good minute before shaking her head and repeating in her mind, ‘He is your brother Sachi. You cannot think how yummy - No! He is not looking yummy, at all! God, Sachi! Get a hold of yourself. He is the same man whom you tie a rakhi to every year. At least you did, tell he left home. He didn’t even once comfort you after he found you with the decapitated head.’ That sobered her up.

Her brother did a once over of her body and held out his arm, “Ready?”

“Yes.”