As the movie drew on, Radhika laid her head on the cushion and put her feet up. Yawning, she watched sleepily at the actress on screen professing her undying love for the hero who was yet to discover what true love was.
Radhika let out a loud sigh and then blinked as sleep started to blanket over her. Conceding defeat, she removed her glasses and set it on the coffee table where her laptop still lay on sleep mode. She needed to write and to overcome her block, but the words were still a muddled mess in her head. She closed her eyes and nestled on the cushion, thinking of anything but the recurring nightmare.
She would think of the story...nothing but that.
Her mind woke her up though her eyes remained closed. She was sure she was still dreaming and snuggled further into the sofa. She heard the TV still going on. There was a song playing from the golden era of cinema and she started to feel for the remote without opening her eyes.
Her hands closed around an oblong shaped object and she pressed on a button. The TV went off and she dropped the remote back on the table. The sudden silence around her wasn't as tranquil as she expected. It was heavy and clouding over her. She turned so that she faced the back of her sofa and let out another yawn.
It was probably too late and she should go to bed to complete her sleep, but she felt too lazy to even move a muscle. Inhaling deeply, she began to soothe herself to sleep when she heard a soft footstep on the rug. It was more of a foot dragging sound than a step, but her ears pricked up.
She held her breath and when the sound didn't repeat several seconds later, she pulled the blanket closer around her and tried to go back to sleep.
Her mind thought wearily about the time. Hadn't Pooja promised to call before midnight? What time was it now?
Just then, she heard the muffled sound of a footstep again. This time the sound of feet was unmistakable. She could hear someone walking and then running across the tiled floor.
Radhika opened her eyes and held her breath. Why was it so dark? Had she switched off the lights before going to sleep? She couldn't remember all that.
She looked at the floral patterns on the sofa in the dark and found that she was too scared to turn around. She kept telling herself that it was Pooja, but her younger sister had a preference of wearing heels; even her house slippers had heels on them that made a loud clacking sound whenever she walked on the tiles.
No, there was someone else here...
She clutched the corner of the cushion, waiting until she heard the sounds again. Perhaps it had been just a dream- or a residue of a dream she had been having that she couldn't remember at the moment.
Swallowing, she slowly got up, preparing herself to be confronted by the intruder. That was when she heard a child laughing and her heart stopped cold.
She turned her neck and through the blur of her vision, saw a young boy standing by the doorway. He was dressed in a bright orange shirt and khaki shorts. From what she could make out, the boy had a round plump face with fringes over his forehead.
Radhika clutched at her cushion and slowly got up, deciding whether or not this was still a dream. She squinted, but couldn't make out his features, only that he looked to be about four years old.
The boy was standing near the passage where the light from a lamp still shone and then, he started to laugh again.
The giggles were like the loud shrills of bells. Radhika covered her ears and uttered a cry. Then pulling herself together, she dropped her arms and screamed.
"Get out! How did you get in? Get out of my house!" She lunged forward and this must have scared the boy, for he turned and sped towards the door.
Radhika followed him through the passage and saw him fumbling with the locks of the door. Instead of helping him, Radhika screamed again.
"Get out! Get out now!"
The boy managed to get the door open and ran out as quickly as he could. Radhika came to the door to scream some more, when she saw the empty corridors. She had half a mind to go knocking on every door on this floor until his parents opened. How irresponsible were they for letting their son play out at this hour in the night?
She heard the giggling of the child again and Radhika looked behind her to see the boy standing by the staircase with his hands over his mouth to muffle his gleeful laughter.
"Get out!" she screamed at him.
"Radhika?"
She turned around to see her sister coming toward her. She had her hands on the strap of her purse and regarding her with concern in her wide brown eyes.
"What are you doing here?" Pooja asked.
Radhika looked down at herself and saw that she was standing barefoot on the road. Gasping, she turned around her to see that she was in the car parking lot of the building.
"I...I wasn't here...." she said.
Pooja took her arm with gentleness. "Radhika, are you awake?"
"Wh-what?" Radhika put a hand to her head. "Y-yes, I am."
Pooja nodded slowly. "How many fingers am I holding?"
Radhika looked at the three fingers she was holding up. "Three...But what has that got to do with..."
"Can you read that sign over there?" Pooja asked, turning around and pointing at the sign board near the entrance of the parking lot.
Radhika squinted and could just about make out the bold white letterings on the bright red board."Parking reserved for residents. Pooja what...what is going on?" she asked. Her head still hurt and throbbed dully. Something had happened that had frightened her sister by the hollow expressions on her face.
"Let's go home." Pooja said, taking her arm and leading her inside.
