Him
Divit’s eyes are wide the moment he sees my red swollen eyes; a deep frown making his painted face.
All of my gang follow him with about the same expression as they make their way towards me.
“I get it, you can’t focus on anything other than this...” Rayan points to my laptop, “but you should not compromise your sleep schedule if you want to stay fit enough to fight him back.”
I rub my face with the palm of my hand. My eyes feel like they’re unable to make their faces out properly. Everything’s static.
“I’m fine...don’t worry about me.”
“Yeah. We can see that.” Taksh nods, “Have you seen how you’ve started looking lately, Naksh? At this rate you won’t have the strength to even face him, let alone defeat him or get Disha back.”
Her name... Her voice. Her innocent eyes.
Her pained eyes. Her defeated eyes. Her defenseless expression.
The contrast is killing me a little more with every passing minute. I’ve never felt this powerless in my life, not even when I was the one at the monster’s mercy.
“Don’t take my lack of sleep as lack of strength.”
“Yeah? you think not sleeping is some kind of exercise? For fuck’s sake, stop this torture. Have some sleep. You’ll need it when we leave.”
What do I say? Every time I close my eyes, the damned video plays. Along with all the others I have been receiving every other night.
What am I supposed to say? That every time her face flashes in my head, I feel a little more guilty. For being the reason, she’s going through the hell fires.
“How did the raid go?” I deadpan.
“Great, as always. We tried investigating further about Miss Versatility’s whereabouts but they had no clue as to where she has been for the past two days. But they admitted she had left Mumbai as of Tuesday...” Divit’s eyes narrow, “Do you think she’s going to visit King?”
I lean back on the couch. “I hope she does... because that would be the perfect time to catch the bitch!” Teeth gritting at the last word.
“Did you get anything on the video from last night?”
“Actually, I did.” My brows rise as I straighten up to get back and working on my laptop. With a few clicks I open and pause the video to a point. Making sure to blur out everything else for my baby’s sake. “You see that... the signet that man is wearing. I looked for it. Looks like we’ve come across something substantial this time. The man is a gang member of The Demonski Klan. Serbia.”
Divit and Rayan exchange looks while Mira, Kabir and Yuvraj gather around me to look at the image.
“Are you certain?” Yuvraj’s gaze dances between the image and his phone where he has already started double checking.
I smile back, “Absolutely. The man sitting at the corner is their leader, Nikola Jovanovic. And if you try to hear closely at their accent. Wait, let me just...” I arrange for them to hear it loudly, avoiding the background noise of my muffin’s helpless voice. “The audio might be intentionally shitty.”
The room fills with many different sounds. Her desperate cries. Their ugly laughter. The urge to pull their guts out with my bare hands is too intense for me to handle. My fists clench with a numbing force.
“Ne budi jebena pi?ka” one says.
Another one laughs, “Jebena ku?ko!”
“Looks legit, did you track the man down?... Naksh?” Yuvraj calls out but I’m too overthrown for a reply.
I try my best to focus on the curses and swearing going on avoiding the rest of the sounds. But the way my veins are ready to burst with the boiling magma inside, I’m hardly in control. “Take a look at these... I’ll join you guys in a few.”
Rushing out I pull out a cigarette; my bloodied hands tremble as I blow out a puff. Tears never felt so corrosive on my skin before. I failed her!
Every time these videos pop up, I lose a part of my sanity. But that won’t stop me from looking for her. And my misery won’t be put out by any intoxicant known to me, the empty bottle of whiskey and the powder spread on the table is enough to speak for themselves.
But no more. I’m coming for you, muffin.Because this time I think I’ve actually found where she is. And it’s not the monster’s den like I expected.
She’s in one of his old mansions. The place he operates from.
New Belgrade, Serbia.