29

Mature and sensitive content ahead. Reader’s discretion is advised.

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TWO HOURS BACK

Nandini

Opening my eyes, I blink several times to clear my blurry vision.

As I look around, I find myself inside a dimly lit room.

The light was not enough to see properly, but I could make out it was someone's bedroom.

I was lying on the carpeted floor.

A king sized bed in front of me occupying the center of the room.

There is a cupboard at the other end of the room across me.

And there is also a dressing table with a big mirror by its side, right in front of the bed.

I immediately try to sit up from where I was lying on the floor.

But I hiss in pain when even slightest of movement causes a painful throbbing right at the center of the head radiating down to my spine, causing the jolts of tingling pain throughout my entire body.

“Wher—” I try to speak, but find my throat to be completely dry, making it difficult to even utter a word.

Slowly, I slide to the corner, and then sit up leaning against the wall there, pushing through the pain I felt while doing so.

Closing my eyes, I try to recall how I ended up here.

Amidst the throbbing pain in the head, I get some flashes.

Me and Aastha in the washroom.

Her teary eyes while she apologized to me.

Feeling a pricking sensation on my nape.

“You did good, slut. It is time to add Nandini to my collection.”

I immediately open my eyes when that voice reverberates through my entire being.

Then, I was in semi-conscious state to realize who it was, but now as his voice rings in my ears, I recognize him.

How can I ever forget that vile, disgusting man?

“What body you have, Nandini. Come on, don't hide from me. Keep your hands by your side and let me appreciate those luscious peaks.”

“Come, sit on my lap.”

“If you don’t do what I tell you, not only your brother will get hurt in the US, your parents reputation will also get stained when I tell them how you were trying to seduce me.”

“Next time. I will do much more than just looking and pinching. Next time, I will claim you as mine. And you will remain mine until I get bored of you.”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I put my hands to cover my ears, hoping it would stop his disgusting voice from ringing in my ears.

He is back.

Terror grips me as I realize Rishabh is the one who brought me here.

I bring my knees to my chest, and wrap my hands around it, rocking back and forth, trying to lessen the paralyzing fear bubbling inside me.

“Nandini, are you awake?”

I hear Aastha call my name, causing a tiny hope to bud in my chest.

Aastha is here. Maybe she can help me escape.

But how did she get here? Did she follow me? Was she also taken from the washroom by Rishabh?

The questions swirling in my mind suddenly stops when a realization hits me.

Rishabh had addressed someone as his slut before picking up my semi-conscious body.

And Aastha had apologized to me right before I felt that prick in my nape.

This means she is....

I hurriedly try to get away when I feel her hand on my shoulder.

“Yo—” I cough, unable to utter the word due to the extreme dryness of my throat.

“Drink this first.” She forwards a water bottle toward me.

I shake my head, glaring at her in anger and disgust.

“I know you think I am in league with Rishabh. But I had no choice other than to betray you, Nandini. I am sorry,” she says.

Although the room is dimly lit, I can still see her eyes glistening with tears and can hear remorse clearly in her voice.

Still, I am hesitant to trust her.

What if this is Rishabh’s another ploy? What if she has mixed something in the water?

I suspiciously eye the bottle.

My mouth is so dry that I feel I can drink a gallon of water in one go, but I cannot bring myself to trust Aastha enough to get the bottle from her hand and drink from it.

“I understand it must be hard for you to trust me right now, but I am on your side, Nandini,” she says, opening the bottle and taking a sip from it. “See. It is completely harmless. I have not mixed anything.”

She sighs when I still do not take the bottle from her hand.

“I know how parched you must be feeling right now, Nandini. Rishabh had tried the drug on me before he injecting it to you. He did it to find out for how long the drug can keep a person knocked out.

“That day, after waking up, I had only felt two things. Extreme throbbing pain in my head and extreme thirst.

“But that pain had slightly reduced after I drank some water. Please, Nandini. Drink this. It will help you,” she says, bringing the bottle closer to my lips.

Unable to resist any longer due to the thirst I felt, I grip the bottle and drink from it, downing the whole bottle in one go.

