Chapter 6B
Sweating profusely Armaan screamed out in pain as he felt the glass pierce his skin, the metallic taste of blood took over his senses as he bit down hard on his cheeks to keep from screaming down the building. After 2 long gruelling hours he was finally lying side down still attached to the metal chair he could presume only Abhi had tied him to, on the makeshift area of the kitchen in the little apartment surrounded by litter and broken glass.
Continuously trying rubbing his hands against the piece of glass he had managed to salvage from the wreckage Armaan felt the plastic ties start to give way, the tiniest amount of hope finally surfaced as he rubbed the glass more vigorously, he was desperate to get to Riddhima, no-one knew what Abhi was capable of... "Neither do I". The cold feeling of despair threatened to surface again, momentarily killing all hope and slowing the motion of the cutting himself loose.
"I don't care, I have to get to Riddhima, even if it just to let her know what she means to me"
******** "Wow Armaan this is so beautiful!" lacing her hands through Abhi's, Riddhima carefully treaded towards the picnic already set up on the most luscious green grass she had ever seen, beautifully canopied over by nature in the form of the blossom tree. The small daisy's dotted around randomly kissed in the horizon by the bluest sky she had ever seen only added to the simple serene setting. This was the Armaan she had fallen for, simple, yet caring, successful business man who didn't need to flaunt it to show you feel special. "This is just... I'm speechless... I don't know... Thank..."
"Sshhh... don't say anything then, just let me enjoy this time with you"
Kissing his finger that barely touched her trembling lips Riddhima nodded as she lowered her gaze trying to capture the whole setting for an eternity in her mind so she could recall this scene when telling the story to their grand children... grandchildren? Blushing at her thoughts Riddhima settled into a gentle stroll along side Armaan as they made their way to the picnic area.
******** Running madly into the office Armaan faced a bewildered looking Mary, his dishevelled attire, bleeding wrists, bruised face... it all just looked wrong
"Mr Malik what happened? Where is Ms Gupta?" unable to control the shrill panic in her voice Mary began to panic thinking of all the possible things that could have happened to leave Armaan looking like this, she hadn't meant for any of her off hand comments about Riddhima to come true yet she distinctly remembered thinking when Riddhima was leaving "I hope you never come back you witch".It's true when they say never say anything candidly; you never know when it'll come true.
Seeing Mary going into shock Armaan grabbed her shoulders and shook her vigorously "Mary calm down, just tell me where is Riddhima!" what was meant to be a calm and collected voice ended up coming across more panicky sounding then Mary
"I don't understand... she was with you... you were with her.... you went to lun..." shaking her head Mary allowed Armaan to lead her to a chair and sit her down, why was he asking her where Riddhima was... he had left with her... looking up she searched his eyes. The handsome man she had flirted with a couple of hours back was lost, all she now saw was fear.
"Mary listen to me, can you tell me when Riddhima left for lunch... did she tell you where she was going? Did she leave any messages... anything... woman answer me!"
Jumping as though coming out of some deep slumber Mary jumped up from her seat "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MS GUPTA! SHE LEFT WITH YOU AND NOW YOU'RE ASKING... WHERE IS SHE!?!" grabbing his collar she shook as fiercely as her petite body allowed her to.
"Mary darling believe me that wasn't me she left with... that was... my brother"
********
Would you mind terribly if we took a detour? I wanted to show you something but I need to see a man about something first"
"Don't be silly, of course I don't mind; this has just been the most wonderful day ever. Thank you, I don't think I've felt this relaxed in a very long time; I'm actually kind of tired now it's been that relaxing, that topped with all that delicious food... I can't believe you managed so much food in that hamper, it was like the Mary Poppins magic bag, never ending" laughing slightly Riddhima gave out a contended sigh, today really had been perfect, and thought of it ending was imaginable.
Caressing her cheek Abhi gazed into her innocent face, she really was absolutely stunning "It's a shame things had to be this way" he thought. "Why don't you rest your eyes for a bit, I'll call you when we get there?"
Agreeing Riddhima closed her eyes, allowing the sweet aroma of her perfume and Armaan's cologne (or so she thought) take over her senses. He seemed to have worn a different one compared to normal today and although it wasn't quite the same it was still nice.
