Aru was pissed.
Two days ago, their raid on the armory had failed miserably; she knew that. All because of four dumb kids.
She was sitting in her room, positively strangling her stress ball she kept under her bed. Her nose was still sore from getting hit by that stupid wooden shield, but she was lucky to not have broken it.
Her father had been livid, but not as mad as she'd feared he'd been. He looked... happy that his daughters were alive. Was happy the right word? Content with the fact? Relieved?
Whatever the case, he'd still been disappointed. Most of the gang had escaped safely and some had been put in the hospital with various excuses for their injuries, from falling from a ladder to getting into a street brawl. At least no one claimed to have been attacked by a rabid tiger.
At least Aru and the Ghatakas had a consolation prize— that Alu boy they'd taken prisoner. He was currently locked up in the Shah's basement, handcuffed as well as duct-taped to a chair. Under different circumstances, Aru might've felt a little sorry for him, but then again, he'd hit her in the face with a shield. One touch to her nose was all it took for any sense of sympathy in Aru's head to be quickly shut down.
She was forbidden from speaking to him yet, but a few times she'd given him food— not much, just bread, water, and maybe an apple here and there if her father was feeling generous.
No word from the Alu gang, either. No one had busted down their door, guns blazing, and tried to free the boy, so Aru reasoned that either they were biding their time or that they believed that the boy was dead.
Someone knocked on her door. It opened, and Suyodhana stepped in.
"Aru," he said. "Kara and I are going to meet at Reaper's house. While we're gone, how about you interrogate the hostage? He's given me nothing so far, so I'll let you give it a shot."
"Um, okay," Aru said, silently wondering why her father would trust her with this job. "What do you want me to ask?"
"Find out about as much of the Alu gang as you can. Here-" he tossed her a small black object. "This should help."
Aru studied it in her hand. "A taser gun?"
Suyodhana shrugged. "Whatever is necessary. This boy is a stubborn one."
With that, he left the room. Aru got up, taking her stress ball and stuffing it into the kangaroo pocket of her hoodie, along with the taser and a few packets of Swedish Fish she kept hidden in her desk drawer. She didn't plan to actually use the taser on him, and now that she knew her father had, a little part of her felt sorry for the boy, despite her still-sore nose.
After she saw her father's car pull out of the driveway, she walked down to the kitchen, putting her knife back in her shoe, in case he tried to attack her. Then she grabbed a sleeve of Oreos and walked down the stairs into the basement.
The keys to the 'cell', if you could call it that (it was really a storage room that was currently completely empty), hung on a hook right next to the door. Aru took them and quietly unlocked it, then slipped inside.
The boy appeared to be sleeping. His head rested against his chest, but still Aru was wary. Her father had taught her to always be on guard.
"Hello?" She called, not daring to be within five feet of him, in case he tried to attack. She did not fancy getting struck with that chair like she'd seen in movies.
The boy didn't move, so she took out her stress ball and threw it at his head. It bounced off, but it got him to look up in surprise, confirming Aru's suspicion that he wasn't actually asleep.
He tried for a smirk, but he was obviously uncomfortable. "Inefficient, but okay."
Aru rolled her eyes, deciding to play nice and try to win his trust. "I brought you something."
"More stale bread?" He asked dryly. "Yippee."
Aru dragged over the tiny folding table that was leaning against the wall and set it in front of him. There were no other chairs in the room, so she didn't sit, but even if there were, she doubted she would've. Aru took out the Swedish Fish and sleeve of Oreos, laying them in front.
The boy raised an eyebrow. "Are these poisoned?"
Aru tried to not look super offended. "Why would I poison them? You're worth more to us alive. Besides, poisoning Swedish Fish and Oreos would be, like, sacrilegious."
"That, you have correct," he said, moving his shackled hands to take an Oreo. "I hope I'm not making a mistake in believing you."
To prove to him that they weren't poisoned, Aru took a cookie herself. "Dad and Naci left for a bit. Otherwise, I'd probably be killed for being this nice to an Alu."
"You knocked me out, took me prisoner, and then threw a stress ball at my head," he said.
"Exactly."
"So, Wolf, why are you being so nice all of a sudden?"
She pursed her lips, hoping she didn't sound like a total fake. "I'm human, too. I don't commend the way my dad has been treating you."
"Well, if you really want to help me, then let me go," he said.
Aru stared at him. "Are you crazy? Do you know what my father would do to me if I did that?"
"Then I'll take you with me," he said. "I'll even forgive you for throwing a ball at my head."
"What about the whole knocking-you-out-and-taking-you-prisoner thing?"
"Hmm... hard pass."
"Fine," Aru said, taking another Oreo. "What's your name, anyway."
"If I tell you mine, will you tell me yours?"
