"The Elevator to Realms" Act 13: Scars

 Kriti

"YES I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE!", Damn. My sister never tried to help herself with her own stuff. Anyways, it was 11 in the morning. It was sunny with cold winds. A perfect day. 

"I'm coming!" I yelled back and took my phone, and went down the stairs. I unlocked my phone and saw his Snapchat from last night.

The Snapchat was innocent enough. A blurry photo of a coffee mug on his study table, captioned "5 AM, Again. Great."

But it wasn't just the coffee I noticed; it was something else. It was the faint smear of blood, trailing like an accidental brush of paint, on Vaibhav's wrist. Just visible at the frame's edge. I immediately took a screenshot as it was gonna disappear. "Let it be. I don't care at this point if he notices I took an SS". 

I couldn't help and within seconds, I typed out "What's that on your hand? What the hell happened?!"

Avni is still standing in front of me. She seemed confused, but I didn't turn up my gaze from the phone. I waited for his text. I just hope he is awake.

"Di! Have you seen my colour palette?", she asked. 

"No. Wait, please.", I said promptly. She shrugged and went on by finding her stuff by herself. At this point, I wasn't even paying attention to whatever was happening around me. Just me and my phone and that damn snapchat window.

Just as I was about to type another text, his Snapchat avatar popped up in the corner of the screen. Three dots kept appearing and disappearing. I lost my patience and typed out:

"I'm coming over."

"Avni, tell Mom I'll be back in some time. I have some work, I'm going out with my friends."

"Fine. If you help me. Anyways, Bye." She made a face, but that was something I was willing to fix later. 

I grabbed my mother's scooter and rode to his house. The world outside blurred by in a smear of horns and street noises. My heart was racing, faster than I wanted to admit. Not because of what he might say, but because of what I might see. I was afraid. I could feel my hands sweating over the accelerator and the handles of the scooter. 

By the time I rang the doorbell, I wasn't breathing properly. I can't help this. I already care for him a lot. I don't know what this is, but I don't want him to be hurt like this. Even a small thing like this took a toll on me. I needed to know what happened. The thoughts ran all over my mind as I was waiting for someone to answer the door.

"Ding!", another one.

His mom opened the door with Kind eyes and a tired smile. 

"Oh! Kriti, right? Vaibhav's friend?"

Friend. Right. Sure. I thought to myself. 

I recollected myself and nodded, barely able to form words. "Is he...?"

She gestured up the stairs. "In his room... Don't know what's gotten into that boy. He's skipping his meals and says he's very busy doing some work. This generation."

I wanted to tell her everything. That I have started caring for him deeply. He helped me and stood by me when I needed it the most. Everyone just left or didn't want to intervene when he came up, and took a stand for me... when he gave me strength in my weakness. He came up like a light when everything was in darkness. Without him, I can never imagine standing here at his house, worried. I thanked her and went inside as soon as she invited me inside. While I was skipping steps while going up, I could definitely feel water in my eyes. He .. I don't know he's .. I want him to be okay. 

His mom. I could tell she wanted to ask more. Maybe even wanted to stop me. But I was already halfway up the stairs.

His door wasn't locked. I barged in.

"Vaibhav?!"

His voice. Rough, defensive, embarrassed. "Kriti?! What the.. why are you here?.. You.."

"Sit. Down!" I snapped. "Don't you start!"

I must have sounded like a stranger to him in that moment, but I didn't care. 

"God, you're bleeding," she muttered. "Where's your first aid box?"

"Second drawer," he whispered slowly in pain, avoiding my eyes. 

Without any delay, I yanked open the drawer like it had personally insulted me, nearly tipping off the whole set. Flipped it open, and I could feel my hands shaking. I sat on the bed beside him.

"Take your shirt off," I ordered him. Firmly. "No room for arguments now." I knelt beside him.

"What? No .. I.. It's not!"

"Shirt! Off. Now."

It wasn't a request anymore; he knew it. 

He hesitated, but then carefully peeled the fabric over his head, wincing when it brushed his ribs. Dried blood stained parts of it. His skin was littered with angry bruises, cuts, and a few starting to clot.

