You're Next, Buddy: Part 8!

YOU’RE NEXT, BUDDY

PRE-NOTE:

Kindly excuse correct the grammatical mistakes. Thanks in advance. :-)

PART 8:

“Warn who?” asked Vasanth.

Sylvia was the first one to come up with a brilliant excuse. “Your brother. He had so many amazing things here. Only if he has the common sense to leave the wasted pizza in the dustbin, there wouldn’t be so many ants trying to build a home within his building.”

Vasanth threw back his head and laughed throatily. “I am gonna write it down and tell the exact words to Prashu.” Sylvia joined the laughter too.

Priya cleared her throat. “Did they announce a holiday in college because it was raining outside?”

Sylvia smirked. “That’s for school kids. Ah, how I miss school. So Vasanth…”

“Actually I am in a hurry. Aunt Ranjani has a flight to catch; Prashanth is supposed to take her to the airport, you know? But they both forgot it totally and here I am, to clear the mess. I had to give up an important seminar to…”

“We will do it,” Sylvia said, ignoring the head shakes from her friend. “I was anyway going to run an errand for a friend. So I’ll take care of it too.”

Vasanth breathed a sigh of relief. “You’ll do that? Thank you very much, Sylvia. I’ll let my aunt know… Aunty!” He called out and shortly they heard him descending the stairs.

“What the hell!” Priya gritted her teeth. “Are we here to solve a mystery or are we going to start an old age home?”

“Actually that’s not a bad joke. I’ll laugh when I feel like it,” said Sylvia sarcastically.

“What you’re doing is a bad joke, Sylvi,” said Priya, still shaking her head disapprovingly.

“Come now,” Sylvia looked out and said, “Put everything back in place. Nothing must look disturbed. I’ll take a look at Vasanth’s room before going downstairs, okay?”

“All right,” Priya accepted and Sylvia ran to the next room. Five minutes later, they both were in the front seats of an Indica with Aunt Ranjani on the back. Vasanth was helping with the luggage. Sylvia was on the wheel, smiling and Priya gave her a “we-are-actually-going-to-airport-because-of-your-stupidity” look that turned her smile into a guilty wry childlike expression. She averted her eyes and looked back at Vasanth. Ranjani kissed his forehead and Vasanth picked a huge bar of chocolate from his pocket and passed it to her.

Sylvia thought that there was something queer about that chocolate bar while Priya quipped, “Chocolates are for young ladies, Mr. Vasanth. What do we get for this amazing service from our end?”

“How about dinner in Hyatt?”

“Sure,” said Priya, looking impressed. But he was looking at Sylvia. “I am inviting my brother as well.” Sylvia felt weird but didn’t decline his call. “Of course,” she said, turning the ignition key. The car roared and moved ahead while Vasanth waved at them till they disappeared.

“So Aunty, where’re you going?” asked Priya casually once they hit the road.

“To London. My daughter is settled there; I visit there once a year during the holidays of my grandkids. I am going to miss my boys.”

“You love them more than your daughter,” said Sylvia, judging from the look on the old woman’s face.

“That’s true,” said Ranjani without hesitation. “Prashu will take care of himself. But I am not sure about Vasu. Ever since Supriya went missing, he is not in his usual self. He worries me the most.” Ranjani talked about the brothers as though she was coming back from their school after leaving them there on their first day.

“Did you like Supriya?”

“She was a very sweet girl. Vasanth introduced me to her one day, saying that she would come and stay with us. She was frightened by something; I don’t know what troubled her. She would wake up in the middle of the night and cry. But besides all that, the girl is honest and loved Vasanth more than me and Prashu. I have no idea why she left Vasu.” Ranjani heaved a deep sigh.

“Have you met her friends? Rocky, David, Jhansi etc?”

“Once! They all came to her birthday party. It was a disaster… Hey, drive straight, lady!” She warned as Sylvia missed a goat that ran on the road by an inch. After that, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get Ranjani back to Supriya’s story. She thanked god for saving the goat, commented that driving was really men’s business, got into argument with Priya on the above subject of gender equality and then the conversation moved to her daughter who was a thorough feminist like Priya.

By the time they decided not to fight over a silly issue anymore, they were already in the airport. Sylvia took out the trolley and Priya helped Ranjani getting into the wheel chair. She came closer to Sylvia and whispered, “This is your burden from now on. I just spotted an old crush of mine and so I am moving ahead with this old lady.”

“Priya Viswanathan, you can’t leave me here with a…”

“You asked for it. Bye, dear,” she smiled brightly, air kissed Sylvia and disappeared into the crowd.

Sylvia was dumbstruck. At first, she thought of going after her friend but then gave up. “I am gonna kill you, Pri.” She mouthed the words and returned to the car to check whether she had missed anything.

“Wow! A cosmic connection, Ms. Priya,” said a voice very close to her ears. She turned around and found Prashanth face to face. “Vijay, you scared me!”

“This is how we meet, Priya. Remember? We don’t know each other’s names, phone numbers and so our meetings have to happen this way. If this has the tendency to…”

Sylvia pouted and lied deliberately. “I got it. I am leaving to London and not coming back any soon.”

“You’re too early for the London flight,” said Prashanth. “Shall I help you with the trolley or something?”

“Yes, please,” said Sylvia gratefully. They both walked together and Sylvia’s eyes kept glancing around for Priya impatiently.

Prashanth asked some questions and she gave a few vague replies as her mind was not really in it till she spotted Priya. She was involved in a chat with tall young man that Sylvia remembered. “Bhargav!” she said, laughing softly. “Old crush indeed.”

