Abhishek was pursuing a B-Tech degree while working part-time in the IT industry when he came across Divya’s profile on Twitter (now X). She was funny, kind, and always online. It was June 2017, and summer was at its peak. One day, Divya posted a photo of herself having cold coffee. This was the first time he saw how she looked in real life, and it was love at first sight. He immediately commented, “How cute!” Little did he know that this was only the beginning of something that would change his life forever. Abhishek was an introvert, and it was unlike him to communicate on Twitter. He was excited and waited almost a week for her reply. She was regularly commenting on other people’s replies but not his. Then, it happened. She replied with a “Thanks.” Abhishek was very excited. For some reason, he felt attracted to Divya—a girl he had never met, a girl he had never seen in person. He once thought it could be a catfish account but continued to kind of stalk her.
“Aha! Finally, I got a reply from you,” Abhishek commented on her “thanks” on X. Almost immediately, he received a DM (direct message) from Divya and a “Follow Back” notification. “I am so sorry. I saw your message the day you replied, but I was stuck in some personal issues, so I missed it,” her message shocked Abhishek as he was not expecting her to message privately. Now, he was overthinking again to the point that he was sure Divya was a catfish account, but he decided to continue.
#StorySutra Story 1: "When Reality Blurs: A Tale of Love and Shadows"
— Anurag (@LekhakAnurag) August 11, 2024
Abhishek was pursuing a B-Tech degree while working part-time in the IT industry when he came across Divya's profile on Twitter (now X). She was funny, kind, and always online. It was June 2017, and summer was… pic.twitter.com/zdpYYdCPUy
“It’s alright. I wasn’t even expecting a reply. But it’s for sure that you are beautiful and cute!” he replied. “Now you’re pulling my leg!” Divya sent another message with a laughing emoji. “Anyway, I’m not very active here. Are you on Instagram?” she asked. “I am,” Abhishek replied hesitantly, “but I don’t use it too frequently.”
“Chalega. Here… follow me there, and I’ll follow you back.” Abhishek read the message and, for some reason, opened Instagram, which he hadn’t used for months, and followed her. Since it was a private account, he had to wait a while for Divya to accept it. Within a few minutes, she accepted his request. Abhishek couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Divya was beautiful. A gorgeous Indian girl with dusky skin and close-up photographs that lit up her brown eyes like nothing else.
Until then, Abhishek wasn’t aware of where she was from. To his surprise, Divya was from his city, Chandigarh. They started chatting in Instagram DMs. Sharing posts, videos, and memes became their daily routine. One day, Abhishek gathered the courage to ask for Divya’s number.
“Divya, can I have your number? We can continue our chat on WhatsApp.” Abhishek was a shy man. He didn’t want to lose Divya as he hardly had any friends. But things were not going to be ruined for him. He waited anxiously for her reply. The nail-biting wait ended in just three minutes, but it felt like three years. “Of course! Here it is,” Divya replied with the number. Abhishek was excited. He immediately added her number and messaged “hi” on WhatsApp.
“Aaiye, aapka, intzaar tha… der lagi aane mein tumko…,” a voice note came from Divya with her singing the song. Abhishek was not expecting such a reply at all. He felt something good brewing between them. The whole day, they spent time chatting with each other and sending posts on Instagram as usual. “I thought we were shifting the chat to WA,” Abhishek asked with a laughing smiley on Instagram. “What happens on Instagram, stays on Instagram. What happens on WhatsApp, stays on WhatsApp,” said Divya. It had been two months since they started talking on WhatsApp. Abhishek was unable to believe he was possibly on his way to getting into a relationship with an amazing girl. “I need to calm down and hold my thoughts. It is too early. We haven’t even met yet!” Abhishek thought, and without thinking again, he sent a message to Divya. “Hey, I was wondering… if it’s okay…,” Abhishek sent a message to Divya. “Can we meet on the 25th?” came a reply from Divya.
“Hey!!! That’s my next dialogue. This is cheating!!!!” said Abhishek. “Oh come on! You asked, I asked. It’s the same. So… the 25th? Christmas pe rum cake khayenge!” Divya replied. “Hahaha! Sure! Why not? Do you know any good place where we can sit in peace?” Abhishek was a ‘dhaba’ guy. He never tried to explore places where he could take a girl on a date. “Yeah, but don’t you want to choose the first meeting place?” asked Divya. “No, I’m kind of bad at choosing places to meet,” Abhishek sent the message hesitantly. “But your choice of girls is really nice, I must say!” Abhishek blushed reading the message from Divya. “Okay, I’ll choose and send you the location. It’s a date. The 25th. 5 days from now! I’m so excited!” Divya sent a lot of GIFs expressing her happiness. Abhishek was on cloud nine.
