ARSHI FF A twist of Events Ch. 29 UPDATED IMPT NOTE PAGE 40 - Page 23

A Twist of Events Ch. 28

The unknown man's presence had only become apparent to Arnav once he was smacked mercilessly across the back of his head. The last thing he remembered before everything went black was a pounding head and a blurry silhouette of an unrecognizable man tower above him tying him up.

Footsteps.

Voices.

An irritating buzz somewhere in the backdrop.

Those were the things Arnav could hear as he sat slumped on the ground against a pillar.

The buzz, it came closer...it was too close, tickling his face. He turned his head away slightly, trying to get rid of that irritating buzz. He could feel a dull pounding at the back of his head.

He licked his dry lips. Water. He needed water. His throat felt like a parched desert. He tried opening his eyes to go get some water, but he couldn't. Everything was blurred and it was as if some unknown force shut his eyes back.

Arnav tried once more to open his eyes but his vision was still impaired; his hearing though, had perked up. He heard shuffling of footstep and some noises. Men. They were speaking. They seemed not too far...close actually. What were they saying? Arnav tried to angle his head for better hearing, and managed to catch a few sentences.

"He will wake up soon"

"The girl"

"Leave that to me"

He heard voices back and forth. One of them he recognized. Deep and sinister. From wherehe thought.

The girl? Which girl? Were they talking of Khushi? As soon as that thought made his way into his head, Arnav eyes shot open. He looked at his surroundings.

It was dark. Gloomy. And had a faint, woody smell. And some sort of dampness in the air.

A faint noise of a train passing was heard, the engine getting louder and louder as it neared and then fainter and fainter as it continued father away.

Where was this place? There was a railroad here?

Where was he? He thought

He tried to get up but a stinging pain shot across his head and he let out an audible groan at the pain. His eyes closing again as he leaned against the pillar behind him. The men whipped their heads in the direction of the noise and Arnav heard footsteps approach him.

"Ahh look who finally decided to wake up from the dead." He heard the familiar mans voice as he neared him. Arnav tried opening his eyes once more, "Oi Arnie Boy come on...you can do this..open your eyes" the man said mockingly. And Arnav at that moment, knew who was the owner of that treacherous voice. His eyes opened and the image of the man leaning above him came into clear view. Kavindra Malik.

Arnav tried to get up but realized he was tied to the pillar behind him. He struggled some more in order to loosen the grip.

Kavindra let out a derogatory laugh,

"Oh sleeping beauty, don't work too hard, or you may ruin that perfectly jelled hair of yours; the rope's not coming lose any time soon."

Arnav felt rage surge through his veins.

"WHERE IS KHUSHI?" he asked angrily.

The man standing above him knelt so that he was level with Arnav and moved closer to his face. He whispered in a hushed, sinister tone,

"Don't worry yourself too much about her...we've...let's say...we've taken care of her."

Arnav felt chills run down his spine. He looked at the man in front of him. And spat. Spat right in his face.

"You filthy son of a b***h...tell me where she is right now" Arnav said in his own dangerous growl. Kavindra looked angrily at him as he wiped the spit off his face. He grabbed him by the collar and dragged him up the pillar so they were both standing now.

"HOW DARE YOU? WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? " he shouted angrily, enraged that he had shown him such disrespect. He continued more calmly, with a devilish glint in his eyes, "I am your father son, I suggest you learn how to respect me"

"Kavindra Malik...I suggest you learn to NEVER f**kING CALL YOURSELF MY FATHER. Now tell me where Khushi is." Arnav purposely shouted at him, in order to get him more angered. Because Arnav Singh Raizada had a plan...well somewhat...as he listened to him rage and shout, Arnav was stealthily rubbing his arms up and down the pillar in order to try and wear away the rope that had tied his hands. It was just bonus that the pillar was wooden and chipped, making it easier to do so. The rope wore away as he spoke,

"Oh ho...kitna bara banda hai tu[What a big man you are] Arnav Singh Raizada..the man who flaunts his brain and his skills ...I put my hands together for you..." he said mockingly, and his voice was now almost quiet, "yet, through all this flaunting and this show of power...guess what...I won. " he sneered as he jabbed him in the chest "Arnav Singh Raizada, while you were too busy tending to your ego and nurturing it...I pulled the carpet from underneath your feet and took everything away from you...and. you. had. No. idea."

