Mirage #3 Check note on pg 149 for next thread! - Page 75

"So Khalid Malik is your boss and he gives you all these orders to kill people?" Khushi asked, as they ate their breakfast. As soon as they had woken up in the morning, they had made a pact and according to it, Arnav was supposed to share all the details of his work to her.

"Yes and he was the one who had rescued me." He replied. "I work for him because I'm indebted to him eternally. He saved my life. If I'm alive today in front of you, it's because of him. He pays me for whatever I do. Khushi, for a person like me who had no education to back up and no one to guide me, I didn't know where else to go. This criminal world was the only ray of hope for my survival."

"Arnav, can I ask you something very personal? Don't misunderstand me, okay? Whatever your response is, I'm not going to judge you." She asked, reaching out to hold his hand. He nodded affirmatively, wondering what she wanted to know.

"Don't you feel any kind of guilt or remorse when you kill all those people? They too are human beings. They have their lives, families. Have you ever thought what their family goes through when they see their loved one arrive in a shroud at their doorstep?"

A long minute of absolute silence followed after Khushi's question and for a second, she thought he wouldn't respond or worse, he might get angry at her.

"I don't know how to explain this to you. The more I think about that side of mine, the more I see a monster inside me, a ravaged terrifying monster that deserves no place in this world." He said, his eyes focussing onto his past, his dark side which he never wanted to reconcile with.

"The first time I killed a person accidently, I was drowned with so much of guilt that I felt I deserved to die for what I did. Khalid Bhai had a tough time looking after me for three months after that incident. I was disturbed, with guilt devouring me, each day of my existence. I used to confine myself in an isolated room. And with the injury on my back, I couldn't even move about anywhere. I was confined to the bed most of the time. I refused eating food, hoping that I would die. Every time I remembered about the person I killed, I remembered how my mother was shot dead and then I used to realise that there was no difference between my mother's murderers and me. But then, one day everything changed." He paused to see Khushi holding his hand tightly. He had never wanted her to see this side of him. He wanted to protect her from everything, but somewhere he knew that if he wanted her to be a part of his life, he had to share this with her, let her know about his dark side too.

"Khalid Bhai and I were returning from my physiotherapy sessions in the hospital at night, when suddenly the car which we were travelling in was ambushed. Instantly, gun shots were fired from all sides. But they were no match to Khalid Bhai. He stepped out of the car and took down most of them single-handedly. But he didn't notice one man who was aiming at him from behind him. I saw it. I don't know what happened to me, but suddenly, I pulled out the other gun lying in the car and aimed at that man and killed him. It all happened within fraction of a second. That day, I didn't feel any remorse."

"And that was when Khalid Bhai realised I had a special ability in shooting. He trained me day and night, saying that it would help me boost my confidence. He showed me the new side of the criminal world, where money ruled all emotions. He taught me to fight back all people who sought to hurt me. I learnt the biggest lesson of my life from him. This world was a mad race of the survival of the fittest. If I didn't gun them down, they would kill me."

"This is just a job for me. Yes, ofcourse I feel guilty for killing these people. I do. I still have that humane side in me. But I don't allow that guilt to dwell in me. After all these years, I have learnt how to shut it out. I can switch off my emotions as and when I want to. You master that art once you start living the life of a criminal." He ended and saw Khushi was intently observing him, her eyes lost in a deep thought.

"There's one more thing I wanted to ask you." Khushi spoke, unsure of how to verbalise her thoughts. And Arnav saw a strange sense of fear and worry in her eyes. "I have read in newspapers, heard from tv about how most of the times, the family of a criminal is targeted by the rivals as vengeance. I..." she paused, not knowing how to continue. "Am I supposed to worry about my safety?" she finally asked the question that had been bothering her since last night. Who wouldn't be terrified in her place? She had heard so many incidents to overlook that fact.

"Khushi..." Arnav exclaimed, feeling guilty seeing her get tensed up like this. This was the very reason why he had hidden the truth from her all this time. He pulled her from her chair to make her sit on his lap. "You don't have to worry about anything." He said, caressing her face that was now lying on his shoulder. "Actually, this was the reason why I used to run away from you initially, because I worried about your safety. Yes, I cannot ignore this fact. This was why I was never in any relationship before. I was unsure if I could protect the person I love. But with you, I'm sure I will protect you till the last breath of my life. And anyways, no one from the gang knows anything about you, except Aman." He paused to remember his best friend and was annoyed pondering about why he hadn't called him yet. Was he still angry with him for that night? And where was he all this time? "And I trust Aman. He won't say anything about you to anyone. I'm sure of it." He said, pecking the side of her ear.

"Arnav, are you still angry at Aman? I observed he wasn't at home yesterday." Khushi asked, tilting her head to get a clear view of him.