"Oh god..", I whispered. My heart broke... I was.. completely shocked. Bruises everywhere. Cuts. Scrapes. Like someone had taken sandpaper to his skin. I gasped and covered my mouth in surprise. "Lie back.. now"

He lay back, head against a mess of pillows, eyes fixed on the ceiling. I carefully dipped a cotton in antiseptic and gently pressed it against one of the deeper cuts. He flinched a bit..

"Sorry.. Sorry...", I whispered. He shook his head like it didn’t matter. But it mattered to me. 

“Kriti—”

“No,” I cut him off, voice shaking. “You don’t get to say anything until you explain this.”

Softer this time... My fingers literally trembled slightly, but steadied as I worked. For a while, there was only the sound of cotton brushing his skin, shallow breaths, antiseptic opening, and wrappers crinkling.

Then, I decided to break the silence. 

"Vaibhav... Talk to me. Please?.."

He stayed silent.

"Don't do that shutting-down thing you do. You need to tell me. I came here because I .. I care. And you're sitting here bleeding like it's normal? It's not.. Vaibhav"

His throat tightened. I was close enough to notice him gulp. 

"It's .. complicated," he finally managed. "It's not something you want to hear."

I paused.

"Try me," I said softly. I wanted to laugh. “I already think you’re crazy,” I whispered, brushing a lock of hair off his forehead gently. “But I’m still here.”

Silence pressed around us. I was looking directly into his eyes, but he was trying to avoid my eye contact.

"Look. At. Me.", I ordered as I held his cheeks and made him look into my eyes. Deeply...

"I.. I'm losing my mind," he finally muttered. "Things have been happening, Kriti. Things I don't even know how to explain. And if I tell you... You'll think I've lost it completely."

I heard it all. I leaned over him. "Do I... look like I care about that, huh? You don't have to protect me from whatever this is. You got hurt, and I am your good friend. I can't forget what you did for me.. okay?"

Another pause.

..

..

And then, I smiled. His face.. his eyes were sparkling even with all of the bruises and cuts he had got. Those nearly black with a very faint brown tint were looking directly into my eyes. 

"I'm already in too deep with this friendship, okay? You know this too... Might as well, sign up for the premium package." I teased him. 

A small, helpless laugh escaped Vaibhav's lips before he could stop it. He closed his eyes and winced softly. God. He was tired. I could clearly tell. 

I dabbed gently at his cheekbone, where a bruise was starting to purple. "Shush. No laughing. Stay.. still..."

His lip had a small cut, too. Blood dried on the edge. Carefully, I took a clean cotton pad, wet it, and dabbed the edge of his lip. His jaw tensed beneath my touch. I came even closer and instructed him, "Stay still.." as I wiped and dabbed the cut on his lip.

“Oh Vaibhav, I’m not going to break you,” I murmured. “Don’t look at me like that. Idiot.” I whispered.. I tried to control my already shivering breath...

For a second, I forgot how to breathe properly. The way his eyelashes fluttered slightly, the faint shake in his arms resting beside him, the way his lips parted just slightly when I leaned in to get a better look at that bruise on his cheekbone…

I don’t know how close I leaned in. I don’t know who leaned first. Maybe it was him. Maybe it was me. His eyelashes were trembling like they didn’t know what to do either. His eyes flicked to my lips for just a second.

I should’ve backed away.

But I didn’t...

And then—our lips touched.

It was clumsy. It wasn’t very sweet. It was desperate and awkward and trembling, like we didn’t even know what kissing was supposed to be anymore...

It wasn’t what I imagined.

It was better—and worse—and terrifying.

And then he pulled back, blinking rapidly like he was coming out of water for the first time... I couldn't help myself and my heavy breaths. He was breathing heavily too..

I felt a bit unsure. But, at this point, I was completely sure that he knew my condition.. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I let myself go instantly at his touch... I hitched and... took a sharp breath.

..

I couldn't resist myself. I let out a soft moan. I didn't care what was happening and wanted to let him do whatever he was into.. I leaned in for another kiss. We kissed properly. Deeply.. and this time, it was affectionate and slow.

Soft. Unsure. A slow, searching thing filled more with ache than passion, with my heart already racing wild.

..

