Battered and bruised, she woke up with no memory of the night before.

There was silence in the sea-facing apartment, the white walls of the house stood dead against the pace of the city outside. The only sound that could be heard was of her dragging her feet across the dilapidated marble flooring, struggling for each breath as she took one step at a time. She had no memory of last night. Jane looked down at her salmon coloured dress, torn and tattered at places, her feet and arms bruised. She could smell and taste alcohol from her breath. Her mascara smudged and eyes numbed with all the crying. Jane could hardly open her eyes, she reached to drink some water, when she saw strange marks on her wrist and arms. A cutting pain through her abdomen, one she had never felt before. Such was her state when she woke up this morning and such is her state 2 hours after trying hard to stare into the wall above head, trying hard to remember the night. The harder she tried the more blanks she seemed to draw.

Jane gave a final blow to her mind and struggled to leave the bed, towards the bathroom. Without undressing, she stood beneath the hot running water. Each droplet burning her skin and piercing a hole into her skin. All this while, she couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t feel the water or even make sense of the situation. Then all of a sudden, she felt everything, all at once, and gave out a painful screech. Panic consumed her body and mind as realisation dawned on her about her whereabouts. Struggling to understand the knobs of the shower system, she managed to step out of the bathroom. Her back scraped against the walls of the bathroom where she had been standing for over five minutes under the scorching running water. “It must be the alcohol”, she thought.
After changing into a clean pair of clothes, Jane mustered the courage to leave her bedroom and go to the balcony for fresh air. The pain in her abdomen was persistent. The weather was kind enough to pour a few droplets of relief, with a cool wind blowing across. A strong and raw scent of the ground pleased her mind, involuntarily her face broke into a smile. She stood there for half an hour consuming the cool breeze. She had only started to feel a little better, but what seemed to have gone wrong last night, came rushing back to her.

She took a deep breath and retired back to her bedroom. As she pulled her blanket to cover her bruised body, she found a small note by her bedside table. She read the content of the letter written in an exquisite calligraphic handwriting, and horror struck her face, her palms were sweaty and her eyes turned red as she read:
“I’m back, Darling.” 

Part 2 - https://www.101india.com/horror/old-friend-part-2-run

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and bears no resemblance to any real person or events.

By Sonali Kapoor
Cover photo credit: huffpost.com