ArHi SS! Escape Velocity [Completed] - Page 10

interesting ,,...nice concept looking fwd for next chap :)

Woohoo another one of your stories I was depressed that Gravity ended but this story has started off on a wonderful note thanks for the update

Interesting start! I liked to see arnav in this type of action! Is there going to be more dhishoom dhishoom?!?

nyc stry it seema...

arnav as d self righteous cop..

but he is 36?????? :O

Waitin to c wat is dis atry all bout ...:)

Very interesting and new concept...looking forward for the story arnav as police officer...Please do PM me...Thanks for the PM

An ASR who gets suspended instead of suspending! An aging, angry ASR! Ha, i like that. And i love Mysore . Love the title and the accompanying pictures.
And now I'm looking forward to the story to reach its escape velocity, now that it's taken off. 😃

Chapter 02: Bright lights and russet dreams

"You didn't have to pick me from Bangalore Airport Bharadwaj; I could have taken any mode public transportation to Mysore." Arnav said watching the big city pass by. The car sped on the smooth, empty and pitch dark road. Bharadwaj didn't know why Arnav preferred to take the last flight and arrive at ungodly hour but he realized that it had worked out well for him too. He could get away from resort and spend some quality time with his friend. They chatted amicably during the ride to resort and Arnav watched the sleep driven world buzz past him.

"Something stinks horribly," Arnav exclaimed suddenly. Bharadwaj laughed.

"Whoever takes this road for the first time, they get the same shock as you did. For the passengers who commute via road or train daily, it's almost like a wake-up call." He replied and asked the driver to slow down the car. "That's one of the oldest sugar manufacturing companies in the state," he said pointing to a huge area surrounded by tall walls. "And not to mention some breweries here," he added wriggling eyebrows. Arnav shook his head and watched the town whizz past him as car picked up speed and headed towards destination. Forty minutes later, the car slowed down as it entered a neatly maintained smaller road from the highway.

"That's Indus Valley, my resort," Bharadwaj said pointing to a large gated compound which shone like it was surrounded by thousands of tea lights.

"That's pretty cool," Arnav said taking in the building, the greenery and the exotic feel it offered the moment he stepped out of the car. Cool air ruffled his hair and he breathed deeply. The fresh air invigorated him and he felt happy for making the decision to visit this amazing place.

"I have your suite ready," Bharadwaj said. He motioned a bellhop to come and collect Arnav's luggage which was a small case and a fairly large backpack.

"You didn't have to go so far," Arnav said embarrassed at his friend's generosity.

"Pshaw. You are my best friend," he grinned suddenly. "I advocate you to get some good rest before your first treatment Arnav."

"What treatment are you talking about?" Arnav asked mildly surprised and a tiny bit scared at his friend's maniacal smile.

"Just something to relax your body…completely" He grinned. Arnav stopped walking for a second and watched his friend chuckling and wondered what the bloody joke was.

Seven hours later, lying on his stomach on massage table, he knew why Bharadwaj was snickering previous night. To reduce stress and tension filled areas in body Bharadwaj had asked his staff to give Arnav Udwardhana – an Ayurveda treatment where two men would massage his body for forty minutes in perfect symmetry and immediately followed by harshly using powdered horse gram as a massage medium. At one point Arnav saw stars in front of his eyes when two men rubbed his back rigorously as if their life depended on it.

Bharadwaj walked inside treatment room just when Arnav walked out of bath his skin glowing pink and feeling tender and raw.

"If I wasn't so tired, I would have skinned you alive," Arnav said feeling exhausted even to talk.

"You will thank me tomorrow and ask me to repeat this again," Bharadwaj replied confidently. Arnav looked at him as if his friend had grown horns on his head. "Drink a glass of juice and a glass of tender coconut water," he advised his friend and bid good bye. Arnav found it difficult to even nod his head. Once he was back in his suite, the two drinks were already waiting for him. Emptying both glasses in matter of seconds he walked towards the bed and fell face down. He was fast asleep in thirty seconds.

It was late evening when he woke up from his sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he slept without interruption for six hours. There were no dreams or nightmares and his body felt light and rejuvenated. He decided on a quick shower and change of clothes before he could explore the city a little that evening.

Instead of taking a car, he had asked Bharadwaj to arrange for a bike as he wished to enjoy the calm and cool of the city. Bharadwaj had advised him to check out the famous Mysore palace from afar when it was completely lit. It was said that there were more than one hundred thousand light bulbs adorning the surface boundaries of the palace and when lit, it looked out of this world. Arnav had seen photos of the palace, of course, but Bharadwaj insisted that the photos didn't do justice to the real deal.

Twenty minutes later, he completely understood what Bharadwaj was harping about. It was a glorious sight, no doubt, but he loved the unlit palace under twilight much better. He knew no one would agree with him but there was something incredibly bittersweet when he saw the soft lights shine inside the main gate while the rest of the structure was enveloped in darkness.

He stood there watching the fully lit palace exclaiming to tourists about the grandeur of the once princely city.

*****

She stood in front of the gate when it was lit with thousands of light bulbs accentuating its profile and glamorously beckoning people to enter. It was one of those slow days where there weren't many visitors. She licked her fingers as the sugary goodness of cotton candy started to stick. She smiled inwardly and moaned softly when the fluff of the pink cotton candy melted in her mouth as soon as it touched the wet crevices of her mouth. In her peripheral vision she could see a man who was a head taller than her observing her intently. She stopped sticking her tongue out to snare cotton candy out of the fluffy cloud but just plucked a small bite using her thumb and forefinger. Her heart picked up a notch when he wet his lips the moment cotton candy touched her lips. She turned around sharply and her vision swam.