“What?” Prashanth wondered, looking all around, disoriented.

“See that guy over there? That’s Bhargav – my best friend’s biggest crush in our college days. He is cute and smart and dated an idiot from my class.”

“And the girl next to him is your bestie?”

“Yep.”

“She looks melted all right.”

“Yep,” repeated Sylvia. “Shall we sit down here and talk something else? Sharing information about my best friend is the violation against our agreement?”

Prashanth’s lips broke into a hot smile as he sat down on the chair and Sylvia took a nearby seat. “Are you sure that we’re here for the flight too early?”

“Oh, I am very sure.” He said without even looking at his watch.

“You’re one of Vasanth’s students, aren’t you?” She asked abruptly.

“Yes. But listen, here’s one idea – how about us sharing the common interests of others? The ones that wouldn’t reveal our identity?”

Sylvia snapped her fingers. “Good idea. I go first. Tell me about your family without any names.”

“I lost my mother when I was five. My father was a businessman and he died a year back in an accident. My brother and I do not know the ABC of business. So it broke and we are heavily mortgaged now. That’s the status of my family,” said Prashanth. “My turn. Same question.”

“Long story short – no parents. That girl over there is not just my friend – she is my second cousin and her parents took care of me.” She jerked her head towards Priya Viswanathan and Priya was still in a conversation with Bhargav. “Question 2: Have you had any crush on anyone in your college days?”

“Nope. I did fall for you now though – It still half-surprises me and half-annoys me. Who is your biggest crush?”

“Rahul Dravid.” Even though it was only ten minutes, she felt like she ran out of questions. Her mind wandered around the things in Prashanth’s room. “What do you think about The Arrow?” Her lips uttered the words even though her uncanny brain sent a warning alert that it was dangerous.

Prashanth’s expressions were unpredictable but he took some time before replying. “What can I say about a high functioning psychopath in the city? Whatever his reasons are, I am pretty sure that he deserves punishment.”

Sylvia didn’t batter her eyelids as she watched him with curiosity. “That’s not much different from everyone’s opinion.” She leaned forward. “Would you believe me if I say that The Arrow is in our neighborhood?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

Sylvia’s face shrunk. “Why not?”

Two incidents happened at the same time – Prashanth’s cell phone rang and Priya came running to Sylvia, panting. Prashanth made an excuse to attend the call and Priya sat down next to Sylvia. “I left Aunt Ranjani in the waiting room. And then I saw him.”

“Your big time college-crush Bhargav, right? I saw him too. He looks more handsome than ever.”

“Not him. You showed me the picture of Vijay, the purple something guy, from internet, right?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“He and Bhargav are related. I thought of warning him but I panicked and ran away.” She was sweating all over her body.

“Goodness heavens, why?”

“I don’t… Hang on, we should call Bhargav.”

“Sure thing. Tell me his number,” Sylvia dialed and they both waited for nearly 30 seconds when it was picked and a male voice answered.

“Aren’t you girls cute? I asked you to stop digging about The Arrow already. Don’t be part of the victims list unnecessarily.” His tone was acidic and the call ended. The beep sound of the dial reflected the loud heartbeats of Priya.

**********

Supriya was stunned for a moment and it took long time before she completely recovered. “She… she can’t be dead,” she touched her face and her cheeks were wet with perspiration. “I just saw her.”

Rocky said calmly, “I think your dreams started to overpower you. Sandy, if we skip Supriya’s story, what do we have?”

“We can go ahead with Jhansi’s. She saw a guy in Harley.”

“Right,” He turned to the old lady and said, “Madam, we’re sorry. Do you know anyone who rides Harley Davidson?”

The old lady gave a goofy grin. “What, kid?”

“He means bike. A very large bike…” Sandhya explained using her hands and Rocky had to suppress his smile.

“Yes. Yes. Gokul has a huge bike,” said the old lady.

“Gokul? Can we meet him?”

“Sure, kid. He is upstairs. I’ll call him for you.”

 “Yes, please,” said Rocky. When Gokul came down, Rocky greeted him and questioned about Jhansi. Supriya could not concentrate as something about Gokul disturbed. She had seen him before – not just today, but for quite some time. Where?

And then it struck her. “You’re in the staff room.”

“What?” Rocky, Sandhya and Gokul said in chorus.

“Remember my first dream, guys? The one that comes to me daily? Vasanth greets someone in the staff room at the same time I enter. He is that guy.” She said.

**********

Vijay came out of unconsciousness sluggishly, like a drowsing young hound dimly aware of danger. His bedroom was cold; a pale morning light was struggling in through the window. Somehow he was unwilling to open his eyes – but all his senses were slowly coming back. He felt a woman’s delicate fingers on top of his forehead. They swept his hair tenderly and he just wanted to disappear into the affection forever.

He smiled and said, “I am still alive.”

“God, you look like a bright young lady. Where did you get this dumbass?” It was an unfamiliar voice.

Indhu responded. “I don’t know. In college, we were all pretty stupid, I guess. That’s how I ended up with…”

Vijay’s eyes flew open. “Did somebody call me…?”

“Dumb, yes.” Indhu agreed with a huge nod and shook the doctor’s hand. “Thanks, doctor. Ah, Vij… Why on earth did you try to cut down the tree in our garden? That too, with a chainsaw. You’re really dumb.” The doctor chuckled to himself before leaving the room alone for Vijay and Indhu.

“What? What? What? I was taken by… wait a minute, when did you come back and how did you find me?”

