FF: The Beautiful and the Condemned (Completed) - Page 75

Parvati took in the familiar surroundings. The cold, concrete walls. The dried blood splatter on them. The chains in a pile on the ground. The metal bin. Even as she sat, bound and gagged to a chair, Parvati remembered this place as like the back of her hand. This was where it had all started. She was in the cellar of Rudra's Chandangarh home.

Her eyes wandered around the room and rested upon Tejawat leaning against the staircase banister, watching her squirm in her seat. She rubbed her arms in an attempt to break free from the ropes binding her, but the only thing she ended up doing was giving herself severe rope burns. The streaks of tears had dried on her face, and her eyes refused to shed anymore. Parvati could feel her energy draining the more she fought, but she refused to give up. She believed Rudra would find her, but he needed time. So she would have to buy some.

Tejawat watched the strategic look in Paro's eyes. She was planning something, and he was not going to have any of it. The woman who had taken his best men was now in front of him, and he was sure to get revenge. He was going to end it where it had all started, in Rudra's home. He moved away from the banister and glided over to Parvati, who stiffened as she saw him progress towards her. He slid the gag from her mouth, and she coughed and took in as much air as her lungs would allow her to.

"I can see you are trying to plan something," Tejawat said. "Whatever you're thinking, just forget about it. You are not going to make it out of her alive."

"You're wrong," Parvati retorted. "Rudra will come for me. He will find me, and when he does he will make you pay."

"Do you honestly think he can survive the gunshot? Not even your mami-sa survived that."

Parvati looked down. The memories of mami-sa's death still haunted her. After all, she was shot point blank in front of her. Blood was splattered on her. But this was different. Rudra wasn't shot in the head; he was shot in the chest. He was strong. However, she was worrying about Rudra. She had watched the bullet lodge in his chest and how he had fallen to the ground. She watched his eyes glaze over and close before she was shoved into the van. Ever since then, Paravati had no knowledge of Rudra's condition, and this was making her restless. Yet, she knew that he was still alive. If she was still breathing then so was he, because if there is no Rudra then there is no Paro.

"He's alive," Paro said softly. "I know he is."

Tejawat gritted his teeth, "You think so?"

"I know so."

"It doesn't matter. Once you die, he'll die soon after. I am not letting my investment in him go to waste for a woman!"

"He will never work for you again. He won't."

As much as Tejawat didn't want to admit it, he knew Paro was right. This woman had done a number on Rudra. Even if he killed her, it wouldn't guarantee Rudra would return to work for him. It would only ensure that the jallad would return to kill him for hurting the only person he ever cared about. Thakur-sa didn't care. Rudra was going to have to pay for betraying him. He needed to be taught a lesson, and destroying the one thing that gave him meaning would be the best punishment possible.

Tejawat sighed, "I should have let him die in that fire."

Paro looked up at him, "What?"

"I should have let him burn with his good-for-nothing parents. There was no point in saving him."

"Why would you call his parents good-for-nothing?"

"I suppose I should tell you since you're not going to live long enough to tell anyone."

"Tell anyone what?"

An evil grin appeared on Tejawat's face, "That fire in the Ranawat Haveli was not an accident."

The realization of his words caused her eyes to widen in horror. Parvati felt like she was going to be sick, "You...you did it? You lit the haveli on fire?! You killed his parents!"

"I simply gave the order. My men carried out the deed."

"Why would you do such a thing?"

"Simple. Dilsher Ranawat took a loan from me. He was unable to pay it back and so I began pushing him to pay it back soon or else. The man had the audacity to threaten me that if I didn't stop harassing him then he would report my business to the authorities. The nerve of that blood Ranawat! Obviously he had to be taught a lesson."

"So you murdered him? And his wife and son?"

"Casualties. Every battle has them. The wife was clearly going to die. What I didn't expect was Rudra surviving. He woke up and was running around the house, trying to find a way to escape. He saw my men running around the house. We saved him and told him that we were there to save him and his family. It was a shame that the poor fellow didn't understand that we were there to kill them."

