ONE NIGHT BRIDE — PART 2
"The Red Bride Returns"
---
**1
The Night That Wouldn't Leave**
Days passed.
Weeks passed.
But that night…
that moonlit moment…
that red-clad bride…
never left Aarav.
He didn't tell anyone.
Not friends.
Not family.
Who would believe him?
Aarav stopped going out.
Stopped meeting people.
His bike gathered dust.
His world felt empty—
because one night of love had ruined a lifetime of loneliness.
Every evening he would sit at the same window of his home,
thinking about her soft laugh,
her cold touch,
her red bridal veil brushing his face.
He tried to convince himself:
"She was a dream.
Just a lonely mind's imagination."
But then…
he would open his fist
and see the dried mehendi stain she left on his hand.
Proof.
She was real.
A soul.
A moment.
A love beyond life.
---
**2
A Strange Pull**
One night, around 11:30 PM…
exactly the same time he had met her…
Aarav felt something.
A chill.
A whisper.
A pull.
Like someone gently calling his name.
He stood up abruptly.
Looked around.
Nothing.
But the wind smelled of the same wet earth…
the same scent from that night.
Without thinking,
Aarav grabbed his jacket
and rode back toward Hill Crown Heritage Stay.
His heart thumping.
His breath shallow.
His mind whispering—
"Will she be there…?"
---
**3
The Resort Again**
The resort was silent.
Fog floating over the tiles.
The old lamp flickering at the same spot.
Aarav walked inside.
"Siya…"
His voice echoed through empty walls.
"Siya, if you're here… please—"
And then…
a soft clinking sound.
Bangles.
Glass bangles.
Siya used to wear them.
Aarav turned.
There… by the old staircase…
a faint outline of a girl in red.
"Siya?" he whispered.
The outline didn't move.
"Siya… is that you?"
He took a step forward.
The outline shivered—
as if disturbed—
and suddenly vanished into the dark corridor.
Aarav ran after it.
"Siya! Siya, wait!"
The corridor was empty.
But on the floor,
lying alone,
was a single red bangle.
Her bangle.
He picked it up with shaking fingers.
"She was here…"
---
**4
A Voice From the Past**
Aarav wasn't alone in the corridor.
Behind him, the old watchman stood.
"You saw her again, didn't you?" he said quietly.
Aarav slowly nodded.
The watchman sighed.
"Her story… is not what you think."
Aarav stared at him.
"That night she died…
she wasn't alone on that hill."
Aarav's heart dropped.
"What do you mean?"
The old man hesitated,
as if afraid of speaking the truth.
"People said she slipped.
But that's not true."
Aarav's breath froze.
"Then what happened?"
"She was pushed."
Aarav felt cold.
By whom?
The watchman whispered—
"Her groom."
---
**5
Siya's Death — The True Story**
The watchman continued:
"Her groom was a violent, obsessed man.
Siya didn't love him.
She loved someone else.
Her family forced her into the marriage."
Aarav felt anger building.
"On the wedding night,
her groom followed her to the cliff.
He was drunk.
He fought with her lover.
In rage…
he pushed Siya."
Aarav clenched his fists.
"So she died because of him?"
The old man nodded.
"Since that night…
her soul has been restless.
She returns only one night each year—
the night she died."
Aarav whispered,
barely breathing—
"And she came to me…
because… why?"
The watchman looked at him.
"Because your heart is like hers—
broken.
Searching.
Alone."
Aarav looked down at the red bangle in his hand.
"Will she come back again?"
The old man didn't answer.
---
**6
The Red Bride Returns**
Aarav went back to the hall.
He stood where she first stood.
"Siya…
If you can hear me…
I'm here.
I'm not afraid."
A cold breeze brushed past him—
the same familiar cold that came from her touch.
His heartbeat quickened.
The lamp flame flickered violently.
And then…
From behind him…
a whisper.
"Aarav…"
His eyes widened.
He turned slowly.
There she was—
Siya.
In her red bridal lehenga.
Wet hair.
Eyes soft… yet sorrowful.
Her glow faint…
like moonlight through fog.
"Aarav…" she whispered again.
He stepped forward.
"Siya… you came back."
She nodded slowly.
"I had to."
Her voice trembled.
"I wasn't supposed to return this year…
but you called me…
your heart did."
Aarav felt tears burn his eyes.
"I thought I'd never see you again."
Siya moved closer.
"You shouldn't have come here again, Aarav."
"Why?"
"Because souls are not meant to love the living."
Aarav whispered—
"But I can't forget you."
Siya looked away.
"You must.
For your own life."
Her hand gently touched his cheek.
Cold.
Soft.
Not human.
Aarav closed his eyes, drowning in her presence.
"Siya… stay. Even if just for this moment."
Siya smiled sadly.
"A moment is all I can give."
---
**7
A Forbidden Love**
Aarav held her hands.
"Why me, Siya?"
"Because…
you were the first person
to hold me without fear.
To talk to me like I was alive.
To love me…
as if my soul still mattered."
Aarav's voice broke.
"You do matter."
She looked into his eyes—
deep… longing…
tormented.
"Aarav…
our love cannot exist in your world."
He shook his head.
"I don't care."
"You should."
Her voice trembled.
"Because the more our souls connect…
the weaker I become…
and the closer you come to death."
Aarav froze.
"What?"
"My world… pulls at whoever loves me."
Aarav suddenly felt his heartbeat heavy.
The room colder.
Siya stepped back.
"No.
You must leave.
Tonight."
Aarav reached out.
"Siya—"
She whispered painfully:
"I don't want to drag you where I am."
---
**8
One Last Embrace**
Aarav ignored the warning and pulled her into a hug.
Siya gasped—
her form shivering,
flickering like candle smoke.
"Aarav… please… let go…"
"No."
"You'll die…"
"Then let me die in your arms."
Siya's eyes filled with tears that never fell.
"I waited a lifetime for love…
and found it when I no longer existed."
She wrapped her arms slowly around him.
Their embrace was warm and cold at once—
alive and dead—
love and tragedy intertwined.
Aarav whispered—
"I will wait for you.
Next year.
Every year."
Siya shook her head.
"No…
because next year…
I won't come alone."
Aarav stepped back.
"What do you mean?"
Her voice softened—
almost fading—
"The man who killed me…
his soul wanders too.
And he's looking for me."
Aarav's eyes widened.
"Dev…?"
Siya nodded.
"He knows you touched me.
He knows I came to you."
Aarav felt a chill run through him.
Siya whispered—
"Next year…
he'll come for you."
Aarav whispered—
"I'm not afraid."
Siya smiled sadly.
"I am."
Her form flickered.
Her red lehenga blurred.
Her voice grew distant—
"Aarav…
live.
Please…
live for me…"
Her final whisper echoed—
"Goodbye… for now…"
And she vanished.
Into mist.
Into silence.
Into memory.
Leaving behind…
the red bangle in Aarav's hand.
---
PART 2 END