Stubborn Love

The Hunt

Riding at lightning speed, they had covered the long distance in only an hour's time. It was a miracle they made it to the town in one piece. At a particularly tricky juncture, Krishna almost yelled that they would never find her with their skulls hanging out of their bodies!

His point wouldn't have made any difference to the careless rider anyway, Krishna reflected.

They had only stopped outside a restaurant where two police guards had joined them. The CCTV footage at the security gate showed the direction in which Sia left from the restaurant.

Raghav had ordered the police guards to sweep the roads for any sign of her. To which they nodded and sped away.

The obedience shown by the government officials did not surprise Krishna. He knew the kind of family Raghav belonged to. And although Raghav wasn't a kind of man who would exploit his family stature, he perhaps made an exception this time. Right before leaving from college, he had made a few calls and the last one of them was to his father.

Krishna knew how difficult it must have been for Raghav to ask his father for help. He had seen him aim and reach for a life where he wouldn't have to depend on any favors from him. And he couldn't believe when he first saw Raghav reach out to his dad, tonight.

At that moment, for the first time, he realized that this girl meant a lot more to his friend than he had estimated...

Raghav was riding the bike at a much slower pace this time, scanning every little detail on their way. The roads were mostly barren. The protests brought a lot of destruction of both government and private properties.

At the sound of his ringing phone, Raghav stopped the vehicle. 'We'll be there.' he said shortly and cut the call.

'Who was it? Did they find her?' Krishna asked eagerly.

'No, they found her phone.' he said darkly and turned the accelerator.

Krishna peered at Raghav's stern visage in the rear-view mirror. He hadn't spoken a word about his state of mind. However, the immeasurable strain on his countenance narrated an agony in much greater detail than he would probably like to convey.

.

.

.

They walked towards a string of policemen and a handcuffed man below the yellow streetlight on the abandoned road.

'It's hers.' Raghav mumbled as he spotted the blue-black college bag in the police officer's hand from afar.

Krishna frowned at the certainty of the claim.

The police officer slapped the local man once again, 'I will ask this the last time. Where is the girl?'

Pushing back an unruly curly hair with cuffed hands, the bleeding man replied panting. 'I don't know. I found it.'

The Inspector hit harder this time, and the man miserably fell on the road. Then, taking out a thick bamboo stick, he started unstoppable rounds of blows.

Krishna flinched at the brutality in front of him. He was, by no means, a calm or kind soul, but such violence against a mere suspect was plain injustice. He urgently turned to Raghav, 'Stop them. He could be innocent!'

'Or not.' Raghav said unmoved.

Krishna took a mental step back from his friend. His safety, his pride, even his humanity. What all was he ready to trade in exchange for her...

When the strikes failed to produce the desired impact, the inspector took out his gun.

Widening his eyes at the unforgiving weapon, the accused man knelt to his knees and bellowed. 'Forgive me, Sarkar. Please forgive me. I didn't know the girl belongs to a big family. Please forgive me.'