Kashmakash

This is a gothic fantasy horror romance fiction, featuring entirely fictional characters and events.

The old town sleeps beneath a sky that never seems completely peaceful.

Ancient mansions stand behind iron gates, their weathered walls covered with climbing vines. Tall trees bend whenever the wind rises, their branches scratching against old windows like restless fingers. At night, mist gathers around the gardens, while the moon hangs above the rooftops with an eerie silver glow.

People of the town believe that certain nights belong to something beyond the ordinary.

The full moon nights are especially feared.

They say that when the moon reaches its brightest point, certain souls are drawn towards one another, regardless of distance, promises or circumstances.

Bela never believes such stories.

She has Mahir.

Mahir Sehgal is the man she loves, and their relationship is warm, sincere and full of dreams about their future. Ajitabh Singh is simply her friend, the man whom she trusts and respects. Their friendship has always been comfortable, innocent and uncomplicated.

Until single particular full moon midnight.

A violent storm descends upon the town.

Heavy showers lash against the roads while lightning repeatedly illuminates the dark sky. Thunderstorms roar over the old houses, and strong winds send rainwater cascading through the streets.

Bela gets caught outside in the downpour.

By the time she reaches Ajitabh’s house, she is completely drenched.

Ajitabh allows her stay until the storm settles. He places her wet clothes inside the dryer machine and changes out of his own soaked shirt, leaving himself in a simple undershirt before giving Bela a dry shirt to wear.

The atmosphere suddenly becomes strangely quiet around them.

The thunder continues outside, but inside the room there is only the faint sound of rain striking the windows.

Bela steps out wearing Ajitabh’s shirt.

Ajitabh looks towards Bela.

Their eyes meet. Their minds drift towards them.

Something unfamiliar passes between them.

Neither of them understands why an ordinary moment suddenly feels different which is entirely unpredictable.

The full moon shines through the window, illuminating the room with pale silver light. The storm outside seems to isolate the house from the rest of the world.

Bela and Ajitabh remain lock.

Their friendship begins slipping into something neither had intended. Their attraction grows with every passing moment, drawing them closer despite their attempts to maintain distance.

A hesitant touch becomes an embrace.

The embrace lasts longer than it should.

Their faces come close, their breathing becoming unsteady as the strange pull of the night intensifies.

They kisses eachother's lips with intensities. She pulls him and clutches his hair. He squeezes her waist. Their hands get locked in eachother's grips. She looks at him with her lusts. He looks at him with his desires.

But yet Ajitabh stops it before they cross the final boundary.

Ajitabh looks at Bela and realizes that whatever he feels, he cannot allow one mysterious night to destroy her future or her dignity.

The moment passes.

The storm gradually weakens.

Near dawn, Ajitabh drives Bela back to her house.

She steps out of his car wearing the shirt he gave her in his house. Before leaving, she looks back at him with an expression filled with confusion, embarrassment and an emotion neither of them is ready to name.

Ajitabh watches until she disappears inside.

They decide to treat the night as something that should never happen again.

But the night does not agree.

The next full moon arrives.

Bela finds herself standing before Ajitabh once again.

There is no plan.

No invitation.

No explanation.

The same inexplicable pull brings them together.

They attempt to resist it.

They remind themselves of Mahir, of their friendship and of the boundaries they promised themselves they would never cross.

Still, every full moon night repeats the pattern.

Sometimes Bela reaches Ajitabh’s house.

Sometimes Ajitabh finds himself outside Bela’s home.

Sometimes they meet in an empty street beneath the full moon.

Each encounter carries the same strange attraction.

They become increasingly careful with one another. Ajitabh continues respecting Bela’s boundaries, and Bela understands that he never attempts to take advantage of the strange connection between them.

That respect makes the attraction even more difficult to understand.

Then Bela marries Mahir.

She begins a new life with the man she loves.

Mahir knows nothing about the strange phenomenon connecting Bela and Ajitabh. He does not know that his wife spends the full moon midnights with her male friend.

Bela tries to convince herself that marriage will finally break whatever force keeps drawing her towards Ajitabh.

But the first full moon after her wedding proves otherwise.

The night arrives.

The moon becomes impossibly bright which is entirely unavoidable.

The wind moves through the trees.

And somewhere beyond the walls of Bela’s new home, Ajitabh stands beneath the same moon.

Neither of them wants this.

Neither of them seeks it.

Yet somehow they meet again.

Their encounters remain restrained, filled with longing and emotional tension rather than crossing the boundary Ajitabh once established.

Bela returns to Mahir each morning carrying the weight of a secret she cannot explain.

Ajitabh returns to his own life carrying the same confusion.

Neither betrays Mahir.

Neither deliberately seeks to destroy the marriage.

But the full moon keeps bringing them together.

One midnight becomes several.

Several become countless midnights.

And every time they promise themselves that the next full moon will be different.

Yet the old town knows something they do not.

The full moon is not merely illuminating their lives.

It is awakening something ancient.

Something that began long before Bela met Mahir or Ajitabh.

Something that recognizes the two of them whenever the moon reaches its brightest point.

And with every passing month, their resistance becomes harder.

Because sooner or later, even the strongest promise begins to weaken when the same mysterious force insists bringing two people together.

And now the greatest question remains.

How long will Bela and Ajitabh be able to resist the pull of every full moon midnight ??

Will they continue defeating the mysterious force that brings them together every month on full moon midnight, or will one night finally break their resolve ??

What awaits them when the next full moon rises ??

Is this strange attraction a curse carried over from a previous birth, binding their souls once again ??

Or is it something newly awakened in this lifetime, born with them and waiting for the right moment to reveal itself ??

The answers remain buried beneath the moonlight, somewhere between their forgotten past and their present lives.

What will happen on the next full moon midnight ??

To be continued in the later episode.