Edited on August 5th, 2020
| . . . C H A P T E R . . . 3.11.5 . . . B E - A - R A I Z A D A . . . |
A face I never imagined I would see again stared down at me. Over the years, his features seemed to have aged reflecting his true nature within. The psychopath that he is. Shyam repeated the question he asked no more than a minute ago and when I had refused to reply, he'd walked over to crouch in front of me, as if intimidating me would make me cower and give up the information he so dearly desired. "Where is he, Lavanya? Where is my son?"
In the other corner of the room, Anjali struggled against the rope he'd tied her hands with behind her. "He is not your son!"
He smirked, standing and turning to face her. He stalked stalking towards her, and I wish - I wish I could do something to keep him from advancing towards her. From touching her. "You can keep me away from him, Anjali, but you can't separate my blood that flows in him."
He was trying to pull the nature versus nurture debate here, and he is so going to lose that war in the long run because Aarav would never be him. Monsters aren't born. They are made and Aarav is farthest from that. Darkness is never going to touch him so long as we were alive.
Anjali held his gaze, refusing to falter and letting him win. "Go to hell."
The sound of a devil's laughter pricked our ears. "Anjali, Anjali, Anjali. Ah." He exhaled getting some sick satisfaction seeing her riled up. "Has Khushi turned you in a fighter?" His hand reached for her face, his thumb tucked under her chin. "You have no idea what it does to me."
Anjali cringed away from his touch, turning her cheek to him. With his back to me, I couldn't see the lust in his eyes but I didn't need to. Hearing it leaking in his voice disgusted me.
How could we have had sick bastards like him around us and not have known till it was too late? How could my brother have ever gotten involved with him? Partaken in his crimes and become someone I won't recognize if I ever see him again.
Again, he chuckled basking in her reaction. "What were the odds, right? Of the two of your lives becoming this entwined. Anyway, that ends tonight. It's either you or her. I do look forward to seeing what choice your dearest chote will make. And to think he had a detective looking for me!" He laughed, arrogant. "How naïve can he be to think he can catch me?"
"He will find you," I cut off his monologue. "Arnav will, and when he does..." I held back the temptation to smile at him when he turned to face me. "... you will never be a free man again. You'll get what's coming for you."
"Is that so?" He smugly said, "Never would've figured you to pick him over your brother. I'd have imagined you'd do anything to save him."
I bite back the bitterness and hurt stabbing at my heart and emotions I once held for Vivek. Even past that, Shyam was wrong. I may be feeling all different kinds of betrayal right now, but I hadn't lost sight of right and wrong. I knew where my loyalties laid - clear as day.
"He means nothing to me."
There is no saving someone who never wanted to be saved.
"Hmm, that's too bad." His thoughts were unreadable in his expressions. Not that I cared trying to decipher what went on in his brain. There was no reasoning with a psychopath and a serial rapist who had no remorse for his actions. After a moments pause, he added smacking his lips. "Well, enjoy your last night together."
He locked the door after him.
For moments, silence loomed between us. Neither of us knew what to say to the other, but there was a feeling that we were both on the same page. Thinking. Worried. Terrified of how this was going to play out. We knew Shyam had every intention of coming back in our lives with the messages he kept sending to get under our skins. Retraumatize us. We tried preparing for it too. But, it wasn't enough. We didn't think everything through. We didn't plan on him kidnapping anyone, let alone both Anjali and me.
Aarav was all alone.
Arnav and Khushi were to return tonight, but had they found Aarav? It was obvious Shyam didn't know where he was, so that was one good thing, but what if Arnav doesn't get to him first?
"Lavanya?"
As Anjali called for me, her voice echoing off the walls, I tried to sound calm. "Yes, di?" When Anjali didn't reply right away, I got worried. "Di?"
She sounded distant, expressing where she was lost in her mind. "It feels silly now, but I was jealous of you getting to spend every moment with him. Being there when he started crawling, when he took his first step, and when he'd fall, you'd pick him up like that. When he said his first word. When he called you mom for the first time while I..." She sniffed, tearing up at her memories and how she felt about them, "How could I have been jealous of you when you've always been there for me? Taking on more than your fair share while I was too lost in myself."
"Di, why are you saying this?" I didn't like her talking as if she was not getting out of here alive because I believed Arnav would save us.
He'll save us and Khushi and Aarav.
He'll find another way.
He'll outsmart Shyam.
He had to.
She sniffed again, "I know I gave him to you, Lavanya, and in all aspects, he is your son, but... but when he is old enough..."
"Di..." I whispered, warning her to stop talking like this.
Her voice started to break, refusing to stop. "Don't let him forget how much his Anjali di loved him."
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I made her a promise under the dim light in the room allowing me a faint glimpse of her silhouette. "We will both raise Aarav and we will both be there to see him grow up to be a Raizada. Everything you've wanted for him that will leave not even an ounce of Shyam in him."
She exhaled a sigh, hopeless and defeated, "I don't think that is how it's written in my cards, Lavanya."
"Then to hell with those cards!" I exclaimed in a scolding. "Because if you keep being like this, then I swear, even if I get out of here, I am done. Arnav can raise him alone for all I care, and we'll see how well that turns out when he destroys himself in his agony over losing you. Because if you think we'll just keep going on without you like nothing has changed, then you are wrong. Because if you care so darn much about Aarav, then prove Shyam wrong by raising him yourself and ensuring that Aarav will never become him. Because if you give up now, then when Aarav eventually learns who you were to him, he'll want revenge for his mom and then he'll be no better than Shyam. Maybe he'll even be worse if he becomes a murderer."
"No!" She raises her voice. "No. That won't happen. Ever."
