I received a WhatsApp text from an unknown girl yesterday.

“Did you forget something at my place last night?” it read.

Before I could even reply, I received an image of an incredibly pretty and voluptuous woman wearing nothing but an oversized white shirt and a cap, smiling seductively, and gazing intently at the camera with her alluring hazel eyes.

She was obviously going to text someone else and accidentally sent it to me, so I decided to tell her the same before she could send more pictures.

“I think the guy gave you a wrong number”, I replied and closed my phone.

About an hour later, another image arrived from the same number— a Starbucks cup with her name “Devika” scribbled over it.

“Missing you already. Starbucks today too? 6-ish?” her next text read.

“Did she not read my message?” I wondered, and was surprised to find just a single ‘tick’ against my text.

That’s not possible. If I received her message, she should have received mine too, right?

Anyway, I texted her the same again… but before I could finish typing, another image arrived.

This time, there were two cups, and one of them read Abhishek (my name).

I squinted my eyes and wondered if it was just a coincidence.

I waited for a while while thinking up words when I got another one.

I should probably skip describing that image of hers and definitely not mention the caption that accompanied it; but there was a lot of skin and a lot of expletives.

I had no clue who this woman was. So I texted her this— “I don’t know you. I think you’re mistaken.”

And then I blocked her.

Calmness ensued.

Then this morning, another image arrived over WhatsApp from another unknown number.

It was the same girl in the picture, Devika, but something about her face was different this time— her eyes were moist, her scarlet cheeks had visible finger impressions, and she appeared abnormally scared.

The image was also marked by the number 3, in a corner.

It was just weird, so I decided to ignore it.

About an hour later, I received another pic. This time, it was a silver ring with the impression of a turtle engraved on it.

The bad thing was that it had blood on it.

The worse thing was that I was wearing the exact same ring on my finger.

Shit just became real.

The image also had the number 2 marked in a corner.

I could almost sense where this was heading.

Again about an hour later, another image came marked with the number 1, and this one shook me from the inside.

It was her pic again— her face was badly bruised, an eye that was swollen, hands tied to the back, and mouth gagged. She was made to sit on her bed and she seemed tired of all the crying.

It was the most disturbing image I have seen in my life.

Worse yet, someone else was there standing at the back— his head looking at his feet, wearing dark clothes, and holding a rather big knife in one hand.

I did not know the woman. But I prayed for her.

And then a few messages arrived in succession.

No one takes my baby.

3

2

1

End.

And then the last image dropped— the girl was lying on the bed dripping in a pool of her own blood; her neck was slashed and she was was living her last moments, trying to grab some breath which her pierced windpipe didn’t allow her to.

That silver ring, one which I have been wearing for the past two years, was placed carefully in the middle of her forehead while she struggled to survive.

The killer must have soaked his thumb in her blood, and rubbed it over her lips for the last time before clicking that pic and sending it to me.

I froze.

Even though I closed WhatsApp, I couldn’t get that gruesome image out of my head.

I sat in a corner, numb, unable to hear anything other than the sound of my own heartbeat.

I’ll be honest. I thought I was out of my senses.

Few minutes later, my phone rang. It was a call from my friend.

Friend: Sup bro. I got a good news and a very good news.

Me: I can’t really talk right now. Can I call…

Friend: Bro. A good news and a very good news.

Me:

Friend: Remember that girl from my coaching class I told you about? She finally agreed to go to a date with me.

Me:

Friend: But her parents are a bit conservative, so she’ll have a friend accompanying her.

Me:

Friend: Good news is that her friend is hot, so it’ll be a double date.

Me:

Friend: The very good news is that she broke up with her boyfriend just two days ago. You know what that means, right?

Me: Look, I don’t…

Friend: Bro. I don’t need excuses. Her name is Devika Khurrana, check out her Instagram and thank me later. It’s a double date. Be at the Linking Road Starbucks… at around 6 in the eve. Bye.

I didn’t sleep that night.