"Great then!" I said, grinning. "So, have you got some plan in mind, or do we use just mine?"
"Umm, not really. I can't even imagine what sort of a plan you have. That Kimaya girl is real tough - she'd do anything for justice."
"That's the point. Stop her from saying anything at all. If she can't speak, then what will she get justice for?"
"Yes, but how are you going to do that Tej?"
I smiled devilishly. "Well, there are two ways, one of which is a too stupid one."
"What?"
"The stupid one, to make her fall in love with me."
"Impossible!"
"Exactly, that's why it's stupid!"
"And the second one?"
"You're not going to tell even a word of all this to anyone, Danny. Get that?"
"I'm not an idiot to do that. Now tell me, what?"
"Listen carefully..." I said.
Fifteen minutes later, I finally finished explaining my plan to Danny. He was not so sure at first, but as I explained in detail, he was pretty impressed.
"Genius!" He exclaimed.
"I know," I laughed. "So you're in?"
"Definitely."
"Awesome. So, you know what you have to do right?"
"Of course I do."
"Good, I'll see you that day then. Don't contact me till then, unless it's something important. I don't want anyone to doubt you."
Danny nodded, and we left the place. I got on my bike and started towards my home. I suddenly realized something. I turned my bike, and made my way towards the market instead.
***
"Are you sure these won't come off too easily?" I asked the shopkeeper.
"Yes sir. A lot of pulling is required to make it come off," he replied. "What do you need them for?"
Oh no! I thought. I hadn't thought about that before. What reason do I give?
"Oh, for a play in my college. It's about a little fight between two thieves and the housekeeper, and the thieves are masked. There will be some pulling and fighting but the thieves get away. So I needed masks which can withstand the pulling."
"Oh I see. You can absolutely depend on these masks sir!" Said the shopkeeper, with a little hint of pride in his voice.
"Great. Give me two of these then, please!"
"Yes sir." He scurried away to pack the masks up. Two minutes later, I paid my bill and he handed me a cover containing the masks. I thanked him and walked out of the shop. I then headed to Danny's house. When I was like a hundred meters away from it, I called him up and asked him to come there.
Ten minutes later, I saw Danny approaching me, with a curious look on his face.
"I thought you said no contact till that day?"
"Yes, but this was important. Here, take this," I said, taking out a mask from my bag.
"What's this?" He asked.
"Open and see. Wear it that day." I replied, as he started opening the package.
"Good idea. Gives Kimaya even lesser opportunities to get us caught!"
"Yeah. Now go!"
We both hurriedly left the place, and I went home. I had a satisfied smile on my face as I entered my house. Kimaya Verma, you're going to hate yourself for causing me all of this pain!
"Tej? Where were you till now? And what's that cover in your hand?" Asked my mom.
I groaned. "Mom, I like going out. I've been in the jail for so much time, fresh air is good for me. And that's just a cap I saw. I liked it a lot, so I bought it," I said, hoping that she would not ask me to open that bag and show her.
Thankfully, she didn't. "Oh, okay. Tej, please don't do anything wrong with Kimaya."
"I won't mom. I'm not going back to jail again," I lied.
"Good," she said, looking slightly relieved.
"I'm going to my room, mom," I said, and went away.
Once in my room, I switched on my laptop. I had to make sure my plan was almost a hundred percent fool proof. I went through some online law books, and legal procedures. I spent nearly two hours on that, but by the time I was done, I felt happy and relaxed. This plan cannot backfire. Too bad, Kimaya!
I lay back on my bed, satisfied. I would have the perfect revenge. And Kimaya wouldn't be able to do a thing about it! Well, good for me! I thought happily.
Suddenly, I decided to sketch my plan out. I got some paper and a pen, and wrote "Kimaya" in the middle of it. Then, encircling her name, I wrote the names of all those who were close to her. And then, I wrote a very special name. I drew a line from that name, connecting it to Kimaya's. I sketched out the rest of the details on the paper, connecting things when necessary. Then, I lied back and stared at the paper, looking for any flaw in the plan that I may have overlooked earlier. It didn't really seem like that. Kimaya's morals wouldn't allow her to make this plan ricochet; everything was perfect.