Finishing the bottle, I keep it on the floor by my side, realizing it did help me with lessening the painful throbbing.

The pain is still there, but it has slightly decreased in intensity.

“Feeling better now?” Aastha asks.

“Better? I am here, trapped by Rishabh, the man who used to molest me. And you think I will feel better by drinking a bottle of water?” I ask, my voice hoarse.

“He used to molest you?”

I nod at her, tears streaming down my face. “He used to do it right in my home, in my room, with his and my parents sitting right outside, oblivious to what he was doing to me.”

“I am sorry,” she tells me. “I didn’t kn—”

“How could you do this, Aastha?” I ask, interrupting her. “How could you help him get me here? How?”

She folds her hands in front of me, asking for forgiveness. “I know what I did was inexplicably wrong. But I had no choice, Nandini.

“My parents sold me to him and he brought me here as his slave from my village. The things he has done with me since getting me here has completely broken me. I have no will left of my own.”

Shocked, I widen my eyes, her pitiful sobs tearing at my heart.

Before I can say anything to her, the door of the room opens and Rishabh walks in, causing me to still in fear.

Aastha also quietens when she sees him walking in.

“How nice is this,” he says, sitting on the bed in front of us. “My two collections talking and enjoying each other’s company.

“I am happy seeing you two this way because you two are going to spend a lot of time together.

“My old slut will teach the new one how to behave around me, what I like, what I dislike, what would the punishment be if you displease me.

“Ah, what a relief that I won’t have to do it all by myself. Aastha here knows everything, doesn’t she?”

“Ye-yes, S-sir,” Aastha stutters, her lips trembling.

She flinches when Rishabh suddenly stands up and crouches in front of her.

The very next moment, a slapping sound booms in the room when Rishabh strikes Aastha across her face.

Gripping her hair, he yanks it up to make her look at him.

“If you know everything, then how did you forget to greet me when I entered this room, slut?” He asks.

Saying that, he leaves her, pushing her back to the floor.

He then walks back to sit on the bed.

“S-so, sorr-sorry, Sir,” Aastha begs for forgiveness and crawls toward him.

Once she reaches him, she kisses both his feet and keeps rubbing her nose on them until Rishabh kicks her away.

“I am letting you off easy for now. Forget to do this the next time and I will punish you in a way that you won’t be able to sit or walk for days. Understand, whore?” He asks, and Aastha immediately nods, still on her fours.

“Keep assuming that position until I say otherwise,” he tells her sternly and turns to look at me.

I am frozen in my spot, to stunned to react or even think.

The way he treated Aastha, the way he demeaned her, it made bile rise up my throat.

Unable to hold it in any longer, I let out a retching sound, throwing up what little I had eaten before going to the ball with Manik.

The thought of Manik brings tears to my eyes.

Does Manik know I have been taken? Is he looking for me?

“Aww, sweetheart, look what mess you have made.”

Rishabh’s voice brings me out of my reverie.

“Go and clean it, slut. Clean it with the gown you are wearing,” He says to Aastha who nods before crawling toward me.

I want to stop her, I want to tell her not to do it, but I am too terrified to utter even a word.

While Aastha is cleaning the carpet, Rishabh walks to me.

I hurriedly slide to the corner, willing myself to disappear through the wall, but I am unable to move further or move at all, when he clutches my arm.

“You have made me wait all this time, Nandini,” he says, tightening his hold, making me whimper in pain.

“I will make you pay for all those times I had to imagine you while fucking my other sluts because I could not lay my hands on you.

“It will be so much fun to break you bit by bit. But I do hope you keep resisting and fighting. It will add to my entertainment while I make you surrender completely to my will.”

I want to push him way. I want to scream and shout at him. I want to kill him with my bare hands.

But the only thing I do is keep staring at him as he slides his hand up my arm to my face.

His touch is repulsing me, making me want to rip my skin where he touched.

But I do nothing except enduring it because I am frozen in terror.

At this moment, I feel like I cannot even move one muscle of my body.

His finger is now tracing my lips, moving slowly up to my forehead then my head, and then to the back of my head.

