Chapter 57: Trapped
1099 Words
I was woken up by the frosty concrete floor beneath me. My eyes felt heavy, my head was throbbing, and I felt hammered. I was struggling to focus my mind on my surroundings. I pulled myself up from the floor and strained to sit upright.
The brief reprieve provided me with enough strength to stand up. My squinting eyes could finally locate a door. But as I tried walking towards it, I felt a force on my left leg not allowing me to move forward. I looked down and saw my left leg being chained to a peg sticking out of the floor. The room was completely vacant and there was no furniture or any window which could clue me in as to where I was held, hostage.
The last thing I remembered before being unconscious was the taste of the halwa prepared by Koushik Dada. Suddenly it dawned on me that the halwa might be the very source of my current predicament. My mind struggled to find any coherent reason as to why Koushik Dada, a person who adored and loved me could do such a thing to me. A part of me wondered if I was wrong and both, I and Koushik Da were in danger.
I knew I did not have time to dwell on the what’s and how’s of my situation. The only thing that mattered right now was getting out of my chains and finding my way back home. Wondering if anybody was around who could help me, I let out a shout.
"HELLO... IS ANYONE AROUND? PLEASE HEELLLP MEEE..."
I could hear the loud echo of my voice resonating within the room. I waited with bated breath for somebody to respond to my cry for help. The longer I waited, the louder the deafening silence became. I kept repeating my cry for help numerous times.
For the first time in 11 years, I understood what it feels to be scared. I was never afraid of anyone but today was different. I am scared. Guruji once told me that my knowledge in Kalaripayatu makes me one of the most dangerous girls in India, but what has got over me.
As my voice began to turn hoarse with exhaustion. I was desperately craving my mom's safe hug and presence. At that moment, all kinds of thoughts started running through my mind. At one point I hoped that by some miracle if my Dad or Miss Sengupta and her team would just come breaking through that door and scoop me away from here to the safety of my bedroom.
As I laid myself down on the floor by the peg, with an exhausted body and battered mind, I started losing hope as the resounding silence assaulted my ears. With seemingly endless hours passing by, I was barely holding on to hope when I heard the sound of firecrackers outside the room.
A few moments later, the door was broken, and someone fell through the door right next to me. I shuddered and dragged myself away from the person.
Someone else was walking through the door. I could not see much of his face as it was covered with a black cloth. By the looks of it, the man seemed well built and had a striking resemblance to my father. He was looking like John matrix from the movie Commando that Joe and Dad occasionally love to watch.
I saw Capt. Sagar and his three friends in uniform with guns in their hands, trailing the man with the covered face. Suddenly it dawned to me that the sound of firecrackers was probably the sound of the guns they were carrying. I wondered if my mind was playing tricks on me and somehow my desperate hopes had shaped this reality.
"Are you all right, my dear?" Captain Sagar asked me.
As he walked towards me. His familiar voice broke my catatonia and shocked state.
"I am scared Sir... please take me away from here..." and then pointing my fingers towards the shackles, "My legs...are hurting me..."
On hearing this, Sagar sir sat down next to me and pulled me up in his arms in a consoling hug. His comforting embrace calmed my nerves, and I could feel my pain subsiding. "You don't need to fear anything... we are there to protect you..."
"JP bhai...Please remove her chains. The poor child is in pain."
"HEY... where are the 68’ Whiskey's?"
Upon his command, his team began trying to break me out of the chains. The man with the covered face exited the room.
As I peeked over Sagar Sir's shoulder, I could see the mysterious stranger coming back into the room. He was dragging a man by his collar behind him. Upon having a closer look to check out the man who was being dragged, I recognized him. It was Rahat, the Banerjee's gardener.
I hated him so much that I never could gather enough respect for him to address him as Kaku. He is a p*****t. He looked very scared and frightened beyond his wits by the towering and scary demeanor of the masked guy.
I heard a snap and looked down to see my leg being freed from the chains. As I felt relieved, I was welcomed by the familiar faces of my mother and Miss. Sengupta walking behind the man pulling Rahat. Along with them were 2 army officers, who rushed to my side and started inspecting my feet for wounds.
They had a tag on their arm that spelled A.M.C. The masked man kept mumbling to Rahat in a mean voice, "You like touching and molesting children na, you f*****g pervert."
Suddenly, he came to a halt. With one swooping motion, he wrapped his fingers around Rahat's throat and pushed him up against the wall. As he struggled to breathe, with his body hanging one foot above the ground, the man started yelling.
"HOW DO YOU LIKE IT NOW? HOW DO YOU LIKE WHEN I TOUCH YOU? YOU SAD PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A MAN..." Landing a gut-wrenching punch straight to his privates with his one free hand.
As Rahat coughed under the continuous blows and punches, the man continued in the same pitch, "HOW DARE YOU LAY YOUR DIRTY HANDS ON MY DAUGHTER."
"Dad, is that you?" I asked alarmed by the familiar voice and the mention of the word daughter. Prompted by my voice, the stranger looked towards me still clutching Rahat's neck and holding him above the ground.
"Jairus, I think it’s time for you to discard your disguise."
TO BE CONTINUED...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Writer