“Well, I was super angry that you ditched me. But in London, I caught the next flight ditching your friend who tried to stop me. I really wanted to kill you but when I saw you lying in a pool of blood near our oak tree, I freaked out. God, that was so horrible. And with the help of our neighbors, I took you straight to the hospital.”

Vijay didn’t say anything and there was complete silence in the room that Indhu pressing Vijay’s hand gave an illusion of making a sound. “What about my chest?” He said after some time.

“Yes, I don’t know. Maybe some branch or something? No major damages though. The chainsaw did the nasty job and so that the doctor says that you have to hobble for a while.”

“I wasn’t poisoned?”

Indhu widened her eyes. “Baby, is there some nightmare? You’re fine except for the wound in your thigh.”

“Where is Bhargav?”

“When I find that out, I am going to take his expert brain out of his skull. I mean what he was thinking with all the arrow stuff going on… I gave a call to Raghav and your uncle as well. They’re getting a mouthful too for leaving you all alone – I mean, they should’ve known that you’d do something stupid like this, right? This is all over a new episode of you trying to make a tree house last year. And…” Indhu stopped, watching Vijay’s inscrutable face. “You’re not listening to me, Vij!”

Vijay rubbed his eyes and let out a deep breath. “I am sorry. My head hurts.”

Indhu made a face. “You don’t have any concussion; so how much ever you’re going to pretend, you’re facing me, Mr. Vijay, when I am all set to yell my lungs out for abandoning me in an airport. That’s the cruelest thing that you’ve ever done to me. If you wanna save it, just apologize…”

Despite all the confusions that made his heart pump all the blood straight to his brain, he grinned. “I am not gonna apologize for trying to save my wife’s life, lady.”

Indhu cocked her head to a side, raised her eyebrows and clicked her tongue. “I am sure that I’ll make you feel sorry.”

Vijay’s grin didn’t fade. “Seriously, that’s how wives talk to husbands in a hospital bed?”

Indhu laughed. “Ah, Vij, you’re so sweet,” she suddenly clamped her mouth over his and kissed him. She pulled her apart and smiled sweetly. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed how awesome you smell as well. You’re an angel, Indhu. I…”

“I am not gonna kiss you again till you apologize,” said Indhu, showing her tongue out naughtily. Vijay’s jaw dropped. Indhu laughed out loud. “Told you that I’ll make you feel sorry.”

Vijay was floored. “I am going to surrender myself to The Arrow again.”

“Again?” Indhu asked doubtfully.

“Did you happen to see our bedroom yet?”

“Yes, after I admitted you, I went back there to get a few things. Why?”

“Th… there was nothing wrong?”

“How could anything be wrong in that little dream world of ours?” Indhu took a pillow and squeezed it dreamily. “Everything in our room screamed perfection, perfection… except…” suddenly she lowered her pillow. “That photo was missing.”

“Which photo?”

“That flower shaped photo frame with five petals on it – one of the pictures was missing from it. You, me and the kiddo…”

Vijay closed his eyes and tried to picture the room that he was being tortured. No, he saw the picture all right – there wasn’t any flaw in it except…

Vijay punched his bed hard. “Oh my god! I was such an imbecile…”

“What, Vij?” Indhu looked completely puzzled.

“The Arrow is killing someone right now in our house,” said Vijay, pulling off the vein trips in his hands hastily and trying to get up. And he was correct – The Arrow’s fifth victim was screaming for help in Vijay’s basement at the same time.

To be continued.

Comments and criticisms are welcome. :-)

For previous parts, kindly check

https://www.facebook.com/wonderlandatleisure
http://lavanyaa26.blogspot.in/

Thanks & Regards,

Lavanyaa

You're Next, Buddy - Part 7!

YOU’RE NEXT, BUDDY

PRE-NOTE:

Kindly excuse correct the grammatical mistakes. Thanks in advance. :-)

PART 7:

“What? What just happened?” Sylvia ran into Prashanth’s room and questioned Priya breathlessly.

Priya didn’t answer immediately as she was staring at both the papers in each of her hands and then scrolled her cell phone as though she was verifying certain details. “What?” Sylvia asked one more time with a puzzled expression as she came closer to her friend. “What is it, Pri? You’re scaring me.”

“Not much. But this guy had an appointment with James Alwin on the day he died,” she handed over the medical test results with the logo of the Malar Hospitals on top and James Alwin’s signature on bottom.

“That’s it? That’s why you screamed as though The Arrow sprang up from behind and tried to strangle you?”

Priya pouted naughtily. “Come on, don’t be dramatic.”

Sylvia grinned. “Am I?” Yet while looking at Priya’s determined face, a guilty expression passed across her face and she became serious. “Priya, you can’t second-guess ineffability.”

“Listen, this is important because the story is not over yet. I just found out that this guy ordered a pizza in the morning that Badrinath got killed.”

“Probably I’d have done that too but I just don’t remember what I ate that day. Is eating pizza a crime these days?” said Sylvia, rubbing her hands distractedly.

Priya looked wretched. “You’re so dumb!”

Sylvia was offended. “Come on!”

“Aren’t you gonna ask me interesting questions like ‘Priya, how do you know that the pizza delivery guy’s name is Badrinath? Priya, how do you know that it was the same day that he was murdered?’ etc.,”

Sylvia pulled the other paper from Priya’s hand and noticed that it was a feedback form from Pizzahut with Badrinath’s name on it. “I can guess the rest. As you saw two victims’ signatures, you went ahead and checked the internet for the dates that they were killed.”

“And it coincided with the dates that this guy met them. Come on, we gotta turn him in,” said Priya desperately.

“The police will think that we’re mad if we just showed a pizza feedback form and a blood test. We need more than that.”