Radhika let her sister take care of her and they rode the elevator in silence. When the elevator chimed at the seventh floor, they got out and Radhika muffled her gasp as she saw the door to their apartment standing wide open.
"I was right here." She said. "I don't remember going downstairs..."
"It's okay." Pooja said kindly. She let her in and then locked the door behind her. "Why don't you go to bed and I'll get you some tea?"
Radhika stared at her sister who looked so calm, when she herself felt so empty and chaotic inside. She closed her hand around her sister's elbow.
"What's going on? Why can't I remember?" she asked. The panic inside her was starting to rise and she felt her heart beating soundly in her chest.
Pooja gave her the tiniest of smiles even as her eyes held only worry. "Radhika, it's okay. Nothing bad is happening. You need to relax."
"How did I come downstairs? I don't remember anything. I saw him...the boy from my dream and I went outside to complain to his parents..." Radhika couldn't breathe anymore as her throat clenched tight.
Pooja instinctively put her arms around her shoulders and led her to the bedroom where she made her sit. Then sitting beside her, she started to stroke her back. "Breathe...it's okay...you're safe...."
Radhika took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "My glasses....I can't...I need to..."
"Shh." Pooja said. "I'll get them. Stay right here."
Pooja left the room and then just as quickly returned with her glasses. "Here you go."
Radhika put them on and blinked. "My head. It feels so heavy."
"I'll go get you some tea." Pooja started to leave, but Radhika took her hand. "No. Tell me what's going on with me."
Pooja let out a breath and then came to sit beside her on the bed. "It's nothing to worry about." she said. "You've been sleepwalking. It's my fault. I shouldn't have left you all alone, but I thought you were fine now. I mean, you haven't done it in a month."
"I've been sleepwalking?" Radhika asked as her skin turned cold. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It wasn't serious." Pooja said. "You've never left the house or walked into the balcony. I've been keeping the balcony locked anyway, but..."
"Why is this happening to me?" Radhika felt tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me? I've been sleepwalking? How could I...what....why?"
/> Pooja started to stroke her back again." Radhika, you're fine. It's not serious. We'll go to the doctor tomorrow and he'll prescribe some medicine and you'll be okay."
"I can't believe you kept this from me!" Radhika said, the tears started to flow. "This is serious. There's something wrong with me and you kept such a big thing from me. I could have done something horrible or jumped off the balcony..."
"I told you I keep the balcony locked and only I have the key." Pooja said.
"You should have told me!" Radhika screamed.
She saw Pooja's face as she tried to control her own tears. "Radhika, it wouldn't have done you any good to tell you. Dr. Mehta said it was a possible reaction after all that you went through."
Radhika felt as if she had been pushed hard. The coldness spread down her neck to her back, leaving behind a trail of prickly sensations. She turned slowly to face her sister who had paled suddenly.
"After what I went through? Dr. Mehta? Who is he?" she asked.
Pooja opened her mouth but no words came. She looked horrified and kept her eyes on the floor.
Radhika stepped closer to her sister, who cowered further into the bed. "What's going on?" she asked. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Radhika..."
"Tell me!" she demanded.
Pooja winced and then pressed her lips together as if wondering if she should just flee from the room. She started to move and Radhika stepped right in front of her to block her escape.
"Tell me what the hell is going on."
"You shouldn't be taking stress." Pooja managed to whimper and then she took a deep breath. "Radhika, you're my sister and I would never hide anything from you. You have to trust me. There is nothing you need to worry about."
"Who is Doctor Mehta?" Radhika asked.
Pooja squirmed and then crossed her legs. "Just a doctor friend."
"And you discussed me with him?"
Pooja looked away again and Radhika noticed her sister clenching her hands together.
"You were sleepwalking and I thought I might as well ask him if everything was okay." Pooja replied quickly.
"You're lying." Radhika said, crossing her arms. Her fear had long disappeared and replaced with anger. "Your eye twitched and you didn't look into my eyes as you said that."
"I'm not..."
"Do you think I don't know you? I've seen you do the same thing over and over whenever you're lying. Just tell me, Pooja!" Radhika could feel her blood boiling in her veins. Her sister knew something about her that she didn't and it vexed her.
"We went to see Dr. Mehta okay!" Pooja blurted and then looked away again.
"We?" Radhika said. "I don't remember..."
"Of course you don't remember!" It was Pooja's turn to get angry. "That was the whole point. You made that decision Radhika, you wanted that!"
Radhika stared at her sister stupidly. She still couldn't understand what was happening and the frustration inside her started to mount.
Pooja stood up and came to her. "You said you didn't want to remember. You got help for that and now you want to know? Do you really Radhika? Because you couldn't handle the reality then and you can't handle it now."
Her sister walked past her and left the room, leaving Radhika feeling cold and alone.