DISTRESSING CALL

Gia and her sister Grace sat in their room, engulfed in the dim glow of the lump. Despite all the weariness they felt when they retired to bed, they could not sleep at all. Not even a mere forty winks struck them. The worry of the battle that lay ahead of them had kept them awake; the tossing and turning and the constant stare at the ceiling had become insufferable, summoning them out of bed.

Gia’s eyes darted to the wall clock, hoping that dawn was soon approaching, but all her hopes crashed as the clock had just struck midnight. Yet, sleep and peace of mind both seemed like distant luxury.

Gia turned to Grace, her face hanging heavy with dense curtains of worry and restlessness. “You know, Grace, I am thinking that we should not have left Deep’s house just like that. I should have gone to just look at the inside. Maybe I would have gotten a clue there. Just anything.”

Grace did not look any less worried either. Aside from worrying about the war before them, she was worried about her sister Gia and the turmoil she was dealing with. The blame and all. “But you heard what Simon said, right? Deep seemed fine when he left his house. There was no sign of danger around or in him. That means he was caught off guard.”

Gia nodded. “Yes, I know. But maybe he had left his schedule or something somewhere at home that could point us to what his plans were that day. That is the clue that will guide us in tracing his steps that day. Also, this might be useless, but we should have considered checking the CCTV footage from that day in that neighborhood. I am sure it covers a distance from the area that is not guarded. Maybe we could have seen something.”

Grace nodded in utter agreement. How could that have slipped their mind? “You are right. We can go back there in the morning and check. We should explore all the possible ways we can get.”

Just then, Gia’s phone buzzed, jolting her from the seat in haste. She wasn’t expecting a call, especially at that ungodly hour. Her heart raced as she grabbed her phone from under the pillow on the bed where she had left it.

She glanced at the caller ID, a number she had saved just a few hours ago. She frowned at first. Reluctantly, she answered, her heart drumming an erratic beat in her chest. "Hello, Simon?"

"Ms. Gia, I am glad you asked." Simon’s frantic voice crackled through the receiver, evoking a cold chill down Gia’s spine. Her knees weakened a little after sensing the worry and the tremor in Simon’s voice.

Instantly, Gia’s pulse quickened, concern knitting her brows together. "Simon, what's wrong? Is everything alright?"

"No, ma'am. I'm afraid it's deep. We found him at the gate, badly beaten up. He is drenched in blood." Simon's voice trembled with urgency.

Gia's breath hitched. She was about to lose her balance and slam on the floor, but reality got hold of her in time. Deep! Deep needed her. It was not time to entertain weakness.

"Beaten? How? Is he conscious? What happened? How did you find him?" Her mind raced with a torrent of questions, her anxiety mounting with each passing second, and she veered around to her sister, who was growing curious beside her.

"He was dropped by a strange black van a little distance from the outer gate, ma'am. He's unconscious, bleeding. We're rushing him to the hospital." Ravi's voice wavered, the gravity of the situation palpable even through the phone.

Gia's thoughts spun in a whirlwind. She felt a surge of panic but fought to maintain composure. Deep was alive! He was back with them! "Which hospital? I'm on my way." She exclaimed, already reaching for her handbag and pulling Grace out.

"The Aga Khan Hospital, ma'am. Please, hurry." Simon urged, his voice fraught with worry.

The line went dead as Gia scrambled to get to the door, her mind racing with a thousand fears. She dashed out of her house, the night air biting against her skin as she hurried to the next room, bagging on it savagely and non-stop as tears of both joy welled up in her eyes, soon forming two streams down her cheeks.

The door soon flew open, revealing to her face a very maladjusted man as he stood by the doorway, his wife dragging her night dress behind him. Their faces were saturated with deadly worries after sampling the look and the state of Gia, who was panting uncontrollably, and her sister. “Gia? What brings you so late? Where are you going?” He asked after catching sight of Gia’s handbag. Her legs were also unsteady, as if already in motion.

“We need to leave right now, Mr. Azzua. Deep has been found!”

“Deep has been found. Deep is back? Is he alright? Where is my son?" Mrs. Azzua asked, her voice trembling with fear, anxiety, and expectations.

Mr. Azzua shifted a little, his voice calm with hope and deep with worry. “And where or from whom did you receive this information, Gia? Is it a reliable source?”

Gia hesitated for a moment, gathering her thoughts before responding, "I...Simon, Deep’s security man is the one who just called. He said that Deep has been found, but he's in bad shape. He was dropped off at the gate, beaten badly. They are rushing him to the hospital right now."

Shock and anguish flickered across the faces of Deep's parents. Mrs. Azzua clasped her hand over her chest, her eyes wide with horror as tears streamed from her eyes. "Beaten? He is in bad shape. How bad is his condition? Is he speaking? Is he...

“Joy!” Her husband held her hand, consoling her. “This is not the time to panic. Our son has been found. Before we start asking ourselves questions, we need to first talk to our son and see for ourselves how his situation is. He needs us right now.”

“Okay. Let us go.” Mrs. Azzua said, storming out with renewed energy and hope, just like everyone else, but still with questions lingering in their heads about the fear that Deep’s tangled reappearance percolated in them.

For someone to kidnap someone, torture them, and then return them to you alive, that means they were conveying a deadly message—that they had the power to do anything and everything and still get away with it.