The day came. Divya and Abhishek met for the first time. “You are more beautiful than in your pictures,” Abhishek tried to compliment. “What do you mean?” Divya showed fake anger. “I look hideous in my photos?!?!?!?” she said. “No! No! It’s not…” Abhishek’s face went white in a second. Divya laughed, “Arre buddhu! I’m just joking. I know I’m not that photogenic. Everyone says so. Chilax. Khana order karein?” Abhishek was relieved. They were sitting in Olive Café & Bar in Sector 26. It was way too elite for Abhishek, and he was a bit uncomfortable.
“I’m not sure if I know what to order,” he whispered to Divya. “Arre koi na. I’ll do it,” she took charge. They laughed, enjoyed the food, talked a lot, and shared a few kisses, which Abhishek was definitely not expecting to happen. Their dates became more frequent—from once a month to twice a week in just three months.
Fast forward to August 2018, “Abhishek, I want to move in,” Divya said while eating gol-gappe in Sector 34. “Wait! What?” Abhishek almost choked on water. “Yeah, I want to move in with you. Do you have any problem with that?” Divya asked while making a puppy face. “No! Not at all. Let’s finish here and talk about it. I can’t believe my ears,” Abhishek said with a lump in his throat out of excitement and happiness.
In September 2018, they moved in together. Abhishek’s B-Tech was completed by then, and Divya was already working as a consultant in a finance firm. They got a flat on rent in Mohali, a satellite city of Chandigarh, as their workplaces were close to the society. Everything was smooth and light-hearted between them. They had a few fights, but that was normal for couples. Abhishek never thought much about it.
In February 2019, Divya suddenly told Abhishek that she wanted to go to her hometown for a couple of weeks. It had been around one year since she had seen her parents. Abhishek was okay with it. This was the time when things turned upside down for Abhishek. It had been so long since he lived alone, and he was no longer used to the feeling. Within two days, he started missing Divya a lot.
“I wish you could come back sooner,” he told Divya on the phone. “Arre, I am always with you. Why do you think you are alone?” She replied with a kinky voice. “Yeah right… I’m missing hugging you, touching you…” before he could complete, “fucking you,” said Divya. “This is not what I meant!” Abhishek got agitated by the way she asserted. “Okay okay meri jaan…” She was very open and often intentionally made him uncomfortable. “Make love to you. Is it fine?” Divya asked. “No. I just want to hug you. Nothing else,” he said softly. “Awww… chal phone rakh. Bahut ho gaya. I have work to do,” they disconnected the call, but Abhishek couldn’t stop thinking about her.
That night, when Abhishek came back from the office, he immediately called Divya and started rambling random stuff. It was clear he was missing her a lot. “I’m really missing you,” he said. “I’m right there; you just have to believe,” she replied in a soft voice. And then, something unexpected happened. Abhishek saw her reflection in the mirror right in front of him. He almost jumped off the bed and looked at the side from where the reflection was coming. There was no one. “Am I going insane?” he thought. “What happened?” she asked with a worried tone. “Nothing. Nothing. I’ll eat dinner and sleep. Come back soon, okay?” he said. “Yeah, okay. I love you,” she said, and Abhishek just replied with “Me too” and disconnected the call.
For the next six days, until Divya came back, he saw the same reflection or felt that someone was there in the house multiple times. Things were not right for him. Two days from the first time he saw the reflection, he noticed there were extra utensils in the sink. The next day, he was sure he didn’t put clothes in the washing machine, but they were there. “I’m definitely going insane. Am I having blackouts? What the hell is going on?!?!” he thought.
Abhishek lost 5 kg in just six days. He was scared and depressed at the same time. He was unable to figure out what was happening. He installed cameras in every corner of the house but found nothing.
On the sixth day, he was sure he heard Divya in the next room, but when he went there nothing. “I’m back!” Divya exclaimed as she entered the house. “Abhishek? Kidhar hai…,” Before she could finish the sentence, Abhishek came running and hugged her. She was shocked to see him in the state he was in. There were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn’t slept for a week. “What happened to you?” she asked almost in a shouting voice. “Nothing. You’re back. That’s all. I’ll be fine. Chai?” Abhishek went to the kitchen without giving any explanation, and there she was—the reflection of Divya in different clothes on the door of the fridge. “NO! NO! NO! NO!” he shouted.
Divya almost ran to the kitchen. “Abhi? Kya hua yaar? Kya hua?!” she asked as he hugged her tightly. “I don’t know. I’m seeing a scary reflection everywhere like some ghost. I’m not getting what is happening. I don’t even believe in ghosts. She looks exactly like you, D. She looks exactly like you…” Divya was confused. “What are you saying?” she asked. “Come. Sit.” She took him to the living room. “Tell me what’s happening,” the moment she asked, Abhishek broke down. He told her everything—how he started seeing a reflection of her everywhere, how things were in different places: utensils, clothes, food eaten, everything.
“Abhi, you need to see a doctor,” she insisted. “Do you think it’s all in my mind?” he asked her with dismay. “Let’s talk to a doctor. Fir dekhte hai,” Divya pulled out her phone and called one of her friends. “Shruti, yaar, woh tere uncle psychologist hain na? Number degi, please? Haan… Thank you. Message kar de.” As soon as she got the number, Divya booked an appointment, and the next day they went to see Dr Rajvir.