"Hmm... hard pass," she smirked, throwing his line right back at him. "I'll stick with Wolf."
He wrinkled his nose. "Whatever. I'm Aiden."
"Aiden who?"
"Aiden... classified," he said.
"I'm going to assume that means you're not going to tell me your last name, not that your last name is 'Classified'."
Aiden gave her a look that said Well, duh.
Aru fidgeted with her fingers. "So... if I did accept your offer to leave my dad and join your gang. What would I need to know? I mean, if they'd let me. I did attack them, after all."
Aiden knit his eyebrows, obviously debating on whether to trust her or not. Apparently, he decided on or.
"There's not too much to know," he said. "The four of us that you and your gang fought- it was me, Mini Classified, Brynne Classified, and Rudy Classified."
"Ah," Aru said. "You're a family of 'Classified's, I see."
The corner of his mouth quirked upwards for a split second. "Mhm."
"Just you four, then? Any more who would potentially kill me if I showed my face?"
His eyes hardened. "Maybe. I'll file that information under-"
"-classified, I got it," Aru said.
"We should just be called the 'Classified Gang'," Aiden said.
"You should," Aru agreed. "Better than Alu, anyway."
"Hey!" He protested. "Alu is a brave and noble name!"
"Oh yeah? What does it mean?"
"Ummm..." colored splotches appeared on his cheeks. "Shut up."
"It means shut up?"
"Nope. That information is classified."
Aru had a mind to throw a pack of Swedish Fish at his head.
"Gang secret," Aiden said. "If you let me go, I'll tell you."
Aru pretender to consider. "Hm.... no."
"Dangit," Aiden murmured, shifting in his bonds. "Sitting in a chair for two days gets old fast. Once I get outta here, my back'll never recover. And Bee already calls me a grandma."
Aru wasn't sure if he was serious or not. "Pardon?"
He flashed a weak grin. "Classi-"
"-fied," Aru finished. "Yeah, yeah, I got it."
"Then stop asking."
"I'm naturally curious."
"Or you're interrogating me and framing it as a friendly conversation."
"Or maybe I'm not," Aru shot back.
"You're more annoying than I expected."
"I specialize in being annoying. I'd tell you to just ask K-Naci, but... but she'd shoot you before you could even open your mouth." Aru slightly panicked at almost saying her sister's real name, but Aiden just nodded, seemingly not catching her mistake.
"Noted," he said.
Aru was about to say something else, but then she heard her dad's car pull back into the driveway. "I gotta go," she said hastily.
She grabbed the sleeve of Oreos, leftover packets of Swedish Fish, and her stress ball. While she was picking the ball up, the taser gun accidentally slipped from her pocket and clattered to the floor.
Aiden's eyes widened, and she internally cursed.
"So this was a front," he said coldly. "You were trying to get information from me."
"I- no, I wasn't!" Aru said. "It was for self-defense!"
"Self-defense?" Aiden exploded. "I'm tied up to a chair and handcuffed right now! What, were you expecting me to magically break my bonds and try to kill you?"
"Yes," Aru said flatly. She grabbed all the stuff and hurried out of the room without a second glance.
Aru re-locked the door, put the Oreos back in their place, and ran up to her room to hide the Swedish Fish. Once her pulse had returned to normal and she'd gotten all the chocolate crumbs off her chin, she walked downstairs, where her dad and Kara were sitting leisurely in the living room. For some reason, something was burning in the fireplace.
"Um, hi," Aru said.
"Aru, Aru," Suyodhana said with a chuckle. "How'd your interrogation go?"
"I got a little bit," Aru said. "There's three others— Mini, Brynne, and Rudy."
"Did you get his name?" Suyodhana asked.
"Aiden," Aru said. "But he wouldn't give any last names."
"Mm," Suyodhana said, like he'd been expecting that answer. "We got a ransom note for him. It seems that Malini Acharya, the former celebrity, is quite fond of the boy. Maybe he's her nephew, or something."
Aru didn't know much about Malini Acharya, other than she was a famous Indian singer and dancer. Her dad said he used to listen to her music with her mom, when she was still alive. After her death though, he'd stopped, saying it brought back too many painful memories.
"Well?" Aru asked. "Where's the note?"
Kara laughed and pointed to the burning fireplace. "In there."
"Here's important lesson, Arundhati," Suyodhana said. "You need to squeeze every last drop of information from your captives. This boy's insights are worth more to us than the money we were offered. And so, we won't accept the ransom."
"What if he never gives up information?" Aru asked. "You said it yourself: he's stubborn."
"Stubborn, yes, youthfully strong, yes," Suyodhana said. "But unbreakable? No. Every person has a breaking point. And no matter what it takes or how long it takes, we will reach his."