Chapter 2: Tangled

Somewhere in Lucknow

 “Ammmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa” she shrieked, coming out of the bathroom at a top speed, flailing her arms madly. Garima came out of the kitchen in sheer panic after she heard daughter shout as though she was going to die any moment, “Khusi! Ka hua bitiya?”

“Tilchatta!” she screamed, hiding herself behind her mother, “Ahhhha! Cockroach!”

“Khusi!” Garima admonished her, hitting her over dramatic daughter on the head, “Hum toh dar hi gaye the!”

“Amma! Hume cockroach bilkul pasand nahi!” she cried, “usse bhagao!”

“Khusi woh ka kiyerahi tumhe?” Garima asked exasperatedly before going back into the kitchen, muttering about her over the top daughter who was still looking around for any signs of another cockroach nearby. 

“Kya hua Khushi?” her sister, payal, asked as she snuck her head out of her room. “Jiji, tilchatta!” Khushi cried again, sprinting back to her room as though she was walking on burning coals.

Payal shook her head in amusement, “Khushi, cockroach se itna darti kyun ho tum?”

“Yeh kaisa sawaal hai jiji?” Khushi whined, “dar lagta hai! Bas!” leaving her sister to laugh at her while she was busy picking all her novels off her table.

“Sach mein jaoge?” Payal asked. Khushi turned to look at the sad face of her sister. She knew how difficult it might be for Payal. Yet, she had no choice. She had to do this.

“Jiji, hum hamesha tumhare saat hai na?” she asked Payal, caressing her cheeks, “Tum jab chaahe humse milne keliye aasakti ho...”

“Theek hai Khushi...” Payal smiled a watery smile, “Hum samajhthe hai...tum ho aao...”

“Yeh hui na baat!” Khushi embraced her sister before both the sisters resumed the work of packing. In a day Khushi would be leaving to Mumbai, again.

 Being from a middle class family, making ends meet was not a cake walk for this family who had been through many hardships already. But with both Khushi and Payal working after completing their degrees had slightly improved their condition and propelled them towards betterment that is being called as upper middle class instead of lower middle class. For years together, Shashi and Garima Gupta had sweat blood in order to give a proper life to both of their daughters, and after all these years, the hard work paid off. While Payal was working as a teacher in a local school, Khushi was a crime journalist and a forensic technician in Mumbai. Her job was highly respected and applauses were being showered on her for taking such a brave job that too for a woman. She was handsomely paid for all the risk she was shouldering and this was a reason of pride for her parents who never missed a chance to rave about how brilliant and amazing their daughter was.

After a week’s holiday, it was time for Khushi to go back to her work; to her city, her life, Mumbai: the city of extremes not in weather but in nature. It was where every dream came true and it was where everything collapsed to rock bottom in a matter of seconds. It was a city of dynamics. It refused to stay still and static. Mumbai was highly unpredictable and only one thing could beat the city in its unpredictability, Khushi herself.

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CBI crime branch, Mumbai

   It was a tense afternoon in the inner cubicles of the drab looking CBI Mumbai branch office. Not because there was a case to solve, it was just because Arnav Singh Raizada was officially back from his recuperating leave. Not many poor souls in the department had expected that ASR, after getting brutally hurt, would be back within a week to dance on their heads again. Well, when something of this sort happens without a prior warning, the state is something not describable. People, officers to be precise, dressed impeccably in formals were scurrying from cubicle to cubicle getting all the last minute work done, reports filed and the palpable anxiety in the office premises was not helping them either. While all the officers were running a dead line race downstairs, Arnav was coolly sitting in his air conditioned cabin upstairs, in deep contemplation, may be on how to skin his officers alive. Seems relatable doesn’t it?

He picked up his phone and dialled the intercom number, “Aman send Sharma in...”

“Yes sir,” Aman said and looked at Artesh Sharma, a junior police officer, literally shivering, “Sir wants you in,” he said to Artesh with sympathy knowing full well that either Artesh was going to have a panic attack or more likely, pass out. A meeting with Arnav Singh Raizada never went with peace for these new officers in the branch.

Artesh dragged his feet into his boss’s cabin with great difficulty and pushed himself to knock on the door and get done with it. “Come in” a voice growled from interior of the cabin and Artesh, fearing his fates, walked inside trying to be calm and composed but failing miserably.

