Chapter 10: The Road That Doesn’t Forgive
627 Words
The highway outside Delhi stretched like a dark ribbon into nowhere.
Empty.
Silent.
Merciless.
Aarav pressed the accelerator harder. The engine roared in protest as the speed climbed.
Behind them—
Two black SUVs.
Headlights fixed.
Hungry.
“They’re not backing off,” Kabir muttered, gripping the gun tightly.
“They won’t,” Aarav replied, eyes locked on the road. “Not tonight.”
In the backseat, Meher held Aanya close. Her sister’s breathing was shallow, uneven. Every bump on the road made her flinch.
“Aanya… stay with me,” Meher whispered.
Aanya’s fingers twitched weakly.
Her eyes fluttered open for a second.
And she whispered something.
So faint Meher had to lean down.
“Locker…”
Meher frowned. “What locker?”
Aanya swallowed painfully.
“Blue file… evidence… don’t trust—”
A loud bang cut her off.
A gunshot.
The rear windshield shattered.
Glass exploded inside the car.
Meher screamed, shielding Aanya.
Kabir turned and fired back blindly through the broken glass.
The sound of gunfire echoed into the night.
“Keep your head down!” Aarav ordered.
The SUVs split.
One moved to the left.
Trying to overtake.
“They’re boxing us in,” Kabir shouted.
Aarav’s mind moved fast.
Too fast.
He suddenly swerved the car hard right, taking a sharp service lane that barely looked like a road.
The SUVs overshot for a second.
Enough time.
“Hold on!” he yelled.
The car bounced violently over the uneven path.
Meher clutched Aanya, praying she wouldn’t fall off the seat.
Behind them, one SUV managed to follow.
Closer now.
Relentless.
Kabir fired again.
This time, a tire of the SUV burst.
The vehicle swerved wildly and crashed into a divider.
But the second one—
Still coming.
Aanya grabbed Meher’s wrist again.
Her eyes barely open.
“Blue file… bank locker… code is your birthday…”
Meher’s tears fell onto her sister’s face.
“I don’t understand.”
Aanya forced the last words out.
“He has names… big people… that’s why he wants me…”
And then—
She passed out.
Completely.
“No, no, no!” Meher panicked.
“She’s breathing,” Aarav said sharply. “Just unconscious.”
The SUV behind them pulled closer.
A man leaned out the window with a gun.
Kabir fired.
Missed.
The man fired back.
The bullet grazed the side mirror.
Aarav made a decision.
A dangerous one.
He suddenly braked hard.
The SUV, too close and too fast, couldn’t react in time.
It rammed into the back of their car.
But Aarav had already turned the wheel.
Their car spun sideways—
The SUV lost control—
And flipped off the edge of the road into a ditch.
Silence.
Dust.
Burning smell.
Heavy breathing.
They had stopped.
Kabir looked back.
“They’re down.”
Aarav didn’t relax.
“Not for long.”
He turned the car again and drove.
Slower now.
Toward the city lights returning in the distance.
Meher stroked Aanya’s hair, shaking.
“Aarav… hospital.”
He nodded.
Already heading there.
But his mind wasn’t on the road anymore.
It was on the words Aanya had said.
Blue file. Evidence. Names.
This was no longer about hiding.
This was war.
And Meher—
She realized something terrifying.
Raghav wasn’t chasing Aanya because she escaped.
He was chasing her because she knew too much.
And now—
So did Meher.
Aarav glanced at her in the mirror.
Their eyes met.
No words.
But a shared understanding passed between them.
This wasn’t ending.
This was beginning.
They reach the hospital.
But before stepping out—
Aarav receives a message on his phone.
A picture.
Of Meher.
Taken tonight.
From outside the abandoned building.
They were being watched long before they arrived.
- Writer