"No. I'm not." He replied followed by a huge bout of silence.

"Did you call him?"

"No. I didn't."

"Why? Arnav, I don't know what went wrong between you both that night, but I do know he's your best friend. He reveres you a lot."

"He started the fight. He should have called me first! Why do I have to call him? It was his fault." Arnav replied stubbornly.

"I don't know why, but I feel he is in some serious trouble." She said, straightening herself. Somehow, whenever she thought about Aman, a nagging worry surfaced for him, even though she hardly knew him.

"I asked him about it that day. But he said everything was alright." He replied. "I know you tend to worry a lot about people. But I'm kind of starting to get worried myself seeing my girl going after my best friend." He teased her, pulling her closer to him to kiss her neck.

"Arnav! You're unbelievable. Even in such a serious discussion all you think about is this?" she giggled as his warm breath tickled her neck. "Listen, I'm serious. Don't you think it's strange he hasn't called you once or returned back home? I mean his stuff is still in your house right? And I told you how he was on a drinking rampage that day."

"Aman must have visited the house, when I was away. He has the spare key of the house. I haven't checked his room yet. And Khushi, men are different from women. There are so many days when we don't talk to each other. We have ego issues and we are not chatter boxes like you women folk. That doesn't mean anything is wrong with us." He grinned.

"You have a very big ego and a bad sense of humour." She said pointing to his chest.

"Yeah I have." He declared proudly. "But not with you." He said, tracing his lips on her jawline.

"I know." She moaned, enjoying every bit of his assault on her. "But please, for my sake, just go and check out on Aman okay? Please?" she requested, pulling his head up and forcing him to look at her.

"Okay, I'll take you along with me this time. You ask him yourself." He grumbled and began the ascent of his lips to her plump luscious ones when he suddenly remembered something. "Khushi, can I ask you something?"

"Ofcourse." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Did you..." he paused to inhale a deep breath before he continued. "tell Lavanya that I had done all that to steal a file from her father? Does she know the truth about me?"

He immediately felt Khushi freeze and for a minute, he thought that his secret was indeed out to the world and Kashyap was after him. He hadn't thought about this possibility till now. He had blindly come back and he now suddenly remembered why he had even run away to Guwahati a day earlier than scheduled.

"No, I didn't." She whispered and he felt the whole tense muscles of his body relax reflexively to her answer. But his eyes didn't miss out on the gloominess that now spread across Khushi's face. "Two days after you had left, I tried to call her. But she was ignoring my calls. I wanted to clear away all our misunderstandings. I still hate you for that." She reminded him, giving him a tight slap on his shoulder. "I tried to call her till yesterday. But it looks like she is in no mood to listen. She is like that. I know her from a long time. She never forgives people who betray her and according to her, I have betrayed her and she's never going to forgive me."

"You know, I could have gone to Hari uncle and told him everything about you. But somehow, I couldn't." She confessed, looking on the floor avoiding his eyes. "If it was any other person, I would have seen that they were punished. But it was you, Arnav. How could I see you getting punished for this? I couldn't. Damn it! Why do I love you so much?" she demanded, hugging him fiercely.

"Arnav, I miss Lavanya." She confessed, sharing with him the one thought that was disturbing her for the past two weeks. "She was the only best friend I had. I wish things were the same like before." He could hear her muffled voice and he knew she was indeed missing her best friend. Why had life got to be so complicated? He still hated the self obsessed, arrogant Lavanya Kashyap. He simply loathed people like her. But somewhere, he did feel pity for Khushi for making her go through all this.

"I'm really sorry for what I did to you." He whispered, soothing her. He still hadn't told to her that he was the one who had attempted to kill Hari Kashyap nor had he told her that he had killed Lavanya's ex boyfriend Karthik. He had told her so much about him, but there were some things in life he never wished to tell her. No, she would be too terrified of him, if she came to know this truth. He wasn't sorry about his job. The world out there didn't matter to him. All he wanted was her and her happiness.

"Arnav," she moved herself away from his shoulder to look at him. "Can't you quit all this and go away? Why do you want to live this life? Is this all about money? You know, if you still want money, I can give you. I'll sell Buaji's house and give you all that money. I may be homeless, but if this money can bring you out of this life, I'm ready for it.

"It's not like that Khushi." He responded, his heart touched immensely by her gesture. Of all the things in the world, he would have never thought that one day Khushi would suggest something like this. He knew how important that house was to her. That was the only asset she had in her life and an heirloom of her family. And yet, she was ready to give it up for him?

"I wouldn't want your property Khushi. That's yours. Your family's." He said.

