"I don't think so, Nikhil. And hypnotizing doesn't tire anyone out. I think it was better than forcing her to remember the facts, which she probably didn't."
"But I don't understand that. How can Kim not remember what she did in such recent times?"
"I am not so sure. I believe that this Aakash had some sort of control over her. But I doubt it was pure hypnotism."
"Then?"
"Nikhil... I think your daughter has a kind of personality disorder. It allows people to easy control her. Has your daughter done anything out of the ordinary in the past few weeks? Or months, maybe?"
"Like what?"
"Anything. Easily overcoming her fears, or doing something she has never particularly been interested in before this."
"Kimaya is scared of heights. But in August, on her school trip, she went sky-diving with her friends. I'm sure you know how terribly afraid of heights she used to be."
"I wish I'd been there to recognize these symptoms before," sighed Mr. Arora.
"It's not your fault, Mayank. It's all because of Aakash. I swear to God I'll catch him."
"Dad, Uncle Nikhil, please go and have something to eat. It is very late."
"No, Tashanna. We must stay here. The police may be here any moment, too."
"Please dad. I don't want you to fall ill now. Right now, you need to be safe too. And for that, it is very important that you stay healthy. You too, Uncle. Please have something to eat."
"She's right, Mayank," said Mr. Verma. "You need to be safe."
Mr. Arora sighed and gave in, and they walked away towards the cafeteria.
Just then, a few policemen walked in. Tashanna looked at them, and relief marked her features.
"Inspector Aryan Sharma?" She inquired.
"Yes. Could I meet Mr. Nikhil Verma? Or Mr. Mayank Arora."
"Yes sir. They are in the cafeteria. I'll take you there."
Tashanna felt relaxed as she led the policemen to her father. Finally, help had arrived. Now everything would be fine. But she had no idea how wrong she was.
A shadow entered Kimaya's hospital room, as quiet as a church mouse. He put his hand on her mouth. Her eyes flew open in a fraction of a second, and the scene in front of her filled her with terror.
"Hello, Kimaya."
And all Kimaya could do was stare, as the lights slowly blacked out.
***
They stared at the empty bed before them.
"KIM!" Screamed Mrs. Verma.
A nurse came rushing in.
"Ma'am, please don't make any noise. There are other patients in critical conditions on this floor. Please cooperate."
"I'll teach you how to cooperate! My daughter is missing from your hospital! This is one of the best hospitals in town and I must say, you have amazing security standards," said Mr. Verma sarcastically. The frightened nurse scurried away.
"We should have never left. I would have been safe enough," groaned Mr. Arora.
"No, Mayank. It was all just a very bad timing," said Kimaya's father. It was true. As Tashanna led the police away to the cafeteria, Aakash, or whoever it was, had kidnapped Kimaya again. Everyone was devastated again, and Tashanna, she had not stopped crying ever since Kimaya was discovered to be missing. She felt that she was responsible for all of it, and was extremely upset.
The security manager of the hospital entered the room.
"We are really sorry, Sir. I have no idea how this man managed to escape all the security," he said, looking ashamed.
"What do you mean by sorry? Sorry does not fix anything! Can you bring my daughter back? Do that, instead of saying sorry! Don't you have any cameras around the place?" Roared Mr. Verma. His daughter was missing yet again; and his anger knew no bounds.
"Yes sir, sorry sir. I will check the recordings immediately," said the security manager, stammering a bit.
"I will go with him," said Mr. Arora.
The guard and Mr. Arora went out of the room, leaving Kimaya's parents to stare at the empty bed where their daughter had once been.
"Where do you think they took her this time?" Asked Kimaya's mom.
"I don't know, Anisha. I just hope she's safe; and that she comes back to us soon."
"I don't think Aakash will hurt her. He could have killed her, or injured her seriously. But he hardly hurt her."
"Unless Aakash was just a player in the game. Unless the real mastermind of this all is a different person, much more ruthless..." said Mr. Verma, his anxiety clear in his voice.
"Nikhil, I need my baby back. I need her back soon! If anything happens to her..." said Mrs. Verma, breaking down.
