It took a few days for Pankhudi to recover from the shock of what happened in the lift. Nothing happened for the next few days. Her tormentor always allowed her a period of a few days to breathe, before he stormed into her life again.

This time he was taking longer. It had been almost 2 weeks since Pankhudi didn’t receive any call from him. She was apprehensive yet she was secretly hoping that something happened to him and that he’d never come back in her life again.

After having lived a peaceful life for an unexpectedly long interval, Pankhudi was becoming nervous again. This was his cruel game. He would always let anticipation build up to such an extent, that the tension itself became a tormenting factor for his prey. Any of his attacks weren’t half as bad as the fear of them. That was a fact.

And soon the expected occurred. He met her again. Pankhudi was returning from her college. Suddenly she felt a strong arm grab her from behind. She struggled to free herself but the man holding her was too strong. There was no one around. Perhaps he followed her all the way to find the right opportunity and right place to grab her.

“Miss me, sugar?” he said whispered in her ears. That made her freeze instantly.

In her last encounter she had only felt his presence in absolute dark. That was when she got an idea about his strength. Today she saw that he was not just strong but also very tall, and from whatever was visible of his hand to her, she could tell that he was fair. She was helpless in his grip.

“Uh-uh” he said before she could speak anything, “If you scream, I’ll slash your throat.” He touched the cold blade of the knife he was holding in his other hand to her cheek. The blade was so cold that it sent a chill down her spine.

Amidst her hopeless struggle, she happened to see a tattoo of a scorpion on his hand. It was dark, yet the black tattoo made a good contrast with his fair skin and was quite conspicuous in the golden yellow street light. It reminded her of the pain she suffered from the scorpion sting that was deliberately inflicted onto her, as a punishment for not taking his calls. Perhaps he could relate himself to a scorpion. He was only tormenting her, causing her pain and anguish, but he never did any real harm to her, yet.

She felt him first kiss and then lick her cheek. She squirmed as she was unable to stop him.

“You are so beautiful, Pankhudi!” he whispered in her ear in a deep sensual voice, “So soft and lovely, true to your name...”

“Please” she begged in a poorly audible voice, “Please let me go, please stop all this. I just want to live my life in peace.”

The man chuckled and said, “You still don’t understand cupcake....this is not about what ‘you’ want.”

The he slipped the knife into her top from above and slowly cut through the fabric. She was wearing a lovely red top and blue jeans, as she preferred wearing casuals for college. As she saw her top being cut she wanted to struggle franticly, but she was afraid the knife would hurt her. His eyes growled in pleasure as he watched the fabric separate showing her cleavage; he cut further down till her bra was visible.

“No! Please stop it!” she begged.

“Shut up!” he raid rudely, as he slipped the knife under her bra strap. Perhaps the knife was too sharp or the strap too weak, but it snapped instantly.

“NO!” she screamed, “Please don’t! How will I go home like this? Please stop!” she begged, now struggling for her dignity.

“The more you speak, the more I'll use my knife.” he warned coldly as he slipped the knife under the other bra strap and cut if off too. Pankhudi began to cry out of helplessness. But she didn’t dare to speak anymore. She stood quietly sobbing in his hold.

He held her for some time. When he saw that she had stopped resisting and protesting, he smiled and said, “Good girl, you’ll learn fast. See you later, sunshine.”

Then he pushed her so violently that she fell to the ground. By the time she could get up, he was gone. She never got to see his face.

She was hurt as her tender skin was peeled off as it rubbed against the road. She looked at her torn top; she found herself in an embarrassing situation. Her bra was clearly visible from the midline slit in her top, and with both the straps gone, it was practically useless. She searched desperately to find some safety pins in her purse, she could find only 2 of them, and she had a long journey back home, that too by public transport. She put her top together with whatever pins she had. She was thankful to the dark that saved her dignity to some extent. But even a casual observer could still see a lot through her pathetic attempt to fix the rent in the fabric.

She somehow reached her apartment. She then closed the door behind her and broke down crying uncontrollably. She had been strong all the way long, now she wanted to vent her anguish.

