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Chapter 20 - Kidnapping
"Rahul, if I die, tell my parents I love them. Let Piya know it was me who killed Chapadganju--her nasty fish," I babbled. "Oh and tell Abhik that I don't like him more than a friend." Rahul raised an eyebrow. "And you! Why couldn't you have said yes or no to the deal than a maybe?! I could've been back home right now! But no! I'm on the verge of dying--"
Rahul put his hands on the sides of my head, catching my off guard. "You're not dying, stupid."
I continued thinking about the worst scenarios as I saw the figure approaching holding a stick or something.
"Oh my god, what if that she or he or he-she hits us on the head with that?" I asked anxious.
"Preet, shut up," he said, his eyes not leaving mine. "I won't let that happen to you, okay?"
"Get out of the car!" a deep, masculine voice shouted. Weird. The person had a body of a lady and voice of a man?
Man-lady.
I looked at Rahul who dropped his hands. When we didn't move, Man-lady smashed the front windshield. Glass splattered. Afraid, we slowly got out. Rahul wasn't even close by anymore.
My jaw dropped when I saw the figure holding a . . . rod.
Out of nowhere, something or rather someone grabbed me from behind. Black fabric wrapped around my eyes. Rahul was calling my name and vice versa. My hands were tied behind my back. I was kicking and screaming and being shoved inside a car. Someone else was pushed to my side. I was pretty sure it was Rahul from the familiar smell of his perfume.
The evil villains growled at every little sound from me and my companion, so talking was a lost cause.
When the car finally stopped, we were taken to a dark room, the blindfolds off. They surprisingly took the ropes away from our hands.
Man-lady stood in his or her costume in one corner.
Rahul's presence by my side brought some relief but other than that, I was panicking. I didn't think my made up soap opera kidnapping predicted my future!
"Don't panic," someone announced. Plenty of unfamiliar faces with guns in their hands guarded the area. In the middle, two very known faces sat smirking at us behind a pool table. "Famous Mr. Rahul Khurana has been kidnapped."
"Raj?" I couldn't believe my eyes.
No guilt or remorse showed on Rituraj's face when he met my eyes.
"Sorry not sorry, Preet. You should've chosen a better companion to ride with," he said. "His choice of the road to go back was perfect."
One wrong address and I'm kidnapped.
Rahul's quiet yet angry expression scared me.
"Why're we here?" I asked.
"Because of Rahul's last year's deed," the awful man next to Raj replied. I looked between him and Rahul who had his lips pursed. "You couldn't possibly think I was letting you off the hook for sending me to jail."
Arihant went to jail?
"Human trafficking is illegal," Rahul stated earning a glare. Human trafficking? Trading or selling people for labor and exploitation? I had attended a conference on it last year. "What do you need? Get to the point," he said.
"Raj wants your upcoming project with the Raichands," Arihant responded, leaning forward on the table. "All I want is some money for my business. About half a million dollars."
"Deal," said Rahul without hesitation. How could he say yes? "As soon as I get back to my--"
"No," interrupted Raj. "No one's leaving until we get what we asked for."
Rahul stiffened. They couldn't keep us!
"But Preet has nothing to do with this," Rahul pointed to me. "Let her go."
Rahul was thinking of me. What if something happened to him?
"No," Arihant refused. "She'll stay too." He disgusted me. "You two'll stay until our demands get fulfilled."
Rahul started arguing but Raj told his henchmen to lock us in.
We were pushed into almost a storage room with big wooden boxes reaching the ceiling. The boxes had different hole patterns. What were they for?
Furthermore, no windows or ventilation areas were seen inside the room.
Meri toh kimet hi kharab hai (My luck is bad). Nowhere to escape.
I sat down with Rahul.
It was all my fault we ended up here. We could have been in our rooms eating dinner right now.
My head was aching and I was almost crying by the time he opened his eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. Why is he saying sorry? "For this kidnapping and everything. I didn't think Arihant would try to get me back."
"It's not your fault," I told him. It was mostly mine for the wrong address.
"All of this is my fault! That panditji (priest) clearly said everything bad will happen because of me!" he said frustrated.
"Panditji (priest)? Don't you go to the Gurudwara? There are no pandits there."
He sat back, taking my bloody hands in his cold ones. I couldn't help but feel weird tingles. There was only answer--
I'm paranoid.
"Back when mom was here, she used to bring me to the temple every Sunday. The main priest once told her that--" he stopped maintaining his gaze with me, "that all dangerous events that happen in my life or people associated with me will be my fault."
"Rahul, not always," I whispered. We fell in silence until I asked, "You said 'back when' your 'mom stayed' here . . . did she move?"
"Thought that was implied." I didn't want to meddle in his business but now I was curious. "She moved back to India--Dehradun, specifically. Dad and her had a misunderstanding and she . . . left." His mood went down as he talked.
"But hey, she picked my ideal place to live."
I carefully pulled my hands back. Yes, the goal was getting close to him but I needed to maintain my own distance. My heart did weird things whenever he touched me.
