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♠KISSED BY A CRIMINAL ♠

Chapter -1

Running away from yourself?

"Breathe, Isha. Just keep breathing. Don't look back. Please, God, don't let him be right behind me."

The streetlights flickered, casting long, skeletal shadows across the pavement. Isha's lungs burned. Every footfall behind her echoed like a heartbeat in the silence of the alley.

"Just a few more meters," she hissed to herself, her voice a jagged whisper. "Please, just let me get inside." She slammed the front door shut and leaned against the mahogany wood, gasping for air. Her chest heaved, the fabric of her kurti clinging to her damp skin.

"Isha? Why are you panting like a stray dog?" Her father didn't look up from his ledger. He sat in the dim light of the study, the scratch of his pen the only other sound in the room. "Papa, someone was following me! I think"

"Enough," he snapped, his voice cold as a winter morning in Shimla. "You're imagining things. It is a side effect of your recovery. Go inside." "But Papa, I felt it! He was right behind me!"

"Isha, beta, stop bothering your father," her mother interrupted, placing a hand on her shoulder and steering her toward the stairs. "Look at your face, all red. You're exhausted. Go, wash up and sleep. Chalo, jaldi jao."

The stairs felt heavier tonight. Every step echoed with the same fear she had been carrying for months now. Her fingers trembled around the railing as she climbed upstairs, the image of that unknown man still burned into her mind. The slow footsteps behind her. The feeling of being watched. The fear crawling beneath her skin and yet, no one believed her. Not even her own father.

Isha swallowed hard, shutting her bedroom door behind her before leaning against it weakly. The silence of the room wrapped around her, but silence had never comforted her. Silence reminded her of another night. Another darkness she could never escape.

Twelve years ago.

Her chest tightened painfully.

She still remembered the smell of the blood inside the car. The broken windshield. Her tiny hands shaking as she screamed for her mother again and again. But her mother never answered. She only laid there.

Isha squeezed her eyes shut as tears blurred her vision. She remembered banging on the locked car door until her fists hurt. Remembered crying until her throat burned raw. Three hours. Three whole hours trapped beside her dead mother in the middle of the night while thunder shook the sky outside.

And yet, no one believed her.

Not even her own father.

Twelve years ago.

Her chest tightened painfully.

She still remembered the smell of rain and blood inside the car. The broken windshield. Her tiny hands shaking as she screamed for her mother again and again. But her mother never answered.

No child should know what death looks like that closely.

No child should watch their mother’s blood grow cold beside them.

Even now, after twelve years, rainy nights still made her feel trapped inside that car again scared, helpless, unable to breathe.And tonight… somehow felt exactly the same.

Even now, after twelve years, rainy nights still made her feel trapped inside that car again scared, helpless, unable to breathe.

The next morning, the humid air of the city clung to everything. Isha adjusted her bag, her eyes scanning the perimeter of the college campus. "You look like a ghost, Isha! Kya hua? Did the MBA syllabus finally kill you?"

Kavya appeared like a whirlwind, slapping Isha's shoulder with a wide grin.

"Kavya, I'm serious. Last night... I was being hunted."

"Hunted? By who? A cute boy? Tell me he was hot."

"Stop it! Someone was actually following me. I could feel the intent, Kavya. It wasn't a crush. It was... death."

"You've been on edge since that accident. Maybe you need a drink. Or a boyfriend. Preferably a hot one who can protect you from your imaginary boogeyman."

"I don't need a boyfriend, I need to know how to fight. I can't just run and hide in my room while Papa ignores me. I need to be a weapon."

"Fight? You? You can't even fight the urge to eat extra samosas in the canteen."

"I'm serious! Help me find someone. Not a gym trainer or some karate sensei. I want someone who knows the real dirt. Someone is dangerous."

"Dangerous, huh? You've got a type, I see."

Kavya suddenly stopped walking. Her gaze shifted toward the main campus gate. Her smile vanished.

"Wait, who is that guy at the gate?"

Isha turned. A man stood by the iron pillar, motionless. He didn't move, didn't blink. He simply stared at her with a gaze that felt like a cold blade pressing against her throat.

"Where?"

"Right there. Standing by the pillar. Why is he staring at you like you're a piece of meat he's about to carve?"

Isha's blood turned to ice.

"He... he was there last night."

The man at the gate didn't move, but the air around them seemed to thicken, turning heavy and suffocating.

"Isha, move! Chalo!" Kavya hissed, her fingers digging into Isha's forearm.

"I can't... my legs feel like lead," Isha whispered. Thump thump. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.

"He's just some creep. Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you shake. Chup kar, kuch nahi hoga," Kavya muttered, pulling her toward the main building.

Isha stumbled, her eyes darting back one last time. The man was gone. He hadn't walked away; he had simply ceased to be there, swallowed by the morning crowd.

"He vanished," Isha breathed, her voice trembling.

"He didn't vanish, Isha, he just walked behind the security kiosk. Arre yaar, stop being so dramatic! You're making me nervous too."

They reached the canteen, the familiar chaos of clattering steel plates and loud chatter providing a thin veil of normalcy. Clang! Sizzle the smell of hot paratha and masala chai filled the air, but it did nothing to settle Isha's stomach.

"I'm telling you, Kavya, he was looking at me like... like I was a target," Isha said, staring intensely into her cup of tea.

"Everyone looks at you like you're a target! You're a pretty girl in a sea of tired students," Kavya teased, though her eyes remained worried. ....Slurp. She took a loud sip of her tea. "Maybe it's just stress? The accident, the exams..."

"No. It's the same feeling from last night. The feeling of being hunted." Isha gripped the ceramic cup so hard her knuckles turned white. "I can't keep doing this. I can't keep running."

Kavya leaned in, her voice dropping to a low murmur. "Then do something about it. You said you wanted to learn to self defense. Not some fancy self defense class where they teach you how to pose for a photo."

"Exactly," Isha said, her eyes flashing with a sudden, desperate resolve. "I need someone who teach you like a prey, who doesn't follow the rules and knows how the world actually works."

Kavya bit her lip, a mischievous yet cautious glint appearing in her eyes. "You have a very dangerous way of thinking, Isha Rawal. You know what people say about the guys who live in the shadows, right?"

"I don't care about for now all I need is skill. Real enough to keep Mishra and his guards away."

Kavya glanced around to ensure no one was listening. "Fine. If you're serious... there is one name. But Isha, this isn't a movie. This is real life. If you go looking for him, you might not like what you find."

"Tell me," Isha demanded.

"Vedant Chauhan," Kavya whispered.

Isha froze. The name felt heavy, coated in something dark. "The criminal? The one they say spent seven years in a cell for something he didn't do... or did?"

People say he's A killer. He's back in the city, living like a ghost in some old house. They say his eyes... they say one of them isn't even human.

Isha felt a strange shiver, but it wasn't just fear. It was a pull a dark, magnetic curiosity.

"Where is he?" Isha asked, her voice steadier than she felt.

Kavya let out a nervous, airy laugh. "Pagal hai kya? You want to go find a ghost? A man who was disowned by the most powerful lawyer in the state?"

"I don't have a choice, Kavya. I'm being done with this kind of life. And if I'm going to survive, I need to find the man the my father is afraid of."

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