Nisha was already home. When she saw Pankhudi with half torn clothes, skinned palms and elbows, and eyes full of tears, instant rage filled her mind. Pankhudi had to tell her what happened.

“That bastard did this to you?” Nisha growled, “I’d break every bone in his body if I ever saw him.”

Pankhudi didn’t reply. She didn’t seem to be comforted by Nisha.

“Pankh this is enough! We are going to the police right now!”

“NO!” Pankhudi shouted, “Not the police....we are not going there!”

“Are you out of your mind?” Nisha shouted back, “You are not willing to report because that guy has some of your nude pictures? Does that mean he owns your life? Does that mean he can do whatever he feels like to you and we won’t react?”

“It is not just about the pictures!” Pankhudi said, “I have a serious reason for not going to the police.”

“You’ve said that before....now you better start talking.” Nisha said sternly.

“I can’t tell you Nisha, I really can’t....going to the police will do me more harm than this guy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I deserve everything that he is doing to me.” Pankhudi said in a soft submissive tone as more tears continued to flow out of her eyes.

“What nonsense!” Nisha shouted. Then her expression softened and she said tenderly, “Pankh, you are my friend, you are like a sister to me, and you don’t deserve any of this bullshit!”

“You call me a friend. You care about me, don’t you?” Pankhudi asked softly.

“Of course I do! And that is exactly why I want to help you.” Nisha replied.

Pankhudi bowed her head and slowly went down on her knees before Nisha.

“Then do me a favour,” Pankhudi begged, “Please don’t tell about this to anyone”

Nisha felt so awkward to see Pankhudi kneeling before her. She had always loved and respected her. Nisha kneeled too and hugged her and said softly in her ears, "I just wish that you would trust me."

Pankhudi said nothing. She just got up and went to her room.

Nisha was extremely upset; Pankhudi wasn’t willing to tell her why she didn’t want to go to the police. Nisha was afraid that something serious might happen soon, and she won’t be able to help Pankhudi. She thought for a long time and decided to approach the police herself.

Nisha decided to visit the nearest police station after her college. Some of her lectures were canceled so she was free early. She was in two minds already. She was going against the will of her friend whom she was trying to help. She wasn’t even sure that her decision was right. She was walking through a lonely street lost in her own thoughts, trying to settle the turmoil going on in her head. When suddenly she felt like she was being followed. It was a hot afternoon and there was no one on that street so she became even more uneasy. She heard footsteps of someone behind her. Then she felt a sharp tap on her shoulder. When she turned around a liquid was splashed right onto her face. She could feel the liquid sting her skin, but the pain in her eyes was excruciating. The attack was so sudden; she couldn’t even brace herself for it. She screamed hysterically and could see nothing.

Nisha was screaming in pain when she suddenly felt someone grab her hair. She heard a familiar voice speak spitefully in her ears, “I asked you to stay away, didn’t I? Consider this a demonstration and listen to me carefully bitch, if you don’t learn to keep that hole in your face shut, next time I splash a liquid at you, it will melt every bit of the flesh on your face.”

He left after pushing her to the ground. Nisha was in intense pain for a long time. There was no one around to help her. After a long time, the pain subsided on its own. She reached into her purse to remove the water bottle she carried in it. She splashed water over her face and eyes. She was slowly able to open her eyes. She thanked her stars that her eyesight was intact. She fumbled to find the little mirror she kept in her purse. Her skin was intact too. But her mind was no longer intact. She was severely traumatized by this incident.

She reached her apartment somehow but she couldn’t shake off the fear that had gripped her mind.

When Pankhudi returned in the evening, she told her about this awful incident. She was shocked and speechless to hear that. She felt doubly crushed.

“It was some sort of a strong astringent.” said Nisha sobbing.

Pankhudi listened in horror imagining what would have happened had it been a corrosive.

“I would have never been able to forgive myself had something happened to you today.” said Pankhudi and hugged Nisha tightly, “This is why even I wanted you to stay out of this.”

“I was only trying to help you.” Nisha said.

“At what cost?” Pankhudi shouted, “It could have been an acid! Don’t you understand? This guy is too dangerous. He's giving you a taste. Just a taste. He wants you to know what he's capable of doing to you.