I took the paper in the washroom, burnt it and flushed it down. I was not leaving behind any clues which would lead to my destruction.
I'm so sorry, Kim. But this time, you don't have a way out.
Chapter 15
June 26th, 2013 (A Week Later)
Kimaya
"Wow, this is so much better than your first book!" Exclaimed Vihaan, as he read the manuscript of my second book. It wasn't complete yet, but I'd told him the ending I was planning.
"Thank God. It should be better." I said.
"How do you write so well?"
"I don't."
"Of course you do!"
"Of course I don't!"
"Yes you do, wildcat!"
"Vihaan!"
"Yes, wildcat?" He teased.
"Stop that!"
"Never!" He said, bursting into laughter. I stared at him angrily for a few seconds, before starting to laugh myself.
"So do you think the critics will like this one better?"
"I'm sure they will! When will you complete this?"
"I don't know, in another week or so!"
"Complete it fast, wildcat. I'd love it if you got this published before you left for your college!"
"That's impossible! The procedures and everything, they take up months! And I'm here only for a couple of months more!"
"I'm sure they will speed up the process a bit because you're already a published writer."
"Maybe, but it will still take more than two months. Plus, I was planning of getting this book published in the United States. The characters, the setting - everything is in New York. So it won't work out that well in India!"
"Oh, I see."
"Thanks, by the way," I said.
"Whoa, wildcat said a thank you to me! And that's for?"
"For reading this."
"You're welcome! And I read it because I like reading books."
"Hmm."
Vihaan was the only one who had read the book till now. I'd asked mom, dad, Tashanna... But they were all busy. Tashanna's college hadn't closed yet, and dad was off to a business trip. And mom, she had a big delivery coming up, so she was almost always at her art studio. So finally, I asked Vihaan, and he readily helped me out.
"So do you think I should change any part in it?" I asked.
"Nope. That book is amazing the way it is. You really are a hopeless romantic, aren't you?" He asked, laughing. I couldn't help laughing too. This one too was a romance. Not historical, like my previous book, but it was still a love story.
"Well, I'm not a hopeless romantic... I just like writing such books! And that's what's selling these days."
"Oh good! It was kind of weird imagining a wildcat loving romance!"
I shot him a glare, and he just grinned back.
His phone suddenly rang. The person on the other side was literally shouting, and I could catch bits of the conversation.
"Dude, do you want to get late again?"
"Oh shit," said Vihaan. "I'm so sorry, I'll be right there!"
He cut the call and faced me.
"So sorry wildcat, I gotta go. Music club; we had our practice today and I'm almost late agai
n. I've been getting late for the past week!"
"I don't think you were ever punctual! Why just the past week though?" Kimaya giggled.
Vihaan muttered something along the lines of because of you that made my jaw drop. He quickly covered that up though. "Well I must go now. Take care okay?" I must have imagined the whole thing.
"You're only going for an hour or so right? What possibly could happen to me?" I said. Mom was in her studio, and dad was on his trip, so mom had asked Vihaan to stay at my house and see that I'm okay till she's back. Protective, I guess, seeing what had happened the last time I was here.
"Yeah, but even then, be careful. I don't want you getting into any trouble again!" He said. Now why was he being so protective?
"Gosh, okay!"
"Good!"
He went out of the house and I locked the door behind him. We just didn't know of the danger lurking nearby.
***
"Bro, the way is all clear," he muttered into his phone. "Vihaan has gone."
"Awesome. Show time!"
-----
Kimaya's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Help please! Someone help! No!"
"Naina?" Asked Kimaya.
"HELP! Please... Please!"
"Naina!" Cried Kimaya frantically.
"Save her if you can," came a man's voice on the phone.
"Who the hell is this? Leave Naina alone!"
"Come here, we have to talk."
"Who are you? Where do I have to come?"