“You are late!” Arnav barked, “I called you here 5 minutes before.”

“I am so...so..sorry sir,” Artesh managed to blurt out.

 “I have a work for you,” Arnav commanded. Artesh managed to look up and then managed a feeble, “Yes sir.”

“I want you to team up 20 officers. Divide them into four groups and send them to these locations immediately. Make sure they are going to be undercover.”

Artesh took the paper and studied it. For a moment he was confused but soon the mist lifted and he gave a small squeak knowing where the locations were. Arnav looked up and asked, “is there a problem?”

“No sir...”

“Then dispatch the groups quickly. I will have Aman foresee everything.”

“But sir, we don’t know...” Artesh started to talk when Arnav cut him through, “Just do as I say Sharma.”

 “But sir...”

 “Are you arguing with Arnav Singh Raizada?” Arnav asked now standing up from his chair, looking furious.

Artesh swallowed nervously, “No sir...”

“You better not. Just do as I say,” Arnav commanded. Artesh just nodded and as soon as Arnav asked him to leave, he practically ran out of the cabin. Arnav just shook his head, “bloody cowards.”

As he stared at the sky, standing at the huge French window his cabin was accessorized with, somewhere he felt a warning. An alarm. Caution that something was about to be changed. A gale was about to be blown with such huge magnitude that nobody stood any chance against it. He felt extremely uncomfortable and at the same time, nervous. A feeling that Arnav hated.

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 South Mumbai, Pluto towers. 

A laugh....

A cruel laugh that taunted her; froze her insides...

Strong hands started crawling on her body...

A deadly whisper filled her ears...

She woke up with a start. Sweat beads broke out of her tired body. She was clammy and deathly pale. There was a flash, the same flash of the past that haunted her from ages. Never was there a moment of peace for her. Though she remembered nothing about what had happened to her, these nightmares freaked her out beyond anything. Pain, a cruel laughter and a flash of golden light was all that she remembered. Yet that was enough to scare someone who terrorized the whole world.

She had to be strong; after all she was invincible, powerful and brutal. She couldn’t let these pesky night dreams to scare her wits out. She couldn’t afford to break down. The outside world was looking one loophole in this mightily strong Pluto, the queen, the reign holder of the underworld. If they would find one, she could surely be toppled over. She couldn’t afford it. And she wouldn’t!

 Drinking a glass of water and calming herself down, she donned the same poker, hard faced expression on her face, one that refused to reveal any turmoil of her feminine heart. Her eyes were flooded with the same fire that burnt people alive. She was back again after a slight upheaval. Something that was insignificant in her life. She had buried her past ages ago. That past had no chance of being unearthed again.

 Her ultrathin phone buzzed. She picked it up and spoke in a calm but deathly cold voice, one that sent shivers to anyone who heard it, “yes.”

“Boss, he is sending his team to investigate...” Arus spoke, reporting the new turn of events.

“Fuck!” she swore. This Arnav Singh Raizada was way smarter than she had anticipated. He had already caught the scent of something that was burning in their ranks. He was making all preparations for a battle. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to thwart all his plans before it took a significant shape. She had to destroy him.

“Leave him to me...” she replied, “he is soon going to be outsmarted. Let him enjoy his last days in peace. Report to me whatever he does, wherever he goes and whoever he meets, no matter how insignificant those things seem. I want to know every inch of his life before I take him down. After all, a powerful enemy is more fun to raze.”

“Yes boss,” Arus said. She cut the call and threw the phone on her bed. Getting up and carelessly wrapping a robe over her lingerie, she went to grab a bottle of whisky from her personal bar. She needed something to calm her down. Lighting up a cigarette and taking a swig of that amber brown liquid, she sat still, thinking about how checkmate the king.

PRECAP:

    Sir, there is a journalist here to see you.

    What does he want from me?

    Not he sir, she...

A/N: This fanfiction is dark and hence, the language, style of writing will be dark and dirty as well. It is only for a certain section of people who are comfortable with them. Those who are not, I request, please dont bother reading if you cant handle the brazen nature of the story and the scenes depicted. This one certainly doesnt come under the mushy mushy romantic stories. It has an edge to itself...Those who still want to go on with it, I hope you enjoy it...The real action will start soon...

 PS: Each scene is happening at different times if you didnt grasp it while reading :D