Priya nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right. Will there be any other evidences that would connect him with the other two victims?”

“I am psyched. Let’s search,” said Sylvia excitedly.

But she didn’t commence her search like Priya – more like she couldn’t. The complete difference between the two brothers’ rooms bemused her first and later she was amazed by the beauty of the younger brother’s room. If Vasanth’s room was full of books, Prashanth’s room was full of little creative things. There was Iron Man toy made of bottle caps alone, a robot done using pipes, a building built of match boxes, a princess doll carved out of a soap and the list went on.

It was like he could build anything out of nothing. “He is an architect…”

“That doesn’t matter to us. Call me when you find something more interesting than that,” said Priya irritably from the other end of the room.

“Yeah, yeah, I am doing that. It’s just that I can’t believe that this guy could damage anything…”

“What?” Priya sounded more chagrined.

Sylvia gave her an awkward smile and said defensively, “I am looking for further evidences…”

Her eyes fell on a tall construction with cardboard – the outside was painted in blue and was pleasant for eyes whereas the interiors were painted in purple that gave a sudden intimate feeling. “Beautiful!” Next to it, she found a letter and read it aloud. “Hey, he has got a meeting with the CEO of The Purple Penchant to get an approval for the new office. You know, Priya, they actually look forward to creative ideas and I think…”

Priya didn’t seem to be listening. She interrupted Sylvia midway and said, “Got it, Sylvi. The fourth victim Juhi Sinha is a painter, remember? He had bought a picture from her on the day of her death – look, it’s hanging right here,” she pointed out and Sylvia verified the signature on the portrait and gave a thumbs up. “Incredible, Priya, so he meets them professionally and then just tortures them to death. I am missing something here.”

“We’re not missing anything, Sylvia. Who is the next guy that he’s got appointment? You said something now… The purple what?”

Sylvia’s face wore an unbelievable expression. “You’re preposterous. You don’t know the CEO of the purple penchant?”

“If you do, let’s just go straight to him and we gotta warn him,” said Priya, pressing her hands together.

“Warn who?” Both the girls jumped at the male voice that was coming from the entrance of the room. It was Vasanth.

************

The Arrow set the camera at an angle, gave a satisfactory nod and went out. Vijay’s throat burned and he started saying something but ended up coughing.

“Vij, is there a way…”

Finally after considerable effort, he said, “I can loosen the chain a bit now. But I’ll lose all my strength in 30 minutes and I’ll be useless. So it’s important to get you out at first.”

Bhargav turned his head slowly. “What are you? A saint? Did Indhu dance around you to wake you up from your penance?”

“Listen, there is no time for your protests now. Let me see if I can bring the chainsaw close to me and operate it with my legs.”

“All right, kill yourself. That’s all what I want,” said Bhargav vaguely.

“No, I am going to try to cut the chains around me. It’s okay if I am getting hurt – like I said, I am not going to get out of this alive. But you should make sure that you will stop that guy.”

“Stop him? I’ll tear him limb by limb and…”

Vijay gave an appalling look and shook his head. To Bhargav’s horror, Vijay went on to work his way with the chainsaw using his legs. Even though he was being careful, Bhargav could see that he was slowly slipping away as he shook his head to keep him awake and his breathing got heavier. It must be the effect of poison, thought Bhargav.

Vijay let himself slouch to the right in the chair, at first trying to ignore the pain in his right side — pain that felt like an increasing bubble of pressure, something similar to a tooth impaction— and then giving way and panting. He slumped farther in spite of the pain. His toes brushed the chainsaw but succeeded only in pulling it a quarter of an inch closer. Vijay slid down in the chair, still slumped to the right, and bit his lower lips harder at the pain in his thighs.

He pinched the tip of the saw between his toes . . . grabbed it . . . almost lost it . . . and then managed to get it under the chair. “This is harder than I thought. I wasn’t trained for this.”

“Obviously. No one is trained to operate a chainsaw while their hands are bound in the back. But don’t worry; I am going to teach it to my kid in the future. Of course, I won’t forget to poison him and make sure that he will bleed like hell as well,” said Bhargav, looking away and his voice acidic.

Vijay’s mouth flew open. “Why are you even mad at me? What did I do?”

“It’s more about what you didn’t do – I want you to be mad at me. I want you to shout at me. I want you to tell me to go to hell. I want you to ask him to poison me as well. I… I hate you for leaving me to face Indhu. I do…”

“That would be the last thing that I… See, you’re struck here because you were with me. How could I be mad at you?”

“I don’t know, Vij. But don’t talk to me…”

Vijay sighed and decided to have a go at the chainsaw once again. He figured out the knot and realized that if he could just manage to cut the connection between the two chairs, freeing themselves would be easy. And to their luck, that part of the chain was in the floor. He had to use his right leg to bring the chainsaw and the steel chain together and the work brought a fresh slough of pain, and when the act was accomplished he could do no more than sit and pant for a while. He was quite sure he was going to puke, but that passed.

He waited calmly for his head to stop spinning. ‘What are you doing?’ Part of his mind scolded wearily after sometime. ‘Are you waiting for the pain to go away, Vijay? It won't. Your mother taught you Yoga and what did she tell you?’

Sitting there, head thrown back, face shiny with sweat, hair plastered to his forehead, Vijay spoke one of them aloud now, almost as an incantation: “There may be fairies, there may be elves, but God helps those who help themselves.”

“What?” asked Bhargav despite himself.

“My mom’s favorite quote,” said Vijay. “Bhargy, I am having only one chance. I am going to try to cut it in one shot. It’s going to make lot of noise and so you have to free your bonds in 40 seconds – that is, before The Arrow comes in. And you should be ready to tackle both of them, just in case something goes wrong. Will you be okay?”

