Arhi FF:Mirage Note pg 158 for next thread link - Page 32

"Did you steal this? Did you?" A man, who appeared to be in his mid forties, was blaring at the 11 year old kid on top of his voice. He forcefully pulled the half eaten apple from the small boy's hand and showed it to the crowd who had assembled on hearing the commotion at the market place.

The man furiously pulled the dirty ragged collar of the boy's shirt and pushed him down on the floor. "THIEF! SCOUNDREL! SON OF A BAST*ARD!" he continued to abuse that little boy with the harshest words one could imagine. Tears streamed down the boy's face as he begged the man to spare him. "Please Uncle! I will return your money. I was hungry and hadn't eaten for days. I'm sorry. I'm really really sorry. I won't steal ever again."

"Thieves like you need to be flogged publicly. Only then you will learn your lesson." The man said and pulled out his belt from his waist and started whipping it over the fragile body on the floor. The boy screamed out with pain as the leather painfully bruised his skin. He held out his arms to cover his body but it was no use. The man kept on flogging him mercilessly.

He heard people who were gathered around him shouting. "Thieves deserve this. Only then they will learn their mistake." "Wonder who his parents are? Maybe even they are thieves like him." "Don't spare him. Atleast seeing him, people will fear to steal even a needle."

As if that wasn't enough, the man started kicking the little boy's abdomen with his hard boots.

"Ma...!" he cried out her name hoping she would rescue him. But she never came. She had been gone by then, far away from him to a place from where there was no return. He then lay there, whimpering with pain, clutching his abdomen, red bruises appearing all over his body after flogging for an hour. By now, everyone had left him to die all alone in the busy marketplace. No one had bothered to help him.

No One.

Arnav woke up suddenly from his sleep and sat upright on his bed. His forehead was drenched with sweat and his heart rate had risen erratically. For a minute, he was confused where he was. Then, he saw the sunlight streaming through the glass windows and turned around his head to notice Aman sleeping peacefully on the other bed next to his.

He could still feel his skin stinging with pain as if that incident had occurred just yesterday. He got up from his bed and went towards the full length mirror on the wardrobe and observed his face. He had changed. He was no more that eleven year old kid. He had survived it. He had made it upto this day.

He lifted his black vest to reveal his perfectly sculpted abs. He ran his hand over it to feel the stinging pain that still haunted him even 14 years after that incident. He immediately lowered his vest over his abdomen and picked up the towel lying on the chair and dashed to the bathroom for a cold shower.

He let the cold water run all over his body, to soothe out the stinging pain that ached his muscles. He lay still, underneath the shower and felt the pain wash away gradually as time passed by.

Aman suddenly woke up to the sound of running water from the bathroom. He quickly glanced sideways to the other bed and found it empty. Another Nightmare! He thought in his mind.

This had been Arnav's routine whenever he had experienced a nightmare. He would always be found taking a cold shower to cool down himself.

Aman slid down from the bed and went towards the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Arnav Bhai! Are you alright?" he asked in a concerned tone. He immediately heard the water stop. But there was no reply from the other side of the door. He sighed with disappointment and strode towards the couch and sat on it.

It had always been like this. Even though they were really close, Arnav had never ever narrated him the details of his nightmares. The only thing he knew was that it was something really painful related to his past. Something Arnav never wished to share with anyone. And Aman had never pressurized him to reveal it. He had respected his privacy just like Arnav had respected his about his past.

After two minutes he heard Arnav stepping out from the bathroom and turned behind to look at him. "I think we need to workout. It will help you. There is a gym here at the resort. We could go there." Aman suggested to him to which Arnav quietly nodded.

o0o

Khushi woke up with a lazy smile on her face, to the sun's rays that streamed into their room. She looked to the bed at her side and found Lavanya still sleeping on it.

It had been a boring night for her yesterday. After the incident with that guy in the corridor, she had walked into the other side of the resort, into a restaurant and dined all alone. After a quiet dinner, she had retired for the night and gone back to the room and flipped through some random channels on the tv.

She had wanted to call back Lavanya to give her some company in the room. But then she hadn't wanted to disturb her friend. Lavanya had seemed to be enjoying every bit of the party. Just because she didn't fit in the crowd, it didn't mean she could expect the same from Lavanya.

After about three hours of flipping the channels aimlessly, she had turned off the tv and dozed off. She had only woken up once to the sound of Lavanya returning back to their room, way past midnight. But she had been too sleepy to talk to her after a tiresome day.

"Lavanya! Wake up! It's 7:00 am." Khushi said pulling the night dress of her friend.

"Arhh.." Lavanya groaned out kicking Khushi away from her bed. "Let me sleep."

But Khushi was in a mood of mischief today. She bent down over her friend and started tickling Lavanya on her tummy.

"Khushi! Idiot!" Lavanya screamed and got up from the bed and counter tickled Khushi on her midriff causing her to burst out with laughter. After five minutes of rolling on the bed with madness, they finally relaxed themselves on the bed.

"So dumbo, Where were you last night? I never saw you in the club. Did you leave early?" Lavanya enquired Khushi.

"You know me right! I don't like such parties. They aren't my thing. Honestly, I got a little bored." Khushi replied.

"It's ok. It happens for the first time. But after you get to know many people, you will start having fun. It is just a matter of time." Lavanya said holding Khushi's hand.

"Chuck it!" Khushi said rolling out her tongue. "Lavanya, I was thinking maybe today I could go and explore the city a bit. I would love to go for some sightseeing."

