"Not the Beginning"
She didn’t scream.
And somehow, that made it worse.
---
The pen moved slowly across the page.
Her fingers trembled, but the lines stayed steady.
Each word felt like it carved itself out of her skin.
The room was quiet , eerily so. Even the wind outside the window didn’t dare speak.
Sia stared at the paper on the floor for a long time, then folded it gently. Once. Then twice. She didn’t reread it.
She walked to her bookshelf, pulled out a dusty novel, and slid the folded page between the worn pages.
Third shelf. Second book from the left.
No music played. No prayers whispered.
She picked up the chair.
Dragged it to the center of the room.
Tied the rope.
Looped it.
Her breath was steady - almost peaceful.
Like someone had finally stopped chasing her.
She didn’t cry.
She didn’t hesitate.
She just stepped up.
Closed her eyes.
And let go.
---
The chair hit the floor with a hollow thud.
The fan creaked above her. The rope stretched.
And the world lost someone who once believed in fixing broken things.
---
Later - POLICE STATION
The station reeked of sweat, smoke, and judgment.
Riyansh sat hunched in a steel chair, shirt stained with dirt and dried blood. His lip was cut. One eye swollen shut.
But he didn’t ask for water.
Didn’t ask for help.
He just stared at the wall. Quiet. Confused. Broken.
INSPECTOR (coldly):
“You were the last person seen with her.”
Riyansh didn’t respond.
INSPECTOR (sharper):
“You walked her to the gate.She flinched.”
Still, no answer.
INSPECTOR:
“Then she was found hanging.Rope mark on her neck. Bruises on her arms. Blood under her nails.And you say you don’t know anything?”
Silence.
The inspector sighed, stepped back, and nodded.
The constable raised his hand and struck Riyansh across the face.
The sound was sharp.
No reaction.
Another slap. This time, harder.
Still, nothing.
They hit him again. And again.
Until his head dropped, bleeding at the lip.
---
INTERROGATION CELL - MINUTES LATER
A ceiling fan creaked overhead.
Riyansh was chained to the pipe now. Legs stretched out. Face barely visible behind the bruises.
He wasn’t crying.
He just stared - not at the wall, not at the officers, but into some place inside himself.
Then -
Footsteps.
Fast. Furious. Echoing like thunder in a storm.
The door burst open.
Aryan.
Eyes red. Breathing hard. Hands clenched into fists.
ARYAN (yelling):
“WHERE IS HE?!”
The inspector didn't stop him.
He even stepped aside.
Aryan walked into the room like a man possessed.
His eyes locked onto Riyansh.
And in that moment, all the silence in the world collapsed into a scream of grief.
ARYAN:
“YOU TOUCHED HER?!
YOU TOOK HER FROM ME?!”
He grabbed Riyansh by the collar and slammed him against the cold wall.
ARYAN (voice shaking):
“She was light. She was calm. She was the only person who could sit with my silence and not flinch.
AND YOU - YOU BROKE HER.”
He punched him.
Once.
Twice.
A third time.
Blood sprayed across the floor tiles.
Riyansh didn’t fight back.
He just let it happen.
ARYAN:
“SHE DIDN’T EVEN SCREAM!”
He collapsed onto his knees, breath shallow, knuckles bloodied.
The officers watched.
No one stopped it.
No one wanted to.
The room fell into silence again.
But this time, it didn’t feel peaceful.
It felt like punishment.