Bhargav’s face brightened for the first time since the evening. He understood that this was his only chance to save him and his sister’s husband. He must do his best. He nodded firmly.

“Thanks. And if I fail, forgive me.”

“Vij, please…”

He looked at the door once and shushed Bhargav. “Fight him only if it’s necessary. Otherwise just escape through that window and go straight to the next house. Get help.”

Bhargav’s jaw dropped. “Do you want me to leave you here?”

“You outnumber them by 1 to 2. Trust me, our chances are better if you don’t involve in a fight.”

“Vij…”

“Please!”

“Okay,” said Bhargav half-heartedly.

Vijay turned his lower half in his chair and pulled the plug with his toes. He breathed a sigh of relief as the sharp blade of the chainsaw cut through the chain faster than he expected. “Thank goodness,” he said when the bond between the two chairs was undone. Bhargav worked his way to loosen the chain and when he was completely free, he saw the door open.

“Please, go,” shouted Vijay. “Do not…”

Bhargav stood speechless in a dilemma and then decided to follow the words of Vijay. The next house was just three minutes away and more help was better in this case. He definitely could not handle two lunatics and he shouldn’t risk the chances of getting both of them alive out of this mess. He made a quick run towards the window, unlocked it and jumped out.

The Arrow reached for the window but didn’t succeed in the attempt of catching him as Bhargav dodged the enemy easily. He slammed the window door back at his face and the arrow had to back away. Vijay felt weak but when Arrow’s partner was close to him, he released himself from the last steel band that fastened him to the chair.

“No,” cried the partner, as Vijay sent his fist out in the driving blow that caught the opponent just above his heavy gut. He doubled over with a loud “Ooof!” Vijay leaned out of the chair and delivered a quick chop to the back of the neck of the partner. His karate teacher would have given a deep bow to the blow. The partner dropped to the floor as if felled by an ax.

The Arrow didn’t waste time admiring Vijay’s skills though. Yet unlike his partner, he didn’t dare to face Vijay directly even though he was at his worst. His hands pulled a dart gun out of his pocket and used it wisely. He aimed perfectly and before Vijay could duck, the dart from the gun stitched in his chest. Vijay smiled. “I know why you want to kill me now. I am beginning to get your story,” he said before his eyes drooped and he went down.

The Arrow walked to his partner first and sprinkled water at him. The partner blinked. “What happened?”

“One second,” he said, moving towards Vijay. He slowly pulled the dart gun’s Arrow out – it was drenched in blood and he smirked. “I am sending this Arrow to Indhu along with the video. Clear our, everything. Now!”

“Is he dead?” asked the partner, getting up slowly.

The Arrow took Vijay’s hand and checked his wrist for the pulse. There wasn’t any. He nodded shortly and said, “He’s dead. Mission accomplished.”

To be continued.

Comments and criticisms are welcome. :-)

For previous parts, kindly check

https://www.facebook.com/wonderlandatleisure
http://lavanyaa26.blogspot.in/

Thanks & Regards,

Lavanyaa

You're Next, Buddy - Part 6!

YOU’RE NEXT, BUDDY

PRE-NOTE:

Kindly excuse correct the grammatical mistakes. Thanks in advance. :-)

PART 6:

Bhargav strained his eyes but he could not open them. Then it struck him that he was blindfolded. He could not feel his hands for some time but it did not take lot of time for him to predict that his hands were securely tied together with a steel chain on his back. His skin was rubbing against a wooden surface and so he concluded that he was tied to a wooden pole. The only mercy about the whole setup was that he wasn’t gagged and he was comfortably seated.

At first, he wet his dry lips and thought of screaming for help. Then he decided against it as he wasn’t sure of his surrounding yet. “Vijay?” He whispered, looking around blindly but received no response. He strained wildly against the bonds around his wrists, grunting in exertion.

“Vij? Vijay?” He called out again. The silence killed his heart. In panic, he pulled the steel chain violently and heard an unfamiliar soft chuckle. He cringed as he realized that someone was watching him struggle and enjoying. “Who is that?” He shouted exasperatedly.

“People call me Arrow,” the voice said.

On the back of his neck, he felt perspiration as soon as he heard their enemy’s voice. He twisted in his bonds once again vainly. The Arrow clicked his tongue pitifully. “Bhargav! Bhargav! The other side of your chain goes straight to your brother-in-law’s neck. You’re killing him faster than I planned.”

Bhargav froze and he stopped moving suddenly. “You… you’re lying.”

“Oh, watch it for yourself,” the blindfold was taken off and Bhargav blinked twice before staring fuzzily around him. The first thing that struck him was that he was in Vijay-Indhu’s bedroom.

His heart stopped as the scene was too horrific for him to take in. The Arrow had been honest when he said that the chain was around Vijay’s neck. Two chairs were tied to the legs of a teak cot and they both were bound to the chairs with the help of a single steel chain. Bhargav could not imagine what sort of knot that was, but if either of them tried to pull the chain, it was the end of the other. More than the fact that they could not escape, the fact that they could not even try to escape freaked Bhargav.

“Beautiful setup, isn’t it?” The Arrow laughed before getting busy to fix a DSLR camera in front of them. He was wearing an ordinary pandas that covered his head, goggles to his eyes and a hospital mask. Even though Bhargav couldn’t see his face, he thought that this man must be handsome for no reason. He was six feet tall and had a good physique.

“What do you want?” Bhargav managed to choke out in frustration.

