Sophia's Freedom

Chapter 23: The Ghost and the Darkness

I peeked at my watch to check the time. It was around 5:00 a.m. The sun was not up yet. The Nursing assistant was also nowhere to be seen. My eyes were feeling heavy so I decided to take a break from the readings. As I was deep in thought deciding what to do, a young man approached and said next to me.

He was probably in his late 20's. Well build, he has a thick mustache, and looking at his haircut, it was evident that he is probably in the defense forces. He turned to look at me, forwards his right hand, and said "Hello friend... I have been seeing you coming to his hospital every day..." he then looked at Sophia's room and continued "do you know the child admitted into that room?" 

I was hesitant to talk anything about Sophia to a man I barely knew, and seeing my hesitation he continued "I know your hesitation..." he paused and then took out a card from his pocket and gave it to me. It was written there AdamH, Maharashtra Police, Assistant Commissioner Anti Terrorist Squad.

 I was surprised, considering that a cop, and that too an ACP ranking officer from ATS had suddenly approached me out of the blues. He continued "that child" pointing towards Sophia's room "who is lying there is the link to the murder of an Army officer, named Lt. Col. Sujoy Banerjee, the a*******n of Helen Harper, the 5-year-old sister of the industrialist Amell Harper, and a child a*******n ring."

"I am sorry Sir, I don't understand... how can that timid and shy girl be the link to the murder of an army office?"

He then lifted his head as if to make sure no one is around and then he continued "I guess you might not have read everything yet... Go through the journals and you will understand everything"

"How do you know about the journal?" I asked in a surprised tone.

"The Phoenix knows everything..." he said, and then continued "please tell that child when you meet her that her dad is safe and is getting treatment."

He stood up and was about to leave, but before leaving he gave me a card and said "Once I am gone, please give this to Miss Sengupta" and tell Mrs. Banerjee that "Lady Maleficient's brother has kept the promise... the tide of darkness has begin... please be ready..."

Haan... what are you talking about what lady maleficient..." as I was about to say anything further, he said "just say what I told you... and complete the journal... you will get all the answers you are looking for once you complete the journal..." and saying this the man left. I tried to follow him but by the time I reached the exit of the hospital, he was nowhere to be seen.

I tried to recall what he told me. as I began to walk towards Sophia's room. I sneaked a peek into the room to check on her. She was fast asleep. Aunty too was sleeping on the couch. Miss Sengupta saw me and got off the chair and came out of the room.

Miss Sengupta asked, "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, ma'am everything is fine. I just came to check up on Sophia"

"Ok..." she replied. "I thought you guys went home?"

I replied, "No Ma'am, I could never let her out of my sight,” with a slight jerk of my head towards Aunty I continued, “knowing very well that this lady is this close. Besides, you will be surprised to know that Vikash and Master da is also in the vicinity"

Miss Sengupta raised her left eyebrow and looked at me with a surprised expression. "Wow, this sweet child surely knows how to make friends. Amidst all suffering in life, her one good did manage to congregate all these people from past for her protection and support."

I understood, the one good deed Miss Sengupta was talking about, but I refrained from reminding her about Sunaina, lest it saddens her.

Miss Sengupta saw me holding the journal and asked me what it was.

I replied "It’s nothing ma'am, when I met her for the first time, I was curious to know about her past and enquired about it. Pestered by my interest, she handed over her journals to me. I had them photocopied and going through them."

We made our way to the cafeteria for some tea. As we settled down for the tea she enquired about my findings from the journal. l narrated everything I have learned so far in brief. Starting from the day when Abhinu came to the Banerjee residence, the kind a child he is, his friendship with my sister Monika and Aarohi and Lt. Col. Banerjee his father. Why he was shifted to Kolkata, his school admission and the basketball matches, the basketball training in Purulia by some army official and also mentioned Sunaina being the first to be selected by SAI for training. I wanted to see her response as Sunaina is mentioned as an unknown.

The name Sunaina brought a noticeable change in her cool facial expression.

I asked her, "Do you know Sunaina?"

