WITNESS

WITNESS Chapter 3 A Hostility Born In The Dark

WITNESS

Chapter 3 — A Hostility Born in the Dark

The third day of the Karnataka trip.

Although the day's long journey and endless sightseeing had left everyone exhausted, the children's excitement seemed untouched by fatigue once night arrived.

A large bonfire had been lit in the middle of the open ground of the camp.

The flames rose high, cutting through the cold night air.

Laughter drifted through the darkness.

Songs filled the open space.

Camera flashes flickered every now and then.

Friends teased one another, unwilling to let the night end.

There was a certain kind of freedom in the air—

the kind that belonged only to nights like this.

Ruhi sat among her friends, laughing as freely as ever.

“Ruhi, you have to delete this photo tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“I look terrible in it.”

Ruhi glanced at the screen of her phone.

Then at her friend.

“When do you ever look good?”

“Are you my friend or my enemy?”

Ruhi smiled.

“Depends.”

The group burst into laughter.

Time slipped away unnoticed between jokes and laughter.

Eventually, the teachers' voices carried across the field.

“Everyone, back to your rooms. It's getting late.”

The students slowly began to get up.

“Good night!”

“Wake-up call is at six tomorrow morning!”

“Six?!” someone shouted from across the field.

Ruhi laughed and waved.

“Good luck.”

None of them knew—

that the night had something waiting for them beyond sleep.

---

The night grew deeper.

The laughter around the camp gradually faded.

One by one, the lights in the rooms went out.

The corridors fell silent.

Outside, the only sound was the wind moving softly through the branches of the trees.

The camp was asleep.

So was Ruhi.

At some point, she had drifted into a deep sleep.

Then—

a faint sound.

The sound of a door opening.

Ruhi's eyes opened.

For a few seconds, she lay still.

Then she reached for her phone.

12:17 a.m.

She slowly got out of bed.

Walking to the door, she opened it just enough to look outside.

Under the dim corridor lights, three girls were moving quietly through the hallway.

Ruhi frowned.

“Hey.”

All three turned at once.

“Where are you going?”

“We're just going outside for a while.”

Ruhi leaned against the doorway.

“Now?”

“Just for a little while.”

“Did you tell the teacher?”

They exchanged glances.

Their silence was answer enough.

“Ruhi, please.”

“This is an unfamiliar place.”

“Nothing is going to happen.”

Ruhi looked at them.

“You only realise that after something happens.”

One of them gently caught her hand.

“Please... don't tell anyone.”

“Don't ruin the trip for us.”

Ruhi said nothing for a few moments.

She knew exactly what she was supposed to do.

As the school leader, stopping them was her responsibility.

“Go back.”

“Ruhi—”

“Seriously. Don't.”

But their curiosity was stronger than her warning.

The three girls turned and walked away.

Ruhi remained at the doorway, watching them disappear down the corridor.

She let out a long breath.

“Great.”

She picked up the shawl lying over the chair.

Closed the door.

And followed them.

---

A little farther from the camp, the lights became fewer.

The familiar surroundings disappeared behind them.

The road grew quieter.

Even the wind seemed to have lost its voice.

The three girls walked ahead.

Ruhi followed a short distance behind.

“Guys!”

She called out.

They turned.

“Ruhi, why did you come?”

“To take you back.”

“We're just going out for a while.”

Ruhi was about to answer when something caught her attention.

A distant glow.

Blue and red neon lights cutting through the darkness.

A sign.

A bar.

Ruhi stopped in her tracks.

“Seriously?”

The three girls fell silent.

“This is where you were coming?”

“Just for a little while.”

Ruhi's voice dropped.

But there was a warning in it now.

“Are you out of your minds?”

She stepped forward, intending to take them back.

And then—

laughter came from the other side of the road.

Ruhi turned.

Four or five young men were standing there.

There was an unmistakable carelessness in their movements and voices.

They were drunk.

One of them noticed Ruhi.

He said something to his friends.

They laughed.