“Who’re you talking to? Did he wake up?” A voice came from outside. Bhargav narrowed his eyes. ‘There are two of them?’

“Nope. It’s the other one,” The Arrow replied casually.

“Just give him a tight slap and see if he wakes up. We don’t have much time,” said the voice.

Bhargav was shaking in anger. “If you touch him, I swear… I swear…” As he heard a cough, he turned around to see Vijay shaking his head and coming out of his long sleep. Vijay looked around and grasped the situation in a minute.

He smiled bitterly. “If this is not one of your horrible pranks, Bhargy, I must ask that if I die…”

“Shut up,” said Bhargav, watching The Arrow take out a few knives from his bag in horror.

Vijay continued calmly. “If I die, never ever let Indhu watch that video.”

“Shut up,” said Bhargav again, feeling weak.

Vijay turned towards The Arrow. “Leave him.”

The Arrow nodded his head appreciatively. “You know what? The strength in your voice amazes me. You should beg me, but instead you’re ordering me.”

“Take me if you want me but leave him alone. Can’t I expect a little courtesy as I am giving my life to you?”

“Giving…” The Arrow chuckled. “I am taking your life, dude.”

“Yeah, right. Get me out of these bonds and try taking my life.”

“Bravo!” said The Arrow, pulling a bean bag and sitting on it. “Tell me one thing. Aren’t you good at martial arts?”

“Yes.”

“Black belt?”

“Fourth degree black belt. Trained by TSD Master Bell.”

“Cool. There is no point in torturing you as it had been all part of your training – you do know a way to block pain, right?”

Before Vijay answered, Bhargav cried again. “Will you two please stop talking as though you two were school friends from a reunion?”

The Arrow eyed Bhargav thoughtfully and said after a complete minute. “I’ll leave this hothead out of this mess, Vijay – I don’t want him. Also it would be nice if there is someone who can tell the world how monstrous I am. That will induce a fear in my next victim’s mind and I will enjoy it. But on one condition…” He put his chin on his linked hands and watched Vijay for some time.

Neither of his victims asked what it was. Vijay waited patiently and Bhargav’s mouth was so dry that he could not speak. The Arrow put in again, “Vijay, do you know why I chose different methods to kill each one of them? Do you know why I cut out different parts…”

“My prediction is that they asked for it,” said Vijay.

The Arrow smiled grimly. “You’re indeed a good detective. Well, yeah, I gave them a chance to choose the weapon and a part to convey a message. James Alwin wanted to be killed with a knife, Badrinath chose fire and so on. They yelled, bawled like a baby et al, but ultimately they had to pick one of the weapons. In your case, I am going to give that golden opportunity to your brother-in-law.”

Bhargav gasped. “No way in hell, I am doing that.” Neither The Arrow’s nor Vijay’s glare wavered. They were looking at each other even though Bhargav painfully groaned to get their attention. “Please, no.”

“I’ll leave him if he decides the weapon that’s gonna destroy you,” said The Arrow, rising as though the conversation was over.

“That’s cruel. I’d rather die,” said Bhargav, looking more and more hopeless every minute.

“There’s no point for Indhu to lose her husband and her brother on the same day,” Vijay began.

“This guy’s a lunatic. You believe him?”

The Arrow stiffened. “I gave you my word already. I will leave you unharmed if you just…”

“If I just let you kill Vij? Wow. Indhu will welcome me home with a red carpet and a band…”

“I’ll go ahead and pick a chainsaw to run it through his chest slowly and painfully…” The Arrow gave a slight pause at the end of each word that created an impact.

To Bhargav, it felt like he was hitting a nail on his heart. “Stop!”

“To save the pain, you can just pull those chains and get it done,” said the voice from the other room.

Bhargav swallowed. How come no help had arrived yet? How long would it take for them to find out that they had been abducted? Wouldn’t they come directly to Vijay’s home with all the securities that they could get?

“All right. Chainsaw it is,” said The Arrow.

*************

David pulled the hand of Jhansi and found her under a plastic sheet. “Jhansi, Jhansi?” He slapped her on her cheeks and she moaned lightly. “We need to get her to the hospital,” He held her in his shoulders and ran towards his car. “Supriya, don’t stand there like a statue. Call Rocky!”

“Yes, sure,” Supriya responded, pulling her mobile and dialing Rocky’s number. There was no answer even after a full ring. “He is not picking the call.”

“Right. Do one thing. Take an auto and go to my place. Meanwhile I’ll admit Jhansi in the hospital.”

“Is she all right, Davy? Why would…”

David looked annoyed. “She will be, if you just let me drive the car.”

“Sorry,” said Supriya with an apologetic look and watched him disappear under the bridge before crossing the road. She tapped her foot impatiently and checked her watch as she waited in the deserted road. She tried calling Rocky and Ayesha again unproductively and heaved a deep sigh. After five more minutes, when she was in a dilemma whether to make another call to her friends or probably dialing for a cab, a BMW slowed down near her. Her eyes widened in surprise as she found Vijay in the driving seat.

“You’re the one who came to my office with Ayesha, right?”

“Yes,” said Supriya cheerfully.

“What’re you doing in this place? It’s not safe around here even in the morning. Get in,” he got down and opened the front door for her.

At first, Supriya blurted out Rocky’s address but when she was about to buckle her seat belt, she changed her mind. The city’s best detective was next to her – why not ask him to help her solve the mystery?

She unclicked the seat belt and turned to Vijay. “Vijay, remember the address that you gave me?”

“Yes?” Vijay looked amused but hardly showed any surprise.

“That address led us here,” she pointed the empty ground on the opposite side of the road.