Watching her rest peacefully Abhi had half a mind to kill her there and then, get the torture of her company over with once and for all, while the other began to see what the younger him had fallen for, spending all day with her, acting along pretending to be Armaan, Abhi almost wished he was Armaan. "I'm sorry little bro, but I can't let this woman get away with what they did to us"
Justifying his actions in his head for the betterment of Armaan and believing justice had to be served for her crimes, even if they were from almost another life, Abhi quietly pulled the car up the gravel path towards the warehouse.
Glancing at her face as she lay still in deep slumber in his arms, Abhi sighed as the excitement and relief of the coming end to the whole torturous phase of his life was coming to an end today. If only Riddhima knew it wasn't the normal fatigue she was feeling and was rather the carefully laced sleeping medicine which had been cunningly mixed into only her share of the food then maybe she would have stood a fighting chance... but that was the last thing Abhi wanted to do... give her any form of a chance.
Walking briskly towards the entrance to the warehouse Abhi fumbled to get the keys out as he balanced Riddhima ensuring not to cause her any harm unnecessarily, there was plenty of time to enjoy the pain he was about to inflict.
******** "We are sorry the number you have dialled is unavailable, please try again later, we are sorry the..." cutting the call mid sentence Armaan flung his smash his fist into the wall of the empty apartment. "Where the **** are you Riddhima!" letting the blood drip down from the spilt skin on his wrists Armaan leant his head onto the wall, eyes closed the anger subsided as the helplessness settled in and tears of guilt, pain and betrayal gently made their way down his now hollow cheeks, long gone were the dimples that forever adorned his cheeks.
"ARMAAN IN HERE! I FOUND SOMETHING!" immediately running towards Mary's voice Armaan found himself entering what must have been Abhi's bedroom when he had stayed here on the odd occasion he faced complete chaos, who would have thought such a petite delicate looking person could cause so much damage.
"What, what did you..."
"Look! His left some files of some sort... I'm guessing they'll make more sense to you than me... look his got pictures, maybe you'll recognise them... maybe that's where they've gone... Armaan look!" shoving the files into his hand Mary went back to the chest she had discovered under the cupboard which now lay completely trashed on the ground, digging for more information.
Looking through the files that Mary had discovered Armaan froze at one picture... "I think I know where they are"
********
Walking around the unconscious Riddhima, Abhi relished in the power he felt seeing the pathetic woman he had made of Riddhima. There standing limp and spread eagle tied to bars erected in the middle of the warehouse stood a woman who was once too proud to acknowledge his crush… but no more. Working his magic Abhi stared at the blood as it trickled down the bare nape of her neck. The word murderer visible for all to see, he had marked her for life, the way her doings had marked his.
The shreds of clothing that clung to her cold sweat covered body now did nothing to provide her any protection; she was open for the world to see. Sobbing incessantly Riddhima hiccupped as she hung helplessly from the ropes providing the only support for her battered worn out body.
Unhappy with her sobs which according to Abhi didn't reflect the pain he and his brother had gone through, Abhi decided to take drastic measures, chopping Riddhima's hair so it now hung at the awkwardly in all sorts of angles around her bloody and bruised face Abhi bought the blade closer to her neck.
Smelling him near Riddhima panicked, just when she thought the attacker had stopped here he was again. Blinded by the blind fold which stuck securely to her face Riddhima cried out for help, "ARMAAN!!! HELP ME!!! ANYONE PLEASE!"
"There's no-one here but you and me sweetie"
Jumping at uncalculated proximity of her attacker Riddhima froze; this was the first time since she had regained consciousness the attacker had spoken, and although she had cried for help to Armaan many times, she couldn't help but feel the slightest bit scared when no answer came… had Armaan be harmed too? Where was this place? Where was Armaan? And what happened between the moment she fell asleep safe in his car and the moment she woke up to the searing pain of something penetrating her neck, making her feel partially paralysed.
"Who… who… are you?"
"Your worst nightmare sweetheart" and with that a fresh flow of blinding pain took control of her nerves as a hot fluid of some sort started slowly pouring down her back. Her legs were completely paralysed, not responding to ever provide her with the basic support to stand in her own accord; her arms burned with agony as they came to life and gave way again to the extra weight which seemed to pull her down today.
