The black SUV parked before the resort villa’s administration building belonged to the Big Circle Boys.
Once they had confirmed that the seniors of C University’s law department would be coming here for their graduation trip, the Big Circle Boys had made frequent trips to the villa.
They had visited the villa more than ten times now, just to stake out the place and work out the logistics. They were back again, and this time they had driven straight to the administration building after entering from the gate.
Jeetu Yadav, the leader of the Big Circle Boys, got out a key he had prepared in advance, and led his men directly to the managing director’s office, located on the top floor of the
administration building.
They quickly subdued the managing director’s security personnel, before rushing into the director’s office to take him hostage.
The director turned out to be an unexpected windfall for them. They had originally planned on killing him right off the bat, but the moment they rushed in the director had immediately proposed that they spare him in exchange for money: five million rupees!
The Big Circle Boys were after money.
An extra five million rupees, and all they had to do was add the director to their hostage list. It was easy money, and they saw no reason to refuse. So instead of killing him, they tied him up and knocked him out before shoving him under the table.
Since the director was willing to co-operate, it was now much easier for these Big Circle Boys to carry out their plans.
…
Shehnaaz swam effortlessly, and before long she was already swimming near left wing.
She deliberately swam towards the spot where she was sure she had seen someone jump off the passageway and into the lake. She circled the area, but did not find anything strange under the water.
What was going on?
Was she making a fuss over nothing?
Perhaps she had been hanging with the Special Ops men for far too long, and she was now turning into one of those paranoid conspiracy theorists…
Shehnaaz inwardly chided herself for being silly, before flipping over gracefully to swim on her back. The moment she flipped over, she caught something dark green and fluorescent from the corner of her eye. It had come from one of the back walls of left wing that was facing Little Mirror Lake.
Shehnaaz’s eyes widened. She immediately looked towards the wall, and there it was: another one of those concentric circles, the ◎ marking!
This discovery made Shehnaaz’s heart sink again. She was about to swim closer for a better look when she heard splashes coming from left wing; it was the sound of people getting into the water.
A few of her fellow students from Class One and Class Two had decided to go for a swim as well.
She did not want them to see her. She quickly dove below the surface, and swam back to right wing.
As she climbed the stairs leading to the terrace, dark clouds drifted towards the moon, blotting out the bright moonlight.
The villa was now completely dark. Shehnaaz stealthily made her way back to her room under the cover of
darkness.
“Back already? How was Little Mirror Lake? Fun?” Lady Singh had showered, and was now sitting on the bed before her laptop, adding the finishing touches to her graduation thesis. She heard Shehnaaz enter through the door, looked up at her, and said, with a click of her tongue, “Wonders, I had no idea. Sana, you’re really busty for your age.”
When Shehnaaz had first arrived at C University, she had been very shy, and hadn’t known how to react to her roommates’ lewd jokes. Now, however, she was completely immune, and knew not to take their remarks seriously. She took off her swimming cap and said, with a smile, “The size
of an adult woman’s chest is determined entirely by her genes. Age has nothing to do with it.”
“But you’re not an adult, you’re not even 18 yet,” argued Lady Singh, but half-heartedly. She was just having some fun with Shehnaaz. She pointed in the direction of the bathroom and said, “You should go take a shower, before the others come back. I think the water isn’t hot enough today.”
“That’s okay, it’s a warm day today anyway.” Shehnaaz got a change of clothes, went to the bathroom, and carelessly dried herself off with a towel.
When she was out of the bathroom and settled comfortably on her bed, she saw she had received two messages on her phone.
One was from Rohit, asking whether she had arrived at Sahyadri Mountain Resort Villa.
The other was from Parth, asking if she wanted to go over to left wing, since everyone else was there. They
were playing Truth or Dare.
Shehnaaz absolutely hated playing Truth or Dare, so naturally, she ignored Parth’s message. She sent a
reply to Rohit: “Brother Rohit, I’ve arrived at the villa. I’ve just had my shower and will be going to bed now.”
Rohit received Shehnaaz’s message, and immediately replied: “Good night.”
This exchange was actually nothing more than a formality.
In truth, there was already someone shadowing Shehnaaz at Sahyadri Mountain Resort Villa, watching over her in secret. There were also a few other precautions in place to help ensure her safety.
As long as she was within range of their communications system, her safety was guaranteed.
Shehnaaz looked at Rohit’s message, a sweet smile on her face. Her finger was now restlessly tracing circles on
her phone; she wanted very much to call Sidharth.
But she thought of Sidharth’s status and rank, and suppressed the urge to call him.
Her phone calls with Sidharth had almost always been initiated by him; she had not had many opportunities to call him directly.
And most of the time, it was Deepak who took the call before transferring it to Sidharth.
Shehnaaz put her phone away. Her eyelids were already drooping. She lay on her bed, mumbling to Lady Singh as she did, “Wake me when the others are back…” and promptly fell asleep.
She slept soundly, undisturbed by dreams. When she woke up, she was surprised to see it was already noon!
Lady Songh was still sitting before her laptop, on her bed. She had headphones on now, and appeared to be watching a TV show.
Shehnaaz rubbed her eyes and sat up. She did not see Green Tea Sharma and Little Temptress, but noticed that their beds were messy. She covered her mouth as she yawned and said, sleepily, “…What time did they come back yesterday?”
“This morning, you mean.” Lady Singh replied without even lifting her head. “left wing’s pretty big, so most of our
classmates didn’t come back last night. They partied through the night, and only returned this morning to get
some sleep. ”
“Where are they now?” Shehnaaz pointed towards the empty beds of her other roommates. “They returned this
morning to sleep, you said – but it’s only noon!”
“Well, you may be a lazy pig who can sleep all day, but not them!” Lady Singh laughed as she glanced over at her. “They got up an hour ago. They’re out hiking with Class Two now.”
“That’s insane. Must be the endorphins from all the fun and excitement,” said Shehnaaz with a shake of her head. She was wearing a long black T-shirt for pajamas, with nothing on underneath to cover her long, milky legs. She got off her bed, put on her slippers, and made her way to the bathroom with her toiletries.
After washing up, she decided to follow Lady Singh’s example and be a good model student. She turned on her laptop and began polishing her graduation thesis.
She busied herself with her thesis; it was almost evening when Shehnaaz felt her neck had gotten a little stiff. She told Lady Singh she was going out for a walk.
Lady Singh, too, had stayed inside the whole day and was feeling a little sick of it. She shut her laptop and said, “I’m coming with you.”
Shehnaaz and Lady Singh changed into their dresses and went for a stroll, away from right wing.
A few male students were still sleeping in their respective rooms when they left, so right wing wasn’t completely empty.
The two of them exited right wing from the yard gate, the one facing the main road, and made their way to
the small, winding path leading towards left wing.
Left wing was very quiet. There were only two male students there; they had stayed behind to watch the courtyard. Everyone else had gone to climb Sahyadri Mountain.
Shehnaaz and Lady Singh stood beside Little Mirror Lake. As they watched the sky gradually darken, they both let out a long sigh, at the exact same moment.
The two of them looked at one another, before bursting out in laughter. Off in the distance, they spotted their classmates, back from climbing Sahyadri Mountain.
“Looks like rain tonight,” said Shehnaaz, her eyes on the increasingly large gathering of dark clouds up in the sky. She continued, frowning, “Those clouds, they’re the kind that messes with mobile phone signals.”
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I hope you enjoy reading it.
Love you all.