Chapter 8

[MEMBERSONLY] [NOCOPY]

Chapter 06

The night turned into morning and the team was back in the office, awaiting further instructions from their bosses. The past few hours were spent in concern for their akdu senior who had a chance to unmask the murderer of his wife while he dealt with the taunts from their chief alongside the mission. And as if on cue, Sameer and Arjun stormed into the building, fury marring their faces.

“Team, I don't believe in Sikandar’s existence. Lekin agar kisi underworld don ka case hume mila hai, toh it's our duty to uncover the truth. So let's head out to the old mills. Shree, unn mills ki location pata karo.”, Sameer commanded with authority.

Shree nodded and instantly began his work. Soon the team was on their way to the mills, with breaths uneven and unsettling anxiety. The awkward silence indicated the emotions of everyone in the car as the trees rushed past them and the distance to their destination decreased. The old mills were located on the outskirts of Mumbai, hours away from their office and minutes away from them.

The car came to a screeching halt and everyone filed out, guns ready for any sudden onslaught. Sameer gestured the team to spread out and scan the place thoroughly. Immediately, everyone travelled off to random directions, determined to find a clue on Sikandar. Even though their chief was against the idea of Sikandar being real, they chose to trust their Arjun sir and help him in this mission.

Arjun sauntered inside the dark room hidden behind the packed boxes and covered with a thin layer of dust. His aim was to find the reason that brought him here in the first place. The dark didn't affect his efficiency as he could clearly see every tiny detail even without a speck of light.

The team was connected through the bluetooth earpieces. It was their only means of communication with the rest of the team members. They were sharing the progress when Chotu’s voice was heard, “Sir, yeh mills poori tarah se khaali hain. Humare ilava yahan koi nahi hai. I've checked the entire perimeter.”

Relaxing their attentive stance, everyone again continued with their investigation. Sameer was searching the rooms while Aisha assisted him. Shree was using his electrical gadgets to locate anything amiss, and Chotu and Sakshi scanned the place. Riya had walked deeper in the mills, forgetting about the dark slowly engulfing her and erasing her previously trailed path.

Arjun was still in the hidden room when his eyes fell on a glass vial. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the unreadable label on it. Squinting his eyes, he tried his hardest to make out the scratched words but to no avail. And the lack of light in the room certainly didn’t help. Making a mental note of giving this vial to Lisa for analysis, Arjun slid it in his pocket and looked for more clues.

Suddenly, a small shriek of fear sounded in the bluetooth. Everyone froze momentarily and Arjun asked worriedly, “Sakshi! Kya hua?”

Silence followed for a few seconds before Sakshi replied in a shaky voice, “Arjun, k-khoon…”

“What?!”, chorused everyone, refusing to believe their ears. The fact that there was blood in whatever location Sakshi was at meant trouble and concern overcame their faces. How was there blood present in such an abandoned mill, a place that seemed to be rusting for years. “Zaroor kuch gadbad hai iss jagah mein.”, said Lisa.

Arjun sighed loudly, frustration and tiredness clearly evident. It was times like these when he was tempted to shoot himself to rid himself of such an inefficient team. And today, all these stupid antics were annoying him to no end. “Will you guys shut up?”, he almost yelled into his earpiece. The lack of lead against Sikandar was finally catching onto his impatience.

Sameer glared ahead, as if he would burn Arjun through the phone. Having had enough of such unruly behaviour from his second-in-command, he taunted, “Rawte, hume chup karane ka kya fayda? Tum waise bhi humari baat kahan sunte ho.”

Arjun didn’t bother replying. He simply rolled his eyes and ignored Sameer. But he clarified, “Shayad tum log case ke baare mein poori details pata nahi karte. Agar ki hoti toh pata chalta ki DK Ltd. was famous for its meat business. Yeh khoon unhi jaanwaron ka hai. Toh stop wasting time on your irresponsibilities and get to the actual business.”

His indirect mock of their capabilities pissed everyone off but they didn’t dare raise an objection. They knew that arguing with the stubborn Arjun Rawte was as pointless as a circle. So, they merely nodded, like he could see them, and obeyed his orders.

Riya, unaware of this conversation, walked further towards the endless pit of darkness. She was hoping to find something against the don that could please Arjun. But until now, it was an unsuccessful expedition on her part. She couldn’t see very well and often bumped into table edges and sharp turns of walls. And she didn’t realize that her connection with the others wasn’t exactly the best. Stepping forward, she felt a presence in front of her and slowly pulled out her phone, turning on the flashlight. Immediately a loud scream escaped her throat as a bloodied face of a dead man came in her vision. The body-less head was hanging from the ceiling with its eyes popping out, face painted red and a twisted smirk on its lips.