Ruhi ignored them.

“Come. We're leaving.”

She turned to the girls.

But then she heard footsteps behind her.

One.

Two.

Then more.

Ruhi looked back.

They were following them.

“Leave us alone.”

Her voice was firm.

The answer was another laugh.

Ruhi began walking faster.

The footsteps behind them quickened.

Her heart began to pound.

And then—

she ran.

---

The dark road stretched endlessly before her.

The wind struck her face.

Her breathing grew faster.

For a few moments, the sounds behind her seemed to fade.

Then—

two headlights appeared in the distance.

Bright against the darkness.

A police jeep.

Ruhi did not hesitate.

She ran straight towards it.

The jeep stopped abruptly.

The young men behind her disappeared into the darkness the moment they saw the police vehicle.

The door of the jeep opened.

A young police officer stepped out.

Tall.

Immaculate in his uniform.

A face that seemed to leave no room for unnecessary emotion.

He looked at Ruhi.

“Who are you?”

Ruhi tried to steady her breathing.

“Just... give me a minute.”

“What are you doing here at this hour?”

The fear inside her slowly receded.

In its place returned the familiar Ruhi—

the one who never backed away from an argument.

“Why don't you ask about the people who were following me first?”

His voice became colder.

“Answer my question first.”

Ruhi looked at him.

“Are you more interested in protecting me...”

She paused.

“...or blaming me?”

His expression did not change.

“What is a student doing out here after midnight?”

Ruhi's eyes narrowed.

“I didn't come here alone.”

“That wasn't my question.”

“Three girls came here.”

“Where?”

Ruhi pointed behind her.

“Over there.”

“Your name?”

“Ruhi Varma.”

“School?”

Ruhi showed him her ID card.

He examined it.

“Plus Two?”

“Yes.”

He handed the card back.

“You shouldn't have been out at this hour.”

Ruhi looked straight at him.

“Why?”

“Because it's unsafe.”

“So you're saying girls shouldn't be allowed outside at night because it's unsafe?”

“I didn't say that.”

“But that's what you're implying.”

He remained calm.

“I'm talking about your safety.”

Ruhi took a step forward.

“This is India.”

Her voice was steady.

“A woman has the right to be outside at night.”

His expression hardened slightly.

“She does.”

A pause.

“But ignoring danger isn't part of that right.”

Ruhi answered immediately.

“Then protect us instead of blaming us.”

He looked at her.

“You talk too much.”

Ruhi raised an eyebrow.

“You ask too many questions.”

For a moment—

neither of them spoke.

The silence between them had more edge than words could have carried.

It was the silence created when two very different personalities collided for the first time.

Just then, another police jeep appeared in the distance.

Its headlights cut through the darkness.

The vehicle stopped.

Three girls were brought out.

Ruhi's expression changed.

“They...”

She hurried towards them.

“Where did you find them?”

The first officer answered calmly.

“At the bar.”

Ruhi froze.

“What?”

The three girls stood with their heads lowered.

Ruhi looked at them.

“Didn't I tell you to go back?”

One of them looked close to tears.

Ruhi's voice immediately softened.

“It's okay.”

Then she turned towards the officer.

“Please let them go.”

“Why?”

“This is our school trip.”

“They broke the law.”

“They didn't know.”

“Not knowing doesn't change the law.”

Ruhi tried again.

“Please. We'll take them back.”

He looked at her.

“Everyone, get into the jeep.”

Ruhi shook her head.

“No.”

His eyebrows drew together.

“Excuse me?”

“I'm not getting into the jeep.”

“Didn't you hear me?”

“I did.”

“Then get in.”

“No.”

His voice became colder.

“Miss, don't make this difficult.”

Ruhi looked directly into his eyes.

“I'm not making anything difficult.”

She glanced at her friends.

“I'm not leaving my friends alone.”

He studied her for a few moments.

Then—

“Fine.”

He turned towards the three girls.

“You can go.”

Relief crossed their faces.

