An Encounter

CHAPTER 1

I stood listening to listening to the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. Oh how much i love the calm! Taking in a deep breath, i spread my arms out to absorb the serenity when i heard some commotion nearby. I could hear someone shouting and cursing but chose to ignore it considering it must be some of those hooligans that wander around the area at night. The place gave them a perfect hiding spot and no one disturbed them here.I snapped out of my thoughts when i thought i heard a woman's voice along with the others. I was immediately reminded of that night when I almost lost 'her'.

Instinctively, i started moving towards the sound. I walked further around the block and could see a woman being forced to get into their van by two men. They were arguing among themselves. The men tried to pull her along and she was resisting them and pointing fingers at them. An immediate instinct to protect her took over and I immediately covered my head with the hood, running towards them. "Aye!" I called out. The men stilled as they saw me approaching. Since there were no street lights in the area, they wouldn't have been able to see my face. I was sure of that.

"Aapa ka aadmi hoga. Chod isko chokri ko warna ye maar dalega" [Must be Aapa's man. Let this girl go or he'll kill us!] i heard one of the two men telling the other. "Lekin,bhai ka kya? Ye nai mili toh woh maar dalega" [but then, what about Bhai? He'll kill us if he doesn't get her.] I heard the other man argue."Are bhai ko bol dega ye nai mili. Abhi chal. Woh aare la hai." [We'll tell Bhai we couldn't find her. Now let's leave. He's coming here.] the first guy said and the two of them left in their van. I had no idea what they were talking about but by the time I reached the place the van was at a distance. I remembered the girl they were trying to pull along and turned to ask her if she was okay, but she wasn't there. I looked around for her, but saw her nowhere. I looked up as i felt a few drops of water on my face. In no time, the drops turned into downpour and i ran towards my car. Quickly getting in, i removed the hood from my head. My thoughts went back to the girl. I hadn't seen her properly due to the dim lights, but she looked thin and small. I was sure she had worn something in red. Hoping that she was okay, i turned the key on the ignition and started driving. Where was I headed, I didn't know, but i didn't want to home tonight. I couldn't. I was thinking too much about her tonight and home would only aggravate the memories.

I was driving, not thinking of anything in particular when the rain became fierce. Thunder echoed through the sky and i could see flashes of lightning too. Suddenly, a few meters later, my car stopped. I looked around, but the rain was so heavy that I couldn't see anything beyond my car. I turned the key a couple of times to get the car started but nothing worked. 'Dammn!' I banged my hand against the steering.

The rain took me back to another night, not so long ago. It was pouring just as much that night. That night when.. Well, rain and me never had a good relation. I didn't like the mess and crowd that came with monsoon. Hours of traffic jams and diseases, that's what the downpour brought. But now, i hated rains. It always reminded me of that night..

I decided to get out of the car and look for some other way to reach home. It was late into the night and I was exhausted. I needed to sleep.Pulling the keys out, i pulled up the hood and quickly dashed out of the car and ran straight into the shelter in front of me.I brushed the water off my jacket and got out my phone to call someone for help. Usually, i would call Kabir in such a situation, but since his wife was in the hospital, i let it be. I decided to call some staff from the concert. Maybe they could help. I wasn't far from the venue anyway.
"Purab, listen, I'm kinda stuck. My car broke down and I need help. Yeah.. What place?" I looked around to see if i knew the place, but no, I didn't recognise the area. There was nothing around that could indicate where i was. I looked around to see if there was someone i could ask for help."Kya hua saab? Kisko dhund rahe ho?" [what happened, saab! Who are you looking for?] i heard a lady's voice and quickly turned around.