Back with part 6 of this update!!! This should be a thrilling one!đ Happy reading lovelies! <3
Part 6
The scream that had been on Pooja's lips was stifled before it could escape. She felt a pounding on her head, as if she had been hit forcefully with a metal object. A black cloth was wound tightly around her lips, preventing even her muffled cries of pain and both her wrists and ankles were bound tightly behind her back with a thick rope. Her mind raced with a thousand different possibilities of where she was, but with each thought, a newfound layer of fear gripped her heart. The room was pitch black. She could barely see two feet in front of her. God. Please. I don't want to die.
She pulled at the rope on her wrist, trying to free her hands from its tight hold. No use. The rope was tied too tightly. She pulled again - this time with more force. She clasped her eyes shut, groaning at the pain that followed. She could feel the blisters that the repeated scrapes of the rope's material were causing on her wrist, but she couldn't stop. With her shoulder, she wiped off the beads of cold sweat that were forming on her face. No. Whatever it took, she had to get out of here. And she didn't know how long she had before whoever had done this came back. With another groan of anguish, she pulled her wrists apart again, trying to pry off the rope. But it served no purpose other than increasing her fatigue.
With a frustrated sob, she slid as quietly as she could across the floor, feeling around for anything that could help free her. Her back was stuck to the wall, sticking only to the edges of the room. Her heart pounded in her chest and she had to remind herself to breathe. Every second in this room seemed like a hopeless and desolate eternity. Please God. If you exist...Please. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. She repeated the words in her mind like a mantra as she struggled from wall to wall. With both her hands and legs tied, the journey was slow and seemed never ending. Suddenly, she felt a searing pain ripple through her back.
"Arghh!" She cried, trying her best to suppress the scream that was waiting to be released. Something had cut her across her back. Slowly, she moved against the wall, realizing, with some relief that if it was something sharp, she could use it to cut off the rope that was currently holding her prisoner. She moved her hands across the object. A nail? A nail in the wall? Her heart lurched and she sent a silent prayer to the lord above. She immediately got to work, sitting back against the wall and grating the rope against the sharp, protruding nail. Please. She begged. She didn't know exactly what she was pleading for. But it seemed to be the only word in her mind. Please, please, please, please. And then she thought of Kabir. She wondered if he had realized she was missing yet. It had only been a few minutes she had been tied up, but to Pooja, it felt nothing less than a lifetime. Each second was a battle for life. Kabir... she thought, stifling a sob. Help me.
*********
Kabir's mind was a whirlwind. And there was only one word that resonated within every cell in his being: Pooja. Where was she? Where had he taken her? He had less than 8 minutes now to find her. He had scoured every room in the top floor and was examining every room in the first floor. But she was no where to be found. I was gone for two minutes! He thought frantically, his anxiety increasing with every empty room. Think, Kabir. Where could he have taken her? He wouldn't have had the time to drag her all the way down to the basement. No. I'm missing something. But what?! He had 4 minutes left.
*********
The rope was definitely loosening. It just wasn't happening quick enough. The threads were becoming weaker. A few more moments and she would have it entirely off. The problem is, she didn't have a few more minutes, because it was at exactly that moment that her assailant chose to enter the room. She froze, turning towards him and slowing down her attempts to free her wrist. He just stood. Staring at her. He had a black hood on his head, preventing Pooja from seeing his full form. She saw only his eyes and they were enough to cause a shiver to run up her spine. Cold. Merciless. If death had eyes, they would be his. There was a maniacal fury in them.
Then she heard the slow pounding of his footsteps against the floor. Closer. He was getting closer. Pooja felt the hairs on her arms raise. His hands were at her eye level now. He clenched them, as if trying to control his fury, and knelt down in front of her. Slowly, he pulled down the black cloth from her mouth. Pooja let out a pained cry. "What do you want?!" She screamed, unable to bear the silence any longer. "Let me GO you ba*tard!" He stayed silent and crouched near her. Pooja stiffened, feeling every part of her grow cold. He was so close that she could feel his hot breath on the base of her neck. The feeling of repulsion she suddenly felt was indescribable. Every part of her being wanted to push him away and run as far as possible. His posture, his bulky figure, his rapid, irregular breathing and his reddened, animalistic eyes warned Pooja only of the impending danger standing in front of her. He moved closer to her, lips now near her ear. "2 more minutes, princess." He finally murmured.
*********
Two more minutes. That's all the time Kabir had left. His mind screamed in fear and he silently prayed for time to stop. He had checked every room in the house. Except one. The attic. Very few people knew there was an attic in the house and it hadn't been used for years. Kabir didn't even think he had the key to open the attic's door. But he had exhausted every other possibility and he knew there was a revolving pull-down ladder in Pooja's room that led directly up to the attic. Please, god. If I've done even one good deed in my life, let Pooja be in the attic. And let her be safe. He begged. He bounded up the steps and into Pooja's room. With all the strength he could muster, he rotated the lever hidden behind a bookshelf in her room. Slowly but surely, the steps lowered down. 1 minute and 20 seconds. The steps were rickety and unstable from lack of use but Kabir didn't care. He bounded up the steps taking two at a time. The stairs complained under his weight but held strong. Thirty seconds later, he was in front of the attic door. 50 seconds to go. How was he going to pry this door open? He frantically shook the doorknob, willing it to open. But the door was locked from the inside. From the inside??! That had to mean that...Pooja...He stepped backward, and ran towards the door, trying to knock it down with his shoulder. But the hard wooden build of the door allowed it to stand strong. God, please. He pleaded. He ran backward, trying once more and hoping for better luck. This time, the door seemed to falter a little. It was coming loose! Kabir had only 10 seconds to go. With a final cry of frustration, he kicked at the door, hoping and praying that his efforts would be sufficient.
