NOMAAN'S POV..
As the door flungs open, we all rush inside, to find two of his hired crooks, are ready to jump on us, well they don't even look like fighters, Of course my one man is enough to knock them down..
I just walk pass them in a hurry to meet Tulika, my eyes eagery scan the whole place, to take a glance at my love, and of course those rogues, who've dared to meddle with my family..
but strangely there is no sign of any of them..!! Annoyingly me and Viansh search every corner of the basement.. now my keenness turns to frustration.. oh god Tuli.. where are you?
But the only thing we can spot is, the fallen chair with remnants of the hard thick rope, to which my Tuli must have been tied, I close my eyes just to imagine, how much she might have been through.. Anger begins to flow in my veins.. as I cry out, "where is My Tulika..? I don't see her...!!"
Viansh swallows hard looking at me, he reassuringly squeezes my shoulder, deep down we both are convinced that either this was the trap or they have left already. God..! I maffle, "Viansh.. I can't loose her.."
"I will find her no matter what..!" I yelled aloud as hot tears sting my eyes and cloud my vision. And all my desperation, frustration and anger surface again as I approach one of those bastards, I kick hard on his groin, as I ask, "where is she?" with a painful scream, he laughs cunningly, "She is gone...you will never be able to find her.."
And before he can utter more shit about Tuli.. I punch him hard on his face, that his lip starts bleeding.
I am not in a mood to spare him, I grit my teeth in anger as I utter the words moving my eyes towards my man,"kill him.." I notice fear crossed his face as my man points a gun towards him, I am about to step away from him that I hear his disappointed voice,"wait.." I gesture my man to lower his gun and raise my brows to ask, "go ahead.."
He inhales lowering his eyes and slowly utters, "they have left okay..!!, and I really don't know to where..so you don't need to kill me.." he adds with bullet piercing gaze.
Viansh adds with disappointment, "they must have known that we are here.. there must be hidden cameras in every corner, afterall it was very thoughtful planning.."
I try to recall and I realize that no one escaped the building from the front cause it's surrounded by my men and at the back my dad is there, so there must be an escape route to any other side of the building..
Viansh desperately grabs his hairs, "holy shit.. Nomaan.. we are wasting our time.."
But he grows silent as he studies my suspicious demeanour, I am carefully eyeing the whole place. Then I dart my eyes towards that man.. and to my surprise that man is cunningly smiling to himself.
I grab his collars and pull him closer to meet my eyes and yell at him, "see.. I don't want to kill you.. but if you will try to play any tricks or try to misguide us then I swear I won't hesitate to send you to hell where you exactly belong.. so tell me the truth from where have they taken her?, cause I don't see any f***ing door here..!!
But in answer what I get is, his stunned silence. My anxiety is at its peak now cause if they have left then, my Tuli is going away every second I waste here..
And it is my restlessness that I can't keep my calm and yell at one of my man," just enough of this shit.. I am not here to wait for eternity.. so you just kill this bastered. I don't want any answer from him.. " then turn to Viansh, "Let's go now ..."
Viansh is looking at me stunned!! Generally
I don't give orders to kill, but today, I am not myself, right now my heart is wincing with pain, cause somehow I know that it's my fault, that my Tuli is in their hands.
Yeah I have trusted that traitor Ruhi.. and put Tuli in a hell of a situation.. hurt her, made her cry, broke her heart..
I can't even imagine how much of a hell like torture the poor innocent soul might have been through...
No I won't spare them, I decide fuming with rage and I again address to Viansh, "Let's go Viansh.." but I don't know what's going on in his mind that he furiously asks to that man grabbing his jaw, "last time I am asking.. spit it out.. where is the escape.?" That man hatefully moves his eyes towards him, grit his teeth.. but as my man raise the gun to his head and about to pull the trigger.. he screams with disgust, "there.." and points his finger towards the wall at the side..
my eyes carefully follow his finger and all I can spot is one lever like structure in the wall..
So with long strides I reach at the wall, and in a blink of an eye, I pull it... to my surprise the floor moves to create a broad ramp.. oh f**k.. there is still something underneath...
I am just about to follow that ramp, that I notice Viansh gestures me not to go there by exchanging a suspicious look, I study his face, I read his worries, well, I, myself, am quite aware that this can be trap.. but what if, he is telling the truth, in that case I really need to know to where this exit takes..
So Viansh starts heading towards me, but before he can join me I hear more of enemy's men enter from the front..I cringe and glance at Viansh, who mouths the words, "You just leave and take care..."he assures me that he will handle everything here..Then he joins with others in fighting.....
All I could do is,mumble to myself, "thank you for everything.. brother.." then with fading smile I take my first step down the ramp to face utter darkness....
TULIKA'S POV..
