Revenge is divine

Revenge is divine. He thought as he looked at the person who lay in front of him, bound and gagged. Revenge is divine. He was wearing all black, cotton trousers and hooded sweat shirt. His face was masked with a black cloth and aviator glasses. He was wearing riding gloves and heavy safety shoes, perfectly camouflaged for the dark January night. His eyes hidden under the black aviators were sharp and constantly scanning the surrounding for any unexpected visitors. He was panting heavily as he had to carry the unconscious old man weighing above eighty kilograms to the top of the building. Electricity, water and every other necessary thing including intercom and Wi-Fi has been cut off as the building has been scheduled for demolition within a couple of weeks or less along with four other buildings in the municipality. He had to climb the stairs all the way up to 16 floors to reach the top of the building. He inhaled a huge puff of air. He waited till his breath became normal. Sweat ran down his temples as the air was hot and humid. Is this the month of January or bloody March? He wondered. January was supposed to be chilling as it was the second month of winter. But the temperature soaring to an unbelievable thirty five degree Celsius and the nights were also hot. Revenge is divine. He muttered with satisfaction as he knew everything he planned was being executed well. Divinity needs patience and needs to endure suffering but the fruit will always be sweet. Today is a fruitful day, the first of the many days to come. He looked at the man and whispered. "This building will be demolished soon but your death will not go unnoticed. I will make sure of that. I will let the world know that the revenge has been done." He knew the unconscious man could not hear him. His breath has been restored to normal. The black suited man was young and energetic; he was around thirty years old and well built. Muscles protruded out of his torso as his hours of daily work out have been showing off. Golden Kayaloram apartments were one of the five buildings enlisted for demolition by the Supreme Court as they have violated the Coastal Regulatory Zone – CRZ rules. All the five waterfront apartments fell under the CRZ-III zone which was vulnerable as no construction is granted within two hundred meters from the coast. The date was closing by but the flat owners are still at strike against the razing down process. There will be a meeting scheduled for tomorrow between the government officials and the flat owners and most likely the demolition process would go as per the earlier decisions. Just a week ahead the date stood waiting. He looked at the picturesque beauty of the Maradu Municipality from atop the building. Even the darkness of the night could not hide her beauty. Maradu was part of Cochin; the queen of Arabian Sea! He looked at his watch; the radium dials showed its past 11.30. A soft breeze caressed him and moved away. The whole universe was silent, except a few chirping of crickets and critters of the cicadas. He noticed a movement in front of him and he became alert. The man is awake! Good. He smiled. He walked closer to the man and crouched down. The man lay on his stomach, his hands and legs were tied with rope. A dusty rag filled his mouth to prevent any noises coming out. He slowly turned the man and laid him on his back. The old man slowly opened his eyes and stared at the vast ocean of darkness. Where the hell am I? Am I dead? He tried to move but quickly withdrew from his endeavor when he realized he was tightly bound. It took him few minutes to adjust his vision to see a complete black figure near him. His eyes spurted with fear and his heart raced alarmingly at a fast rate. Who the hell are you? Questions, a lot of them filled inside his brain which he doubted would be answered tonight. Where am I? What is this place? Why am I tied up? What do you want from me? Am I kidnapped? Are you going to kill me or will you keep me as a hostage? The old man tried to speak but his voice was muffled by a cloth stuffed inside his mouth. He looked his captive's face. The only visible part was his forehead but that too was darkened by the night. He turned and twisted to free himself but soon realized it's useless. Within a few minutes he adjusted his vision through the blackness but could not recognize the dark silhouette crouched in front of his eyes. The rag inside his mouth was dirty and tasted the odd flavours of dust and sweat. He wanted to spit the saliva out but the rag was too much that he was forced to drink it. At least remove this f*****g cloth from my mouth. His unvoiced scream was silenced within the walls of his mouth. I won't shout. His shoulders were paining as his hands were tied for a long time behind his torso. He couldn't think a way how he ended up like this. He was more concerned about how he could escape from this situation. He needs his tongue to be free. He could negotiate with this person and find a ticket to freedom. The man slowly bowed down near his face and mumbled something in his ears. "I need to have a conversation with you." He smiled. Old man shook his head. All he needed was a chat. "I am going to take out the rag from your mouth but don't scream. Nobody will hear your voice. If you still want to scream this knife will go into your mouth." The man whispered again. He showed the small knife in front of the old man's eyes. Then he gently pressed the cold blade on his cheek so that he could feel the chill of the fate waiting for him. You don't need this boy. He wobbled his head carefully in approval. He could guess his captor is a young guy probably in his twenties or thirties. This is some k********g for money. I can easily get out of here. He didn't know he was terribly wrong. Black suited guy looked sharply through his glasses. He is telling the truth. He won't scream. He grinned behind his masked cloth and slowly removed the gag from the old man's mouth. "Do you know who I am?" The old man asked confidently but was surprisingly calm. The captor laughed lightly. "I do. You are Ouseph. A blood sucking minister in the Indian political industry, who only promises but delivers none." He helped the man sit erect. "How much was this tenure's MLA budget and how much of that is in your pocket?" "Who are you? What do you want?" The captive's tone was firm but doubtful. He crossed his legs to sit comfort. "I am your death." He replied calmly as the entire universe stood serene. *****-----***** To be continued..... *****-----*****