The bright lights around her blurred to a mass of swirling lights, chatter of people turned to white noise and the pain behind her eyes forced her keep her eyes shut and at the edge of darkness, she saw it happening.

He walked in a rhythmic beat on the freshly mopped mosaic floor which gleamed innocently. He had seen her walking into the house with plain nonchalance. It had taken him several weeks to find her and when their hands had accidentally brushed, he knew it was her. He could remember the exact smoothness of her skin, its color and its taste when drenched in rain. He started watching her since then; watching, observing and making notes. Once he was fully familiar with her daily schedule he started planning. After weeks of planning and performing trial runs, he was finally in her house ready to meet her, talk to her and try to strike a deal with her.

He loved her skin and he wanted all of it; preferably when she was still alive.

He asked her nicely, softly, looking at the beautiful mosaic on floor. She refused, yelled, screamed and threatened to call the police. He had picked a day when she gave her servants a night off and had pulled out a daring scheme to get her neighbor out of the house. She wouldn't be heard very easily as she lived alone in a fairly upscale neighborhood. He could almost taste her fear when her eyes widened in horror when the land-line phone sang static and her cell phone showed no signal. He patiently explained about the easy process how cell phone signals can be scrambled and why he didn't like women screaming. She threw things at him, threatened him, cajoled him and finally begged him to let her go but he was adamant with his request – he wanted her skin. When she started clawing at him, he lost the gentlemanly edge to his personality and backhanded her. She fell on the floor in a heap, unconscious. He stripped her naked and tied her hands and feet with a rope he had packed. Knowing she would remain stationary till he finished with her, he walked towards dining hall and moved all the furniture out. He dragged her by her tied hands and unceremoniously dropped it at the middle of the room. He tied her hand to the tap above sink and sat across her thighs keeping her steady. She opened her eyes slowly regaining consciousness and found herself gagged and bound. He dropped a soft kiss on her forehead and told her not to worry.

And then he began to skin her alive whistling an old tune.

"Hey…hey…it's alright…it's alright…" Khushi heard someone cooing in her ears softly. She opened her eyes to see a small group of people surrounding her and a man was holding her close to his chest and she was shamelessly clutching the stranger's shoulders.

She could make out few words the locals were saying and she found herself struggling to stand. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably and the nightmarish vision was still fresh in her mind. She could almost taste the blood in the man's hands and hear it squeak when his gloved hand brushed against one another. "I am fine…" She whispered hoarsely in local language and drank the water a woman offered her. She splashed some on her face and handed back the water bottle to the middle aged woman and smiled gratefully. The crowd dispersed around her whispering about her ill health, sudden increase in temperature et al.

The man who held her when she fell was the same one who was observing her from before. When the thought passed her brain, she looked around for her cotton candy and noted sadly that it lay crumbled on the ground.

"Are you alright ma'am? Do you need to go to a hospital?" The man asked. She shook her head feeling odd when his curious gaze gave her an once-over.

"I am fine thank you. Excuse me," she said and brushed past him. She let out an annoying breath when she heard the ground crumple behind her as he jogged to catch up with her.

"You should go see a doctor ma'am, you were whispering and thrashing your legs after you fell. It might have been an epileptic attack." He persisted.

She stopped suddenly and rubbed her forehead vigorously. "Look. I know exactly what happened and I know how to take care of myself, alright? All I have to do is go home and write everything I saw and only then I will feel alright. So stop pestering me or else I am calling the police," she bit out. The man was taken aback at her caustic comeback and took a step back.

Sighing, he took out his badge from his jeans pocket and flashed it in front of her face. "I am a police officer ma'am." She grabbed it from his hands and studied it patiently.

"It doesn't look like a fake ID, ACP Arnav Singh Raizada." She said finally.

"Because it isn't a fake ID," he grumbled and snatched it back from her hands annoyed at her insinuation but was secretly glad that she was a citizen with awareness.

"If you say so," she said disbelievingly and hailed an auto rickshaw. He watched her talk to the auto driver for few seconds and straightened his spine when she turned to look at him.

"I'm Khushi." She said and slipped into the rickshaw.

He watched the auto dissolve into the traffic. She was probably the first person he had met in thirteen years of his experience who had questioned the authenticity of the badge he carried. Her earlier mutterings about writing about what she saw made no sense to him but he shrugged it off as her oddity. The woman had managed to capture his attention in less than five minutes and continued to intrigue him as he walked around the palace.

A breeze rose from the ground and wrapped him in its softness. He could smell her floral perfume on his t-shirt and the wrinkle she had left below his right shoulder created an oddly comforting design. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair hoping to nip out the new thoughts which were born only moments before.

It seemed Mysore Palace had still some old magic left in its premises.

The weekend is almost over and hope you all had a good weekend!

There are many who haven't accepted my buddy request. I am guessing you won't be needing any PMs in future. After next update I will delete my requests. Apologies for spamming till then. Also please - remove me from your list if you aren't reading this story or you stop at some point.

Also: The FF is going to be a dark FF. Consider yourself warned :=)

thanks for the pm...and i did accept your buddy request

so the two characters have finally met...so now the story begins...is the attack on khushi the same thing as the murders arnav is trying to solve??

lovely part dear...