Gandharv; A Twisted Tale by Shivangi Chandra

An original story by BeTales and TSU Publications

"Michael, we are in Goa man! I never thought finding the proper girls while being this hot sizzling singer in a bar with a chiselled body was going to be so tough. I’m really running out of time here”, Gandharv said in an exasperated tone.

“Don’t say proper girls, we want virgins, the naïve ones”, retorted Michael.

“Yeah, maintaining this Demi-god status comes with a price. This beautiful body, it demands to be maintained and for the access to elixir of beauty in heaven, a hymen needs to be sacrificed each month. I need both my beauty and my immortality. I need it, I need my body to be beautiful forever. I need the power that it brings, the women throwing themselves at me, vying for the slightest bit of my attention. Playing with their naivety and destroying their innocence forever is fun”, said Gandharv as the devil in him shone through his eyes.

“Yeah man, you are right”, said Michael and grinned, his eyes giving the same devilish light.

“Dude, we need to catch our next prey within seven days and take away her virginity”, Gandharv said, his teeth gritted with resolve.

With this Gandharv shot up from the bed and started to get ready for his gig at the new night club “Violets”. He needed to make his move today itself, at least identify his target tonight. Then he will bestow all his love on her, until she gives him what he needs. Gandharv was a master manipulator, he would promise the world to the girl; make her feel seen, heard and validated; give her gifts, respect and undivided attention; he would look out for the smallest of her needs and care for her as if she is his child. The time that the woman spends with him will be the best memories of her life. The rules of the Heaven only required him to take away the virginity of the woman, he could simply rape a woman, but using love to manipulate and convoluting the mind of a virgin was a game that Gandharv enjoyed. Love is the most powerful tool in the universe, and it can be used to bring as much harm as happiness, and using it to manipulate the woman will make her remember him forever and for him, this was his legacy. One day there will be a man who would actually love her and would make efforts for her and all she would wonder would be, if he is going to be like Gandharv?

Gandharv was on the stage, on a stool, his body angled towards the audience and his well-formed bare chest glistening through his thin white shirt because of the spotlight on him. He strung a few notes on his guitar and announced that he will be starting with his self-composed song – Make love to Me. Well, it was not self-composed, it was a spoof of the love anthem of the Cupids.

“I will be the first one to make love to you,

I will sweep you off your feet,

I will make you see the stars

And forever you shall weep

Make love to me

Make love to me baby….”

He started singing the song in his intense voice as the crowd swayed their arms at his melodious voice. Gandharv was a local star and had offers from Bollywood which he had rejected to avoid the public eye. He scouted the bar for potential targets as he sang.

His gaze lingered on a tall young woman in a red coloured body-con dress hugging her just in the right places and baring her thighs just at the right length. Her long black hair complimented her dusky complexion that she had tried to mask under layers of foundation. She was with a few of her friends, she was probably the prettiest but the most nervous of them all. Oh, such woman intrigued Gandharv, insecurity begets the need for validation, such targets are easy and he needed an easy one right now, the only catch was if she was a virgin. He just needed a social media exchange today to find that out. He looked for any other women he could approach, but all of them seemed to be with their partners.

Gandharv ended his song and Michael entered as he left the stage.

“God, I need to make a pass at her before Michael does. She seems to be the only viable option”, thought Gandharv to himself.

He moved towards the corner in which the girl and her friends were sitting, waiting to make his move. The girl went to the bar counter to buy a drink for herself. As he had planned, he bumped into her while she was returning with her drink in her hand and it spilled on the floor.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid. I’m a mess. I should have been careful”, she started to apologise profusely.

“She is the perfect catch if she turns out to be a virgin”, thought Gandharv, “I had bumped into her, causing her to spill her drink, yet she is apologising. Man, these women with childhood issues and unresolved trauma, they are the ones I’m living on.”

“You don’t have to apologise madam. I’m sorry. Come I’ll buy you a drink”, Gandharv said holding her hand.

She refused by shaking her head but Gandharv kept a finger on her lips and guided her towards the counter.

“What would you like to have?”

“Umm, sex on the beach”, she replied coyly, “sex on the beach, the drink I mean”, she said not being able to look into his eyes.

He instructed the bartender to bring the same for the lady.

“Gandharv, you were really good on the stage”, she said trying to regain her composure.

“Thank you so much….”, he cued for her to tell her name.

