BETWEEN LIFE AND ASHES
1407 Words
The mist that clung to Mistwood Hills thickened until it wrapped around Alina like a cold shroud. She stood frozen in the silence beneath the towering trees, still clutching the glowing ring in her hand—a ring that had once belonged to Arjun Rathore, the man she now remembered… the man who had died loving her.
The silver glow pulsed against her skin like a heartbeat—steady, warm, patient.
And then—
A shift in the air.
The fog parted as though something walked through it.
Her breath hitched.
There he was.
Arjun emerged from the whiteness, his form more defined than before, his presence stronger, as if her memories had pulled him closer into this realm. Only she could see him, and yet he dominated the space with an energy so intense she felt it in her bones.
His face—sharp jaw, storm-gray eyes, tousled black hair—looked heartbreakingly alive. His expression was carved from longing and sorrow and an invisible tether pulled taught between them.
His gaze dropped to the ring in her trembling palm.
“You remember,” he said softly.
His voice… it didn’t sound like a ghost’s voice.
It sounded like a man’s.
Warm, deep, steady—like he could still hold her if only fate had been kinder.
The wind rustled through the trees, but Alina couldn’t move.
Her throat tightened.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I… remember everything.”
Arjun drifted closer, the fog curling around him as though bowing to its king.
“Then you know why I came to you,” he murmured, his voice raw.
“You know… what he did.”
Tears welled in her eyes—confusion, pain, shock, memories blending like ink in water.
“Arjun… I—”
Her voice broke.
“I wanted to help you. To perform your Antim Sanskar. To free you. To—”
“NO.”
The word cracked like thunder.
The leaves trembled.
The wind whipped around them.
Arjun stepped towards her—close enough that had he been alive, his breath would have warmed her cheek.
“No, Alina,” he whispered, calmer now, but firm. “You cannot… not now.”
She blinked through tears.
“But if I don’t perform it, you’ll remain stuck—trapped—”
“If you free me now,” he said, “I will vanish from this world. Forever.”
Her entire body went rigid.
The world tilted.
Her stomach twisted painfully.
Vanished.
Gone.
Nothing left.
“Arjun…” her voice trembled. “I don’t want to lose you again.”
He looked at her with a softness that made her knees weaken.
“You won’t,” he promised.
“But I can’t stay if my ashes are purified. I can’t remain here if you release me. Not yet. Because—”
His voice darkened, the mist rippling with his anger.
“—Riaan is still alive.”
Her breath caught.
“And if I leave,” he continued, “you will be alone with him.”
Alina’s fingers tightened around the ring.
“But he… he loves me.”
The words felt strange on her tongue.
Arjun’s jaw clenched. “He loves nothing but possession.”
He stepped closer, his voice a low growl.
“He didn’t marry you for love, Alina. He married you because he loved you in your past life. And he was willing to kill me—”
His voice cracked.
“—and kill YOU—to make sure he wasn’t deprived of you.”
The wind dropped suddenly, the silence too loud.
Alina swallowed hard. “Then what do I do, Arjun?”
He looked at her like she was both the ruin and salvation of his existence.
“You go back to him,” he said.
“You pretend to be the perfect wife. Sweet. Loving. Devoted.”
His eyes burned.
“You blind him with love until he forgets to hide the monster he is.”
Her heart hammered. “And while I fool him—?”
“I will be with you,” Arjun said, stepping even closer, his chest nearly brushing hers though he couldn’t touch.
“Every moment.
Every step.
Every breath.”
A tremor ran through her.
His presence—so close, so intense—made her feel seen in a way she hadn’t felt in years.
“Only you can see me,” he whispered.
“Only you can hear me.
To the world, I am nothing.
To you… I am everything left.”
Her lips parted.
Tears fell.
“Arjun…”
He lifted his hand—a reflex—and froze, fingers hovering inches above her cheek, knowing he could not touch.
The frustration in his eyes, the longing, the helpless ache twisted her heart painfully.
“I wish I could touch you,” he whispered.
“Just once.”
His voice cracked.
“To hold you.
To comfort you.
To prove that I am real.”
“You are real,” she whispered fiercely.
“I feel you everywhere—your presence, your emotions, your pain—I feel you, Arjun.”
His throat bobbed.
Wind brushed her hair though he hadn’t moved.
“And you feel me because your soul still remembers mine,” he murmured.
“Even death wasn’t strong enough to break that.”
Alina closed her eyes, letting the weight of that truth settle inside her.
When she opened them, determination replaced fear.
“Then I won’t leave you,” she said.
“Not until you are free with justice, not silence.”
A flicker of pride crossed Arjun’s face.
“You’ve become stronger,” he said softly.
“Stronger than you were in that lifetime.”
She took a breath.
Then another.
Her decision crystallized.
“I will go back to him,” she said, voice steady.
“I’ll act the perfect wife.
Sweet.
Obedient.
Devoted.”
Arjun’s eyes narrowed.
The possessiveness cracked through him like lightning.
“I don’t like it,” he said quietly, a dangerous edge in his tone.
“But it must be done.”
He drifted back slightly, giving her space to breathe.
“I’ll watch him,” he said.
“Watch you.”
His voice dropped to a low, intimate whisper.
“I will guard your sleep.
Your shadow.
Your dreams.”
A shiver ran down her spine.
“And when you gather the proof,” he continued, “and when the truth stands tall—then you can perform the Antim Sanskar.”
His voice grew soft.
“And free me.”
Her chest constricted painfully.
“And after that?” she whispered.
“What happens to you?”
Arjun looked away for the first time, jaw tight.
“I… don’t know,” he admitted.
“No ghost knows what lies after Mukti.
But I would rather vanish in peace than remain cursed in hatred.”
Her eyes glistened.
She stepped toward him, inch by inch, trying to feel connected despite the barrier of death.
“Then I promise you,” she whispered, “I will set you free. When the time is right.”
Arjun’s eyes softened into something devastatingly tender.
“I believe you, Alina.”
The ring in her hand pulsed again—larger, brighter, warmer—wrapping them in a sphere of silver light.
The wind rose.
The trees groaned.
The hills hummed with ancient secrets.
Alina inhaled deeply, feeling his presence wrapping around her like a cloak, a shield, a silent vow.
And then she turned.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Toward the path that led down the hill—towards Riaan, toward danger, toward lies.
Arjun extended his hand, though he could not touch her.
“Go,” he whispered, “but do not fear.”
She paused.
“I’m not afraid,” she said.
“Not anymore.”
He smiled—a ghost’s smile, fragile yet full.
“And I,” he murmured,
“will follow you… everywhere.”
As she walked down the mist-laced path, she felt him behind her—not footsteps, not breath, but a presence, a shadow, a silent guardian whose love had survived death itself.
Arjun Rathore—her past, her protector, her haunting.
And so began the most dangerous act of her life:
Pretending to love the man who had once murdered her…
while being secretly guarded by the man who died for her.
- Writer