"I'll give you the directions. Come out of your house."
"You can see me?"
"Yes. You want proof? You're currently standing near the door of your house holding a glass of water."
Kimaya shuddered. Whoever this was could definitely see her, and that was not a good sign. She had no way of calling for help.
"Why don't you come here instead?"
"Are you coming, or Naina..."
"No! I'll come."
Kimaya stepped out of her house and bolted the door.
"Good," said the voice on the phone. "Now walk ahead."
Kimaya did so, slowly lowering her phone, aiming on messaging Vihaan.
"Don't you dare call for help! One wrong move and..."
"Do not hurt Mia!"
"We won't if you follow our orders, Miss. Now take a left from the second tree in front of you."
"Aakash?"
"Who's that?"
"N... No one."
"Good. Because no one, not even this Aakash can help you now."
"Who are you?"
"Stop asking questions. Take another left."
Kimaya quietly obeyed. Damn you Naina, she thought. She always seemed to be getting in trouble.
The voice on the line kept giving her instructions until Kimaya found herself in the middle of nowhere. All she could notice was a graveyard, and it was getting scary. Kimaya's house was almost in the outskirts of the city, and was sometimes a serious disadvantage, just like now.
Suddenly, a man caught her from behind.
"LET ME GO!" Kimaya screamed.
Immediately, his hand was on her mouth, and she could only make smothered sounds.
Just then, another person came from the front, on a bike. Something suddenly clicked, as Kimaya remembered Naina's words... "Two of them came on a bike from the front, and they completely surrounded us..."
Kimaya struggled till the man let her mouth free.
"Tej?!"
"Who is Tej?" Asked the man.
"Take that damned mask off, I know it's you!" Said Kimaya, struggling to be let free.
"Look girl, I don't know who is Tej, and I'm not taking that mask off, so shut up."
"Where's Naina?"
"Well, I don't know!"
"What did you do with her?!"
"Nothing. She's probably at her home."
"Then that voice?!"
"Here, doll," said the man, playing a recording.
"Help!" Rang out Naina's voice.
"What do you want from me?! What did I do?!" Asked Kimaya, desperately.
"I want you, sweetheart."
"Bastard! Move off!"
"Of course not, sweetheart!"
"MOVE!"
His hand snaked around Kimaya's mouth within moments, not letting her scream again.
The man nodded to his partner, and the biker moved menacingly towards Kimaya. Kimaya's eyes grew wide in terror, and she shook her head vigorously, not wanting anything more to happen.
Just then, the biker stopped, and her captor loosened his grip on her. Kimaya almost thought that they were not going to proceed, when Kimaya's captor roughly pushed her, and she went tumbling into the other man's arms. She was scared witless when she saw the man smiling devilishly at her, through his mask.
"No! No! Please don't!"
"Sorry sweetheart," said the man coolly, as he turned Kimaya's hour to a nightmare.
Kimaya
Forty five minutes later, those two men were done with me. I had a feeling they were Tej and his friend, but I had no proof. Even if I asked for justice, I would never be able to prove who my abusers were - I would never be able to get them punished. They did with me what they'd probably done with Sharon. I was glad they did not rape me, but I had ended up with bruises and cuts.
"Listen, girl," said one of the two in a harsh tone.
"What?" I asked as I turned to him, shivering.
"Don't you dare say a word about this to anyone."
"And what makes you think I won't do that?"
"The fact that we can hurt Naina any time."
"But how will you find out if I do tell anyone?"
"Oh, we have our ways. Don't you worry about that. Your one word and Naina... Well, don't really know if she'd even be capable of feeling the pain by the time we're done with her."
"Who are you?!"
"Stop shouting Miss. Do you want us to hurt you again?"
"N... No..."
"Good. Now get out from this place. See that tree there?" He said, pointing at a tree in the distance.
"Yeah..."
"Take a left from there, then a right from a bench nearby. I'm sure you can make your way home from there."
"Why did you do this with me?"
"Just for fun!"
