⚠ Trigger warning : mildly abusive content ahead; illustration of sexual abuse.
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"Its been fucking 48 hours, Awasthi. There must be some thing, some clue, some loophole." he barked into the phone, frustrated.
His mother watched him as he paced around the room, in the balcony and then again in the room, listening to what the person on the other end explained for a long time while. Her heart knew he cared so much for the girl seeing him restless since the night he came to her sloshed, and cried his heart out, whimpering like a child in her lap as she caressed his hair with her fingers, exactly like she would do when he was a child all those years back. All she could do right now is pray for the girl's safety, and his happiness, for she saw right in front of her how the serenity his face reflected these past two months had vanished.
His hair was messed up, dark circles surrounded his eyes, one of the sleeves of his shirt was unbuttoned and loose while the other one was tucked up near his elbow, one end of the shirt tucked inside while the other just lay there. He looked disheveled.
"Okay. Fine. I'm coming over." he said, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding for how long.
He disconnected the call, and found his mother staring right at him.
"Pyaar karta hai na usse?" she asked with a smile.
His eyes widened, the bottle of water he just picked up almost fumbled from his hands, as he opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't form words to say.
She patted his back with light taps as he looked everywhere but in her eyes, for he feared what to tell her when he himself was in scepticism about what js felt for Shehnaaz.
"Kho nahi sakta usko Mom. Pyaar? Pata nahi!" he said, sitting down on the bed, his head leaned against the headboard, his eyes closed.
"2 din me theek se 2 ghante neend nahi li hogi tune. Thori der ke liye bhi tujhe chain se baithe nahi dekha. Bechain sa, pareshan sa bas yaha waha kar raha hai. Gussa dekha maine teri aankhon me bete, us insan ke liye jisko ek waqt par apna dost kahta tha. Nafrat dekhi us khayal se ki usne us ladki ko chot pahuchayi hogi shayad. Khone se darta hai. Yeh pyaar nahi toh kya hai?"
She said, handing him a pair of fresh clothes to change into before leaving.
" Saath lekar hi aana! "she said, kissing his forehead and then left for her own flat.
He reached the expected location. It was a deserted locality, a few abandoned buildings here and there was all that could be seen.
Stepping out of his SUV, he was met with Awasthi and three other constables.
"Mr Shukla. Here." he said, pointing his fingers towards a railway line that passed through nearby.
"You're sure about it right?" he asked with uncertainty.
"Very. The calls were unreachable, most of the times. But, Mishra ji here," he said pointing to a constable, and continued, "he somehow found out the details of the person on whose name the number is registered. A few hours of investigation amd thorough search in our own records, and we found another number registered on the name of the same person. Of course, the identity given both the times were fake. So that made the work easier. "
Sidharth nodded at the constable in a grateful gesture as Awasthi continued," So 2 hours ago, we tried to call on both the numbers again. One of them like always was switched off. But this other one, somebody picked up the call. Now I don't recognise the voice so I'll play the recording for you to confirm our doubts."
He handed him a phone and hit the play button.
Damn he knew the voice a little too well. It was undoubtedly Sahil. The recording ended within 15 seconds, and most of the duration, Sahil was constantly saying" hello". There was a not so faint sound of a moving train, and the whistle of its engine,which Sidharth concluded would've been the clue to reach the location. He looked at Awasthi in confirmation.
"Lets go, then. Divide yourselves. Each one of you, go to one building. Don't fire, unless necessary." he instructed as each of the three constables went in three different buildings.
"Mr Shukla, I suggest you wait he..."
"No. I'm coming with you. Lets go." Sidharth spoke with finality.
Awasthi tried to argue but then he gave in, given that he could atleast use the muscle power. They entered the one building in front of them, it appeared like it had collapsed some time ago. The walls were not painted, the windows were broken, thr debris lay here and there, making the place seem no less than a haunted house.
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Shehnaaz sat up with a jolt as she felt a pair of hands grabbing her. Sahil stood in front with a sinister smirk. She looked towards the locked door, and then at his face aand his prying eyes over her body. She brought her hands forward to slap him as he touched her legs, but her hands didn't move, neither did her legs when she tried to pull them towards herself. It was then that she realised they were binded , her hands and legs, they were fastened with a rope. She wriggled her hands to get rid of the grip, but all her efforts went in vain, given that she had no energy to fight either the ropes that were fastened or the monster that stood right in front of her, eyeing her disgustingly.
"What do you want!"she shouted at him. He didn't budge.
"You. I said I want you. Just once cmon!" he said, moving forward, making her crawl backwards.