Divya told him everything. Abhishek was still in a state of shock. “There is nothing to worry about. Can you please leave me alone with him?” the doctor asked Divya to leave. The session went on for another 30 minutes. “The doctor is calling you in,” the receptionist asked Divya. “See, let’s have two more sessions—one the day after tomorrow and the next one on Monday. I have given him some meditation techniques. He should feel better,” the doctor told Divya. “Thank you so much,” Divya said, and they left.
For the next few days, Abhishek went for sessions and did meditation, but it didn’t help him. He was seeing the reflection more often, and it was eating him from inside. “Divya, this is Dr Gupta’s card. He’s one of the best psychiatrists in the city. I think you should see him. His health is deteriorating very quickly. It’s not limited to just a psychological issue anymore,” the doctor told her to see a psychiatrist immediately.
Divya took him to Dr Gupta without an appointment. While waiting for their turn, Abhishek had another episode and claimed that the reflection was right there at the clinic. It was getting worse. “The doctor is calling you,” the receptionist told Divya. It was not their turn, but it appeared the doctor understood the urgency.
After listening to Abhishek and Divya, he recommended a few antipsychotic medicines and asked them to return after a week. As soon as Abhishek started the medication, the reflection vanished. They thought it was just an emotional breakdown leading to some weird side effects. “Are you feeling better?” Dr Gupta asked Abhishek. “Yes, and also feeling stupid,” he said. “It’s okay. It happens. Do one thing: continue the medication for another three weeks and then meet me,” the doctor said, giving them a date for a follow-up.
Two weeks went perfectly fine. Meanwhile, Abhishek transferred most of his assets to Divya and asked if she wanted to marry. She immediately said yes. On the first day of the third week, they went to Arya Samaj Mandir and got married in the presence of a couple of friends. On the night of the marriage, Abhishek suddenly had another episode.
He came to the bed where Divya was sitting. As soon as he put his hand on her shoulder, she lifted her face, and it was all covered in black ink. She was smiling as if she was possessed. Abhishek shouted and ran out of the room, where he saw Divya standing in shock, holding a plate of Maggi. “What happened?” she asked him.
“Woh andar… tum udhar… tum idhar kaise?” As Abhishek bombarded her with questions, she understood he was having another episode. She tried to calm him down and took him to the room. There was no one on the bed. They had some Maggi and slept. The next day, they went to see the doctor again. “What happened? You were supposed to come next week,” the doctor asked. Divya told him everything. “Let me change the medication. He should feel better,” the doctor said, giving them another prescription, and they went home.
Abhishek was feeling fine. After a couple of hours, he noticed something. Divya was talking to someone in the bedroom. He went there and saw that she was talking to her reflection in the mirror. He was shocked. Everything started making sense. Divya was not Divya but something else. He shouted, “What is going on?” Divya turned back. She had a phone in her hand. She tried to calm him down, but he wasn’t listening. He ran to the kitchen and picked up a knife. He ran towards her to kill the demon he was seeing. Divya ran to save herself. They got into a fight, and Abhishek slapped her multiple times. Divya picked up a pair of scissors from the dressing table and stabbed him multiple times.
Abhishek was dead. In just one month, Divya’s life was ruined. She immediately called the police. Thankfully, there were CCTV cameras in the house that gave the police reason to believe it was not her fault. She was sitting on the sofa, covered in Abhishek’s blood, broken and crying. “Divya, Divya,” she heard a female voice. A girl ran towards her and hugged her tightly. Police officers were shocked. The girl who came in looked exactly like her. She was Aastha, Divya’s twin sister.
As Aastha took Divya to another room, they looked at each other and smiled. Then the flashback played in their minds. It was Aastha the whole time who was at their house while Divya was in her hometown. It was Divya’s idea that Abhishek would transfer everything to her as they might need money because of his illness. On the day of the marriage, it was Aastha who sat on the bed with black ink on her face. “You’re quite the actress!” Divya laughed and said to her. “Shut up. We mustn’t laugh for a few days. Are you sure he had no relatives?” Aastha asked. “None. He was alone, and now he’s gone. The police will take care of him themselves,” Divya whispered with a grin on her face.
“So, is the next target ready?” she asked Aastha. “Yes, in Patna. We’ve started chatting. Let’s go there this weekend. I’ve already rented a house. From today, you’re Rashi, and I’m Tina…” They left the house as the police prepared Abhishek’s body to be shifted to the hospital for a post-mortem.
© Lekhak Anurag. Any unauthorised reproduction, personal or commercial, without permission is prohibited. For reproduction or commercial use of the story, please ping me on mailme[at]lekhakanurag.com.
Disclaimer: All the stories under #StorySutra are works of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author does not intend to malign any individual, group, or organisation.