Arnav now gave him his full attention, the rope had almost fully worn away but the words of the man had hit him...hit him somewhere deep. He was in a sense right...he had managed to trick him. He had been the biggest fool, blind to everything. Everything was about his own ego, his own pride, his own power, and somewhere along the way, he had lost himself. He had lost Arnav. With Arnav, had gone his ability to be compassionate and understanding. He was ASR. The man whose judgments were based entirely upon his own benefits. He mentally smacked himself in the head. Had he not been so blind, Kavindra Malik would not have been standing in front of him today, taunting him.

"Tell me where Khushi is" Arnav said

Kavindra chuckled cruelly,

"That pretty little toy of yours?" he asked and then added, "gotta say Arnav...you choose your toys precisely well"

"MY wife" Arnav said firmly, trying hard to not let rage empower him and to continued to rub the rope against the pillar.

"OHHH...Your wife?! I see! Then why did she live alone? Why did she raise her daughter by herself? According to my understanding, husband and wife lived together...took care of children together...did that change somewhere down the generations?" he asked feigning confusion.

"What happened between us is none of your business...our marriage, our relationship has nothing to you."

Kavindra faked hurt at his words,

"Arnav how could you say such things? I am your father! Your wife and your marriage are important to me! How can it not be my business?!"

"Kavindra Malik cut the crap and tell me where she is before I do something you regret"

Kavindra laughed and put his hands up as a surrender,

"Ok ok...don't get you knickers in a knot son...Ill tell you where she is."

Kavindra looked at the men and nodded his head. A few seconds later, one of them returned, holding a thin woman with a brown paper bag on her head.

Arnav instantly recognized her...KHUSHI he breathed huskily.

His heart lept to see she was okay. But that disgusting bag..why was it there? She was beautiful...this bag was blocking that beauty. Immense rage overcame him as he thought about it. The bag...it was a representation of dehumanization. They were treating his Khushi like an animal. NO. NO. NEVER. At that moment, he itched to run up to her, to hug her close and take her away with him, far away from here. Every fibre in his body was screaming at him to go run to her and dispose of that atrocious thing, but he decided to stay put and actually devise a plan. He needed to take Kavindra Malik down first.

"Take the bag off" Arnav said sternly. Kavindra looked at him and then back at his men, indicating for them to do as he asked.

Soon the bag was off and Arnav got to see her. He stared at her for a few moments but then noticed she hadn't once taken her gaze of the floor, a feeling of unease swept through his body.

"KHUSHI!" he shouted. When she didn't look up, he shouted again, "KHUSHI! IDAR DEKHO! [look here!]" and once again, "KHUSHI LOOK AT ME DAMMIT"

Finally, after some reluctance, she slowly moved her face to look up at him. He looked at her, her perfect, beautiful face. He sighed in relief and unconsciously let out a breath he didn't know he was holding to see she wasn't harmed, and her face was still the same as perfection as it was before.

Except for that distraught look on her face. He forced himself to look away from her light hazel orbs, lest he lost his control and ran up to her.

He looked at Kavindra and shouted,

"DID YOU DO ANYTHING WITH HER? IS SHE OKAY?"

Kavindra laughed his mocking, cruel laugh.

"IF YOU HURT HER IN ANY WAY I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU"

"Oh come on Arnav...what fun would it be if we hurt her before you came...we were planning to show you what we plan to do with her" he said sinisterly

"You wouldn't dare do anything."

Kavindra smiled a menacing smile,

"Oh but I would...See son, I was debating whether to just take her right then and there in front of your eyes...and you would be able to do anything except sit there and be helpless...but then I thought...no that's too vulgar...you know..Kavindra Malik has manners...so I decided I wo-"

"ENOUGH" Arnav shouted. He didn't need to hear any of his disgusting plans, because it was never going to happen. He was going to take Khushi away from here, before anything happened.

