The Stigma Called Love - Chapter 54

Nishant took the keys from Siraj and started the car just as Aparna slipped in the passenger seat. The car sped away and the others followed them.

Aparna was too tensed to even talk. She kept on trying Madhu’s number but again and again it came switched off.

They reached the parlour and saw Harish talking with the guard and the owner.

Nishant got out of the car and rushed to Harish, followed by Aparna.

“The guard is saying he saw them getting into a white car. But he says they were no sign of them being forced,” Harish told them, his voice shaking with tension.

The moment Aparna heard him, her hands started to shake.

Why would Madhu get in an unknown car?

She was about to point this out to Nishant when her phone beeped. She looked at it and her eyes shone with recognition.

A message from Madhu!

She quickly opened the message and saw a video clip. Moving a further away from them, she opened the clip. As aggrieved screaming reverberated around, the phone fell from her hand.

Aparna slumped against the car completely paralysed with fear. Why?

Nishant heard the sounds and came running towards her followed by others.

“Aparna, what is it?”

When she did not reply, he looked at the phone lying on the road and picked it.

Just as he started the clip again, the distressed sounds of Prakriti and Madhu shouting of filled the air again; and, then the visual evidence. They were sitting in a corner, hands and legs tied. He saw someone tying a cloth around Prakriti’s mouth shutting her up. Just then someone blocked the camera and it came back on with the face, which he hated since the time he had first seen it.

Kavin!

“Want her alive? Come and get her then. It’s been a long time, wifey. You know what I want. You and money. If you don’t have it then ask Nishant Naik, he will give. After all, he has been enjoying that filthy body of yours. Let me enjoy it too.  If you don’t pay then, see her die.”

Just as the clip ended, the words swirled in his mind and with every passing second, his animosity increased.

Aparna was shaking as the words kept on repeating within her. As Prakriti’s shrieks echoed in her mind, her body shook with the impact.

Nishant caught her in his arms before she collapsed to the ground.

“Aparna, we need to be calm. Please hold onto yourself. Is Prakriti wearing the ring I gave her?” Nishant asked her with urgency.

But she did not hear him at all as her ears were still reverberating with her daughter’s screams.

He tipped her face up and shook her by her shoulders.

“Aparna, please get a grip. Is Prakriti wearing the ring? Please, sweetheart, tell me.”

She nodded looking at him not believing her ears.

He is more concerned about the ring and not her daughter?

“Siraj, switch on the GPS now. She has the ring on.”

“Is there a GPS chip in the ring?” Harish asked him following him to the car where Siraj was in the process of tracking Prakriti’s location.

Nishant nodded looking at the screen and his eyes shone with purpose just as the red dot blinked at one location.

Hurriedly, he crossed over to the driver’s seat and was about to slid in when he looked at Aparna who was watching him with surprised and shocked eyes.

He walked over to her and said in a voice filled with conviction, “Aparna, I got the chip installed because I wanted her to be safe.”

She just nodded not able to think anymore.

All of them followed the GPS and reached the place where the red dot was constantly blinking. Shutting the car behind a nearby wall, they all got out.

Standing behind the wall, Nishant glanced at the structure in front. It was a dilapidated house right at the end of a deserted by lane. He could see a faint light coming from one of the windows; that meant someone was inside.

Taking off his coat, he turned towards them and whispered, “You guys wait here. I will go in.”

Aparna stopped him and as he looked at her, she inaudibly pleaded:

Don’t go. What if something happens?

He took her face in his palms and looked straight into her eyes.

“Do you trust me?”

When she nodded, he said in a vehement tone, “Then have faith on me. I’ll not let anything happen to Prakriti or Madhu. Once and for all I will put an end to this.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, I want you to stay here.”

“I am coming with you, Nishant,” Harish said grabbing his arm.

“No, Harish. I want you to stay with Aparna. Guys, try and understand, I am just going in to check. Siraj, call Dhruv and ask him to inform the police.”

Saying this, he started moving stealthily towards the house.

Aparna looked at him slowly creeping towards a side wall and her heart drummed with fear.

Please don’t let anything happen to him or Prakriti or Madhu. Please, she prayed.

*****************

As Nishant neared a wall, he quickly shielded himself behind it and tried looking sideways. There was a window half open. He slid to it and pushed against the sash but it did not budge.

Damn! It’s jammed.

Not giving up, he pushed hard and this time the sash creaked a little but finally gave away. Hoping that nobody had heard the creaking sound, he tried to climb inside but the moment he placed his hand on the sill, a broken glass piece pierced the flesh of his palm.

Nishant bit his lips hard trying his best not to yelp in pain. As he dragged his hand away, the glass piece just broke off. He looked at his hand and shook his head.

You can think about your pain later. Your princess needs you.

Quickly, he climbed inside and crept forward as quietly as he could.

*********************

Aparna bit her fingernails in tension looking at the house. It had been almost 15 minutes that he had gone in there. She glanced twice towards it but still no Nishant.

Dhruv paced up and down the lane they were hiding in.

Where are the police?

She clutched his hand as she saw Nishant coming out.

“I know where they are. But, it’s the back of the house and there is no way to enter from that side, so we have to go in from this side,” he said as he came near them, pointing at the side wall.

Aparna heard him and panicked more than usual. But her eyes widened with shock as she looked at his hand.

“Nishant, your hand!”

“It’s okay. It’s only glass. Not to worry. I am fine.”

As all of them started to plan the entire operation, Aparna separated from the group. Her daughter and best friend were in there and she was standing here doing nothing. Her hands fisted in resolve as she moved towards the wall Nishant had pointed to.

He was so engrossed in the conversation that he did not notice Aparna moving away. But the moment he looked sideways his heart stopped. She was climbing inside through the open window.

“Aparna, Goddammit! No,” he exclaimed in horror but it was too late. 

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