Him
My muffin was too engrossed to notice the python winding on the foot of the table we were doing our dirty work on.
Maybe, I’ve managed to capture at the least a corner of her heart. A space where no one else exist except me. And I know she knows that, which honestly is far more satisfying than sex could ever be. The knowledge that she wants me. The knowledge that she’s on the edge of falling into me forever.
One day... one day you’ll say it. And then I’ll die in peace.
I smile at the thought, picking up her clothes making sure she’s covered.
“Why are you smiling?” Disha asks me, confused.
“Nothing. Dress up quickly. It’s cold.” I straighten her up before pulling the tee down her torso. “Here...” I hand over my sweatshirt, “Wear it.”
“No... Are you planning to go outside shirtless? You’ll catch cold.” She retorts.
“I’m not a child. What are you doing?”
I ignore her nagging when I pull the sweatshirt down her face, “Then stop acting like one...I won’t freeze on my way back. The house is not like two miles away.”
She opens her mouth to say something when a sudden bang startles her.
Divit is back.
She runs out before me, bravely ignoring the snake casually lying on the floor, digesting its food. I mean I would normally admire it but with the mess going on around her, it can be stupid.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Divit growls, glaring at my muffin.
“What are you doing here and who’s she?” Disha barks back.
The masked woman lying on the ground in front of her is bound by the wrists and judging by the looks of her, she looks out of place for this moldy basement. She stills recognizing Disha’s voice instantly.
“Remove the mask, Divit. What’s going on?” She demands, again.
“Wait! Let me explain.” I intervene seeing the tension grow. I know how harsh Divit can be if called out on his darkest days. “We were supposed to question someone we dug and found out about. Don’t be surprised if you know her.”
She frowns before taking a deep breath, shrugging in confusion.
I signal Divit to proceed with it and he sighs too, out of exhaustion. He starts off pulling her up to the torture chair, strapping her hands and feet before pulling off the cover.
The reaction that she and my muffin exchange are of utter shock and dismay.
“You?” Disha says.
“What are you doing here?” The woman speaks before his gaze falls on me standing beside my sweetheart, bare chested and sweaty. She knows!
“So, he’s your boyfriend?” Anya asks.
“Yes. But why are you here?” Disha asks her in confusion before turning to Divit, “Why is she here?”
“Because she might be the one, we were looking for.” Divit answers not very confident whether Disha will like what he says next. “Miss Versatility. She may be her.”
MY EYES OPEN AT FIVEin the morning to the angel sleeping soundly beside me. How bad I wanted to tell her that I wanted to ask her out. I could marry her as soon as we get out of this mess, so I could hold her a little extra tight. I want to eliminate any possible way that she could think of ever escaping me. But I will be the most patient man for her, I’ve promised myself ever since she ignored me for an entire month.
Placing a soft kiss on her cheek I head out for my morning regime, turning once to take a look at her celestial features. What would I have ever done without you, muffin?
She has been a familiar groove where my mind has found solace for the past decade. The healer, the distractor and a heaven amidst the hell that my life was apart from her.
A life without her is imperceivable for me anymore. And if anything happens to her because of me... The thought makes me shiver.
I don’t usually perceive panic as anything other than lack of self-confidence to handle a situation, but when she showed me that message yesterday... all the alarms in my head were going off at the same time. And I purposefully concealed it from her. She needs to feel safe.
I need to make her feel safe. But I can’t deny that I’ve been thinking about it too.
Even the thought of losing her makes me nervous in a way that I haven’t felt before. She’s everything to me. I cannot afford to let anything happen to her.
I know this place is secure, but she’ll have to start going out eventually, and as much as I want to be present in every single moment of her life, what I also know is that she wouldn’t want it. Neither is it healthy; she’s not weak...
She’ll need to learn to face things by herself.
I look back again at the ethereal beauty God above has blessed me with. I hope I might do justice with this blessing. Fingers crossed!
On my way out I find all my friends wasted on the couch; they must’ve been drinking till early morning. They do it when working the whole night. It’s still quite early so I wouldn’t disturb Mira and Kabir in their room, and Divit is nowhere to be seen.
Hope he’s not in the cellar still torturing the woman. It’s a pan to know him a little too well to understand what all kind of torture methods he must’ve applied. Torture kinks to be precise. I don’t approve of it, but will he listen to me that’s the question.
I am, however, reminded of the look on her face. Anya, in person, looked more like the victim than the suppressor.
I RETURN BACK AT ABOUTseven, to find the living room empty. When I head to the kitchen, I find no one. These guys must’ve had breakfast without me. Jerks!
I head back to my bedroom at the end of the corridor, to find it empty as well. I huff a sigh. Et tu brute!
Getting rid of my clothes, I head inside the washroom to find steam condensing on the tiled walls. She must’ve been here.
Heading out my mind half expects to see her outside practicing with Yuvraj or Kabir. Because Mira would probably be in the torture room with Divit.
When I find nobody outside the cabin, my heart skips a beat. She must be in the woods. Plenty of sunlight to practice in the cold weather.
I make a quick run, only to find no trace of anyone in the forests or the lakeside either.
I rush back to clear my mind of doubts. I’m almost certain she might be with Divit downstairs. There’s no other place that she could be right now. Right? Yes!
But my legs feel heavy, which is strange since I just came back after running.
The sweat on my forehead, or those trickling down the back should have no business bothering me in the chilling weather. I don’t even remember wherever my feet are landing, dirt, dung or bones. I don’t care. I want to see her face, that’s all my sanity needs right now.
It’s getting hard to breath as I am reminded of the sinister message on her phone... Do not come out, or what happens next won’t be my fault.
No! I’ll find her downstairs...I tell myself descending down the steps two at a time. Yes, she must be here.
I find Divit sitting on a chair opposite to a duck taped Anya. Mira is leaning on the table near the other end of the hall. A solution of some kind in her hand.
But she’s not here. Where the hell is she?
“Where is she?” I ask, panting but trying to cover the nervousness and dread.
“Who? – Disha?” Mira asks.
“Yes... Yes – I thought she must be with you guys...” I speak going through the rest of the facility, to find all the other rooms empty.
“No. I thought she was with you.” Divit answer from behind me, “Wait... She’s not with you?”
The question hits me like a rock. Bile rises up my throat and suddenly I feel a kind of panic that I’ve never encountered in my entire life. Not even when I was helpless and bound.
“Wait. There’s a message on our group chat.” Mira says before reading the message aloud, “Hey guys. Jess just messaged me. She’s managed to escape. I’m going to get her. I’ll bring her back here.”
“What time was this sent?” I ask, almost certain of what shit went down.
“Six forty... that was over half an hour ago.” Divit and Mira’s eyes widen in horror as my heart sinks and I try to lean onto the wall beside me to no avail.
I am falling... Can’t stand... Can’t breathe.
Anya’s shrieks through the tape like she’s trying to say something important.
She speaks hysterically as soon as the tape is off her mouth, “Don’t let her go. Call her back immediately. I’ve been following Jessica. She is Miss Versatility.”
The expression on her face tells it all, as she continues, “If she finds her... You all are going to be so sorry for this.”
Divit’s hands are holding my shaking body on the ground.
I’ve – I’ve lost her! How could I lose her?