Once his hand is at the back of my head, he digs his fingers to my scalp, clutching my hair so tightly that a hiss of pain escapes my lips and my eyes well up.

“This is the sight I love. You crying in pain, unable to do anything as I do whatever I wish with you,” he says, before leaving my hair and stepping back.

My whole body shakes, partly in fear and partly in relief as he moves back but keeps his gaze on me.

“Soon, sweetheart. Soon you will endure much more pain and will also grow to love it. You will soon learn the joy of surrendering to me,” he says, and walks to the other corner of the room.

As I continue looking at him, I see him open the wardrobe at that corner and take out a dress from there.

A jolt passes through my body as I recognize that dress.

Rishabh walks back toward me with that turquoise dress in his hand and throws it toward Aastha before looking at me.

“Remember that dress, Nandini?” He asks me. “Of course, you must remember. It is the same dress whose picture I had shown you the last time we met. I had told you I would bring it the next time with me and make you wear it before tearing it away from your body to claim you as mine.

“But before that could happen, you used your brain, got your brother killed, and made me go away for a while. Such a bad girl you had been, Nandini.”

He shakes his head as if he is disappointed in me.

“But don’t worry. I will train you in such a way that you will be an obedient, good slut by the end of it.”

Saying that to me, he turns to Aastha.

“Take Nandini to the bathroom. Bathe her and get her dressed. I want her looking beautiful in that dress. Do you understand, slut?”

When Aastha nods, Rishabh turns and walks out of the room.

Once Rishabh leaves, I slump against the wall, my whole body shaking violently as his intention with me dawns to me.

“No. No. No. No. No. This can’t happen. No. No. Please. Please. No.”

I vehemently shake my head, tears continuously flowing through my eyes when I realize what he will do with me.

“What happened, Nandini?” Aastha asks, hurriedly walking toward me.

When she sits beside me, I immediately clutch her hand. “Please help me, Aastha. Please. I need to run away from here. I can’t let him do what—”

“What he did with me,” Aastha completes my sentence.

“It has been almost three hours since he brought you here, Nandini,” she informs me.

“I had left a clue behind in the washroom, writing his name around the sink.

“If Manik or Samrat has found the clue, they might soon get to this place to rescue you. All we need to do is bid some time until they get here,” Aastha says, and I tighten my clutch in her hand.

“Thank you so much. Thank you.” I look at her gratefully, desperately hoping that Manik has found that clue. “What do we do now? Is there some place we can hide until Manik gets to us?”

“There is a place you can hide for some time,” Aastha tells me.

“You can hide with me, Aastha. When Manik comes, we can both go with him. You don’t have to live this life with Rishabh,” I say, but she gives me a sad smile and shakes her head.

“He has placed a tracker in me, Nandini. If I hide with you, he will easily find us.

“He is also planning to get a tracker inside you tomorrow morning. I heard him say that on the phone while he was getting you here.

“I won’t let you endure what I endured, Nandini. I didn’t know he molested you, and from hearing what he said earlier, it seems like he also killed your brother. I am so sorry that happened to you.

“But you still have a chance to get out of here and I will help you. As it is, I feel like my life is not worth living anymore. At least by getting you out of here, I will be doing one last good deed in my life. Because I know Rishabh will kill me after finding you gone from here.”

I try to think of something, anything that can get us both out of here.

“There must be a way to get you out too, Aastha. I cannot let you die at hands of that disgusting creature,” I say, trying to find a way.

“There is no other way, Nandini,” Aastha says, her voice resigned. “And to be honest, I do want to die. Because I know there is no other way left to escape the devil who has imprisoned me with him.

“When you get out of here, please make sure to get Rishabh punish for his deeds, Nandini. He needs to get punished for what he did to your brother, what he did to me, and what he did to you. And he needs to be stopped before he targets another innocent girl.

“Promise me, Nandini. Promise you will stop him,” Aastha holds out her hand, looking at me expectantly.

I nod, looking at her tearily, keeping my hand on hers. “I promise you, Aastha. I will make sure that Rishabh pays for every crime he has committed.”