"You could have had fun with any random girl on the street. Why develop a plan to call me out and then do this?"
"Because you're special. Now get lost, or..." He said, taking a step towards me.
"No! I'll go!" I cried as I ran away.
I reached my home in five minutes. I stared at my reflection in the mirror and burst into tears. Parts of my clothes were torn, and there were scratches on my arms - the result of my struggles. Those men were ruthless; they didn't care about how much they hurt me.
The bell rang.
I quickly wiped off my tears and wrapped a shawl around me to hide the scars of the past hour. I opened the door and saw Vihaan.
"Hey, I got out early so that you don't have to spend too much time alone!"
"Thanks..."
"Kim? What's wrong?" He asked, staring at my dull expression and swollen eyes. "And what's with that shawl? It's so hot already!"
"Vihaan... I..." I said, debating whether to tell him the truth or not. "Oh, come in first!"
"Yeah," he said, and I closed the door behind him.
"So now, what happened?"
"I got a call from someone..."
"Who?"
"From... Umm... I don't know," I said.
"What do you mean?"
I stayed silent as Vihaan stared at me. I didn't know what to do... Would those men really hurt Naina if I spoke up? I couldn't let that happen. Maybe I should stay silent and try to forget about this.
"Kimaya?" Vihaan said softly. I must have stayed silent for a long time until I suddenly realized that I had to tell someone.
"Vihaan, I heard ---"
My house's land-line suddenly rang.
"I'll get
that," I said, going away.
"Hello?" I said into the phone.
"Kimaya! It's Naina! She's been into an accident!" Spoke Naina's mother.
"WHAT?!"
"Kim? What happened?" Came Vihaan's voice.
"Where is she?" I asked urgently.
"They're taking her to a hospital!" Mrs. Agarwal gave me the address of the hospital.
"Please get there fast Kim! It's too far from my house, I can't reach there before a minimum of forty minutes. Please!"
"Yes aunty! I'll be there as soon as I can! I'll go right now!" I said, hanging up the phone.
"What's going on?" Asked Vihaan, entering the room.
"Get the car keys. We need to go to the hospital, now."
"But what happened?"
"I'll tell you in the car! FAST!"
Vihaan, obviously worried by my tone, rushed outside. I locked the door and followed him into the car.
"Kim what's wrong?"
"It's Naina. She's been into a car crash... The hospital is closer to our house more than anyone else... Her mother called up and asked us to rush there immediately."
"What?! How the hell did this happen?!"
"I have no idea!"
We reached the hospital within a few minutes and went inside.
"Excuse me?" Vihaan asked the receptionist.
"A girl was just brought here, she's been in a car crash. Named Naina Agarwal?"
"Yes sir, she's in the room to the right. Please hurry up, she's lost a lot of blood," said a nurse, coming towards us.
We ran towards the room and peeked in. There was Naina, lying in a pool of blood.
"Are you her relatives?" Asked the doctor, coming out of the room.
"We are her friends, doctor. Please save Naina..." I said, almost in tears.
"And her parents?"
"They're on their way... They live far away, they'll reach in another half an hour. I'll complete your procedures doctor, please start your treatment immediately." Said Vihaan anxiously.
"Okay. Nurse, take them to the receptionist and give them the documents. I'll start the surgery immediately then. I hope she had insurance?" Asked the doctor.
"Of course sir. Whatever the cost, just make her alright."
"Good then. Nurse, fast."
The nurse took us away and the doctor shifted Naina to the operation theatre.
Half an hour later, after all the documents were filled, Naina's parents arrived along with the police. I had been crying non-stop, and Vihaan was doing everything he could to console me, but was terribly failing at it.
"We're afraid the other car involved in the accident got away, but we will do our best to find them," said a policeman to Mrs. Agarwal.
"Kimaya!" Cried aunty and came running to me. "How's Naina?"
I looked up at her, blinded by my tears, not able to speak anything.
"She lost a lot of blood aunty... They have taken her into the operation theatre." Said Vihaan gently.