"But you are my family Arnav. I cannot see you like this. At the present rate of property, we would get atleast 50 lakhs for it. That much money would be enough for us to lead a decent life until we can do something else. And I have my job too. I will be earning money. Isn't that enough for us?"

"Khushi, we are talking about big money here. Everything in this world runs with money. The house I own, the car I drive, these gifts that I give you, they only come with big money. I know the value of money. I have spent days in my life without a single penny in my pocket. Poverty is cruel. And once I have accepted your responsibility, I wouldn't want you to ever feel that we don't have money. I want to buy you everything you ever wished for."

"But Arnav, I don't want anything else. I just want you. I know we can always come up with something to earn money. But I cannot have you killing around people for money. I cannot have you reach a place from where there is no return or redemption." She tried to convince him and make him see the light in the dark tunnel he was dwelling in.

"I have already reached beyond redemption Khushi. I have reached that place. It's just that you haven't realised it yet. A person like me could never leave the criminal world. I'm the value for their money. I know dark secrets and confidential sensitive information that could overthrow the entire underworld in a matter of few hours. That's the main reason why Khalid Bhai would never agree to allow me leave the criminal world. Even if he allows, I will be hunted down." He said, remembering about the recent attacks on him.

"All I can hope for is to shift my rank in the gang. I can hope that maybe he would allow me to quit being the assassin of the gang and instead do some other work that wouldn't require me to do the dirty work. That's what I'm hoping to ask Khalid Bhai. You see, I finished my mission in Guwahati and he promised me, he would give me anything in return. I was thinking maybe if we could go to Bangkok and stay there, and I could work under Abbas, his brother. You remember that guy who you once met at my house?"

"Oh that guy!" Khushi exclaimed remembering that man's face. "Hey Devi Maiyya! I would have never been able to guess that a man like him leads the underworld gang. I mean, no one can tell by seeing your faces."

"Yeah, that guy. He's actually a bit unreliable person. Everyone says he is crook, cunning and manipulative. But he would be my only safe haven. Only he could give me the protection I need. You see, our gang is a big network. We have back up here and in Bangkok. All the rest agents in the other cities work undercover. No one knows their identity, so they are kind of safe. But I'm quite famous. Wherever I go, the rivals will instantly identify me and come after me. Atleast if it's here in Delhi or Bangkok, even if the whole rival gang decides to attack me, I will have some back up. But if it's some other place, I wouldn't be able to match up with them."

"But you already got shot by your rivals, didn't you? It's so risky Arnav. What if something happens to you? Tomorrow, what if the bullet hits you here?" she said, pointing to his heart. "No one would be able to save you. And I cannot afford to lose you."

"I know it is risky. But I have been living this life for a decade now. I'm not afraid of dying. I've seen death from close by. Khushi, you have to understand one thing. I cannot guarantee you my life. I know I'm very selfish for wanting you, inspite of this truth. But I couldn't stop myself from falling in love with you." He said holding her face with both his hands.

"You are very brave Khushi. The bravest girl I've ever met and I want you to remain the same. I don't know what would happen tomorrow, but today, I want you to lead a happy life, without fearing anything or anyone."

Khushi felt her eyes moisten as the words seeped into her. What had she got herself involved into? The truth had been always in front of her and yet, she had never acknowledged it.

They said ignorance was bliss and now she realised its true essence. Earlier, when she had known nothing about Arnav, she had envisioned so many dreams and possibilities for both of them, and now, when the truth was out, suddenly all the dreams seemed farfetched. She wasn't even sure if he would be alive tomorrow. And after having lost all her loved ones to death, she suddenly felt a strange sense of fear grip her.

Looking into Arnav's eyes, she could see a faint glimmer of hope in him, a hope that was connected to and depended on her. And she knew if she fell weak, his only hope would also fade away with her.

"Arnav, what have you thought about your mother's family?" she asked trying to divert her attention. She knew it was futile to worry so much about their future and she knew Arnav would feel guilty if she was worried.

"I don't know Khushi. They seem like a bunch of nice people. " he said, lost in yesterday's memories.

"You shouldn't have spoken to Nani like that, you know." She suggested, a little frightful, wondering about his earlier outburst on her.

"I know. I think I should apologise to her. But you know, what worries me is the fact that do you really think they would welcome me with open arms after knowing about my truth? You heard what Akash was saying. Raizadas are a conservative elite family. My mother was scared of her parents and ran away from her own house into an unknown city. So you can get an idea about their reaction to all this. And Khushi, even if they welcome me, I don't want any harm to befall them. If anyone in the criminal world makes a connection between me and them, their lives would be in danger. They have already lost my mother. I don't want them to get involved in all this mess." He replied, his forehead creasing with worry. He had thought about all this last night and had come only to one conclusion. It was best for him to continue remaining just like how he was, away from everyone, all alone.

