SCARLET VISIONS...

She froze...It was invariably the same face only with a few wrinkles on it.. They were the same eyes that had haunted her for so many years..She immediately turned her face away to escape the vision of those dreadful eyes. She felt sick at the pit of her stomach.

She closed her eyes just as the airplane took off.. Old memories flooded her mind and nauseated her.Her mind raced back to the old campus,the first few days of her college life.

Freshly out of school Liz was quite excited about being a grown up college girl now.Life seemed so beautiful and fancy free with the friends around.

And then it happened. .Something that she had been longing for all her life till now.She had read about it in novels,seen it in movies,but the feeling,she felt it on that beautiful afternoon  when her eyes met his.There he was on the corner table of the college canteen.And she could feel the "funny thing" happeneing at stomach that she used to read about in books.

She was too shy to share it with any of her friends but her best friend Jenny could make it out from her eyes.

"Hey, I guess u already have a girly crush on him"

"Nothing like that"Liz  blushed

Liz had always been the innocent shy types since childhood.She was a dreamer who was always lost in dreams of her Prince Charming who she believed would someday appear in front of hers,take her hands into his and drift her to the magical world of love.

"Come on Liz,Im ur best friend. You can tell me" Jenny said.

"Who is he?"

"Oh thas Richard...an intern".

"I was just wondering why is he alone all the time,nithong else"Liz gave a shy smile.

"May be hes one of those unfriendly uncool types...come on we'r getting late for class."

That night Liz dreamt of those dark brown eyes.They were radiating all the passion, all the love form them.They  were brimming with dreams.

She kept eyeing him secrtetly every day but never did she have the courage to bring the slightest signs of emotions on her face.

That afternoon Liz was sitting alone in the library.

"Hi" ... an unfamilier voice interrupted her concentration.

Her heart skipped a beat when she looked up to see those deep dark brown eyes.

"Hi..i",she stammered

"May I?",he pulled out the chair opposite to her

Liz was running short of words.She just gave a wry smile.

She doesnot know how the next few hours or as a matter of fact the next few days passed.She had never been so happy in her life.

The long after college hours spent in the nearby coffee shop were like magic.

( 2 wks later)

.It was a cold winter afternoon.They were sitting leisurly in the usual coffee shop.

"Tommorow is the last day of my internship Liz. I wll have to fly ovrseas after that for higher studies." Richard sighed.

" I know". Liz frowned.

"I have arranged for something special today evening for you and me".

" Oh what is it" asked a grinning Liz

"Just a romantic dinner for the two of us at my place tonight”

"Your place?" Liz hesitated.She wasnt sure if that was a very good idea. Afterall it ahd just been 2 weeks.But then she trusted him.He was the guy from her dreams

That evening Liz wore one of her prettiest dresses.That was the last evening with Richard before he would come back for her and she wanted it to be really special.

The door was opened by Richard himself.

"Welcome Liz",he grinned and led her inside where two other guys were sitting leisuresly.

"They are my pals.They wanted to meet you so I called them over."

Liz felt a pang of anger.Jacob had never mentioned any friends for the evening.She decided to linger on for some few uneasy minutes and leave.

"Make yourself comfortable Liz,"one of them smiled offering her a glass of wine.

"I dont drinke" Liz replied politely.

"'Oh come on Liz ,be a sport",Richard said.

Liz looked up at him surprizingly.He knew what kind of a girl she was,still how could he say this?

"Im sorry,I just remembered I have some work.Ive gotta go."Liz stood up

"Hey whats the hurry?" one of them held her hands from behind. A chill ran down her spine.She freed her hands with a jerk and hurrried towards the door..

"Whats the hurry sweetheart",Richard crossed her path.."the evening has just begun".

She looked at the dark brown eyes to find not love, but a cruel animalism,hunger and greed.

All she remembered about her last few minutes of consciousness was the excruciating pain inside her,faces of three insatiated beasts on top of her,a terrible heartache and thoses sharp dark brown eyes piercing through her soul ripping apart her dream and shattering her fairyland.

Her thoughts were broken by the sudden landing of the aircraft.She opened her eyes to feel her heart pounding like a horse.

Right behind here,lost in his own sweet world was the man who had killed the timid,innocent dreamer and was responsible for what she was today.She wasnt Liz anymore,she was Carlotte,a cold blooded high society escort carrying a bruised heart and a sieved mind inside.