A year later......

Farhan was waiting impatiently in the queue to place his coffee order at a coffee shop. Just then his gaze caught something, he could just see his side view but he smiles confidently the moment he completely recognized that person, dressed in a pair of black pants and a white lining casual shirt.

"Aoa sir, how are you?" Farhan greeted him as he walked to him.
"Woa, I am fine," he answered while he turned around and patted his shoulder.
"Such a great coincidence it is." He added out of happiness and rejoice he felt meeting his teacher.

"It is. I heard you got married to Maria, congratulations." He continued as he moved his hand back.
"Yes sir, thanks." He replied bowing his head down and his charming smile vanished.
"So how are you two doing? How is she?" Afzaal asked and Farhan moved his head up.
"Sir, she died six months ago." He gulped and answered and Afzaal stood there rigid as a rock.
"WHAT?" Afzaal unconsciously shouted.

"We can discuss this over a cup of coffee?" Farhan proposed and Afzaal stepped forward as he directed him  to the nearby empty table.

Flashback
"Hey, I am back Maria." Farhan announced as he stepped into their one bedroom apartment. It was a beautifully designed one with all equipments and furniture required to lead a comfortable life.

To the left of the entrance was the kitchen with an attached pantry while towards the right was an airy and spacious living room cornered by a balcony with a wooden swing while right in front was the door to their bedroom.

"Hey." Maria jumped cheerfully out of the bedroom dressed in casual lounge wear, and greeted him with a hug.
"You are not dressed yet?" Farhan asked as they broke the hug and he noticed her clothes.

"I know, I kind of got occupied," she beated around the Bush.
"I promise I need just ten minutes." She assured him and rushed back into the room before he could even say a word. He chucked " yeah fine...."

She shut the door as she entered the bedroom. She hurriedly ran towards the maple wood wardrobe and randomly picked out a grey shirt but then she swaped it with a blue one until she finally decided to wear the red one.

She changed into that casual red and black shirt with a chiffon black trousers and started mingling with her hair entangled with the beads on her shirt. She then glanced at her in the mirror realizing she has only seven minutes to get ready.

"I guess I left my phone in the car, I'll go get it okay." She just heard Farhan say this followed by the sound of opening and then closing of the main door.
"Yeah okay." She replied hoping that he managed to hear her.

Maria POV
Phew. Lets start now. I grabbed the hairbrush and started working on my hair while looking for the matching gloss with my other hand. What the hell is this, where did I put it? It was right in the drawer yesterday. I was looking for the gloss in the drawer when I accidentally misplaced the sparking vase off the table and it broke into  pieces right on the carpet. Oops.

I stopped using the brush and kneeled down to pick up the visible glass pieces when I heard something. I immediately turned around but saw no one except her in the mirror.  I saw RIA!

Damn it's been months I haven't met her but why is she back today. I was shocked at this, I kept staring at her or at my own reflection in the mirror.

RIA
"Come on do it. You can do it. I know only you can. It makes you feel better when you do this. You need this Maria, you deserve this. You have gone through alot and now it's paytime for you. Trust me, I care for you and I know what's good for you.
You need to let go of that frustration buried inside you, you need to let go of all those feelings imprisoned inside you."
RIA

Maria POV
No I can't do this, please I don't want to.
I don't need any of this now.
I am fine, go away Ria.
This is enough for me......noooo
Ahhhhhh..............
this is it for me, this headache is unbearable, the shivers through my body are killing me, the pain though my soul is shattering my will power....I can't take this anymore!

I bowed down to the broken glass pieces.
Just then I heard him
"I am back, hurry up you have only three more minutes."
The pain intensified as each moment went by, I picked up one of the glass pieces which I considered sharp enough to easily slice through the skin.

I took it forward to my temple, now it was just beside my right eye and in a moment I pushed it inside my skin and streams of blood oozed out, such that the blood splashed onto the spotless mirror making Ria look murky, while she smiled devilsihly. I slid the glass down my face rolling it over my cheek, piercing my way through.

"Guess what? I took a day off so that we can watch that movie which were really looking forward to watch. Huh?" Farhan talked to her right through the door.

I could hear each and every word of him but couldn't have the control over my hands. I slid it down to my lips, blood flowed into the mouth staining my teeth and tongue while also down my chin and to my neck until the necklace around my neck was wet with my blood.