"Ok Fine. Do you want me to come along with you?"Lavanya enquired eagerly.

"No. I'll go alone. Anyways, I think Karthik would want you to hang out with him." Khushi reminded her friend.

"Yup, he will." Lavanya said nodding her head.

"So let's get dressed." Khushi said pulling her friend along with her.

o0o

After breakfast, Lavanya walked towards the gym in search of Karthik. He hadn't been in his room, when she had visited him. Stepping inside, she noticed him in a corner chatting along with his friend. She walked towards him and hugged him from behind.

"Hey Baby! Good Morning!" he said pulling her to the front and pecking on her cheek. "So you found me?"

"I had to." She replied back with a wink hugging him tightly. Just then, she saw someone furiously jumping in the mid air and kicking the punching bag with his feet continuously, alternating it with hard punches on the bag. She squinted her eyes to see his face clearly. It was the same guy, she had met at the bar yesterday. What was his name? Aah! Rishab Malhotra! she noted to herself.

Breaking apart from Karthik, who was now chatting with his friend, she continued to observe this wonder in a grey sleeveless hoodie and black pants. His hair was completely tousled and sweat dripped from his temples making him appear enticing to any mere mortal.

And just when she was about to lose herself in his trance, she saw him looking at her. Involuntarily, she flashed a smile to him, which he simply ignored. Instantly, the smile on her face was replaced with a scowl, as he walked towards the entrance without even acknowledging her presence. But then, as he stepped outside, she saw him turn back and flash a mischievous smirk at her causing her to blush crimson.

o0o

Arnav hadn't been in the best of his mood after the nightmare. He had resorted to Kickboxing practice on Aman's advice. That was something that would help him regain his focus. And as he warmed up himself, he noticed Lavanya entering the gym. Grabbing the chance in front of him, he continued to eye her stealthily, sideways, not wanting to reveal his actions. He could see her gaping him with her mouth wide open. He knew she was slowly falling into his perfectly laid trap.

And as a part of his plan, he had pretended to ignore her, perfectly anticipating her reaction to it. And it had worked. She was actually reacting like he had wanted her to. He knew girls like her were not to be chased after. They would themselves enter into the lion's den.

Satisfied with his plan, he walked out of the gym followed by Aman.

"Aman, I want you to keep an eye on her 24x7. I want to know all her activities. What she's interested in. Her level of relationship with her boyfriend. Her friends. Everything. Meanwhile, I would like to go jogging in the woods to relax myself." He whispered softly into Aman's ears lest anyone around them hear their conversation.

"Don't worry Bhai! I'll take care of everything. Take your time and return back whenever you feel like." He said placing a hand on his shoulder.

o0o

Khushi had decided to take the help from the receptionist and guide herself into the city. But before that she had wanted to explore the woods a little bit.

The woods were no less than a magical fairyland to her. Surrounded by huge coniferous trees on either sides, the ground beneath her feet was covered with dried foliage. Occasional chirps of birds and squeaks of squirrels were the only sounds that disturbed the silence prevailing around her. There was something very peaceful about this place. Something that made her want to stay in this place forever. It was a huge contrast to the chaotic life back in Delhi.

Just when she had thought she had seen enough, she noticed a wild rabbit hopping around a bush. The little furry animal was too cute to be resisted.

"Arey Wah! A Rabbit!" Khushi squealed out with excitement. This was the first time she had seen a wild rabbit in front of her own eyes. It had always been either on books or on tv. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, she hopped towards the little fur ball to catch hold of it. But that animal was too quick for her. With every step that she took, it hopped further away from her. But Khushi was in full mood to chase it.

Soon it turned out to be a full fledged chase which continued for about ten minutes, until the rabbit finally hopped into a hole in the ground. "What!" she exclaimed out to herself clutching her abdomen, panting for breath, seeing the little animal disappear into the ground. Disappointed with her efforts, she turned around to leave, when she suddenly noticed that she couldn't find which way she had entered.

Panic started crawling over her body as she turned a full circle to identify which way she had entered in. Everything around her looked the same. "Hey Devi Maiyya!" she gasped out loudly clutching her head. "Don't panic. Don't panic." She tried reassuring herself. She walked a few metres here and a few metres there, trying to recollect if she had been in that place before. But everything looked new to her.

"Maybe I should call Lavanya?" she thought to herself and opened her handbag to retrieve her cell phone, only to stop mid way. What will I tell her? That I'm lost in the middle of nowhere? I don't even know where am I. So how could I tell her? If she called up Lavanya, she knew that her friend would make the entire police force of Shimla to search for her. Now that would be quite embarrassing.

Instead of panicking her friend, she decided to walk in any one direction. She glanced at her watch. It was 8:30 am. She still had the whole day to her. Atleast by evening, she could come out of this dense forest. Yes, that was a good idea. Chanting Devi Maiyya's name, she turned around and started walking on a dry path where the grass was dead after being trampled upon many times. But the walk wasn't easy. The eerie silence and her panicked mind weren't a good combination for her.

She suddenly felt like she heard a twig snap behind her. Maybe it was a wild animal. Or maybe it was a murderer lurking around in the woods. She had heard too many stories from Buaji to frighten her. Not wanting to see the face of her predator, she started running forward super fast, with all her strength. No way was she going to die in the woods.

She was so focused on running away that she didn't notice a man standing in front of her. All she knew was that she crashed with full force into his hard chiselled body.