He felt something warm within him... an emotion that did not belong to his heart.. He hated it. It wasn't needed at all. He did not deserve to feel human. But, out of nowhere, the voice within him was rising. After being gagged for years, it was questioning his motives. "Why?" was the question, but the answer was lost.
He walked slowly towards a magnificently carved shelf and picked up a small shield. I had a name inscribed on it.
'Lionel Adams'
That little thing had opened the doors to his long lost past. The past where he had a loving mother, a caring father and a lovely twin sister. Old faces started appearing again.. rising like lifeless ghosts...
Prissy, she was pretty, he remembered. Exactly like me, black eyes, pointed nose, elegant even when she was just eight. She did not live any further., died when they were eight. In the accident, after their annual day, the same day when the shield was won..
Anger swelled up in Leo's heart. He banged the shield with all his might on the glass table. The beautiful piece of furniture from some talented craftsmen shattered into pieces. The was somehow pleasing to his ears. Destruction soothed him.
Mother lost her brains after Prissy died. She thought she killed her own daughter. Couldn't even drive properly. Father worked too much to forget his dead daughter and forgot the ones who lived, his wife and son.... He snatched a photograph from the wall.. It had all the four Adams smiling. He threw it away and it hit the floor, another shattering noise cut across the dead silence.
Leo's thoughts moved further. He was sent to a residential school. That was month's after his sister died and he was happy after a long time. Glad, that he would no longer face his mother's outbursts and his father's absence.
A warm breeze entered the room from an open window but it seemed to freeze before it could reach the cold heart that was counting the number of nails, nailed by time in the the coffin of his dreams and happiness. The warmth outside never entered "The Rosalynd Mansion". It too hated the owner like half the world did.
Inside, Leo's thoughts inched further. After being sent to the boarding Leo turned into a recluse. A "dead man walking", who would not talk, but grunt, who would not smile but snarl, and study like a maniac. Always the topmost in his class. That was his obsession, for the world. But for him, he needed at least some reason to live. He finished school, with no friends. Then came the news of his mother's suicide. He didn't even cry, rather laughed. She was now free. Free of her guilt, her painful life.
Then came college and along came Edwina. A beautiful classmate of his. Leo fell in love with her instantly and his life changed. Her smile made him want to smile. The smell of her hair was a drug and Leo was the addict. He would sit behind her during the lectures and inhale as much of her as he could. During the nights he would dream. Edwina, his wife, he would scribble "Edwina Adams" in various pages of his diary. Look at it and his heart would swell with happiness. He would read it again and again, his dreams moved ahead, leaps and bounds.
Mine forever.........Edwina would change my life forever........
Leo topped his class. Edwina came to congratulate him. She shook his hands, and he knew she was his........
Graduation was over and Edwina was getting married...........
But he was not the groom....
How could that be??
She was marrying some freak called TED.
Some completely undeserving guy. How could he have let that happen??
She was his, Leo's Edwina....
He ran and stopped not till the destination was reached.
Panting out of breath, sweating profusely, he arrived at Edwina's place.
She was dressed up as a bride... As beautiful as beauty herself would be...
Leo held her wrist. Her face was astonished.
"What are you doing Lionel?? Leave me!!!"
She was screaming. But why?? Leo did not understand.
"Leave me you jerk!!! Stop pulling me!!"
"Edwina please don't scream love. Come along. We'll get married."
He pulled her out of the room. Edwina pushed him and let herself free.
"Have you completely lost it Lionel??"
"I love you Edwina, and i'll keep you happy."
She pulled him into her room and bolted the door from inside.
"Keep your voice low, will you? I am getting married today. The house is full of guests. I do not want my wedding spoilt. And everyone at college knew I loved Ted.."
"Please Edwina", he pleaded, "you are my life. That jerk Ted, he doesn't deserve you. I do."
"Shut up!! Just keep out of it, It's my life I'm the one who's got to decide!!!!"
Her face showed unmistaken signs of anger.
Leo was impatient.
"You will decide to marry me."
He pulled her close to him. His grip was strong this time. Her eyes widened with fear.
"W..W..Why... Why are you doing this?"
She stammered.
"Because I Love You"
His voice had malice. His voice had decisiveness.
"But I don't!! I love Ted and he loves me too. I'll marry him. You never existed for me. You never mattered!!!"
This was too much for him to bear. He released her wrist. She started backing up slowly.
"I don't exist!!"
He let out a fierce snarl,
"I-DO-NOT-EXIST?"
He emphasized on each word. The malice was gleaming in his eyes.
He pulled down the curtain.
Picked up the rod.
And before Edwina could unbolt the door, she was hit on the head.
Once.. She was screaming in pain..
Twice.. She cried and begged....
Thrice... Blood was oozing, the voices stopped...
He hit again.. and again.. and again..... till the silence gripped the surroundings... and he stood amidst a pool of blood. Edwina was barely recognizable. She would never belong to anyone else......