"Let me go please let me go." she bit down her sobs, only if she found a way to set her hands free, she would run off. She would escape this nightmare, she would find some way back, she had faith on herself. She wasn't that weak of a woman to give in easily.
" No. Let. me. have. you. Shehnaaz." he was dangerously close to her, his hold on her thighs tightened, she grimaced in disgust.
"Dont worry hon! I won't force you. I'll claim you, but that would be on your wish. And that is gonna happen soon." he traced her face with his fingers, she jerked her face away.
"I'll never.. let.. that.. happen." she said ferociously.
"Why Sahil, why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?" she cried this time, her sobs refused to be held back anymore.
"Oh woman! See that's the point. You've done nothing. You did nothing, and you got that Shukla wrapped around your fingers. That man who shut himself up, he fired me... MEEE.. For you." he spoke with hatred and anguish.
"Thats because of your own wrong ways." she remarked.
"No... What does he have that I don't? Come on tell me, what do I lack? EVERYTHING... EVERYTHING THAT I LAY MY EYES ON ENDS UP IN HIS HANDS. That includes you as well. I worked with him for years.... And he got all the name amd money."
"You lack humanity. You are so blinded by envy and hate that you overlook all the pain that he's been hiding." she screamed back at him.
She always had this belief that every monster was a human once, with a kind and fragile heart. That it is the ways of life, and the atrocities inflicted upon them that makes them the way they are. That you shouldn't fear the monster, but the thing that created them. She laughed bitterly at how stupid she was all along. It was so wrong what she had been fooled to believe in.
Choosing to become someone like the man in front of her, she would prefer a thousand deaths instead of that. Because it's life. It has its own cruel ways and it never is fair to any one. Everybody, every single person has their own story, their own messed up lives, battling their own demons. And giving in to the bad, defending it by the bullshit explanation of what turned them to this, and continuing on the same cycle of atrocity was a choice.
"Oh look, even now, even after all the trouble that he has landed you in, you're still siding by him. You know what, I get it." he laughed, leaving her confused.
"He fucked you right?" her eyes widened hearing what he just said, her face frowned in disgust.
"Tell me, did he pay you well after?" he said, followed by a sinister laugh.
"I'll make you come harder." he gripped her hair with one hand, the other hand shamelessly groped her breasts. She wriggled, trying to free herself, she screamed in disgust when he pinched her. Her body pricked with the touch, as if a needle is being pierced through it, like her skin is being cut open.
Suddenly she felt his grip loosen, followed by a loud thud sound. Horrified, she scrunched her eyes shut, and opened them a moment later only to find Sahil unconscious with a blow on his head. Her hands.. She felt the rope being unfastened, she looked up and saw a man cutting the ties open.
She sat up, and looked around the room frantically.
"Aap kaun?" she asked, her voice trembled.
"Police se hain, beta. Mishra ji bulate hain." the man replied, and spoke to somebody in the earpiece about reaching on time.
She felt so drained she feared she would pass out any moment. Gathering up all her strength, she walked up to where Sahil lay on the floor, and spat on his body.
" You are a blot in the name of human." she said, her voice was so cold, she was a deeply empathetic person but for this man lying near her feet, she felt nothing but absolute abhorrence and deep loathing.
"Mishra. Where's he?" she heard someone say, and turned around to find a cop standing at the near way.
The constable filled him in with how he found her, and was instructed by Awasthi to call an ambulance first.
All the while her eyes remained rooted at the person standing behind the cop, Awasthi. She had now lost count of how many times she had woken up, gasping for air, and only one name escaped her lips- his. She had this immense faith somehow that he would find her soon. As the first day had passed, her hopes died down a little, but she chose to hold on the little shreds of faith she still had deep down in her heart. She had cried out his name, screamed as loud as she could hoping he'd hear her cries maybe. And now that he was here, now that he stood a few feet away from her, she looked into his eyes as silent tears cascaded down his face, his gaze fixed on her.
And suddenly she felt there was no one around, that it was just him and her, the distance between them almost killing her. His hands itched to touch her, caress her and tend to her. He walked up to her, brought his hands up to her face, cupping them and wiped away her tears with his thumb. Her eyes held so much pain, she had bruises all over her face, scratches on her hands amd feet. He felt his chest being ripped open seeing her like that.
"Sidharth.."her voice came out as whisper, barely audible. And then she couldn't hold on anymore. Her head spinned, vision blurred, she felt herself falling down and his strong arms grabbing her, tapping her face, calling her name.
And the whole world around her turned black.
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