She quickly turned around and again screamed. There were several heads surrounding her and she almost fell down in fear.

The team had heard her scream and worry overwhelmed them. For a second, Arjun felt his heart stop at her blood-curdling shriek and almost yelled into the earpiece, “Riya!”

Everyone waited impatiently for her reply but they were responded with another terrifying scream. Understanding the gravity of the matter, Arjun asked urgently, “Riya, please say something. Tum theek toh ho?”, but her voice was never heard. Sameer, taking charge, ordered Shree to immediately navigate her location through tracking the bluetooth and everyone ran in the direction that was indicated on his gadget.

Panic filled everyone as they neared her location, silently praying for her to be alright. Arjun sprinted at his top speed, wanting to get there as soon as he possibly could. However, his feet froze when a smaller, shivering body collided with his and wound its arms around his waist. Instantly, he looked down and realized that it was Riya and terror radiated off her shaking body. His body flinched at the sudden contact but understanding that she needed the comfort, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her closer. But deep down he knew that he was lying to himself. It was to assure his heart that she was safe and sound, something he would never outwardly admit.

The rest of the team finally caught up to the duo. Their eyes held both concern at seeing her completely shaken up and relief that she wasn't hurt. Sameer placed his hand on her shoulder and asked, “Riya, kya hua? Tum chillayi kyun?”

Riya lifted her head from Arjun’s chest but didn’t answer. A tear rolled down her cheek, puzzling everyone. Cupping her face, Arjun gently questioned, “Please kuch toh bolo Riya. What happened? Tum itni dari hui kyun ho?”

Her eyes met his and he could see pools of tears waiting to flow down. Fingers tightly clutching the collar of his purple shirt, she hid her face in his chest, in a desperate attempt of blocking out the horrifying scene her eyes had just witnessed. His heart was pounding at the mere thought of her being hurt in anyway. She lifted her hand, shakily, and pointed in the direction.

“K-khoon...rassi...la-latka sir...badi aankhein...wo mujhe g-ghoor rahi thi…”, her incoherent sentences and stuttering confused everyone.

However, they noticed her finger indicating towards the dark room behind the doors. Guns ready and backs stiff, ETF cautiously moved towards the room. Riya hid behind Arjun, peeking out every few seconds to see if she was hallucinating. Sameer had turned on the flashlight, illuminating the confined room and instantly everyone was paralyzed at the sight.

Tens of heads were hanging from the ceiling, all carrying the same expression of wide eyes and twisted smiles as blood covered the remaining features. The separated bodies of those heads were piled against a wall and the flesh began decomposing. A muffled scream escaped Aisha and Sakshi’s mouth whereas the men looked downright disgusted.

Another tear made its way down Riya’s cheek. The gory imagery was imprinted in her mind and she couldn’t remove it. Arjun felt her grip tighten on the back of his shirt and instantly turned around, embracing her and whispering comforting words in her ears. He didn’t know what made him do it...maybe it was his heart, maybe it was her shaking shoulders or maybe it was both...but he lightly pecked her forehead.

However, he immediately realized his surroundings and jumped apart from her. Fortunately for him, nobody had noticed his gesture, not even Riya. Composing himself, he turned to Sameer and said, “Yahan zaroor kuch gadbad hai Rathore.”

Sameer nodded and a serious expression appeared on his face. Inspecting the torn bodies, he said, “You’re right Rawte. Pehle wo khoon, ab yeh laashein. Yahan aisa kya hua hai yeh hume pata lagana hai.”

The chief in him awoke and he ordered, “Chotu aur Shree, tum dono inn bodies ko lab bhijwao. Aisha and Sakshi, activate your informers. Mujhe pata karna hai ki yahan kya hua tha. Riya…”, he trailed off as he noticed her shudder. Softening, he gently approached her and caressed her head. “Riya, I want every detail of every victim to this brutal attack. You think you can do that for me?”

Riya glanced at him and nodded. Wiping her face to erase her tears, her posture toughened up. She glanced at Arjun, silently thanking him for the comfort, and Sameer before walking out to complete the work assigned to her.

Hours passed, the morning turned into night and the seriousness of the situation intensified. The team had gathered in the conference room, trying their best to gather any evidences behind this mass murder but to no avail. The juniors could feel the waves of anger radiate off of their seniors and didn’t dare utter a word, in fear that they could fall prey to these hungry lions.

Like a ray of hope amidst the dark clouds of hopelessness, the door swung open and Lisa walked in with an urgent stride. “Arjun sir, aapne jo bottle check karne ke liye di thi uss mein se ek chemical ke traces mile hain.”, she informed.

The team waited with bated breath for her to complete her sentence. However, Arjun didn’t look happy nor surprised at her words and merely said, “Jaanta hoon. Uss bottle mein x-zora II tha.”

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