"If you wanted to kill them all, why didn't you kill Rudra too?"

"I saw potential. I knew that he was going to come in handy soon enough. And sure enough, he did. He had lost everything. He became a clean slate. He had no conscience. No heart. No soul. He became the perfect executioner. Everything worked out perfectly...until you came along. Suddenly the boy started feeling'. Because of you, everything was ruined."

Tejawat retied the gag around her mouth and then said, "I don't care if Rudra comes back to work for me. I am just going to make him regret his disloyalty by getting rid of the reason for the disloyalty. You."

Parvati tried to say something, but everything sounded muffled as the gag was tightened around her mouth. Thakur-sa only assumed that she was trying to persuade him out of his decision. Unfortunately, he was an adamant man.

"We're going to save Rudra the trouble of preparing your funeral pyre."

Her eyes questioned him.

"We're going to burn you in this home. You and your memories with Rudra will end in this home."

Paro's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Fear prominent in them. She shook her head furiously, trying to scream and plead with him. Even though she knew it was useless, she still tried. The ropes were burning her wrists as she rubbed them back and forth to break free. Tejawat walked over to behind the staircase and came out with a large red tub. In it was some liquid, which he began spilling throughout the concrete cellar. As the aroma reached her nostrils, Parvati realized that it was gasoline. Tejawat tossed the empty gasoline canister near her feet and pulled out a box of matches from his kurta pocket. He began ascending the stairs backwards as he lit the match. The muffled shouts of Paro reached deaf ears. With one flick of the match, the gasoline sparked and the trail of clear liquid began to flame. With one last look, Tejawat turned his back on her and left the cellar.

As he stepped out of Rudra's Chandangarh home, Tejawat's men began tossing lit matches towards the house, which was also drenched in gasoline. Almost immediately, the house was consumed in flames. Tejawat stood before the house with his men, remembering the similarity between this fire and the fire he had caused at the Ranawat Haveli. The black smoke was protruding from the home. The internal pressure of the flames burst through the windows, causing the glass windows to shatter. The overwhelming heat coming from the flames made Tejawat and his men take a few steps back. His heart swelled with pride as he knew Parvati would soon be engulfed in the flames too. Her screams wouldn't even be heard since she was in the cellar. It served her right for ruining his business. Now that she was done, it wouldn't be long until Rudra died as well! Thakur-sa felt untouchable.

As Tejawat was basking in the glorious flames of his victory, he heard an unfamiliar sound disrupt his happy moment. At first, he thought it was his men in the vehicles revving the engines and honking at him. But upon observation, he realized it wasn't them and that they were also looking around to see what the cause of the noise was. As the sound grew louder and closer, it dawned on thakur-sa what it was. Sirens. Police sirens!

The olive green and tan jeeps skidded out from around the corner of the street. Sirens were blazing and BSD soldiers had guns out and aiming, daring the culprits to move just to give them an excuse to shoot them. Before Tejawat could order his men to retreat, the BSD officers began firing. One by one his men were being killed. Blood stained the dry, dirt roads. Anger consumed thakur-sa as he watched the officers in green come and ruin his moment of victory. Each man he reached out to give orders to were shot point blank, leaving him alone amongst a pile of carcasses. He thought he had been victorious. Everything was going perfectly. He was going to get away scot-free, and now...now he was surrounded by BSD officers with rifles and guns pointed at him. Tejawat looked down and saw the red lasers locked on his chest. He looked around with the grave expression on his face.

General VK Singh's voice echoed, "Thakur Param Singh Tejawat! You are under arrest. Surrender now and we will not use brute force!"

Tejawat looked around at the men one by one. Each of them had their eyes and weapons trained on him. His men were dead, and escaping in one piece was no longer an option. Beyond the circle of men surrounding him, his eyes locked on the one responsible for this. Rudra. He was practically jumping out of the BSD vehicle with another officer. The grim, murderous look on his face clearly indicated that he was not going to be stopped from killing Tejawat with his bare hands. And Rudra would have...if the orange and red lights hadn't halted him in his tracks.