I pushed the glass into my neck just above my collar bone, blood drained out of my palm and my neck. I felt weak and lifeless now and fell onto the floor.
"You listening to me?" Farhan called out again assuming me to be busy dressing up.
"I guess you are too busy to hear me." He replied to himself.

I felt the energy draining out of my body as I fell down on the floor with my body aching. I still had the glass piece in my hand which I clutched hard enough to penetrate into me. I was lying on the grey carpet.

I could still see our belongings from down here, his perfume, his badges, his ties dangling out of the dresser, part of his soul which was still bound to me and worst of all I could still hear his voice.

I saw her looking at me in through the mirror, she smiled and laughed.
I could see my vision turning black, I still remember me as a child crying heavily when I saw them filing for divorce. I remember myself fighting with my mind when ever I realized how alone I was.

I can recall the first time I met Ria, she came to rescue when I was going through my nth panic attack, she came and hugged me, she gave me a shoulder to cry, she was a knight in an shining armour for me, a friend in need.
She fought for me let it be my parents or my doctor, she stood rigid for me. I met Farhan because of her, the only person in my life who actually cared for me.

I owe alot to her! I guess it's time to say good bye!
***
She smiled in pain and closed her eyes tightly. Her palms fell back on the floor, looseing the hold on the glass which fell a little ahead of her. She took deep shallow breaths for another minute and then she struggled for the following breath. Finally she took her last breath, departing from the clutches of the evil world, she embraced Ria.

"We do have the Netflix subscription do we? He asked through the door, it was the last thing from him that swirled through my ears before she died.

***
"It's been fifteen minutes since she went inside and she is not even bothering to reply to me." He said to himself as he sat on the arm of the sofa. Suddenly he jumped off the sofa when he saw blood crawling out of the bedroom from under the door. What the hell, he cursed.

"Maria open the door." He shouted as he slammed the door but it won't open. He kicked the door and even punched it calling out to Maria in between.
"Maria, you okay? Talk to me, damn." He shouted again and rushed towards the book shelf.

He pulled out the drawer and placed it roughly on the floor while looking for the spare keys. He panicked as he saw the flowing blood increasing. Finally he found a bunch of keys, he ran to the door and started trying the keys, crying like a maniac.

"Maria." He called out again.
He did managed to unlock the door and found her lying in the pool of blood in front of the door.

He moved forward and immediately checked her pulse, not once but thrice in hope of finding her alive.

"Maria ...MARIA... MARIA..." he jerked her several times. Though deep in his mind, he knew she was dead but in hope that he might be wrong this time he held her in his arms and left for the hospital.

Flashback over.

***
"This is it sir." Farhan gulped as he finished narrating the worst memory of his life. He noticed a tear drop on Afzaal's cheek which he wiped before it could flow.
"I am really sorry." Afzaal tried to calm him down who already had tears flowing down his cheek.
"Yes sir, I miss her so much. I loved her." Farhan wiped his eyes childishly and took a deep breath. Suddenly he glanced his watch and turned to Afzaal.

"I am really sorry sir but I need to leave. It's past my break time." He started to organize himself, distracting himself.
"Yes sure. I understand. It was nice meeting you Farhan. I'll pray for you." He consoled him as if he were a child to him and not student. He presented him his hand and Farhan placed it into a strong handshake with a heavy smile on his face buried under his disturbing past.

***
It was about fifteen minutes since Farhan left but Afzaal sat there stagnantly, just staring at his cold coffee  mug.

Flashback
Today was one good auspicious day for Afzaal as today he was supposed to join his honorable duty again as a psychiatrist.

He was very happy. He and Sana woke up together and had breakfast, later Afzaal had gone to change as he had to leave in an hour while Sana was supposed to be by his side to wish him good luck.

He was busy putting on his favourite black shirt that Sana had got for him on their wedding anniversary, when she stepped inside the room.

He could see her eyeing him from the corner but she dared not to step towards him. She looked scared like a kitten which made Afzaal suspicious.
"What happened?" He asked as he turned towards her and she still didn't looked at him but at the floor.

