'Arrest them all, Officer!' Says Shyam

His face lies in dirt..saving grace is the mask..prevents him from inhaling all the dirt on the ground...
His arms all bruised.. his tank top all dirty... his body covered with a mixture of sweat, dirt and dried blood... crumpled.body.. folded in half.. His attackers enjoy chilled water and high five each other..

"Kaisa dho daala saale ko.. How nicely we got him down!" they rejoice..


Their boss... stops rocking the chair... touches Arnav's head with his shoe...

Says nothing but a sigh of happiness is heard in the air...

Poor Arnav.. lays on the ground.. unaware of the forces of evil.. soulless enemy gets to rejoice..


Time passes by... Boss leaves.. Attackers.. gradually thin down getting busy in their business around the warehouse..

He squirms... it hurts everywhere.. it is dark everywhere... Oh, no! It's actually the black mask..taking away his orientation... he does not know..how long it has been since he last saw anything.. heard anything... his throat dry... his body aching.. his head pounding... silence and darkness surround him..

Arnav manages to get back on his feet... he steadies himself.. against a solid pillar.. he does not know where he is... he does not know who is watching him..

"It is not the time to feel vulnerable..." he says to himself..


He remembers... before he got moved to the car and was potentially brought here... he felt the breeze..Khushi must have been close by...
He shakes his head...

"This is not the time to get emotional... I need to think.. plan... I need to not be hasty.. in a way, I alerted them last time.., " he thinks.

Anjali's face flashes in front of his eyes.. one moment... makes him feel vulnerable.. his eyes well up under the mask... wonders what she knows about his whereabouts...

He shakes his head again.. "I cannot go weak now! ASR, wake up and think!"

As he moves back.. he feels a little nail on the pillar.. he struggles to get his mask stuck in it... slowly he keeps shaking his head and tries to move the mask.. ASR does not know who is watching him... he better be careful..

Eventually his mask slides enough that he can see from underneath...He spots a knife laying on the ground.. the attackers either forgot it down there or purposefully left it there to test him..


Worth the risk.. ASR inches slowly... manages to grab the knife after sitting on the ground and bending backwards.. reaches the knife with tied hands..
Many minutes of struggle and few cuts later his hands are free...

Arnav gradually moves in the dark...he spots all of the attackers sitting in a group under a dim light having Chinese for dinner..
Yes, dinner.. it is dark outside..


ASR is about to attack them, when he hears the words..

"Arnav ji!" Khushi comes running and hugs him.."Hum aap ko akele chhodekar nahi jayenge.. chhahe kuchh bhi ho jaye.. I won't leave you alone.. no matter what!"

"Phati saree.. Arnav bitwa..." Mami ji ..? Arnav's eyes wide... "Hmm.. now how am I supposed to save them too?"


Just then, a screeching noise fills the surrounding...

A car comes to halt followed by sounds of many footsteps..

"It must be the boss!" the attackers say to each other..

A SHADOW POPS IN THROUGH THE GATE..

"Arrest them all, Officer!' says Shyam pointing to the attackers...

Rushes to Arnav and says... "Saale Sahaab.. Khushi ji... ganimat hai ke aap sab thik hai!.. Mami ji aap bhi...?" "Thank God, you all are OK!"


Anjali comes running.. hugs Arnav.. "Chhotey! Shukra hai bhagwan ka ke inhone Commissioner Sahaab se help li... nahi toh... Thank God, he asked the Commissioner for help.. otherwise..."


Arnav and Khushi look at each other puzzled...

Who is the culprit then..?

DO NOT COPY THIS POST AS THIS IS EXCLUSIVE TO INDIA FORUMS