"Nothing will happen to Kimaya. I'm going to tear these criminals down - from their very root." Mr. Verma had a sense of extreme determination in his voice. This time, he was not going to let these bad guys get away. This time, he was going to get to them. And he was going to pull them down; he was going to tear them apart.
He walked out of the room. He wasn't wasting any time. Mrs. Verma looked at the bed and wiped her tears away. Her husband was right; it was time to be strong. Not a time to sit and weep. She followed her husband out and went to the security room, where the security manager and Mr. Arora had just finished watching the CCTV recordings.
"Found anything interesting?" She inquired.
"Yes," said Mr. Arora. "There's a clipping of a person moving a trolley of dirty sheets; but Mr. Mehra here says that the person looks a little unfamiliar to him," he continued, gesturing towards the security manager.
"A trolley of dirty sheets?" Echoed Mr. Verma.
"Yes, Sir," replied Mr. Mehra, the security manager, who looked like he had only partially recovered from the fright Kimaya's father had given him.
"I'm guessing that Kimaya was drugged and hidden away in the sheets," said Mr. Arora. "That's our most likely chance for now."
"Well then, why are you waiting here? Follow up that trolley! Someone must have seen it go somewhere!" Said Kimaya's mom. Mr. Verma looked at her wife and smiled. These kidnappers were playing a damned game with his family. Well, he was ready to face it now. And he was sure that his wife was ready too. Game on, he thought.
Suddenly, the door of the little room opened, and Astrid entered, panting.
"Uncle," she said. "Vihaan has woken up."
"Vihaan!" Said Mr. Arora, immediately getting up. He followed Astrid to his son's room. No one had been allowed to stay in Vihaan's room for too long, since the doctors said he needed a lot of rest. Mr. Arora had hardly been able to look at his son for a few minutes.
Mr. Verma gave the security manager orders to find out about that mysterious man and the trolley, and hurriedly went to Vihaan's room.
"Vihaan! My son! Are you alright?"
"Dad? Yes, I'm fine. What happened? How did I end up here?"
"Vihaan..?" asked Mr. Arora, confused.
A pin-drop silence took over the little room, as everyone realized what had happened. Vihaan didn't seem to remember anything. Mrs. Arora looked at her son in horror, as she feared the worst. Had her child lost his memory?
"Vihaan..." said Mr. Verma gently. "Try to remember. Try to remember the man who shot Kimaya, will you? You went after him. Remember?"
"What man? What happened to Kimaya? And why is mom here?"
Mr. Arora sighed. Vihaan had been hit on the head, and the impact probably made him lose part of his memory. He seemed to remember everything... Except from when he included Kimaya in the plan. But he didn't want to jump to conclusions without a proper check-up. Just then...
"Dad, what did you say about Kimaya getting shot...?" Asked Vihaan, uncertainly.
A slight smile touched Mr. Arora's lips. His son had not forgotten anything. All he needed was a little memory push.
"You remember Aakash?" Asked Vihaan's father.
Vihaan stayed silent for a minute, trying to recall. And in the next minute, a lot of emotions were clearly displayed on his face. First, he was angry, as he slowly started remembering the
past events. Then, he seemed upset and slightly scared. And then, he went pale.
"Vihaan?" Asked Mrs. Arora. "Vihaan!"
Suddenly, Vihaan fainted.
Mrs. Arora was almost panicking, when her husband told her to calm down.
"Relax," said Mr. Arora. "He'll be fine. This happens sometimes, when the person remembers things in a flash. We should leave the room now. Let him rest."
Reluctantly, everyone left the room. Just then, the Inspector arrived with a couple of policemen.
"I hear you daughter has disappeared again, Mr. Verma? A kidnapping case this time?" Inquired the Inspector.
"Yes, Inspector Sharma. We went to get something to eat. A mistake we should have never made."
"It is terrible, Mr. Verma. I assure you that the police force is doing its best to reach the origin of all this."
Mr. Verma just nodded.
"Our team checked out the crime scene. I must say, either this person is a novice, or the ultimate fool. He left behind valuable evidence."