“What?” Still Vijay’s voice and face refused to show any expression.

“Yes. My friend Jhansi came here to investigate this place and somebody attacked her.”

“Who did?”

“No idea. David took her to the hospital.”

“David?”

“One of my friends.”

“Jhansi was alone when she was attacked?”

“Yes.”

“Why would she do such thing? Investigating here alone?”

“I don’t know.”

“So your friend David took her to the hospital in his car?”

“Yes.”

“So how did Jhansi come here in first place? I don’t see any other vehicle. She couldn’t have walked all the way.”

Supriya whistled excitedly. “See, another mystery. Aren’t you a little curious?”

Vijay smiled kindly. “I heard that you’re having some sort of weird dreams, right?”

Supriya’s face shrunk. “Ayesha told you? No, but this is not it and I am not mental. Either the address you gave me is wrong or somebody collected your gift in this place. And how is it possible?”

“See, we verify every address before sending a gift. We call the person and make sure that…”

Supriya interrupted. “So you have that number with you still?”

“Yes, it should be there in my email. I need to disturb a few electrons to get the necessary data. Let me see.” He opened his mailbox from his phone and then made a call shortly. “Calling…” He told Supriya as he pressed his headset, waiting for an answer.

The call was picked immediately. “Hello. Who is this?”

“Ms. Sinha?”

“Speaking!”

“This is Vijay, CEO of The Purple Penchant.”

“Wow, what a surprise! Are you gonna congratulate me again? Is my painting worth it?”

Vijay’s lips widened. “Of course, you deserve it more than anyone. I just want to double check whether you’ve received your gift.”

“I did, Vijay. Don’t you have any Assistants to do this job, by the by?”

Vijay laughed. “Sorry to bother you. But are you still in that address?”

The girl on the other side laughed harder than him. “What’s wrong? You don’t sound energetic. And to your question, I am still in that address but I am leaving right now as my boyfriend is waiting for me outside in his Harley.”

Vijay’s eyebrows knit as he ran his fingers through his hair and looked down the road. His eyes fell on a girl who was locking the gate and waving at a guy in Harley Davidson bike. Only difference was that the girl was coming out from the building next to the empty ground. “No, I just wanted to confirm because we didn’t receive any confirmation from your side.”

“That’s my fault, Vijay. My apologies. You don’t need to send any more prizes. I got the latest edition of Neil Gaiman’s. My boyfriend is super jealous,” she grinned as she winked at the bike guy.

“Thanks, Ms. Sinha,” said Vijay, ending the call. The girl shrugged and put the cell phone into her bag before climbing on to the bike. The bike flew and was out of sight within seconds.

Vijay turned to Supriya and smiled again. “You got the address wrong.”

*********

“No, no, no, please,” said Bhargav, swallowing. “God, please, don’t cut him.” He closed his eyes to avoid the tears and dropped his head.

“You have a choice,” said The Arrow, shrugging his shoulders. He bent over his bag. When he straightened up, he was indeed holding a chainsaw. For a moment, even Vijay went speechless. He muttered inaudibly, ‘Oh my god, do I deserve that?’ The Arrow poured a nasty-smelling solution on the blade and took a swing at a sofa for practice.

Terror sharp as a gust of wind filled with razor-blades blew through the dope and Bhargav's eyes flew open. “Please, please, no. Not him. You’re definitely mistaken him for someone else. He couldn’t have done anything that bad. Please,” He continued to shriek and plead, but his words had become inarticulate babble at some point of time.

“You still have a choice,” said The Arrow, moving closer to Vijay. The blade was gleaming as he slid his right hand down the handle to take a shot. Before Vijay’s mind was completely consumed in a forest fire of panic, the saw came whistling down at his thigh and the blood poured out.

Vijay threw his head back as pain deeper than any pain imaginable coursed through him, like fire through all his veins. But he remained in his position throughout the pain, and did not cry out, although some guttural grunts escaped his clenched jaw and his eyes squeezed shut. His mind knew that the video was getting recorded and he thought of Indhu. He told himself, ‘Don’t show the pain on your face. Indhu might watch it and you shouldn’t hurt her.’

Bhargav pleaded yet again. “Please STOP! I’ll do anything you want. Please!”

“I asked you to do one thing and you’re yet to do it.”

“All right. I’ll choose a weapon. Please, please, put that chainsaw down. Please, I beg you,” said Bhargav, sounding feeble.

The Arrow immediately threw the blade down casually and prompted eagerly. “Yes?”

Bhargav pressed his lips, looked at Vijay who was trying hard to keep his face straight and succeeding in the attempt to some extent and then at the person who hurt him. “Poison. Kill him with poison.”

The Arrow sighed. “That’s unexpected. You’re giving him an easy way out. Let me see if I can prolong the misery and so that I can make a video with enough content. My partner has a bottle of Arsenic, I guess.” He went out.

Bhargav caught his breath and tears slowly seeped out from under his lids, making pale streaks on his attractive face. “Vij, I am sorry, really sorry. Vij, please forgive me.”

“There is no reason for you to apologize. My foolishness landed us in this situation. If you get out of here alive, will you please make sure that Indhu won’t have to deal with all this?”

Bhargav wondered how Vijay managed to speak without any disruption and then nodded silently. All he wanted to say was that he’d better kill himself than facing Indhu with the disaster news. But he didn’t.

He watched the carpet’s color turning to red from the blood and remembered his shopping with his sister. Her words echoed inside his head. ‘Bhargy, your selection is awful. It’s Vij’s favorite color but it’s too thick. If Vij ever trips on the carpet and gets hurt, you start counting your days.’ Bhargav scoffed at the thought and laughed at the irony.

