37

Khushi

"Stay away from me. Don't you dare come closer." I try to sound firm, but my voice quivers.

Ignoring what I said, Ridvansh walks toward me, an evil smirk on his lips. "This is going to be fun."

I eye the open door of my room, wondering whether I will be able to run out if I act fast, but at that very moment, Anjali enters the room and shuts the door behind her, taking away my chance at escape.

"Already starting without me, Darling?" she asks Ridvansh, and I feel nausea rise within me at the sick way they stare at each other.

"Of course not, Sweetheart. How can I ever dare to exclude you from the fun when I know you like beginning the best," Ridvansh replies, and I feel fear pool at the pit of my stomach.

What beginning? What are they talking about?

"Where are my parents?" I ask them, taking a deep breath to calm myself.

I can't let them see my fear. It will only make them scare me more.

All I need to do is stall them for a while. Arnav had said he would be home by 8 pm, and it was already 7 pm.

Once he comes, I will at least be safe from these two maniacs.

He is also a criminal, but compared to these killers, he at least is a safer option for now.

Anjali walks to me and suddenly clutches my jaw. "They are with us, Khushi. What did you think? That you would threaten us regarding the evidence and make a deal with us, and we will simply believe you?"

She leaves my jaw and pushes me, making me fall to the floor. Then crouching in front of me, she grabs my hair, yanking it back harshly. "Ridvansh and I have faced many struggles in our life, Khushi, and it has made us stronger. All the ordeals we went through have made us wise. This is why I know that along with destroying Arnav, you are also planning to destroy us. And I can't let that happen."

Leaving my hair, she stands from the floor and sits on the recliner at the corner of the room.

"Anjali, you are mistaken. I do not—" I begin to say but abruptly stop feeling the sting of the slap on my cheek.

I look incredulously at Ridvansh, but he slaps me again, the other cheek this time.

"Don't you ever say she is mistaken," he says, and I gulp, seeing something akin to craziness in his eyes.

"Just gag her, Ridvnash. That way, we won't have to hear her nonsense," Anjali says, and I begin to slide back.

"Why don't you believe me? I only plan to destroy Arnav, not you two." I try my best to sound honest, hoping they will at least listen to me, but they don't seem to even acknowledge my words.

Instead, sitting on the recliner, Anjali starts reading a magazine as if she finds all this craziness normal.

And Ridvansh clutches my foot to stop me from moving away.

Then, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket, he gags me.

"Mmmffff, mffff," I shout to alert the bodyguards Arnav hired for me, but Ridvansh again slaps me.

"Shut it, girl. It is getting irritating now." He glares at me.

"Are you screaming to call those bodyguards, Khushi? Well, I sent them away for a bit to guard my family who have gone shopping. So, you see, no one is at home right now. Therefore, no use of giving your throat any difficulty by screaming.

"No one will come here to save you. And you will already be gone with us by the time they return," Anjali says, and fear rises within me.

Where will they take me?

I don't have to ponder on it long because, putting the magazine back on the table, Anjali smirks at me and starts speaking. "We will be taking you to the moon house. After all, you need to know where you will be staying for the next one year—getting tortured and abused before finally getting killed. It would be wrong of me if I don't tell you at least this much."

I freeze in shock when I hear Anjali.

They are taking me to the moon house. Meaning, they are thinking of making me their next victim.

No, no, no, no.

I need to think of something—anything to get away from them.

If only I could get to my phone.

I kept the phone below the bed's mattress as soon as I saw Ridvansh enter the room earlier.

I close my eyes, wishing for a miracle. Just a few minutes is all I need to get to the phone and call Nisha.

I can tell her about Anjali and Ridvansh planning to take me to the moon house, and she can bring the police there to save me from them.

A sharp pain over my wrists startles me out of my thoughts. I scream through the gag, tears blurring my vision as I see Ridvansh tying my wrists with a metal wire.

He ties it so tightly that I feel if I struggle even for a few seconds, the wire will cut right through my skin.

After he is done with my wrist, he ties my legs together.

"We can't take any chances. After all, you are such a pretty prisoner. We need to make sure you don't run away before we have all our fun with you," he says, tightening the wire on my legs.

"Do you want to start here or at the moon house?" He asks Anjali, who looks at me thoughtfully.

I feel my heart thudding almost painfully against my chest while waiting for her reply. I don't even know what Ridvansh is talking about.

Start what? What the hell are they going to do?

I feel angry, frustrated, scared, nervous, all at the same time.

Anjali is about to answer but stops when Ridvansh's phone rings.

"What the fuck, Ridvansh? Didn't I tell you never to allow any disturbance while we play?" She glares at Ridvansh, and he cowers under her gaze.

"I am sorry. You know Vivansh has been missing. So, I have my people looking for him, and one of them is calling me. They might have found Vivansh's location," Ridvansh says and receives the call.

Vivansh is missing.

I register that piece of information in my mind.

Did Arnav do it?

It is plausible, given I fed him my fake story of miscarriage recently.

I know how Arnav is. He is all about an eye for an eye guy.

Well, in this case, it is blood for the blood.

Arnav thinks Ridvansh killed his child, and Vivansh is his only blood relative, as Nisha told me after her research.

So, Arnav might have abducted Vivansh to punish Ridvansh.

Exactly what I expected him to do.

That brings me some contentment, knowing that my plan of telling Arnav that lie worked.

But a big part of my mind is distressed. Because I am here, gagged and tied, in a room with two serial killers.

Not only that, but my parents are also with these killers.

With my brain in overdrive due to fear, I try to think of a way to escape this situation when something strikes me.

Is it possible that they took Maa and Papa to the moon house too?

My worry for my parents increases with that thought. They are in a coma and need constant medical care. Their life might be endangered if they are kept out of intensive care under health professionals.

I need to call Nisha and tell her to search for my parents at the moon house too.

But how?

I longingly look at my bed where the phone is hidden.

Suddenly Ridvansh throws his phone across the room, and I flinch when he screams.

What is this madness? Why is he suddenly screaming?

I look on as he continues screaming, and Anjali walks to him to hug him.

"Calm down, baby. What happened? Tell me," Anjali asks calmly as if his screaming at the top of his lungs is like an everyday occurrence for her.

"Vivansh," he whispers, and I strain to hear him properly.

"Vivansh is dead. My brother is dead," Ridvansh says to Anjali, and my eyes widen in shock.