"Why? What did he do?" Asked Mr. Arora, surprised. He had been looking for these people for months, and there was never a single clue.
"Well, for one, he left behind the bullet which hit Kimaya. We can trace them down using it. Second, the mud in that area was wet, and there are clearly noticeable footsteps. The shoes seemed to be very large, and I don't believe any of you have such a large foot-size. And third, I believe you have seen him, right Mrs. Verma? Do you think you can help us make a sketch of Aakash?"
"I would love to help, Inspector. But I'm not sure if I can provide such a clear sketch; I only saw Aakash for a minute or so. But I'm sure my friend Clarisse will help us out. She was the one who introduced us to Aakash."
"Alright, Mrs.Verma. But I'm not so sure if your friend is such a dependable person. I don't think she ought to be trusted."
"No, Inspector. I've known Clarisse ever since we shifted to India. I doubt she is mixed in all this. The maximum she can do is refuse to provide a sketch. In that case, I will make the most out of whatever memories I have of him."
"If you say so, Mrs. Verma," said the Inspector, still looking uncertain. "I shall carry on with the investigations. Please excuse me."
"Yes," said Kimaya's dad.
The Inspector went away, leaving the rest in the gloomy atmosphere.
"What has happened to our happy little world..." groaned Vihaan's mother.
"Don't worry, Sanjana," said her husband. "These people have troubled us enough. Now it's their time to suffer."
Chapter 9
Vihaan
I arrived at the station in one piece. My chest was pounding, it had been a long way to run. I went to the counter for a ticket for the closest train. I got one which would drop me near my destination, and started walking towards the platform. I was about to take a seat when I noticed someone take sit down opposite to me. I felt the urge to get up and pin down that man right there, but I realized that I may only get into trouble for it. It's a public place, and violence is definitely not appreciated here.
The man grinned at me, his eyes glistening with malice. I shot him a death glare, fisting my hand and holding it close to me, afraid that it may just go against my wishes and onto that irritating man. We spent twenty minutes like that, and I almost wanted to kill myself, for not being able to kill him. The train arrived to its final destination at last, and I jumped out. My first instinct was to get hold of that man. But then, what seemed to be a better idea popped into my head. I ran, as fast as I could, thanking heavens that I was a good athlete. The person behind me took off too, but thankfully, I had a good lead. And I was pretty sure, that plump little man could not run half as fast as me! I smiled to myself, and kept running. I was right, the man was lagging way behind me.
"Hey! Wait! I give up!" Shouted the person, asking me to stop.
I slowed down, but I didn't stop. I valued my life more than to be so stupid. The man slowly caught up with me, but I kept my pace. I was still more than a few feet ahead of him. I was pretty sure that he didn't have a knife with him, and I had snapped his gun right out of his hands before reaching the station. He had no way to harm me, unless he wanted to pick up a brawl. Or so I thought.
I felt the person stop a few feet behind me. I kept running, but my curiosity got the better of me and I looked back to see what happened. And that, was a very big mistake on my part.
A sharp pain took over my head, and the last thing I saw was a venomous smile on the horrible man's face. He had hit me with a stone, with a perfect strike, straight on my temple. He had done what I had least expected him to do. I blacked out, and after that, nothing was known to me.
***
I woke up at the hospital, and blinked to adjust my eyes to the brightness. I stared at the nurse, who saw me open my eyes and rushed to call the doctor. The doctor came in with my dad, and they checked me up. I was still furious. How could I let Kim be hurt?! And on that, end up like this myself! Dad noticed the anger visible in my eyes.
"Calm down Vihaan. It's alright. It was never your fault, you very well know that!"
The doctor left, so that my dad could do a mental check-up perhaps.
"It is my fault dad! He bloody shot Kimaya! How is she now? I hope you and Kim made it to the hospital safely."
"We did make it to the hospital safely."
"Thank God!"
Dad stared at me sadly.
"Dad? Is everything okay?"
"Vihaan, someone kidnapped Kimaya again."
I stared at dad. How is that even possible?
"But you said you reached the hospital safely?"
"Yes we did. But... Someone stole her from within the hospital..."
"What?"
"Relax Vihaan. We'll find her. You know we will."
