20 Lousy kidnapping

Riya stormed off, cursing everyone. She couldn't apprehend what she felt. Anger built up inside her like a wild fire when she knew Dhruv wasn't hers in the first place. But she still hated the bitch smooching off him at every chance.

She dragged a hand through her hair and growled with frustration. He drove her crazy no matter what he did!

She walked briskly and was already out of the neighborhood while calling her driver. She was biting her lips cursing him to pick.

All of a sudden, someone closed her mouth from behind with a piece of cloth.

"Mmmmm", she mumbled and struggled but fell limp at the stranger's hands within a matter of seconds.

~~*~~

A dimly lit room with only a single dirty bulb came into her view when she opened her eyes again. She was seated in a wooden chair, hands and legs tied with a rope. An ugly guy sat opposite to her observing like a hawk. She cleared her eyes to take a closer look at him, but with no recognition.

His clothes were ragged and torn; face covered in black soot. Garbage and dry leaves stuck to his unruly brown hair, which he was obviously unaware of. The place reeked of various unpleasant odours, all at the same time.

"Who the hell are you?", she asked bewildered.

The beggar started laughing fanatically when Riya just sighed.

She grasped the setup instantly. Some pathetic guy kidnapped her for money. Great! Just, what she needed at the moment!

"Well, you didn't do a great job at that dude", she informed dully mostly to herself.

"Just stop laughing and tell me who you are. I don't have all the time in this world."

He titled his head skeptically.

He suddenly reached so close that she felt his nauseating breath, "I'm going to kill you baby!", he declared.

'Okay… Not kidnapping, then. A lunatic trying to kill her', she thought nonchalantly.

'You chose the wrong person to mess with', she mused.

The rope which wound her hands were not very tight. It wasn't even that hard and she already started working it out.

"Okay, Mr. Beggar! May I know why?", she faked surprise.

'Should I act scared?', she worried inside. Lunatics like him did wild things at unexpected times. So, she decided to better act than annoying him more.

His maniacal grin widened exposing all the rotten teeth. 'Eww!' she thought. She was more concerned about touching this nasty fellow than his empty threats.

"He took everything from me! Now I will return the favour!"

"Who are you talking about?", she wriggled violently to make him believe she was afraid.

"Who else, my baby! Your husband, Mr.Dhruv of Marble Enterprises"

"Hold on! Who are you again?"

"Hmm… I think he never mentioned about me? Yes, of course…. Because I was just a trash to him. A trash he used and abandoned….", "All these years, do you know how much I struggled because of him? He took everything dear to me… Everything!", he yelled loudly at first but started whimpering.

'Oh no! Please don't cry.....… Sh*t', she ran away dumping one cry baby and here was another. She was wondering when this vicious cycle was going to end.

"You still haven't introduced yourself!", she reminded him in an attempt to bring him back on track.

She had to only buy some time by letting him wallow in self-pity. The unknotting process was almost complete.

"I am Dipankar. I worked for Dhruv", he sadly laughed, "but he never appreciated me. I ran away but he chased me everywhere! So, I went back to him and he threw me out like used trash. I lost my identity, money, my wife….. Everything! Everything because of that b**tard…..", he barked at her.

Riya finally got an idea about him. She never thought he'd have become a beggar though. It amused her of how life changed drastically over time.

"I know you…. You started the animal testing scandal..", she saw him with the recognition and fear he expected.

"That was only the beginning. For a man like Dhruv, it is not enough to bring him down."

He traced a knife across her cheek making her wince. She was still struggling with the last strand of tangled rope.

"I will kill you and make him lose his most precious thing, baby", he beamed again nastily.

"If you have problems with Dhruv, you should've killed him, you moron. He doesn't even love me", she laughed, "He will actually be glad that I'm out of the way. He has affair with another woman".

While buying some time, why not drag Dhruv's reputation to the mud. She giggled to herself.

"You're lying. I saw it all in your interviews! He loves you!"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Yeah, right!"

"Shut up!", "I'm right! I'm right! She's lying…. Am I not right? I saw it.. I saw it all… I'm right", he mumbled to himself like a mad dog losing its wits.

Riya used this opening and swiftly snatched his hands with her free hands. She twisted his hand holding the knife painfully until he dropped it. She caught it on time when he launched to grab her throat.

'Wrong move beggar' she smiled foxily.

He tightened his grip on her neck when she plunged the knife into his chest without hesitation. It all happened within the blink of an eye.

His grip faltered and now it was her turn to strangle him, digging her nails deep inside his throat, she knocked the wind out of him. He gasped for breath and wailed in agony.

She took out the knife and lurched it again until his eyes rolled back, face paled and hands fell limp at his sides.

She pushed him away and removed the ropes around her legs.

She still held the knife tightly, searched the room and switched on the lights.

Once the bright light hit her eyes, almost blinding her, she found his skinny body sprawled across the floor in a pool of blood. She saw the knife and her hand coated with blood.

Blood, knife, blood.. the gruesome picture played recurringly in her mind.

Suddenly her throat constricted and she struggled to breathe. Several images flashed inside her brain clouding her thoughts. She shook her head but her eyes stung with tears.

Her body shook violently with fear, the room closing in on her.

'Come princess… There's nothing to scare…' a sweet voice sang. She shut her ears tightly on hearing a girl screaming her lungs out.

She couldn't discern if that was real but her eyes registered Dhruv's face before passing out.