Kavindra once again let out a low chuckle

"Alright calm down...I wont say anything...you can witness it for yourself later" he said evily

Arnav's gaze travelled discreetly around the dark surroundings to try and analyze the area. There were 5 men total, excluding Malik. Two medium sized, mustached ones holding Khushi, two others beside Kavindra, both of whom were quite large, and one more gangly looking one right in front of himself. He looked at the one closest to him. The mans back was towards him as he was facing Kavindra. Arnav's gaze stealthily shifted to the mans lower pocket, where there sat a loaded gun. As Kavindra continued his taunts, Arnav suddenly grabbed the man and locked his neck using his strong arms, and held the gun to his head.

"Let her go or I shoot him" he said hoarsely. The thin man struggled in his grasp, trying to free himself.

Kavindra chuckled and looked back at one of the men that were holding Khushi hostage. He signaled, using his eyes for him to do something, and soon Arnav found out what that was. The man took out his gun and put it straight to her head. She whimpered out of fear.

"You shoot boy and Ill kill your pretty little toy here"

Arnav was stuck. He didn't know what to do. The men had him surrounded and one wrong move from his side would mean the end of Khushi.

He looked at Khushi. She looked frightened out of her wits, her eyes tightly clasped shit, her chest heaving, and she was reciting some sort of prayer to herself. Arnav looked at the men on either side of her. He had a clear shot of them.

His gaze shifted back to that of Kavindra, who was now eyeing him with some curiosity, awaiting to see what Arnavs next move would be, the earlier smirk from earlier vanishing slowly as confusion replaced his earlier confidence. Before anyone knew what had happened,

BANG

one man that was holding Khushi was down and then, right after the first,

BANG

so was the second man, this time, the bullet scraped lightly past Khushi's skin, and a small, reddish mark appeared from the momentary contact with the bullet.

"FIRE!!" yelled Kavindra as soon as Mr. Perfect Aim had released two well calculated and deliberate bullets.

And that's when the firing began. Kavindras remaining men began shooting.

Arnav used the man in front of him as a shield and both bullets that were aimed towards him, hit the man instead. The unknown man slumped in his arms as the bullets went through his chest.

Arnav let go of the dead man and ran behind another pillar to try and protect himself from the incoming bullets. That's when he heard. Heard her cry his name,

"ARNAVVV!!!!!!" she yelled desperately. Arnav turned just in time to see Kavindra muffle her mouth with his hand and roughly haul her out of there.

"KHUSHI!" he breathed in response as he made his way to run to her. But before he could move, he noticed armed men on either side of him, a few metres away, the only barrier between Arnav and them, being the flimsy, thin pillar. Arnav turned slightly to see one man heading towards him on one side and another on the other side. He leaned his head against the pillar, breathing hard, droplets of sweat making their way across his forehead. He didn't know what to do, if he shot one man, then the other would shoot him from the back.

But he was running out of time, he turned abruptly and shot. He kneeled immediately so that the bullet aimed towards him would not hit him. Just as he was about to shoot, one bullet came straight to his left shoulder blade, sending sears of pain through his body. He arched backwards in pain and let out a shout. Due to his slight tremble from the impact, the gun in his hands wavered and the intended bullet did not hit its target, and rather than hitting the man in the abdomen, scraped past his leg instead. He swore loudly as limped towards Arnav.

"YOU SON OF A B***H...IM GONNA KILL YOU! IM GONNA KILL YOU" He shouted

Arnav knelt holding his bleeding shoulder. Both men were closing in on him. He looked at their feet.

And fired.

He hit both pairs of feet and the men grunted and cried in pain.As they did so, one of them fell down from the impact.. The one on the floor was about to raise his gun, but before he could fire, Arnav shot the gun out of his hand.

Another shot was fired. This time by one of the men. The bullet, just missing Arnavs chest, and hitting his arm instead.

"F@#K" Arnav breathed in pain as the bullet ripped through his skin, digging itself deep into the recesses of his flesh.

