I hate you!

Bachelors Night

Raj's bachelors night was inside the palace dungeons. The hostesses were scantily clad and dancing around offering canapés and Champaign to the guests. The room was decorated in a bright red and black theme, and it had a display of various torture devices, used during ancient times, to punish the guilty. Raj was busy showing his great collection of weapons, to his guests. Shivaay was intrigued by the spears and the daggers for a moment. He thought  that OM would have loved this more, and went back to monitoring the stock market fluctuations on his mobile. "Shivaay my man!", Neil shouted across the bar set up on a cauldron of fire. "Pretty impressive ha?" Neil  was being too friendly for Shivaays liking. "Hmm yeah I guess" Shivaay responded casually. "So how do you know Annika my superstar?" He asked. "Well she was my wedding planner and she did a pretty horrible job at it" Shivaay retorted. "Annika and sloppy? I can't believe that!  She's one of my best event planners you know? She is smart, confident, funny, and not to mention the Khidki thod looks" Neil winked. Shivaay gripped on to the drink on his hand trying hard not to smash it into bits. How dare he used her language! "You seem to know her pretty well...don't you?" Shivaay questioned in an almost threatening tone. "Oh well, as long as I have known her she's been honest, and a hard worker, and I kind of think she's our events teams good luck charm. Since the day she joined the company, we've been handling the biggest weddings, birthdays of the season! And yes she's become a dear friend! We are best friends really!" Neil said with utmost adoration for Annika.

" I guess one person can have many shades and you'd never know !" Shivaay sighed lost in thought.  "Whoa man that's deep, but that's so true! Let's drink to that shall we? 50 shades of Raj!"  Pointing at Raj who was now transfixed at a hot dancer on a death chair contorting herself into various poses that only a contortionist can achieve.  Both of them burst out laughing. Neil wasn't bad after all, he was  smart, funny, and genuine.  They strangely got along really well and he almost felt as comfortable as he would with OMRU with this guy. They were chit chatting by the bar, about business and life, when Raj dragged Neil down to show his exquisite collection of  spearheads and as Shivaay was more occupied with trading, he decided to stay back.

"Hello it's Annika!" Shivaay jumped up at her voice that came out of nowhere, to finally realise that Neil had accidentally left his mobile on the table and his ring tone was her voice? Shivaay glimpsed at the name saved as  "My Star", and he felt a lump forming in his throat. He has just started to like this guy if not for this annoying fondness towards Annika. "Star my foot!" Shivaay mumbled under his breath exasperated. He ignored the ringing phone and as Annika rang again and again. An annoyed Shivaay picked up the phone. "Neil...Neil...Raj he's not what he looks like...he has his fiancé locked up in one of the rooms, she's hurt.. I need your help, hurry up, it's down the corridor passing the terrace, a huge wooden door with iron locks!", Shivaay listened to this confusing information related by Annika. "You are mad Annika you are Mad! What kind of a game you are playing with Neil huh? What kind of a sick game you are playing with Raj? Are you trying to frame him for something and get more money from him? Disgusting!" Shivaay rambled on and Annika interrupted,  " Shivaay! Shivaay? Why are you answering Neils phone? give the phone to Neil, It's urgent! She needs help! hurry". The stress in her voice, concerned him for a minute. Then his common sense took over. This girl was clearly out of it!  Why on earth a respectable regal man like Raj would have to keep his fiancé imprisoned?. It didn't make sense at all. Next time she called, he mimicked a pre recorded network message, " The mobile phone  you reached is currently unavailable! Please try again later!". He hung up the phone and continued to enjoy his scotch with a cheeky smirk on his face.