He left buttoning his shirt in between and walked to her until there were few inches apart. She looked at him with swollen red eyes.  Before he could ask anything she forwarded an envelope towards him.

He casually ripped it open, there were few documents in there. He once again looked at her to which she signalled him to read through them. He started reading, as he read the first paragraph he cursed "WTH."

"Just read." Sana pounded and he moved on. As he reached the end of the documents his eyes were already wet and red.

"I tried Afzaal, but I couldn't. I am sorry. I can't do this anymore." She told him and started to sobbing.

Afzaal turned few steps away from her.
"Do you really want this?" He straightforwardly asked her very effectively controlling his sobs.

"Yes." She answered clearly and he took a deep breath. He walked upto his bedside table, fetched a pen and signed those documents.
He handed her those with a big strong smile on his face but big tear drops all over his face.

She took hold of the documents and was about to leave but stopped.
"I have kept all of your stuff in your cupboard, the documents are in the drawer. You can call me whenever you can't find anything. Take care." She said and those words wounded him straight into his heart.

"Okay. " he replied and she left the room shutting the door.
Flashback over

***
Those papers were the divorce papers. Despite of the fact that Sana had promised to stay by his side and she believed in him, she demanded a divorce.

According to her it was getting difficult for her to lead her life with a person accused of such a heinous crime. In reality she had lost all her trust in him. She tried hard but failed to bear that burden so she decided to leave.

Afzaal loved her truly such that he didn't even argued with on that and agreed to her. He let her go because he loved her. One of the happiest day of his life actually turned into the most brutal day of his life.

He did managed to get back his career but lost his love. He got back his dignity but lost his marriage. He got back his passion but lost his companion.The conclusion could be that
RIA HIT HIM HARD INDEED!

****
So the story's over, phew !
Who is she? A girl, innocent as a lamb or a girl cunning like a fox.
She is afraid of blood yet she loves to play with every drop of it. Her phobia of darkness hasn't alleviated much yet she loves to spend her days in it.

Her soul was hurt long ago but still she enjoys snatching other people's soul.
What if you were trapped inside an elegant piece of flesh and blood stocked up with a soul that has been dead for years?
When you don't have the aptness to cry when you really want or you can't laugh when you feel so.

All you can do is wander around your own darknes, twirl around your misery such that it might also depart with the meloncholy in the air.

How hard could it be to befriend someone with a dead soul?
But one person had the stamina and courage to do so, it was her, it was Ria. She took a stand for her when no one did and vowed to untangle her from the woven threads of her past while others were busy knitting more sufferings for her.
No doubt that she was trapped inside a body to a dead soul but she figured out a remedy to cure her sickness. She evolved a therapy which allowed her to smile. It enabled her to breath. It made her alive again as she was murdered by her own blood choking down her throat.

Maria was a victim, some wrong decisions of her family members made her life a living hell when her lethal personality 'RIA' stepped into the game. She used Maria to keep her alive by fulfilling her demands that would give her power and dominancy.

Few people stepped up to fix her broken pieces but RIA wouldn't let them, like she attacked Sana multiple times to distract Afzaal,
She stole the prescription  pads from his office, forged his signatures and assigned herself those risky medicines, thanks to Farhan's notes and his knowledge which provided her with the details to such medicines with their adequate dosages and adverse effects

Few  before filing the complaint against Dr Afzaal, she started consuming those medicines right below the lethal dose, regularly to precipitate the symptoms and specific blood levels of the drugs in her blood to present it as another solid evidence against Dr Afzaal.

Lastly she even tried to manipulate Afzaal and Sana's relationship by informing Sana about her allegation on him. Throughout the case filing, Maria had been mailing all case reports and documents to Sana via an unrecognized name,  And finally she did succeeded in that. As Maria loved Farhan, she couldn't hurt him  but she did hurt Maria which eventually led to Maria's death.

The question is
Who was the victim?
Who was the survivor?
Who was the devil?
Who was the angel?
One answer, a part of her was a victim while the other part survived.
One part of her played the angel while the other was cursed like a devil.
The sad reality is that sometimes the bad wins, killing the good. Just like that.......

THE END

_____________________
Hey readers
   I hope you are doing well and liked the story. This is the last chapter to my third story. Thankyou for you support and love. Stay safe.
                        Taura5