【Some minutes before Nomaan and Viansh barge into the place..】
**"I AM STRONG ON THE SURFACE NOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH..."
Yeah my whole life I have pretended that I am strong and brave, I can fight my battles, but at this time my strongness, my boldness, is screaming for help.. well there is no hope that anyone is coming for me, though I am wishing that please dad search for me.. of course I am not sure if Nomaan will search for me or not.. cause after all it was only bet he is married to me..!!!
That only thought rips my already severed heart, everything inside of me is screaming, that's not true.. but I forcefully bury that voice deep deep down myself, and let the pain consume me, pain of betrayal, pain of love, pain of memories.. God...! I can't bear all these.. It all has traumatized me.
As I shake myself out of that reverie, I want to accept the situation, let the enemies do what they want, let them have their revenge, what more can they do to me? Kill me na....? sooner or later we all have to face death... then let it be very sooner in my case, cause it's thousand time better to die than to live with the pain, the one I am feeling right now.
But my inner voice screams.. 'No'.. I am daughter of my Mom.. I won't die hostage, I can't give up, I will fight to free myself until my last breath.. until last drop of blood in my body....
With the burning desire to live, I rack my mind, to do something that this di**head won't inject me with drug.. and suddenly I realised that why is he taking these much time?
The realization helps me to push back the trance, I've been about to fall into. I try to lift my swollen and heavy eyelids, just to witness that the whole scenario is different.
My eyes unsteadily scan the place but Nagesh and his uncle are nowhere to be seen, omg.. am I at different place? am I already under sedatives?? My heart starts racing in a panicked tempo. I bite my lower lip so hard that my mouth fills with salty taste of blood..
But suddenly all the lights flicker on.. only then I get to know, how big is the place is..!! I spot all of them huddled in dark corner discussing something in hushed voices..! Well whatever it is, I am not interested, I twitch my lips and look away, just to locate that injection, it is lying near my chair, unused.. strange!!
Suddenly their voices raise, Nagesh starts scolding everyone with abusive words.., his uncle is yelling too.. they look tensed with pale faces, His uncle is blaming Nagesh for something...
But Nagesh choose to turn a blind eye to his words. He lashes out to pack all the stuff and leave the place as hurriedly as they can... and all of them hustle about to start packing their so called stuff..
wow.. what can be so serious? Well I don't care but there must be something more important than me that Nagesh didn't bother to take his injection with him...??!
It's clear that whatever it is, it pissed them all off, well I am glad for that.. but what about me? No one is even looking at me..Now I am curious that what will they do to me? But I don't have to wait much cause I notice one of his men is approaching me talking to someone on his phone.
And now, it's my turn to play my part...
As I noticed that his eyes were not at me, First thing I do is, I close my eyes, just to make him believe that I am already tranquilized, so that he won't give me that drug. As his footsteps are drawing nearer, my heart start panting in my ribcage, though I try to concentrate on him, that what will he do next??
As the man approaches me, I deliberately keep my body loose, but either way he doesn't look concerned about me, cause he is continuously talking to someone but in another language so I don't get any idea.
First he seals my mouth tightly with duct tape. God.. how many time do I have to go through all this shit? Inside I am trembling with rage though I keep my body calm and still, crossing my fingers to wish that he won't spot that injection..!!
And to my utter surprise he starts untying my wrists from the chair arms.. as my wrists get free, I feel all the blood rushed to them, it is like thousands of ants are crawling over my hands.. it took some seconds to feel my fingers alive.
Then it clicks in my mind that he is trying to untie me from the chair, to take me with him. So next thing he will do is untie my ankles. If my assumption is correct then I will have the chance to run out of here.
For that I have to prepare myself, this is the only opportunity.. I will try my best to escape out of this hell.. I don't care if I will die doing so.
So besides all the pain and weakness I try to recall all the training and breathing exercises which Abhi tought me for day like this, and I swear I won't disappoint him.. as I will put on a great show.. cause it's do or die for me
As I feel that he lowers himself down then I open my eyes a slit and note that most of them have left, I don't even spot Nagesh and his uncle. Have they gone or what?
Then I look at this fool, he is busy cutting the thick rope, again I check that injection is still there and my escape plan is ready..
Now all I have to do is, wait for him to free my numb ankles, And it didn't take much time for him to do so with a sharp knife.
Of course I couldn't feel my ankles, but I don't have much time, so as he gets up, I snap open my eyes to look at him, he smirks as he tries to cover my face with black hood.
But this time I am ready with my defence, I swiftly lower myself, pick up the injection from floor and stab it right through his arm and inject all the drug.. I don't know I have done it right or not.. but before he falls straight on the floor like a dead man..only words escape from his mouth is, "what the f**k..?"
Omg I have killed him or what..?? I stare at his body with consternation.. my breath seizes in my lungs as I see two men are marching towards me, of course this lying man has dragged attention of them, who were busy looking at the laptop screen.
Terror spikes inside me, now I have to run.. but to where?.. this place is much bigger than I thought and I don't see any door...