After sometime, through a dark corner of the dimly lit room Neil appeared, looking rather shocked. "What happened to you? Did you see his knifes? Or daggers? Or what were they?" Shivaay asked. Neil looked pretty shaken.
"Neil are you okay? By the way Pannika called you I picked up because she called a few times".
"Who called?", he asked.
" Pannika, errm I meant Annika or should I say my A star", Shivaay let out a buzzed chuckle.
"Hmmn" Neil still looked pretty silent. He Asked for a glass of water from the bartender and gulped it down as he was parched.
"Everything okay man?" Shivaay asked again concerned.
" No , I guess Raj actually turned out to be 50 shades man!, he took me to this room where he keeps all his daggers.  I was looking around when I found this album lying on one of the tables. I thought it's some kind of a manual you know, description of the artefacts. It had  dated Polaroid pictures of BDSM, women, getting tortured in crazy ass ways. And...and.. I think I saw his fiancé in one of those pictures!" He gulped. 
"What...what are you saying? Okay right are you two in on this? Annika and you? Is it some kind of a bachelor party prank you two are trying to pull? Raj is a prince Neil. What are you talking about, he's from one of the most respectable families in this country. Whatever you two are trying to pull just stop it!" Shivaay said in a matter of fact way.
"Who Shivaay? You mean Annika? Oh shit I got to call her before she does something stupid, Raj is more dangerous than he looks. And Shivaay, he maybe a prince, but I know what I saw in their, he has a monster written all over his forehead!" Neil hurried over, trying to call Annika. "SHIT SHIT SHIT she's not picking up. Shivaay what did she say to you? What the fuck did she say to to you?" Neil was sweating.

Panic started to set in Shivaay, instead of the exasperation, and judgement he chose to opt on before. "Err....She...She said Raj is not who we think he is....His fiancé needs help...She's in some kind of a room behind a big ass wooden door with iron bars."  "How the fuck is that going to help us Shivaay? This is an old fucking palace, and all the doors are wooden and has iron bars across them!" ....Alright Shivaay think think he closed his eyes and tried to remember, the terrace, pathway down and a spiral archway, corridor, painting of the old matriarch, and the door the wooden door with two massive iron bars blocking it, he visualised a map in his head. " Neil follow me now!, and keep calling Annika!" Shivaays heart started to pound. How could he not believe her, she was Annika, she would put her nose into others business always without thinking twice, and get herself into trouble. How could he not sense that she was in danger. How could he hang up on her when she said I need help. " Hello Bhavya, I need help, I need a special team to Rhatod palace in Delhi ASAP! It's important hurry!".  Neil and Shivaay, finally stood by an archway, by the picture of the old Maharani. "Left, Right, Left...." " Which way Shivaay which way?" " Hold on Neil let me think" Shivaay stopped for a minute, closing his eyes, and blocking all the worldly noises. "ANNIKAAA!" He screamed. He chose to choose the right corridor which led them to the wooden door with iron bars. They both started banging on the door, and the door won't budge. He looked around, and he saw a golden moon charm hanging on the spear head of a statue by the portrait. It was from Annikas bracelet he knew without a doubt. He pulled the spearhead out, which turned to activate some kind of an automated lock, that unlocked the door. There was nothing but darkness lurking inside beyond the doors. "Annika, she's she's scared of the dark!" He mumbled under his breath. They both lit up their mobile flash lights, while screaming for Annika. From a distant corner they could hear a murmer of "help...help.. me" They both ran towards the voice, and for their shock they found Raj's fiance lying in almost a pool of blood, her wrists slit. "Where is Annika? Did you see Annika?" Shivaay started losing his mind seeing the blood drenched woman lying on the floor, in nothing but her underwear. " Girl...he took her...there" she pointed at another passageway inside the room. "Neil you look after her, make sure she doesn't bleed out, I called the police, call an ambulance I'm going after Annika".  Neil nodded, already tending to the woman's wounds.  Shivaays heart was at his throat.

Please please please let Annika be safe he kept praying. If anything happens to her today because of him, he would never be able to forgive himself. He again judged her, judged her over a psychopathic respectable regal blood? He was being a dick and he knew it, yet he still decided to do it because of his ego. If anything happens to Annika because of his 2 Rs., Behavior, he surely will end his life.

He almost reached the end of the pathway. It led him to a room lit with torches. In the middle of the room there was a chair, there was sharp pieces of glasses shattered around it, and stains of blood, where someone has stepped on them. Is it Annikas blood, is it my Annikas blood, Shivaay felt faint. He gathered himself up building up courage to walk up to the chair. He could sense her presence in the room, and he knew he had to find her before it was too late.