But the next moment, his eyes returned to Ruhi.

“One condition.”

Ruhi said nothing.

“You have to apologise to me.”

“For what?”

“For arguing with a police officer.”

Ruhi's expression hardened.

“I did nothing wrong.”

“You know how you spoke to me?”

“Yes.”

“Then say sorry.”

Ruhi slowly shook her head.

“No.”

One of her friends spoke softly.

“Ruhi... please.”

Ruhi looked at her.

“Why?”

“Just say sorry.”

“Why should I?”

“Let this end here.”

Ruhi looked back at the officer.

“If I say sorry, you'll let them go?”

“Yes.”

For a moment, Ruhi said nothing.

Then she slowly lifted her head.

“Never.”

Her voice was quiet.

But there was an unmistakable firmness in it.

“I won't apologise for something I didn't do.”

For the first time, irritation flickered across his face.

Just then, another police vehicle arrived.

The door opened.

A senior female police officer stepped out.

“Arjun.”

The young officer turned.

“Ma'am.”

“What is happening here?”

Arjun briefly explained the situation.

She looked at the three girls.

Then at Ruhi.

There was more understanding than sternness in her eyes.

“Your school?”

“We're from Delhi, ma'am.”

“Your teachers?”

“At the camp.”

The woman thought for a moment.

Then said,

“Alright. All of you, get into my vehicle.”

Arjun said nothing.

The girls got in.

Ruhi followed.

---

For a while, nobody spoke.

The darkness on either side of the road slipped past the windows.

Inside the vehicle, only the quiet hum of the engine could be heard.

Then the senior officer looked at the girls through the rear-view mirror.

“Don't be afraid.”

The three girls remained silent.

She looked at Ruhi.

“You're the school leader, aren't you?”

“Yes, ma'am.”

A faint smile appeared on the woman's face.

“I thought so.”

Ruhi smiled slightly.

“You're teenagers.”

She said gently.

“Sometimes you want to go out at night, have a little adventure with your friends... it happens.”

The three girls exchanged glances.

“I was like that at your age too.”

For the first time that night, a little relief appeared on their faces.

Ruhi, however, continued looking out of the window.

A thought slowly settled in her mind.

Wanting to go out wasn't wrong.

Wanting freedom wasn't wrong either.

But—

going somewhere unfamiliar,

in the middle of the night,

without telling anyone,

to a place you knew nothing about...

that wasn't freedom.

That was forgetting responsibility.

She was angry with her friends.

But she didn't want to blame them.

Because sometimes, people learn the difference between right and wrong only after making mistakes.

Freedom—

must come with responsibility.

That was something Ruhi had always believed.

The vehicle continued through the darkness.

But another face remained in her thoughts.

Sharp eyes.

A cold voice.

A man who seemed incapable of taking back even a single word.

Someone who had refused to take even one step back from her.

Ruhi pressed her lips together.

“What a man...”

She whispered.

---

A little later, the vehicle reached the camp.

Ruhi looked outside the window.

In the distance—

the police jeep was still there.

And beside it stood someone.

Arjun.

As their vehicle passed, his eyes instinctively turned towards it.

At that exact moment, Ruhi's eyes found his.

One moment.

One single glance.

There was no familiarity.

No affection.

No attraction.

Nothing.

Only—

dislike.

Pride.

The stubborn refusal to lose.

The first clash between two strangers.

The vehicle moved on.

Ruhi continued looking through the window.

Arjun's figure slowly receded into the distance.

Darkness swallowed him.

That night, the only things they knew about each other were two names.

Ruhi Varma.

Arjun.

But some encounters are like that.

They begin in a moment.

They wound with a single sentence.

They linger in the memory through a single glance.

And then—

time gives them meaning.

What began between them on that dark road that night was not friendship.

Not affection.

Not even a relationship.

It was—

hostility.

A hostility born in the darkness...

one that would, someday, change the course of both their lives.

Neither of them knew it then.

Because some stories do not begin in the light.

They begin in the dark.