I groaned, and tried to calm down. I knew that my blowing up will not do anyone any good, and definitely not Kimaya. I heard my dad asking me to rest, and he got up to go out. Suddenly, I remembered something.
"Dad?"
"Yeah?"
"How did I reach here?" I remember nothing after blacking out, and I don't really know how and why I ended up in the hospital.
"Aakash brought you in. I didn't see him, so he escaped. Only you, Kim and I knew that he was the criminal."
How pathetic can I be! I let myself be hit by a person who looked like an idiot, and more over, I let him take care of me. But why did he?
"We don't know why he brought you in. You were injured enough, he could've let you die," said dad, as if he just read my mind.
He left the room, and left me wondering. What is going on? What's the story behind Aakash?
Even though I had just woken up, I still felt damn tired. I guess it's because all this is just too much to take. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.
***
I woke up again, after an hour or so, but I didn't recognize the room I was in. It was not the old ICU. They probably shifted me to a proper room as I was recovering fast.
"Vihaan!" Said a voice near me. I turned a little to see my little sis coming towards me.
"Oh God! You had us all worried!" She said, taking me into a small hug, careful to not hurt me.
"I'm fine, Tasha. Come on, your bro is not so weak!"
She managed a small smile, and got up, saying that she'll call up mom and ask her to come to the room. They were probably with the police or someone, and Tashanna was determined not to leave me. She told me that the last time, she left Kim alone and she was gone. I was pretty sure I could take care of myself, but I decided to not worry anyone anymore and let her call through phone.
My parents came rushing in, and my mom burst into tears as she saw me.
"Vihaan! Do you have any idea how scared and upset we were?"
"Calm down mom, I'm fine."
"I'll calm down if you tell me that you're not going to go messing with your life again!"
"Mom, I never intended for all this to happen, you know that right?"
"I know Vihaan," she said. "Just take more care next time, okay?"
"I will, mom. Any signs about Kimaya's whereabouts?"
"Not yet," replied dad. "But Aakash left behind a lot of clues. I'm sure we'll find her soon."
"I know. I just hope we're not too late..."
Chapter 10
Kimaya
I opened my mouth to scream, but before even a word came out, a strong hand covered my mouth and blocked out all my protests. I tried to push his hand off, but he hit my bandaged hand and the immense pain that overtook me didn't let me try any more. My eyes widened in horror as I realised what he was about to do. He raised the handkerchief to my nose, and watched me go unconscious.
***
I woke up in the same tiny room. I couldn't understand what was going on. If he was going to kidnap me, why would he bring me to the same place again? Although I didn't know the address, it was a risky thing to do.
"So the princess has woken up?"
I snapped my head and saw Aakash sitting there, with the most devilish smile possible.
"You! What problem have you got with me?"
"Nothing, young Missy. It's your uncle I've got a problem with."
"What did he do? He's one of the sweetest people I know!"
"Well... He did a lot to us. He almost destroyed us. And now, we will destroy him."
"We? You mean there are others too?" Asked Kimaya. She couldn't get out of there so she decided to get the some information out of Aakash.
"Now now, I never said that, did I? I have problems with your uncle. Don't act smart now, you're the only way I have."
"But why me?"
"You were fragile. Vihaan and you took enough care of his mother and sis. Vihaan was not an option either, as his father would only think that he could take care of himself. So who's left? You, sweetheart. You knew everything, and you had no protection. You were our easiest catch," said Aakash with a smirk. "Now, princess, you must sleep again."
"No!" Screamed Kimaya, but it was too late. The towel filled with chloroform covered her face and she fell asleep again.
-----
"Bye Tashanna!" I said in a chirpy voice. The party had been amazing, I was so happy!
"Bye Kim, take care! And trust me, your book is going to be very successful!"
I laughed. The party's highlight was my mother's paintings on my books. They were awesome. The publishers were pleased with me, and said that they'd await my next book. I didn't really know what to write next, though. I was good at romance, but I wanted to try something new. Mystery maybe? I smiled and smacked my forehead. I needn't worry so much! I'll just let the idea come to me when it wants to.