And once again, another bullet was fired. Arnav ducked, and rolled, his head just inches away. And before the man could fire anymore, Arnav shot both his legs, and he fell to the floor in a heap. The next thing they saw was blood oozing out of the man's head.

The remaining one on the floor looked on frightened by the turn of events. The man in front of him, bloody with the taint of another mans blood on his face and enraged with fury made for a frightiening sight. Arnav turned his head towards the pathetic man on the floor menacingly, empowered by rage. His breathing was hard and his jaw clenched.

The man felt he had no choice but to plead for mercy. He put his hands together and kissed Arnav feet.

"Saab...please...please forgive me. I didn't do it intentionally...I...Kavindra Saab forced me. Please. Please don't..i have a wife and kid who are waiting for me to put food on the ta-"

BANG

The man stopped talking as he stared at Arnav in astonishment. He looked down at his abdomen where blood was now emerging from.

"Where did he take Khushi?" Arnav asked the dying man

The man choked as blood spewed through his mouth. He shook violently with each spew.

"Tell me now and Ill make this death quick and easy for you. Don't tell me and Ill leave you here to die in who knows how many hours" Arnav said menacingly

"P-Pleasee...I...I- I don't kn-ow" he said as he shook, giving Arnav a pleading look. Arnav looked at him momentarily,

"Are you lying to me?" Arnav asked sternly

"N-N-No" he stuttered

Because Arnav was not a completely heartless creature and because he had a conscious, he looked at the man pitifully and decided to make this easy for him.

"Your family will be taken care of" he said and saw relief briefly wash over the man's face before he fired one last time, killing him instantly.

Arnav closed his eyes and sighed. He looked around. 5 men. All lay lifelessly limp on the floor of this unknown place. He felt guilt run through his body as he stared at them. They were all dead because of him. He took out his phone and without checking the home screen, instantly went to speed dial.

A second later Aman picked up the phone.

"Yes Boss?" Aman answered

"A-Aman...track my phone and send some men here as soon as possible...also c-call the police..." he said while hissing in pain.

"Is everything alr-" Aman didn't finish as Arnav shut the phone off, and stuffed it in his pocket. He stood up with much difficulty, blood still leaking from his gun wounds. Right now he needed to find Khushi. He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and went towards the exit.

When he opened the wooden door, he looked around at his surroundings. It was late afternoon, the sun was just beginning to set, giving a golden, almost ethereal glow to the forest. The woods.Yes, that's where he was. Large trees towered over him, and a light pitter patter sound was heard as lone water drops made their way down leaves.

No sign of Khushi. No duppata pieces, no sound of her tinkling payals, nothing.

"F@#K" he said in irritation as he ran his good arm through his hair. And that's when he heard it. A gut wrenching, agonizing scream.

KHUSHI

His whole body reacted to that anguished scream and he ran. Ran as fast as his injured body would allow, towards that scream. As he did so, visions of all the wrong things that could be happening to her right now flew past him. He clenched his fists and willed the images to leave him.

No. No...nothing was happening to her. Nothing could happen to her when he was alive. He would never let anything happen. Never.

With this resolve, he continued running through the green mesh of the forest, flashing past him in a greenish blur. His arm hurt from the two shots it had received. His legs hurt from the twigs and branches breaking against his skin. His entire body burnt from a stinging pain, but he paid no heed. Right now, the only thought running through his head was Khushi. Khushi was hurting somewhere right now and he needed to find her. That's all.

He ran until he came to a small clearing in the forest, cocooned by layers of large, overhead banyan leaves. And right in the middle of this cozy clearing, Arnav saw the most frightening sight of his life.

All original work belongs to arshiforever123. Please Do not copy

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Okay so this was my first ever attempt at writing an action scene...one with physical fighting. I found it an extremely difficult experience and it was a challenge...and i spent alot of time on this chapter just verifying and checking it and rechecking to make sure it was okay...i cant say im too confident about it but thats the best i can do...all i can do is just hope it meets the mark,

Below is a rough sketch i have made to enable you to see the positionsns more clearly.