My birthday is today and thankfully nothing of note happened in the past few days after that incident
But today is my D-day so waking up before anyone I went around the house making sure there was nothing that could hinder my plans, but I think that worry was unnecessary
I checked my parent's phones too, making sure there was no mention of any kind of work trip, I stayed around my parents too, in case they discussed any trips
I plan to switch off their phones and hide them until it's time to sleep, that way they won't learn about the work trip and will have no reason to get on that plane that will be crashing
However, I am feeling a bit restless as time went by, useless thoughts were going through my head, 'what if I failed', 'What if I missed my chance', 'What am I going to do after that'
Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself, and got down on the sofa, with my parents working and papers spread on the table in front
Just sitting there
I emptied my mind, keeping only my wish to save my parents
With the clock ticking in the background, the smell of sweets coming from the kitchen, the sound of my parents talking on their phones, grandma and grandpa laughing in the kitchen
The time seems to slow down
'Today I am going to save my parents' only that thought is lingering in my mind, the night has come
*****
I was walking towards Ashwin's home for his birthday party, he told me not to do anything till after his birthday, his emotionless face at that time is still in my head, the way his dark empty eyes looked at me
Just what is he going to do today
Ding dong
"Coming"
I could hear Ashwin's mother's voice behind the doors, and after a few seconds she opened the doors
"Welcome Aditi, come inside" Keeping the door open she let me in
Entering the house my friends approached me and they all started talking, ignoring them my eyes were searching for Ashwin
There were a lot more people in the room, and it was a bit too crowded for me to find him
"Where is he?" I left my friends and went around the house searching for him
I found him in a corner of a room, he looked tense, looking around, and then he picked up his someone's phones, and suspiciously put them in his pockets
"What is he doing?"
He slowly started walking keeping himself close to the wall and avoiding everyone, he got to the stairs and went up to his room, I followed him
He went into his room, I peeked from the half-opened door, and he switched off the phones and put them in his almirah
"Ashwin" I called out to him, as I entered the room, he flinched and turned around
"Aditi" The moment he looked at me, his face became cold
"Wh-what are you doing" I was afraid to ask him but, he can't do anything with everyone downstairs, it should be fine
Instead of answering he silently walked closer to me looking me straight in the eyes
I stepped back but soon reached the wall behind me
"As-Ashwin" my body is trembling from fear, I shouldn't have followed him, why did I follow him, I started regretting my decision
Slowly without making a step looking straight at me, he grabbed my wrist
"You stupid brat, what do you want now" His voice is cold, his eyes are cold, and the hand grabbing me is cold
Who is he
"You didn't saw anything" He said as he tightened his grip, twisted my wrist
"I….t hurts, Ashwin?" I tried to shake him off but I couldn't even move my hand, I couldn't feel my hand, it turned blue
"As…win" I couldn't get the words out, the pain wouldn't let me speak
"You didn't saw anything," He said again, being unable to do anything I nodded
He released my hand, it was blue, being in front of me, yet I couldn't feel it
I looked at him with his faint smile on his face and arched eyes looking down at me, as I fell to his knees
Tears flowed through my eyes, no I was crying from the start but didn't felt my tears, with the fear numbing my body,
Without saying anything, without looking back, I dragged my shaken self towards the stairs
As I was going down the stairs, I fell, the world spinning in my view, not being able to understand what is going on, I found myself on the floor
My parent's scream echoed in my ears, and the world became blurry but as I looked back up, I saw him walking down the stairs and looking down at me