A Twist of Fate (Slow Updates)

15

Ananya's head hurt and her mouth left as dry and rough as sandpaper. She tried to work her tongue but it felt thick and dry. She tried moving herself and felt disoriented and confused. Her mind was beginning to wake up and her body was slow to follow. She opened her eyes and was immediately met with bright sunlight. She shut her eyes closed and groaned in pain. She was feeling hung over without drinking a drop of alcohol.

She took a deep breath and tried to moist her mouth by moving her tongue. "Water." She murmured slowly, unable to make her parched tongue and mouth move. She tried to remove the fog in her head, hindering her clear thinking. She shut her eyes again and tried to recollect her body's strength. She used her other senses like ear to hear for any noise or sound. When she had briefly opened her eyes, she had noticed that she was outside in the open by the sheer amount of sunlight piercing her eyes. Now, as she listened keenly, she could hear a man making conversation. Though he was talking to another man or on the phone she couldn't decipher. His voice was unfamiliar and muffed.

She willed her eyes to open again. After a few attempts, she was able to open her eyes for a few seconds. It was the windows her mind noticed the first, followed by the handle on the door and the velvet seat she was sitting on or rather was flung upon in an unceremonious way. So, she was in a car... and kidnapped, her fogged mind concluded. The last thing she recalled was that she was in the house, confronting Vikram about who he actually was and now, she was here in an unfamiliar car, on a public road, with a disoriented mind, a parched mouth and a fatigued body.

As she recalled the fact that Vikram gave no answers, she felt anger and bitterness. She also felt panic and anxiety. She took deep breaths and tried to find her way out of it. She willed her mind to think of a solution because panic and anxiety was not going to save her in the current situation and truth be told neither was the feeling to kill Vikram. Thankfully, she was not gagged or tied. Her arms and legs were free and she could definitely scream if she wanted. However, she didn't think it was the wise course of action in the situation.

She was about to open the car door and dash out when the man she had had heard speaking made his way to the car. "Yes. I'll do that." He said curtly into the phone and opened the car door forcefully. He gave a cursory glance at her and when he realised that she was awake, he stopped short and looked at her.

"So, you are up?" he asked her rather cheerfully. Ananya regarded him in alarm. He was relatively a young man, maybe in his early 30s and had a broad forehead with a conspicuous handlebar mustache. He was wearing a crisp white shirt with blue jeans and without waiting for Ananya's answer; he slid into the driver's seat and revived up the engine. Ananya assessed him in silence. She needed to understand her predicament and analyse the escape routes available to her. Though, she felt a little less threatened than she did a few minutes ago, she decided not to lower her guard and take things slowly. She will wait for a moment of weakness from this man and make good her escape.

"Water." She mumbled softly.

"Yea. Sure." He said and handed her a bottle of water he pulled out from his side door. Ananya eyed the bottle with disgruntled doubt.

"You don't trust people, do you?" The man had the audacity to laugh and took a hefty drink of water from the bottle before giving it back to Ananya. She took the bottle of water and rinsed her mouth languidly. She opened the car window and spat out the water. Ananya decided to wait for him to start the conversation. She took a hesitant drink of water.

The man reversed the car and after waddling on a broken country road, their vehicle soon joined the main road.

"You wouldn't be asking any questions?" the man asked Ananya smilingly as he looked at her through the rear view mirror. Ananya didn't bother to reply and wearily eyed the road outside her window. They were definitely still somewhere in Himachal Pradesh, she tried to read the name of the place on the billboards of the small country tea stalls but most were written in Hindi that she was unable to comprehend quickly.

She watched the tea stalls cross in quick succession as the car increased its speed. She sat back and used all the time to recuperate her energy because whenever this vehicle was going to stop, she was going to run.

Ananya didn't know how long she sat in the car for; the morning sun became hotter, signalling the onset of noon. She slipped into a semi-sleep and awake state. However, she kept herself mindful of the motion of the car and pumped her brain enough to run out the door at a moment's notice. Soon, her wish was granted. They entered the traffic and were soon stuck behind a huge lorry carrying sand. The man had tried to overtake the lorry for quite some time now, but the whole road had high traffic and the lorry had been unable to give enough space for them to overtake it.

The car came to a halt as the lorry stopped and the whole serpentine length of cars was visible from their position on the higher mountain. This was the moment that Ananya was waiting for- the man was not paying attention to her, was visibly relaxed and concentrating on the road. With her heart beating in her throat and the buzz of adrenaline propelling her forward, she opened the car lock and pushed the door open. Ananya moved her left leg out the door, freedom was so close that she felt her tears form in her eyes. She just had to leave the car and run for her life.

Before she could push her right leg out, she felt her hand being held and she found herself being pulled right back into the car rather forcefully. She turned back to look at the man who had held her hand in a very tight death grip. Ananya tried to pull her hand free from his clutches; however, his hard hand gripped her hand so tightly that she felt the blood flow stop and her fingers throb. The man suddenly put on an authoritarian countenance and Ananya noticed that he held a card in his other hand. He pushed the card in front of Ananya's face so that she may look at it. She caught sight of the 'Ashoka emblem' at the top of the card.

"SP Sunil Mandal, Himachal Pradesh Police." He said in a cold menacing tone. "You would want to cooperate with the Police Authority madam. Please sit back calmly otherwise, I can ensure your co-operation through other means as well."

***

Well, well well... what hot water has Ananya landed herself in??