She didn’t say anything to Nisha. She just put the phone aside. She was firm on her decision.

A few days went by. They were all uneventful, except that she continued to get calls from a private number. She just did not answer them. She was beginning to feel strong now. Nisha was happy that Pankhudi was slowly recovering from whatever was tormenting her.

Her stalker kept calling her without getting a response from her for a few days. And then he suddenly became silent. Normally one would take it as a positive sign, but Pankhudi’s sixth sense was telling her otherwise. If he is not calling, perhaps is busy planning a more ominous move. She ironically became more apprehensive because of his inactivity.

Pankhudi was being more alert than usual because she was anticipating a sudden move from her stalker. Sometimes she would freak out seeing her own shadow or reflection in the mirror. And then one day she managed to catch a glimpse of something that could have been him. She was having dinner with Nisha when she saw a silhouette at her window. She screamed seeing it.

“Nisha! He is right there....he is watching us!” she said screaming.

Nisha immediately left the dining table and ran towards the window. But there was no one.

She went to Pankhudi, put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Relax dear, no one is here!”

“But I saw something I am sure!” said Pankhudi still trembling.

“Pankh, it is over now. Just relax!” said Nisha comforting her, “He even stopped calling you. He’ll never come back now.”

“I don’t know Nisha,” Pankhudi said, “I am feeling scared.”

“Just relax sweetie,” Nisha said, “Have dinner and go to sleep. Everything is going to be ok. I’ve been invited to a party tomorrow. Maybe you should come along. You need some fresh air.”

Pankhudi believed Nisha for a while. She tried to convince herself that perhaps Nisha was right. She tried to believe that her life was going to be ok again. Nisha took Pankhudi along to the party. They had a great time there...it was so much relief for Pankhudi after having gone through such stressful times. She was enjoying the few happy moments of her life.

After the party, the girls returned home. Pankhudi reached into her purse to find the key of their apartment. She withdrew her hand with a scream as she felt intense pain. She noticed a sting mark on her hand. She was in tremendous pain, she was feeling dizzy and for a moment thought she was going to faint.

Nisha quickly opened the door with her key and took her in. She made Pankhudi sit down and switched on the lights and looked carefully in her purse to find out where that sting came from. She found a live scorpion in it. She screamed seeing it.

The phone rang. Pankhudi answered it.

“Did you like my little gift, sunshine?” the voice over the phone said.

Pankhudi panicked as she recognized the voice. She shouted on the phone, “Stop it for God sake! Oh....What do you want....why are you doing this to me?”

“You stopped taking my calls sugar, so I had to give you a wakeup call. This was just to remind you. It’s not over.” the voice said coldly.

Pankhudi was already in so much pain. She started crying. Nisha understood it was him. She violently snatched the phone from her hand and said to him, “Look you son of a bitch, leave Pankh alone! What the fuck do you think you are doing?”

“Stay out of this if you love your life.” he said in a voice clear and cold.

“You think this bullshit is going to scare me? You are a loser and coward, and I am pretty sure you don’t have the balls to show your face in broad daylight.”

“That you shall find out soon.” he said in a threatening tone and hung up. Nisha too put the phone aside.

She then picked up that scorpion with a pair of tongs, took it to the balcony and crushed it. She then went to comfort Pankhudi. She took her to a local doctor who gave some medicines to reduce her pain.

Pankhudi had to rest the next day. She had developed fever due to the scorpion sting. The wound was still very painful. Every time she felt the pain, it made her think of him. It made her realize how much of an intricate watch he kept over her.

Nisha too was disturbed because of the recent events. But unlike Pankhudi, Nisha was from a well off family. She was in Mumbai only to pursue her education. She had good financial and social support from her family. She never had to face any hardships in life like Pankhudi. Besides she had learned martial arts in school. She was capable of defending herself; that made her a more confident woman. She really cared for Pankhudi, she understood her, and really wanted to help her. But she still couldn’t get why Pankhudi chose to suffer rather than asking for help.