From a side glance, Rudra caught a glimpse of the odd light. When he fully turned his attention to the source, he froze. Rudra's eyes became glued to his old home consumed in flames. He glanced once more at Tejawat, then at his surroundings, before looking back at the house once more. Tejawat watched Rudra's every movement.

His eyes weren't on him, they were on the enflamed house, which some officers were trying to douse. Seeing the terrified look on Rudra's face made Tejawat grin evilly. Thakur-sa slowly lifted his hands and got down on his knees in surrender. An officer came forward and cuffed him before roughly lifting and guiding him into the BSD vehicle, and Tejawat didn't resist. He knew he was defeated, but his final blow was victory enough. As he was placed in the jeep, he took one final glance at Rudra, who stood horrified in front of the burning house, before the back of the jeep door was shut in his face.

The black smoke protruded from the roof of the house. Again. The glass windows had shattered under pressure, and now the shards lay scattered around on the ground. Again. He was reliving his worst nightmare. Again. The house before him was in flames. Burning. Crumbling. It was happening all over again. Rudra's eyes searched his surroundings. The BSD officers were trying to put out the fire, but they were taking too long. Aman stood next to him, looking at the home too. He scanned their surroundings.

Aman spoke, "Thakur Tejawat has been apprehended and he will be taken in to headquarters. Rudra, I can't find Parvati anywhere."

Rudra's eyes widened as he looked at the enflamed house. The realization dawned upon him, and what he said to Aman was a barely audible whisper, "She...she's in the house."

It wasn't a theory. With the tone in his voice, Aman knew that Rudra was sure she was in the house. His heart pounded with fear in his chest. His friend, Parvati, was in the house?! Tejawat was planning to burn her alive!

Aman turned and yelled to the junior officers scrambling around, "We need to get inside that house! There is someone in there and we need her out and alive!"

A young junior officer ran up to Aman and replied, "Sir, we are doing everything we can to put the fire out. But the flames have practically consumed the entire house. It is going to collapse at any moment. If someone was in there, it's likely that they aren't alive."

As the officer ran to assist his fellow officers, Aman ran his hand roughly through his hair before looking back at the fiery house. The other officer was right. The sound of the creaking wood signaled that the house was going to collapse any minute, and that if they went in now no one would be guaranteed surviving.

Rudra, who had heard what the officer had said, clenched his fists by his sides. He could feel tears stinging his eyes as he stared at the blazing flames. Memories of Paro ran through his mind: their marriage, their happiness, her smile, the way she laughed, how she slept in his arms, the way she leaned into his hand as he caressed her cheek, the way she told him she loved him. The quiet mornings together, and the beautiful nights they spent. He recalled what she had said to him awhile ago: I'll slip through your fingers just like that and make sure that you will never find me again.

He whispered softly, "Paro..."

Rudra tightened his jaw. No. He wasn't going to let this happen. He had saved her once from that bloody Tejawat's murder attempts and he would do it again! These other bloody men weren't going to help him save her, and he didn't need their help! She was his wife! His wife! Parvati Rudra Pratap Ranawat! And Rudra would be damned if he let her go without putting up a fight! Tejawat was not going to win...not now...not ever!

In a louder, firmer tone, Rudra yelled, "Paro!"

What happened next, no one expected. As he heard his friend shout, Aman turned, only to find that he was no longer beside him. His eyes shot towards the home. Without giving his next actions a second thought, Rudra had sprinted forward. He paused for a second before covering his face and kicking down the front door and running into his old Chandangarh home. The entire time, Aman stood in utter shock and silence as he watched Rudra disappear into the flaming pits of Hell...to save his Paro.

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Oh my goodness! That was intense! Tell me what you think by leaving your comments and feedback below!

Next update: Rudra finds Paro, but do they get out of the flaming house before it collapses? Find out in the next chapter!

Thanks for reading!