I can't get in their hands.., I strip the duct tape from my mouth probably layer of my skin too, cause I feel corner of my lip starts bleeding.
I shove back the pain, as adrenaline flew through me, I lift the wooden chair and fling at them with all the force I have left in my arms, well it didn't do much, just gave me some seconds to spot a sloppy escape in the corner.
I almost jump and stride to that place, I don't know where will it lead me? but it doesn't matter as I am desperate to get out of this hell...
as I slip down the ramp, I quickly get aware that it's leading me to the basement parking.
So it may be possible that again I encounter with Nagesh and his freaky Uncle.. but I can't go back inside to meet those rascals. I am cat-footing down the ramp that I hear Nagesh screams on phone, " what the bitch ran down to basement.. now just put the f****ing phone and do as I say, pull the switch back, so she will be out of the frying pan into the fire.. ha ha ha..." but before he approaches near the ramp, I descend to the base,quickly vanish myself behind the big pillar, and take a moment to glance at the massive, creepy dimly lit parking.
Nagesh utters, "so my little f***ng step sister wants to play hide and seek now.. okay.. okay.. but there is only one rule.. if I will find you then I will suffocate you to death by my own hands.. " and he laughs as he walk past the pillar, the one I am hiding behind..
I hear his uncle's voice, he is yelling, "we should leave now, I don't want to rot here forever, c'mon Nagesh where is Swami?"
But Nagesh's shout fills the air, "That mother f****er turned out to be more clever, that bitch has escaped.. but she is here.. we need to find her right now.."
He orders his men to scatter around and search for me.. I close my eyes, as tear drop slips out of them cause I know they will find me in a minute.. I start panicking, cover my mouth with my hands, sweat start slipping down my face.. fatigue engulfs me, and I stumble to the floor.
His uncle stops his men, "we don't need to search for her.. just switch off all the lights and do as I say.. go out and join the others.."
Nagesh lashes out in disagreement, "but uncle.." Then I don't know what has happened cause all the lights flicker off..I hear pattering of feet and sound of wheelchair fading away, now it's all dark and quiet.. I exhale and try to look for the exit, but I can't even see my hands then how can I search for any way out? it scared me to the core, my heart starts drumming in my ears..
What is he upto now? I know he won't let me go this easily..I have a weird feeling of uneasiness, as if something is not right.
I should take advantage of the dark and try to slip out of this hell hole, But I have a strong feeling that they are here, waiting for me to come out..
Minutes are passing by, as my eyes are adapted to see in the dark. I peek out from behind the pillar just to find utter darkness.. darker than dark itself.
Suddenly I hear cracking of the floor, oh dear lord... more of his goons are heading this way, they might surround me, to catch me..!!
But it sounds like single man's footsteps, that too very slow, as if he is not aware of the place, wait.. my exhausted mind gets new energy to arrange all the incidents one by one.. I think now I know the answer of Nagesh's fury and anger, may be.. well may be there is someone, who came for me.. but who???
With heart racing in my chest, I crane my neck to take a glance at him, as the man trot down to the base, flash light of his cellphone temporarily blinds my vision, I find discern silhouette of a person, a person I feel, I know very well..
Yeah.. he is not far from me, I can see him now, My mouth gets wide open as a small scream escapes from my lips, "Nomaan???"
Yeah it's him.. it's just some hours has passed but I am feeling that it's been months I haven't seen him.. of course he heard me, he moves his light in my direction. I emerge from behind the pillar.
We both look at each other, both surprised, both in pain.. He strides towards me. My heart forgets all the pain, as I feel his presence. I study him, he doesn't look like the Nomaan I have known. With messy hairs, dirty and creased suit, red and puffy eyes, he looks more like a wandering man..
I smile at him, but he seems more busy in studying my scars, his eyes roaming over me from head to toe, he caresses my cheek and touches the dried blood near corner of my lips.. A tear streaks down his cheek, I feel my own well up.. tears of joy and guilt..
without a word, he fills the gap between us and embrace me tightly in his arms.. shielding me from the whole world, but harsh reality struck me when..
suddenly I hear the screeching of moving wheel chair, all the lights pop on, making my eyes squeeze shut..
But when I be able to see, first thing I witness is Nagesh and his uncle are smiling satisfactorily at the base of the ramp, pool of blood at Nomaan's feet and Nomaan's still body in my arms....
I howl with pain, "Nomaaaaaaaaan..."
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** the line is taken from the song "leave out all the rest" - by linkin park.
Hello dear readers..
First of all thank you so much for all the support..
Yeah you all must have something to say about my irregular updates.. but believe me.. as a writer this chapter was the toughest for me to write.. yeah it has taken so much of my energy to think that sometimes I was able to pendown only two lines.. then stuck again to decide this or that? So sorry for that..🥺
I hope that you have liked this chapter.. please read , rate and comment.. 😊😊
And I can't promise but I will try to update next week.. !!