Nisha was however unaware that her interference had angered this mysterious stalker and now he had become a real threat to her as well. One morning as usual she went to college. But there was something unusual waiting for her in her locker. She found an envelope with her name written in bold on it. She opened the envelope and read the note that was place inside it.

It read –

You think you are one hell of a fighter, don’t you? Don’t play with fire. Stay out of business you don’t understand. If you don't, I'll redefine your understanding of the word 'regret'.

With an expression of disgust on her face she tore the note away. In the evening she told Pankhudi about it.

“If he wants you to stay away....please stay away Nisha”, Pankhudi said.

“I am not a coward” Nisha argued, “to desert a friend when she is facing a problem.”

“It is more complicated than you know Nisha, I am grateful for your support...but please don’t get yourself too deep into this” Pankhudi said.

“What do you mean by more complicated?” Nisha asked angrily, “What are you not telling me?”

“I am sorry, I can't tell you.” Pankhudi begged with tearful eyes, “Please stay away Nisha and please don’t tell anyone....please...”

When Pankhudi began to cry, Nisha didn’t ask her much. She hugged her and said, “How can I help you if you keep me in the dark? Still I respect your wish. But if you ever want to tell me something, you know I would listen, right?”

Pankhudi nodded.

After that day there wasn’t much conversation between the two. Pankhudi kept to herself most of the time. She struggled with her fear all by herself.

The morbid fear took its toll on every aspect of her life. She was performing poorly at her workplace, she failed in her exams. It was like her world was falling apart.

On one apparently normal day, Pankhudi was seated at the reception table. She received a call from her boss, who summoned her to his cabin on the top floor.

She had to take the elevator. She was a claustrophobic; she was never very fond of elevators. But she had no choice here, coz she couldn’t climb all the stairs up to the top floor. She controlled her anxiety somehow and entered the elevator. It stopped at many floors and more and more people kept stepping in. She had to move towards the rear end of the elevator. And then suddenly there was a power cut. The lift stopped and it was all dark.

Pankhudi panicked already. She was afraid of closed spaces and now she was in a dark closed space. Even after a few minutes the elevator wouldn’t move. Now people began to lose patience and there was chaos. The dark elevator had become so noisy already as everyone got so impatient. And to her horror, she felt a strong male hand wrap around her face and another hand push her against the wall of the elevator. The man pinned her against the wall, and his other hand pressed hard against her mouth and nose preventing her from screaming or even breathing. She struggled in his grip but her attempts were too feeble. And since there was so much commotion in the lift already, no one could sense her struggle.

“Easy....easy, cupcake.” He whispered in her ear.

She freaked out even more when she recognised the voice. She had only heard his voice till now. Now he was actually there in person. Her worst fear had come true. It was too dark, she couldn’t see anything, but she did get a good idea about his strength. He started moving his hand over her body getting a good feel of her curves. She was wearing a lovely salwar suit. He roughly pulled her dupatta away. She could do nothing but whimper in his grip as he moved his hand to her front and squeezed her boobs hard. He got a blissful feeling of warmth as he continued squeezing her soft mounds. Then he moved his hand lower, between her legs. She brought then closer instantly to deny him access.

“Open up.” he ordered as he sharply pinched her ass as a punishment for rebellion.

Pankhudi was struggling for breath. It was like he held her life in his hands. She obeyed, and he rewarded her by shifting his grip away from her nostrils enough to allow her to breathe. He stroked her thighs with his other hand and then felt her pussy through her salwar. He continued rubbing hard for some time. Then he moved his hand to her firm ass and groped it roughly. She whimpered as she felt him try to insinuate his fingers in her ass crack. He continued feeling her body over and over again. And then he suddenly let go of her.

Pankhudi was too flustered to even react. She couldn’t tell who among all the people in the lift the person who just molested her was. She just stood there in the corner, stunned from the unexpected attack.

The power was restored in some time. There were so many men in the elevator; she looked at all of them in horror. Any one of them could be her stalker, but she was in no position to point out to anyone. She hurriedly picked up her dupatta lying on the floor and covered herself. It took a long time for her to recover from this shock. Her fear reached a new level when she realized that she was not safe even in her office.