“Oh, I’m Robin.”

“Thank you, Robin. So, have you come with your boyfriend?”

“I wish I had someone. I’ve never had a boyfriend. You know my birthday is in six days and I will turn twenty-seven. I will turn twenty-seven and I have never had sex. These are the only sex on the beach I can have.”

“Is she one of those who save themselves for their husband? How old-school but whatever rocks her boat” thought Gandharv. He could not believe his luck. He had caught the perfect prey. This evening could not turn out to be better than this.

“You know Robin. I didn’t even know your name, I just saw you from the stage and I knew that there is something special about you. Us bumping into each other and you being able to open up to me so easily, don’t you think it is a plan? Something too good to be true? This is how this mysterious universe works”, said Gandharv in his trance inducing voice.

Robin had already had a few drinks. She shifted into his embrace and started to sob.

“You’ll not love me. I know. You’ll not love me when I tell you why I’m not desirable to anyone”, she spoke softly through her sobs.

“I don’t care, you’re desirable to me. This is something that the universe wants”, he said as he wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her forehead.

She smiled and they looked into each other’s eyes. This spell was broken by the ting of her phone. She immediately looked at the screen and exclaimed, “Oh my God, I need to leave, I’m going out of town for office work”.

“When can I see you again?”, he asked.

“I’m coming back on my birthday. I need to leave.”

“Not so soon”, commanded Gandharv as he tightly held her hand inducing pain and then eased both his hand and his tone and continued, “At least share your number”.

She hugged him, took his mobile phone and fed her number into it.

Then began the series of texting and sending gifts on her location. It took him one day to become her boyfriend. All he had to do now was to make Robin agree to spending her birthday with him.

So, on one of the nights he texted, “Would you like to spend your birthday with me?”. But he did not get any response. Only two days were left and he needed the sacrifice of a hymen sometime soon. He could not sleep in anticipation.

“I would love to spend the rest of my life with you”, came the response in the morning. This made Gandharv grin and took away all his worries.

He decorated his house and went to pick her up from the airport. Her eyes shone and she felt his entire being in the embrace. Gandharv knew that he did not have any room for mistakes, he had to take away her virginity before the clock strikes twelve. He was least bothered though as the possibility of anything going wrong with Robin seemed bleak, she was completely under his spell and he had planned out the best day of her life - lunch by the beach followed by her favourite movie on his couch and ultimately a night in his bed.

Everything went exactly as he planned and he pulled her in his embrace as the movie ended. They started to make out on the couch itself. She was constantly melting in his arms but not allowing his hand to wander anywhere near the place where the doorway to his beauty and immortality resided. Gandharv had started getting frustrated by this time, after all, it was already eleven.

“Should we take this to the bedroom”, Gandharv winked.

“Yeah, but there is something you need to know about me”, Robin replied.

Gandharv had already picked her up in his arms and started to walk towards the bedroom before she could finish her sentence.

“But Gandharv, this is important”, she pleaded as he placed her on his bed.

“You know, the best conversations happen after sex”, he said barely being able to contain his impatience. The time was running out and the signs of decay will start appearing in thirty minutes, he needed her virginity before that.

“This is really important Gandharv”, she pleaded yet again. But he started to undress her.

“Gandharv, when I was a child, everyone mocked me for being different from them. It took me a long time to accept myself and then to own who I’m in front of my parents and friends…”, Robin continued to speak.

“Yeah, you have told me this story a lot many times”, Gandharv said irritated.

“Yes, and you have never let me complete it. I am a trans woman. I’m not a biological female. I’m finally feeling pride in this sentence and it is all because of the love, affection and respect that you have given me in all these days. Thank you so much Gandharv, you can take a call, I will respect your decision.”, Robin said and her eyes shone with pride.

Violets. Twenty-seven and virgin. Never had a boyfriend. Everything started to come back to Gandharv. It was already a quarter past eleven. His hands that had been roaming on her body so hungrily uptil now, now hung lifelessly by his side. He did not know what to say or do. He was supposed to be taking her virginity and lying by the elixir of beauty in heaven.

“Please leave”, he finally said gathering himself.

“I will. Thank you so much for everything you have done for me. Your love made me accept me, I will never forget you”, Robin said as she left.

And these words acted as another dagger through his heart. His body began to disintegrate. Gandharv lost his legacy, his beauty and probably even his life.

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