I silently exhaled, having scared her off that ledge and knocked some sense back into her. Given her a reason to keep fighting. "Now that that's decided, think of a way out instead of wasting time talking nonsense."
She mumbled, and I am sure there was a frown on her face. "You are scary when you get mad."
"You haven't seen me mad yet." There's a choice few things I planned on returning to Shyam, with interest, for everything he'd wrecked in our lives for years now.
He was not getting away with any of it.
. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .
We made a plan.
And, waited.
Waited for Shyam to come back. Either to taunt or rage - depending on what he heard back from Arnav.
Impatient and getting antsy, I found myself questioning, "How long do you think it has been?"
Anjali was uncertain, "I don't know. Three hours. Maybe four."
"He should have come back by now. Right?"
She expressed her concern as well, "I hope chote hasn't done anything stupid."
I offered the only hope I myself had, "Khushi won't let him." I was counting on her to keep Arnav on his feet and thinking straight. Without her, without any of us there, we'd have had true reason to be worried. But with her there, I was hopeful that together they'd find a way out of this and find us because even if we had a plan to escape, we could only get so far on our own.
They needed to meet us halfway and find us.
"Do you think...?" She began to ask when I heard the faintest sound that I couldn't even be sure I heard.
"Shh." My ears perked. Being the one closer to the door, I listened intently.
She whispered, "Is he...?"
When there was no sound for the next passing moments, I wondered if it was just my mind playing tricks on me. "I thought I heard something."
We continued to wait in silence.
A moment later, there was a thud. There was no mistaking it this time. Both of us heard it and we looked at each other. We tried to make sense of the sounds, but it's hard having to rely on only one sense. It... it sounds like a fight. Like a struggle. But who could Shyam be fighting with?
A ray of hope. Did they find us? Maybe it was the police.
We startled when the faint sounds were suddenly too close, right outside the door. Someone slammed into the door. I almost squealed in reflex and had to bite my tongue right in time to keep any sound from escaping my throat.
An unfamiliar voice with a peculiar accent threatened, "You will stay away from this family or so God help you, I will end your pathetic existence. Slowly. And I will enjoy every-minute-of-it. Am. I. Clear?"
A brief pause as the man waited for a response. He must have received the one he wanted since he didn't speak again. There were sounds of feet shuffling and then, a moments silence.
I held my breath when the doorknob twisted. The hinges creaked as it slowly opened.
We waited, either for Shyam or for that man, I didn't know whom I feared more. There was something about that man as he had spoken. The way he had threatened. He had commanded a certain level of obedience.
I didn't want to think it, but I'd remember that voice for rest of my life.
His silhouette appeared only for a second as he slid something on the ground and then moved away from the door and walked off. Giving the silent indication that we were free.
But, why? Who was he? He wasn't with the police, that was certain. If he was, it wouldn't just be him. A team would have swarmed in guns blazing. But here was only one man. Just one man is all it took for Shyam to run fearing for his life.
And... I suppose that spoke enough for him that I shouldn't question who he could be... or why he would save us.
Frozen, we remained there for more than a minute... as if paralyzed and fearing Shyam would come back any second. Or even that man. But no one returned. We were left to our own.
"Should we...?" Anjali eventually said, her throat dry.
Mines would be too if I tried to speak. So, I didn't. I shook the chills away, willing the goosebumps to disappear and push up to stand on my feet. I walked up to the object he'd slid inside. A knife. Picking it up with my tied hands, I made my way to Anjali. Squatting behind her, I did my best to cut through her rope. It was tough getting a proper grip when my own hands were tied, but after a few failed attempts, I managed to cut enough of it for her to slip her wrist out and then untie her other hand. Breathing out in relief, I dropped the knife, letting it clatter to the ground. She turned and untied my hands.
We shared a look. More questions... but for now, we hugged tightly.
As much as I wanted to bask in freedom, we needed to first ensure it would last. "We should go," I suggested pulling back.
She stood on her feet, and I took a step towards the door. Realizing she wasn't right behind me, I turned back to find her bending and picking up the knife. I kept my question to myself about why she was bringing it with her rather than leaving it behind. As if a token.
When she finally caught up to me, I entwined our fingers. As I had promised her. We'd get out of here together. Peeking out the door, we checked right and left. "Right," I murmured. That was the direction the man had turned.
It had to be the way out.
It was after a few steps when I looked at Anjali and noticed a grimace on her face. I paused and she seemed to pick up that I had caught it. "It's nothing." I raised a brow, not believing her. "It's just... I had fallen when I tried to run after seeing Shyam at the restaurant. It didn't hurt... until now."
I released her hand to stand in front of her, "Let me see."
She shook her head, "No, first we get out of here." When I wanted to argue, she added, "It's not bleeding, Lavanya."
But if she kept walking on it and if there was internal bleeding, that could be worse than bleeding out. Couldn't it?
She must have sensed my apprehension but remained adamant. "Let's get somewhere safe and then we can worry about my leg."
"Fine, but lean on me," I turned to give her my shoulder and wrapped my arm around her back. "Try to stay off that foot, hear me?"
She draped her arm over my shoulder and allowed me to help her out as best I could manage.
. . . ∞ . ∞ . ∞ . ∞. . .
| . . . A U T H O R - N O T E . . . |
A brand new .5 from Lavanya for you to know about what happened when they were kidnapped! I always wanted to add a twist here because the story I made up the first time on how Shyam gets caught never settled well with me. I knew it had to be more. It lacked a punch given the buildup of his influence in everyone's life past 2 and half books.
Now, I have written it and if you are reading Dare to Hope, you may pick up on how it circles back ;) Any guesses on who this mystery man is?