The Past – Part two.

“Varun, please, stop doing this to yourself. You’re scaring me.” A woman pleaded, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and concern as she watched her son pacing restlessly across the room.

“Son, listen to me.” she tried again, stepping closer to him.

“You need to pull yourself together, okay? There are so many girls out there, girls who would fall at your feet if you even glanced their way. Why are you doing this over a girl you don’t even know? You don’t even know who she is! Please, just calm yourself.”

But her words fell on deaf ears. Varun’s jaw tightened, his hands raking through his disheveled hair, a storm of emotions brewing inside him.

For two long months now, he had been consumed by a feeling he couldn’t understand, a longing so intense it bordered on madness.

Ever since he caught a glimpse of Veda at the street which almost got him insane, he search for her for a week but no information her.

He didn't give up, he needed to find the girl who got him to be the way he is.

Hungry.... Hungry and yearning for something his dead heart never felt.

But then he saw her again, this time through his bedroom window.

She was visiting his neighbor’s house, her laughter carrying across the garden and lodging itself in his mind.

Her fiery nature, the sharpness in her voice, the way her eyes sparkled with mischief—everything about her had him entranced.

She wasn’t just beautiful; she was magnetic, untouchable, and yet, every part of him craved her.

“Ma…” he finally spoke, his voice hoarse and unsteady.

He turned to face his mother, his eyes red-rimmed and desperate. “Help me. Please. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Varun—”

“No, you don’t understand!” he cut her off, his voice rising. “I need her. I don’t know why, but my whole body aches for her. It’s like… like she’s under my skin, in my blood, and I can’t get her out. Every time I close my eyes, I see her. Every time I breathe, I swear I can smell her.”

Mrs. Sengar’s heart ached as she listened to her son, her strong, capable boy now reduced to this broken, frantic version of himself. She had never seen him like this before.

“Get her for me, Ma.” he whispered, his voice cracking as he sank onto the edge of the couch.

“Just once, please. Let me have her close to me. M-maybe that will help. Maybe that will calm me down, because right now, I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

Tears welled up in his eyes as his breathing grew heavy, ragged. “I don’t understand these feelings. It’s not just… desire. It’s something else. It’s… it’s everything.”

Mrs. Sengar knelt before him, holding his trembling hands in hers.

“Varun, listen to me.” she said softly, her voice steady despite the storm raging inside her. “You’re not losing your mind. But this—this obsession—it’s not healthy, my son. You need to let it go before it destroys you.”

“I can’t.” he whispered, his voice hollow. “I’ve tried, Ma. I’ve tried so hard, but I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s like she’s taken over every part of me. And it hurts. It physically hurts.”

She sighed deeply, pressing her fingers against her temples as she took one last look at her son, lost in a world none of them could reach.

"You need to try harder." she instructed, her voice laced with quiet plead. "Please, Varun… get a hold of yourself."

She didn’t wait for a response. She knew she wouldn’t get one.

Shaking her head, she turned and left his room, shutting the door behind her with a soft click.

Just as she stepped into the hallway, she was met with her eldest son, Vihaan, who had been waiting outside with his arms crossed. He straightened at the sight of his mother’s troubled expression.

"How is he now?" he asked, searching her face for answers.

She exhaled sharply. "He’s getting worse."

Vihaan frowned, but before he could speak, she continued.

"How can a simple glimpse of a girl turn him into… this?" she said, her voice cracking with worry. "He’s not himself, Vihaan. He barely speaks. He barely sleeps. His mind is somewhere else—with her. And I fear…" She paused, as if even voicing her thoughts would make them more real.

Vihaan rubbed the back of his neck, sighing.

"It’s called obsession, Ma. I did see the girl. She’s beautiful." he admitted with a small smile, but his amusement quickly faded under his mother’s sharp glare. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"The point is, it’s just a silly infatuation. I’m sure it’ll go away. Varun is young, Ma. He doesn’t have anything keeping him busy right now, so his mind is fixating on something that caught his interest. He’ll grow out of it." Vihaan said with certainty, trying to reassure her.

But she wasn’t convinced.

"I don’t know, Vihaan." she whispered, shaking her head. "He looks… possessed. Like he’s losing his grip on reality. I know my son, and this isn’t normal. This isn’t just an obsession." Her voice wavered before she turned to look at Varun’s door again, as if she expected him to come charging out in some desperate frenzy. "It reminds me of your father."

Vihaan blinked. "Papa?" He let out a humorless chuckle. "That man barely gives a damn about us let alone anything else. You’re telling me he was obsessed with someone too?"

His mother’s eyes darkened as she turned to him. "You don’t know your father the way I do."

The weight of those words sent a chill down Vihaan’s spine.

"He wasn’t always like this." she continued. "Before the power, before the control… He was quiet, just like Varun. But when he loved, he loved—dangerously, possessively. And that love consumed him until there was nothing left but a man willing to do anything to keep what was his."

Vihaan’s jaw tightened. "And you think Varun is the same?"

She swallowed hard. "No. I think Varun is worse."

Silence hung between them for a long moment, thick and suffocating. Vihaan looked at his mother’s worried face, then back at Varun’s door.

But for the first time, Vihaan saw something more terrifying—Varun was fragile. And that fragility, when paired with obsession, was a recipe for destruction.

He forced a smile and placed a reassuring hand on their mother’s shoulder.

"Varun will be fine. He’s just being a teenager." he said lightly, pulling her away from the door.

But even as he spoke the words, Vihaan wasn’t sure if he believed them himself.