The Arrow returned with a small bottle. He poured the colorless liquid into a glass. “I am not sure whether you two know the properties of Arsenic. The death won’t be instant. It will start destroying the stomach and the respective digestive system. Once the blood flow gets ugly, your heart will struggle and eventually your lungs will shut down. This will take loads of minutes and unlike pain, you can’t control any of your reactions, Vijay. My video is going to be nicer than I assumed and it will destroy your wife. Bhargav, even though I am gonna leave you free, I’ll make sure that your sister watches this.”

Vijay opened his mouth to say something but then decided against it as he shook his head and fell silent. The Arrow played with the glass for some time and then finally pressed it against Vijay’s lips. “Do not protest. You know it is useless. Drink and you don’t have to see me using an axe on your brother-in-law.”

Vijay raised his head, gulped down the dangerous fluid and his face convulsed at the bitter taste. The Arrow threw the glass and it broke making lots of noise. The glass pieces were shuttered all around the room and a cruel smile formed on his lips as he sat down next to the camera to operate it.

Vijay smiled and said, “If you’re watching this, Indhu, please listen to me once and turn it off. I love you.”

************

Supriya was embarrassed and before she could apologize for wasting his time, her mobile phone announced its existence. “Excuse me?”

Vijay gave a nod of approval to go ahead. “Ayesha, I tried your number and…”

“I got the news from David. We’re on the way to Malar Hospitals. Where are you?”

“I thought of picking you guys, but now as you are on the way, I’ll meet you there in the hospital.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you, Riya.”

Supriya informed Vijay the same and he started the engine finally. He didn’t say much during the journey and dropped her asking her to take care of herself. Sandhya was waiting for her in the lobby and took her upstairs to Jhansi’s room. Supriya ran to her and sat by her side. “What happened?”

Jhansi said in a low voice. “I was on my way towards Davy’s place and while crossing that place, I saw a man in. I mean, inside the fence – he was deeply immersed in his thoughts. I crossed the road and called him out. That’s all I could remember. Before he even showed his face to address me, I was blacked out.”

“We hit some dangerous path, I guess,” said Sandhya, shivering a little. “Can’t we leave this here and now?”

“How could we?” demanded Rocky angrily. “Jhansi, tell me everything you remember about this guy. His height, his actions, anything that would help us reach him.”

“I… I don’t know. I saw a Harley Davidson parked outside though – he must be really rich. His attire confirmed the same.”

David jumped. “Harley Davidson? Was it black?”

“Yes.”

“Wow. That’s not just rich. That’s royal,” said David in a dreamy voice.

Ayesha sighed. “Let’s get back to the business. Did you happen to notice anything else? How did he look?”

“I saw him,” said Supriya. Everyone looked at her with some sort of perplexed expression. It took her nearly seven minutes to complete her side of the story.

Ayesha cursed herself. “Damn it. We should go check this place now. Why on earth didn’t it occur to us earlier that we should check with the neighbors?”

Rocky rubbed his chin. “Not neighbors. Both the address is the same. Meaning that they must be the owner of the whole place and the house was just built in one area.”

“Or the address is like 47A and 47B.” Sandhya suggested her opinion.

“Whatever! It’s time that we check out this girl and her boyfriend. I want to punch his face for hitting my friend,” said Rocky.

“Calm down, guys,” Jhansi began but no one was in the mood to listen to her.

At last, after so much discussion, Ayesha and David decided to stay with Jhansi and the rest of the three went back to the place where it all started – the empty ground. “I can see Jhansi’s scooty pept,” Rocky nodded towards the place where it was parked innocently. Supriya snapped her forehead – how come she missed this earlier when Vijay asked her the question about Jhansi’s vehicle? Obviously she didn’t think that it might be parked on the other side of the road.

Rocky halted down the road and the three of them got out of it. Sandhya was the one who took the plunge and hit the calling bell in the next building. No answer.

Supriya said, “They two just got out before some 30 minutes. They might not be back yet.”

“There is no lock,” said Rocky.

Supriya scratched her head and distinctively remembered the girl locking the gate. So the girl must’ve returned to her house. “Yes,” Supriya nodded in agreement as Sandhya pressed the calling bell longer this time. There was no answer.

Rocky kicked the gate in frustration and it opened wide. Sandhya swatted him. “Are you out of your mind? What the hell are you doing?” But Rocky wasn’t there to hear the end of the question as he already walked inside.

The girls exchanged looks and then followed Rocky. He pounded on the door and kicked twice. Supriya lost patience and was about to hold him back to control him when the door opened. An old lady jerked her head in the small gap and looked at them questioningly. “Sinha, Ms. Sinha,” said Supriya, remembering the name.

“Come in,” she welcomed them. “I am 70% deaf. I’ll get my hearing aid. You sit here,” she made them wait in the hall and went inside a room. All three of them looked around – Rocky’s eyes roamed faster without taking in any details, Sandhya was a bit uncomfortable doing so and Supriya screamed.

The other two looked at her suspiciously and followed her eyes to see a girl’s photo in a huge frame. It was the same girl that Vijay and Supriya watched – but the frame was covered with the flower garland and a little lamp was standing in front of it. “No, no, no, this is impossible; she is not dead. I saw her a few minutes before.” The old lady who just came in with a coffee tray dropped it with a loud noise as she heard Supriya.

To be continued.

Comments and criticisms are welcome. :-)

For previous parts, kindly check

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http://lavanyaa26.blogspot.in/

Thanks & Regards,

Lavanyaa