Sign of danger.
"Dehradun? You'd rather live there than in New York?" he asked.
"So much happened to me here these past two weeks than all my life in India." I stared straight ahead. "I wish to be in any other place than New York."
We spent a lot of quiet time sitting next to each other. I knew Rahul kept blaming himself for this and I blamed myself. It was all my fault for listening to my best friend. I jeopardized our lives.
Both of us remained lost in our own thoughts until Arihant and Raj walked in with a phone.
Raj said, "Tell your friend about our demands." He handed the device to Rahul.
"Hello?" The phone was on speaker.
"Sam," Rahul and I said in unison.
"Oh god, Preet, Rahul, are you okay?" Sam sounded worried.
Behind him, we could hear Piya's voice but Sam told her to be quiet. She must be worried too. She better be.
"Not really. I'm surrounded by hideous men," I replied. This earned me glares and looks from everyone . . . including Rahul. "You're an exception," I offered Rahul in a small voice.
I mean he is attractive.
He sighed not believing me and said, "Sam, Ari--"
"Don't say our names!" Arihant hissed.
"Ar--" Rahul faltered when Raj put a gun to my head. I clutched Rahul's arm. "Sam, these people want a five hundred thousand dollar check--"
"Cash," corrected Arihant.
"Half a million dollars in cash?" Rahul asked furrowing his eyebrows. "Are you stupid or what?"
"Yeah, a check is less noticeable and easier to carry around," I said. Arihant looked a little unsure.
"Checks get bounced," said Raj.
"Definitely cash," Arihant finalized.
Rahul glared at Raj.
"Sam, they want cash. And the Raichand deal--the one still undecided--give it up. Recommend them to the--"
"Banerjees," Raj finished. "And if the police gets involved at all, the bodies of these two will disappear without any traces."
"I see," replied Sam.
Now, he would have some idea that Banerjees are involved and someone whose name begins with "Ari."
Arihant and Raj took the phone back and left us alone.
"Preet?" he whispered, tilting his head.
"What?"
"You're stopping my blood circulation." His eyes flickered down to my hand tightly wrapped around his forearm.
"Are you really handing over the money?" I let go.
"I support philanthropy not human trafficking," he said, "so no." We sat still. "Sam'll figure out something."
"And Abhik too," I added to bother him.
"You said you didn't like Abhi that way."
"What?"
"You don't like my cousin," he slowly said. "You told me that in the car." He remembered?
"Why do you care?" I smirked and nudged him. "Jealous?"
He shook his head.
I put my head back against the box, not wanting to talk further. From my peripheral vision, I saw something scurry across the floor. I screamed and got on top of a box.
"Chua (Rat)!"
The guard at the door looked over and rolled his eyes. Rahul had a similar response.
"Preet, get down." Then, a smirk came across his lips. "I found your dinner."
"That's not funny!"
"You know the box you're on might be full of rats."
I didn't know what to do. Rahul offered me his hand to get down but I refused. Slowly, I bent down and looked through the holes in the box. Wouldn't rats make noise?
There were no rats inside but something even worse.
"Rahul, look," I said in a hushed tone. My companion obliged and peeped. "There's a person in there!"
Rahul didn't utter a single word as he checked more boxes.
Arihant's business.
Disgusting.
"What do we do?"
"I don't know!" he said sharply. "I'm just as helpless as you, Preet!" He sat down and let out an exaggerated sigh. Why was he getting mad at me? Arihant was the one responsible. "We need the police," he finally said.
"You said Sam--"
"We aren't the only ones with our lives at stake," he said quietly.
He was right. Sam was only trying to get two people out. No one knew how many people were stuck in all the boxes.
I sat down perplexed. Why would Arihant be so cruel to these people? Why did things like this happen?
Rahul put his hand on mine for comfort. His thumb stroked the back of my hand as we helplessly sat.
For some reason, I leaned my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.
I was drifting between sleep and my consciousness when Rahul put his coat on me.
__________________
"WAKE UP!"
I jolted awake in alarm. Screaming and crying filled the air. The boxes were being taken out.
Rahul was still fast asleep, his head leaning back. I smiled when I saw his hand still on mine.
"Rahul," I whispered, shaking his shoulder, "Wake up." He moved a little and opened his eyes.
"What's going on?" he asked.
Arihant came running in and barked at his men.
"Grab them!" He pointed to us. "The cops are coming! We need to escape."
Although Rahul and I were being pushed and shoved outside the small place, we still had small smiles.
Go Samrat!
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Boring chapter? What are your thoughts? Predictions?
Rats are creepy and scary. Seriously. Oh and I have a question: are rats and lizards common in girls hostels in India? I need heads ups.
Kidnapping is a classic. I feel like I'm writing a soap opera.
Human trafficking happens all over the world. I actually attended a leadership conference last november where I became familiarized with this problem. It's repulsive. How can people do this?
Please vote, comment, and share if you like the story so far <3
--Kiran