But then, the reality of the situation slammed between us like a wall.

Vaibhav pulled back first, blinking rapidly, breath quick.

My cheeks flushed. I didn't pull away entirely. In my mind, I had already surrendered to the moment.

"That.. I uh... That was.."

"That was.. stupid," Vaibhav whispered.

"Yeah...", I echoed. "Very."

Silence...

..

"Shouldn't have happened," Vaibhav added, though he wasn't sure if he meant it. His breathing told otherwise. 

"Yeah."

Another silence. Awkward. Warm. Heavy with meaning, neither of us wanted to admit it.

Finally, I looked down, focusing instead on bandaging his wrist carefully. 

"We.. okay. Okay fine. We don't talk about it, okay?...", I said quietly. Breaking the embarrassing, already hurting silence. My fingers were steady now.

"We don't.. yeah," Vaibhav agreed.

We both stared at the floor, like maybe it could save us, like maybe it could tell us what to do next.

I went back to his wrist. Cleaning. Wrapping. Pretending like I wasn’t bleeding too.

But.. I guess we both knew. We would talk about this...

Eventually.

I stayed a while longer. Long enough to finish nursing the last bruise along his ribs. Long enough for the silence to get unbearably heavy. The kiss still hung in the air between us, like smoke after fire. Neither of us spoke about it. It was safer to focus on the wounds. The gauze. The antiseptic. The little pieces of pain that I could fix.

The bigger ones?
The ones inside?

I didn’t know how.

Vaibhav sat upright slowly, the pillow collapsing behind his back. He wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were on the bandage wrapped around his wrist, like he didn’t recognise his own skin anymore.

“Thanks,” he muttered. His voice was low, cracked at the edges. “For… showing up... I mean..”

“You didn’t ask me to,” I said, trying to force a lightness in my voice that didn’t exist. “But I’m glad I did.”

I stood up, gathering the now half-used first aid supplies and placing them back in the box. My hands shook a little — I told myself it was nothing.

My heart wasn’t convinced.

I reached for the door handle.

“You’re not going to ask about it again?” he asked suddenly, his voice breaking the quiet like a cracked glass.

I turned, surprised.

“The ... bruises?” I asked.

He nodded slowly. “The real story. You didn’t push.”

I sighed. “Because I know you, Vaibhav. You’d lie. You didn't tell me how this happened.”

He winced — like the truth hit harder than anything I could’ve said.

I took a breath, my hand still on the knob. “You don’t have to lie to me forever. Just… not forever, okay?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, his eyes finally met mine — tired, confused, and so full of words he wasn’t ready to say. That stare stayed with me longer than any kiss ever could.

“Get some rest,” I whispered. “And… clean that cut again before sleeping.”

He gave a faint nod. No smile. No thank you. Just that look.

I opened the door to leave — and paused again.

“Oh, and Vaibhav?”

“Yeah?”

I didn’t turn to look. I just said it.

“That ... wasn’t stupid.”

And then I left as I closed the door behind me.

...

...

Vaibhav

The door clicked softly behind her. The silence that followed was thunderous.

I sat there on the edge of my bed, bandaged, broken in too many places. My lips still tingled faintly where hers had met mine.

I should’ve stopped it.

I shouldn’t have let it happen.

But ...God! I didn’t regret it. Why!

I leaned back into the pillows and stared up at the ceiling, my body sore, but my chest aching for a different reason. That kiss... it wasn’t a mistake. But it came from a place neither of us fully understood yet. Kriti had always been the one who saw through the mess I was. But this time, she wasn’t just watching from the outside. She was inside it now. Close. Too close. Maybe.. I saw something in her, too...

I turned to my side, letting out a long, tired breath.

The stone pulsed faintly from inside my drawer. I didn’t need to open it to feel its presence. It was warm. Alive. Watching. And somewhere, deep in my gut, I knew:

Whatever this thing was…
It wasn’t just changing my life.
It was about to pull everyone I cared about into the fire with me.

I closed my eyes.

..

I could still smell her shampoo on the pillow beside me. Her presence in my room made its atmosphere light up. Everything felt lighter and happier. Even when I was hurt...

I didn’t sleep that night.

***