Him
Jessica’s phone is a paradise of information. The puny brained woman turned it on right when she got back after whatever horrible place, she transported my muffin to. The number was changed but the device still gave off the necessary information regarding the location and the times she connected to an international network. Pretty much everything that I needed to trace this back to a remote location off the coast of Mumbai.
My baby is somewhere beyond that. But where?
I keep going back to the same questions, running in circles. It has been more than eight days since I last saw her face. It hurts to even open my eyes when the first thing I see in the morning is not her. Every day I make up my mind to go running, but my legs tense at the very thought of coming back and facing the horror of her absence.
Even though I do not sleep in my room anymore, there’s always her at the other end of the mattress lying with her beautiful hair spread across, lightly brushing my face, giving me a sense of relief that she must be waiting for me and I won’t fail her. That’s my motivation whenever I open my eyes in the morning.
“Where have you been all night?” Divit’s question stops me in my tracks.
“Say something...” he runs behind me before grabbing at my arm. “What’s going on Nakul? Are you even serious about finding her?”
“Which part made you think I wasn’t?” I speak.
“Thank God! You still know how to speak. I thought you lost your speech with your sense of judgement.” He mutters.
Trying not to sound irritated is hell of an ordeal when around this guy. “Why is everything funny to you?”
“It’s not. I’ve been looking for you last night. We made some real progress.” His tone is grave, but I doubt the information would be anything other than what I have already made progress with last night.
“You’re not talking about the device location, are you? Because that was borderline useless piece of information. Unless you can hack the satellites and get the video feed for the sea for past three days or so.” I say, bored out taking a seat on the arm of the couch in the center.
“No.” his response is straight, making me rise to my feet. “Nakul... I think you might be able to recognize this ring. It’s a signet ring. Does it ring bells?”
My eyes try to comprehend the meaning behind the most disturbing nightmare of my past making a comeback to the present. That’s a ring I can’t dare forget. “What about it?” I refocus my attention on him, shutting out any memories of my darkest nights.
“You should come with me and talk to Anya.” He signals and I follow.
ANYA LOOKS WAY BETTERthan last time, with all the bruise marks fading and no new ones to be seen on her pretty face. She has been helping unlike what we expected.
“You look better!” I acknowledge nodding at her as I enter the breezy hall she has been moved to.
She eyes Divit with an expression I can’t quite place, before turning her attention towards me, “All thanks to a friend...”
“Looks like your friend is an expert in healing the broken...” The red on both their faces is a telltale, but I don’t have time for all this, “Anyways, how do you know it was King... I mean how can you be sure he was the one with the ring? It could be someone else, like a guest or business...”
“No... It is King’s ring. I can recognize that ring even in my sleep... after all, he was the first to introduce me to violence. The first one to kill my voice. The man is unmissable Naksh. You’ll know him moment you see him. He’s evil unlike anyone I’ve ever met. His disguise is a shipping company; and he has the local authorities in his pocket so, all his dirty business has been going on smoothly for decades now.”
I turn to face Divit; horrified look in his own eyes. He knows.
My baby is in that monster’s mercy, and that man is anything but merciful. So – fucking hard to gulp that down.
“Can I have a moment with you?”
Divit follows me to seclusion; a concoction of emotions in his eyes. Pity, fear, rage.
“I have a feeling this has something to do with me. I need to leave right away...” I say, weak in the knees for the first time in twelve years. “You stay back, and be in touch with me.”
“No, I am coming with you.” He retorts, concern marking his sharp features. “I am not leaving you alone in this. Moreover, I highly doubt the others would want to stay back too seeing you in this shit.”
“You don’t know him. If the man she’s talking about is him, then I can guarantee, it’s not worth the risk...”
“Nakul, we are your friends. Friends don’t leave each other in difficult times.” He rests firm hand on my shoulder, “You have no idea how desperately we’ve been trying to look for clues... even more desperately when you were having the attacks.”
His words are like a soothing balm on my scorching heart, and it had been years since I actually saw him try to repair me.
“None of us have had one night of sleep since Disha went missing. This is important for us, too. You two are important for us, too. So, this is not your problem alone. We can divide roles, but you’re not facing that monster alone. I’m not breaking the promise I made to myself many years ago.”
“Moreover, the gang is all too turbulent too... Mira and Kabir have fallen apart. She lost her sleep for three nights Nakul, three consecutive nights when you were unconscious; and that’s not something anyone other than Anushka was ever capable of doing. Even the enemies have come together for this. Rayan and Yuvraj have been working in unison to look for her since the abduction. And Taksh... don’t even get me started. What I am trying to say is none of them would sit back to watch you struggle all alone.”
The tears in my eyes are real, and so is the ache of gratefulness in my heart. “What did I ever do to deserve you guys?”
“Nothing.” Rayan emerges from behind me, “But we’re still here. So, you better make the most of it.” He laughs and this time I actually smile, “Divit’s influence is bad. It can make the savages melt down into a fudge.”
“Divit’s gotten into your head.”
He laughs in response before reading me still smiling. “You know we were missing this part of you so darn much. I thought I had only imagined how you used to laugh.”
“Hmmm cheesy... now let’s talk business.” Divit interrupts, before turning to him, “Take care of everything here.”
“What?” Rayan seems amused, “Did you say here?” he signals in the direction of the cellar, winking at me.
Divit’s eyes shine... there’s rage behind that smile. “Try to keep your hands off of her, okay? And take care of everything else. Be on standby. We’ll call you guys about our finds.”
Rayan nods controlling his laughter, “Roger that.”
He then turns towards me, “We leave in the morning. Let’s bring your muffin back.”
A pang of envy shoots inside my heart as the word ‘muffin’ leave his mouth, but then it instantly subsides. He loves her in a way that warms my heart. The way I love him or every one of them, my amazing gang.
I can’t sleep tonight, maybe that way time will fly quicker.
The nervous traumatized boy in me has subsided. Dread on the mention of the monster’s name is still there. But that is subsiding too.
And in its place is a man – rising from the insecurities – to bring back his queen.