"You have a family now Arnav. Didn't you always want one? You used to always feel sad about it right? Now you don't have to feel sad anymore." Khushi said, smiling at him.

"Arnav, I was thinking, maybe we can find out about your father from there. Someone must have known about him right?" she suggested eagerly.

"I don't want to meet a man who didn't want me in his life, who for whatever reasons left my mother all alone when she needed him the most." He replied with venomous voice, loathing the man who was responsible for his creation.

"Maybe your father was also a good man Arnav. We cannot assume something which we don't have evidence for. You know, I think we should visit the Raizadas once again and maybe even make a trip to meet Aman. Arnav, we are anyhow having a fresh start to our relationship. So let's give a chance to our every other relationship and try to mend it. Maybe Devi Maiyya wants to bring back happiness in your life. Maybe this was the change you always waited for."

Arnav could only silently smile at her optimism that didn't fail her even in the most testing times of her life. "Yeah, I have so much work to do today. I have to report to Khalid Bhai too. And the house is in a mess. I have to tell Om Prakash to come and clean it up. You get ready and wait for me. I'll return back in an hour. I some errand to do on the way." He replied and both of them stood up.

"I'm glad you decided to share all this with me." Khushi declared and give him another bear hug. "You know, we will somehow find out a solution for everything. You don't worry. I'm with you." She reassured him.

"I hope so." He said reciprocating the hug. Maybe Khushi was indeed right and he felt his heart warm up seeing a distant ray of hope promise him of all that he had dreamt with Khushi.

But these two innocent souls had no idea what the cruel fate had in store for them. A storm larger than ever was just brewing at the corner of their lives and they were absolutely oblivious to it.

o0o

"What do I have to do?" Aman asked staring at the man sitting in front of him with an evil grimace on his face.

"Here's the plan. I want you to go back to Arnav and behave nicely with him. As if everything is normal." Shyam said, explaining the details of his ingenious plan he had devised. "Exactly, a week from now, that is next Wednesday, I want you to somehow bring him to the Old fort in the outskirts of the city. Make sure he won't carry a weapon with him. I know he always carries one with him and so only you can persuade him to not carry one that day. We don't want a blood bath. Our men will be all over that place. So once he arrives there, we take him down, torture him a bit to leak out all the valuable information inside him and then, finish him off!" he ended with an indescribable pleasure on his face.

"I want my family released before that!" Aman laid his condition for this agreement.

"Definitely. You are doing such a great favour for us. We are not going to disappoint you in any way, my friend." He said flashing a sick smile and he saw Aman walk out of the door he had entered a few minutes ago.

Ofcourse, Shyam Jha had waited for this day for a long time, to bring Arnav Singh on his knees. That illiterate uneducated street boy had risen to ranks where actually he was supposed to rule. What did he know about running a gang? Why was he always favoured by Khalid Bhai when he, Shyam Jha did the most important work of the gang? He had toiled day and night to gain valuable information from the rivals, hacking into the most difficult computers and yet, at the end of the day, all he had received was not even half of what he deserved.

And then, that day, three months ago, he had made one of the most shocking discoveries of his life accidently when he was going through some files.

Khalid Malik had put that b*stard Arnav Singh's name as the nominee in his will which meant that if Khalid Malik died under any circumstance, that b*stard was going to inherit nearly a hundred million in his name. And since Khalid Malik was going to be killed soon, how could he have let that Arnav inherit all that money?

And that was when he had decided to strike two birds with one arrow. He had known Ramcharan Das was behind Khalid Malik. But somehow, he had managed to instigate the drug peddler against Arnav and include him in his hit list too. It didn't matter where that property went after both their deaths. He would take care of it later. But he had to make sure that Arnav of all people didn't receive all that money.

Never!

o0o

And then, finish him off!

The words revolved around Aman's mind again and again as he walked out of the room he had heard the words from.

Just finish off his best friend, his brother like that?

End of Arnav Singh?

The very thought haunted him.

Arnav Singh. Aman Singh. Sounds nice right?

He remembered the same words he had uttered to his best friend a decade ago. Those words had actually sealed a relationship between them.

Where had fate led him to? To hatch a plan to kill the one who gave him life?

Or to save the one who were his own blood? Yes, he had to save his family, they needed him. They depended on him. They were waiting for him to rescue them.

No, he wasn't doing anything wrong, he constantly reminded himself, afraid that if he didn't, his decision would be reversed the very next second. And from there, Aman Singh chose to tread the infinite dark path that only promised the unknown, the terror and the destruction, all for a faint promise of hope for his family which he wasn't even sure it existed.

And then, finish him off!