"Aaaaaaaaargh" her voice echoed and bounced off the walls, there was no-one around to hear her, this derelict warehouse located in an old abandoned part of the neighbourhood provided an excellent cover for any brutal crime to take effect.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please let me go… Aaaaaaarrrrr" this time a hot metal rod came into contact with her back, the hot fluid had left the skin on her back tender and bubbling, while this scorching rod left the permanent imprint of the crimes she was unaware of.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!"
Abhi pulled her hair back with so much force that Riddhima gagged for a moment choking on her own tonsils, "because you little ****** this is what you deserve!" chucking her head forward making her body rock against the ropes Abhi proceeded to further whack her back with the rod, letting all his venom out. Each blow bought out a louder scream. Riddhima screamed till she passed out, the pain taking over senses caused her to float in and out of consciousness several times. It seemed like days before Abhi finally seemed to have enough.
Slumping onto the floor, back pressed flat against a cold barrel, Abhi stared at the half dead Riddhima… his revenge was almost over after chasing this woman over a decade he finally had her where he wanted, but torturing her wasn't giving him any pleasure as the build up to this moment had. Even killing the rest of the gang had been more pleasurable, the fear he had impaled on them had empowered him, drove him to continue to his next victim… maybe that's what was missing here. Riddhima up till now still didn't have a clue why she was being punished, the fear although evident in her reactions was still in no way near to the fear he had seen in her accomplices eyes just before they all departed.
"Do you know why you're here Riddhima" he waited patiently for her answer, it would have been interesting to see what that pretty head of hers came up with when he knew very well she would have no idea. "Well do you?"
"Yes", did she just say yes? Mocking his eyebrow at her Abhi lifted himself off the ground and went to grab a cold glass water, torturing was a very tiring job.
"Really? Tell me, why do you think you're here, I want to know"
"Because you're a faggot" she thought, but would saying it out loud do her any favours? "Well staying here tied up getting beaten isn't going to do you any favours is it… maybe if you talk you could buy yourself some rest time. You're going to die today Riddhima, why go without letting him know what you feel"
"Because you're a sick deluded man with nothing in your life worth living for, you prey on helpless woman to make yourself feel like a man… well you're a ball less **** of a man with a sick fantasy of playing god. You were probably ****** by your dad as a kid and your mum was probably the local *****. You probably ****** so many men growing up that you forgot whether you were a man or woman; and to reassure yourself that you're not a failure you've killed off Armaan and started on me! Well if you were man enough to torture me then you should be man enough to do it without blind folding me. What's the matter scared your face will make me laugh when you're trying so hard to be brutal?"
"Wow that wasn't meant to come out like that" biting her tongue feeling she had said too much Riddhima braced herself for more burning blows to her back or maybe a punch or a kick, but when nothing came she started to worry, he was either really angry now or what she had said actually hit something within that beast and now he was going to shoot her... the torture would come to an abrupt end.
"You talk a lot you know" hearing his harsh whisper so close to her face Riddhima stiffened immediately. With all the thoughts playing in her mind she hadn't paid attention to her surroundings. "You know if I didn't know any better I'd say you're scared of me right now" running a finger down the side of her temple before coming to rest at the side of her bruised and bloody neck. "Are you scared of me Riddhima?"
"You'd love that wouldn't you? There'd finally be some meaning to your pathetic life" the slight hint of fear still persisted in her voice no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.
Grabbing her throat with both hands Abhi squeezed her neck as hard as he could, crushing Riddhima's wind pipe; "You like talking right, TALK NOW! TALK I SAID YOU ******. Women like you make me sick!" spitting at her face he squeezed her throat harder one last time before letting go as suddenly as he had grabbed it.
Gasping for air Riddhima coughed as tears streaked down her cheek, the colour of her face slowly coming back to normal; for a moment she felt the life drain from her... how close she was to the end of this long nightmare only she knew..."Why... why are you doing this to me. Just kill me and get this over and done with!"
"I can't let you die just yet Riddhima... heavens you don't even know why your here... why would you think you're only here to die?" smirking at himself as Abhi registered that death was the ultimate punishment... but she had to know why she was dying otherwise her death wouldn't give him any release.