Miss Sengupta replied "Yes... She was my daughter. She is the very reason why I am sitting next to your friend and taking a transfer to Purulia for the well-being of this child."

It felt like, Miss Sengupta really cares for Sophia. We had our tea and came back to the room. Aunty and Sophia were still asleep. The moment I saw her, I remembered the man again and what he told me, and then I looked at Miss Sengupta and asked her "Ma'am do you know anyone named AdamH, from the Maharashtra police."

The moment I said the name AdamH, Miss Sengupta had a surprised look on her face. She stood up and went to the door and began to look outside and then locked the door from the inside and suddenly woke Sophia and Mrs. Banerjee up. She began to shake Sophia so that she could wake her up. "Wake us sweetheart its time?"

About a few minutes later Sophia woke up and then Miss Sengupta asked me "What did AdamH tell you?"

 I took out the card he gave me and gave it to Miss Sengupta and said "He asked me to give you this" and then I turned to look at Mrs. Banerjee and said, "He also wanted me to tell you that 'Lady Maleficient's brother has kept the promise... the tide of darkness has begin... please be ready..."

Mrs. Banerjee turned to look at Sophia and hugged her. She was crying and then she said "Honey... everything will be just fine from now on... I hope you will be able to forgive your aunt for not being able to protect you from my son and that man..." "Do you mind telling me what is happening please... this is confusing...?" I asked. 

Miss Sengupta suddenly began to narrate "Well son, AdamH is the Assistant Commissioned of Police Crime Branch Maharashtra Police..." she paused and continued "everything started when Amell Harper's little sister Helen was abducted and the cops did nothing to find her.""6 years later, Adam who owed his life to Amell Harper, started an investigation to find the missing Helen the day he became an IPS office. His investigation let him into a dark world of child a*******n and trafficking ring. He took the help of the National Investigation Agency who assigned Lt. Col. Sujoy Banerjee to the case." 

"Lt. Col. Banerjee almost cracked open the case and was on the verge of arresting the masterminds of the ring, when one day he was believed to be killed in action by a Naxalite attack. Adam who still believed that it might not be possible, approached me because he knew that I had some connections with Dr. Babul Sen, whom you probably know as Master Daa." "I approached Babul and she got in touch with some of his old buddies and he told me that there was no Naxalite attack. Once we were convinced, Adam decided to investigate further into the death of Lt. Col. Banerjee and found that, after the attack, they kept Col. Banerjee in captivity so that he could see his own child being sold off into the international flesh trade. They did this to punish him for taking up the case of child abduction..." she paused again and continued "They ensured that the whole world believes that Sujoy Banerjee is dead..." "After a long 4 years, Adam and his group of friends were finally able to rescue Sujoy Banerjee from their captivity and was also able to find the missing Helen Harper"Remember when he said "lady Maleficient's brother has kept the promise"

"yes... what did he mean by that?"

"Lady Maleficent is the code name for Helen Harper... so when Adam was able to find Helen and wanted to take her away, she agreed to go with them on the condition that first, they will have to rescue Lt. Col. Sujoy Banerjee and once she receives the confirmation that he is safe she will leave with them..." It was Mrs. Banerjee who said that.

"But who is Helen Harper?" I asked.

"Aunty... can I reply to that question please?" asked Sophia.

"Go ahead dear..." replied Mrs. Banerjee.

Dada... remember the journal I gave you... please go through that... you will understand everything... all your answers will be there..." replied Sophia.

As I was about to ask something we heard a knock at the door. Miss Sengupta asked me no to discuss anything we talked about and then she opened the door.

It was the on-call doctor who has come to examine Sophia's condition. It was 5 am and it felt strange that during the past one week, today was the first day a doctor came so early to visit a patient. However I must admit, the doctor was really young and pretty hot. She asked us to step out as she examined Sophia.

We stepped out of the room waiting for her to examine so that Mrs. Banerjee and Miss Sengupta could go and be with Sophia while I can continue reading the journal to understand the mystery of our Sophia.

                                                               TO BE CONTINUED... 

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