*********
The sound of a door crashing down startled Pooja, but was soon replaced by a flood of relief upon seeing the person responsible for it. "Kabir!" She sobbed. Kabir felt as if this was the first time in a whole of 10 minutes that he had taken a breath. Pooja. She was safe. As he rushed towards her to help her up, he was intercepted by Pooja's aggressor.
"Kabir," he said lazily. "Glad you could make it to our little party." He chuckled. He motioned towards the door that now lay flat on the floor. "I see your army training finally paid off," Pooja noticed Kabir's face transform from relief to immediate fury. "I won't hesitate to show you the other skills that an army officer possesses if you don't step out of my way in the next two seconds, as*hole." Kabir growled. The man raised his hands as if in surrender. "What's the rush, Kabir? We've got all night! Let's make this fun. What do you say?"
"I say, 'Piss off'" Kabir said, before moving around the man in black and heading towards Pooja. "Are you okay?" He whispered. "Are you hurt?" She shook her head. He reached for the rope around her ankles. "Come on, let's get out of here."
The man cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, I can't let you do that, Kabir." Kabir whirled around. "Our deal was that if I play your stupid game and find Pooja within 10 minutes, we would be done. And I've found her." The man sighed, pulling up a stool and sitting down. Get that damn mask off your face, Kabir thought. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. "Sometimes I wonder," the man said thoughtfully. "If you're really this dimwitted or you just pretend to be, Kabir." He shook his head. "I said, if you find Pooja within 10 minutes, you'd see her alive." He motioned towards the tied up girl in front of the two men. "I held up my end of the deal. But remind me, Kabir. I can't seem to remember ever mentioning that I'd let her go?" He rubbed a finger against his chin. Kabir felt his entire body trembling in anger.
"You absolute piece of shit," he murmured. "What is it you want from us?"
The stranger laughed. "Sorry," he said, trying to find his composure. "I just find it hilarious that you consider yourself important enough for me to want ANYTHING from you. I stopped respecting you the minute you became Pooja's pet dog at her company," he spewed, disgusted. He motioned towards the girl. "All I want, is to play a game. With her. And now, since you've so kindly invited yourself into the party, you can contribute!" He raised two fingers towards the door. Immediately, 5 bulky men entered. Two of them gripped Rani by the shoulders and the other three carried a gun and rope.
"RANI!" Pooja screamed. She couldn't breathe. It felt as if someone had punched her in the gut. Her baby sister...being held captive by two gigantic men. And now she was being tied up. She felt dizzy. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the other three men shoving Kabir back against a chair and tying him up. On one side there was Rani and on the other, there was Kabir.
Pooja turned to the man in black. "Who are you," she finally whispered. He sauntered close to her and with a light grin, pulled off his mask.
Pooja's face ran cold. The entire room grew quiet. No one knew what to say. "Dhruv," Pooja choked, barely able to utter his name. He smirked, shoving his hands into his pocket. "I see you still remember my name." Kabir struggled against the man, growling Dhruv's name. "Dhruv!" He yelled. "This isn't you. Stop this right now! Please, let us all go."
Dhruv's head whisked towards his brother. "Shut the f*ck up Kabir. I'm done taking advice from you. I'm done hearing everyone say that you're the perfect brother...the perfect son...the perfect man...the person who can do no wrong. Oh no. How can Kabir Mittal be WRONG? NO! It's always DHRUV that's wrong. Dhruv is the bad one. Kabir is the saint. Well Kabir, I'm about to make that a reality. I AM bad. REALLY bad. And right now, I could care LESS about you."
He turned to Pooja. "Now, where were we?" He asked, returning the smile onto his face. He's crazy. Pooja realized. He's absolutely insane. He snapped his fingers, remembering. "Ah, yes, that's right. Our game. Remind me again Pooja, why you deceived me? Why did you leave me? For revenge, I believe it was? Against my father. Because he killed your father." He grinned. "So you think you're some kind of saint, then Pooja?" He rolled his eyes. "Like brother, like wife," He shook his head. "Both of you believe you're the definition of perfection while the rest us here are just the leftover trash". He gave her a disgusted glare. "But that's about to change." He walked around, facing Rani. "Twenty years ago, my father made a choice." He picked up the gun on the table in front of Kabir and Rani. "For the well-being of his family, he killed his best friend. It was a decision he made due to which you decided to take revenge on my whole family." He moved towards Pooja, bending close to her and meeting her eyes. The smile plastered on his face was sinister. "And now I'm giving you the same choice. What will it be, Pooja? Will you save your sister...your only family...or will you choose your friend?"
End
So guysss hope that was somewhat thrilling!!! Tried my best! This is my first time writing a thriller :P Please leave comments! And also, what do you think Pooja will choose and how will they get saved?đ
Arjun
Cricket