"I'm going to tell you a story Riddhima.... and I want you to listen to it very carefully...."
********
Balancing on a not so safe structure of barrels and boxes Armaan peered through the dusty window through the only gap available. From his limited view into the warehouse he could only see Abhi standing facing someone he gathered, who was hidden behind a mountain of more barrels and boxes. As though watching a silent movie Armaan watched the features on his brother face move animatedly as he spoke, there was something very wrong with this picture. Although Abhi appeared from the outside to be very calm and collected, his dishevelled clothing, the apparent beads of sweat collecting at his brows and running down his temple they all pointed to him have been breathless and recently doing something that was very laborious. And then there was that dark glint in his eyes... at first instance it would have been easy to miss but his naturally dark eyes seemed to have taken on a snake like ebony colour, sparkling at the thought of something very sinister. It was this sparkle that scared Armaan, in all their life never had Armaan ever come across those eyes; it was as though they belonged not to Abhi but to someone else.
Tearing himself away from these pointless observations he looked around what little he could to try and locate his reason for coming here... Riddhima. She has to be here somewhere, unless... shaking his head to shake off all thoughts Armaan was just about climb down when something caught the corner of his eye. Double taking to see what it was Armaan noticed Abhi holding something by his side... a knife, small, but a knife none the less and he was unconsciously perhaps running his finger along the blunt side of the blade.... and there was blood on his hands and the blade "Is that his or..." without waiting another second Armaan was off the barrels and running around to the front of the warehouse.
******** "Ms Gupta can you hear me... nurse check the stats" blinking away the haze Riddhima tried to clear her view. The fluorescent light with the monotonous beeping sound from the machine filled the room. Her own breathing echoed in her ears slowly rising and falling with each beep. The doctors head loomed over her with his over sized glasses threatening to fall off the tip of his eagle-shaped nose as he leant over "I'm Dr Phillips, how are you feeling today Ms Gupta?"
Riddhima blinked again as his words registered, "The man calls himself a Dr and asks me how I'm feeling? How am I meant to know? His the doctor!" she wanted to shout out but her parched throat only led to her coughing uncontrollably as she tried to speak. The pain shot from her throat right down to her lungs which felt like they were on fire, her entire body ached with an unknown pain while the jumping affect caused from the coughing bought fresh new waves of burning agony to her back as it made contact with the bed.
"Calm down its okay. Your fine now Ms Gupta... nurse..." the rest of the conversation went unheard as Riddhima's mind slowly drifted back... the bullet shots, the agony in the scream that followed; then the confusion as her blind fold came undone, how was she to believe the man who was lying dead on the ground was Abhi and the man in front of her was Armaan. In a fit of confusion and fear Riddhima ran from the scene... she ran till she could run no more and then... blank... that was the last of her memory from that memorable day.
******** It wasn't till several weeks later Riddhima was able to speak to the police wanting a full statement from her. It had been Mary who had kept them at bay all this time; the once useless secretary had proved to be the most valuable friend Riddhima could have ever asked for and here she was now 3 years after that invent with the man she loved sitting right next to her holding her hand like they were meant to be, ready to start afresh.
Dr Jones had not so long ago and finally after a long speech and various instructions about how to handle Armaan as he was still in a very sensitive frame of mind gave her the papers that would legally disclaim Armaan from being mentally unstable and fit to be released into her care.
She would start her life afresh now, her and Armaan away from the memories of this city, its roads and the events...
Thank you all so very much for being patient with me while this story was being penned. I know it had near to no moments of romance in it, zero comedy and almost nothing positive in the story line and I apolgise to those who may have been bored by the whole concept, but to those who have read the story I'd like to thank you all so very much for all your support during this story.
i've looked forward to reading all your comments and thoughts everytime and although I may not have replied to some recently I do appreciate them and love the analysis you give which in turn helps me improve my writing.
Hope you enjoyed this ending... I know it may have been a little rushed especially right at the end but the details were too many and words to few to give this ending any proper justice.
And finally, love you all 🤗... (need to get on with the other stories now lol)
Lubna😳
(special thanks to Nj for her extra long essays and mind blowing ego exploding comments which never failed to bring to a smile to my face, thank you soo much hun for your support in this story! 😳)
Anupamaa
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
281