BELLS IN NEW YORK

Chapter 05- Part 02

My mind was running at a thousand miles per hour as I briefed Detective Campbell on what happened. Was Amir okay? Was he crying? Would I be able to find him? Was it already too late? Millions of thoughts whizzed about in my head. My training at the academy was long gone.

"Drithi, I know this is a massive shock for you, but you need to calm down. I need you to be in your right mind if we are going to tackle this," Detective Campbell spoke, calm and collected.

I took in a deep, shaky breath, willing myself to get a hold of my emotions. It seemed to work a little.

"So, about an hour or two after I left your place, Ivaan was kidnapped?" Detective Campbell questioned, as though to confirm what I was telling him.

"Yes," I mentioned.

There was a short pause as the ex-detective pondered about the conversation.

"This is getting out of hand. Have you informed the station?"

"Not yet."

"Call them right now and file a case. Send them the evidence while you send me a copy as well. Don't worry, Drithi, we'll get to the bottom of this." Detective Campbell spoke, an attempt to make Mr feel better. Whether it worked, I'm not so sure.

"Thank you, sir. I'll make sure to send through the footage." I replied.

"No worries, Drithi. Also, just call me James. I'm not your senior at work anymore." Detective Campbell said. With no energy to rebute, I agreed.

"I should probably hang up, then. I'll file the case soon," I said.

"Alright, go ahead. Keep me updated on what happens. I'll try to help to the best of my ability."

"Thank you, si-James. I will talk to you soon." With that, the line went dead.

The initial shock and adrenaline had passed. As I stood, rooted in position before the security monitor and replayed the footage, I felt numb.

I watched the clip again and again, until every movement of the kidnapper was engraved into my brain. I felt helpless. What fault did Ivaan commit for something like this to happen to him? Why did this happen to Ivaan? What did he do to deserve this? I could feel the tears pooling under my eyes once again, threatening to fall.

Holding back the tears, I managed to copy the footage and send them to Detective Campbell and the captain. The case was going to be filed officially the next morning.

After what seemed like an eternity, I made my way back to the living room to confirm everyone's suspicions.

Pa had managed to get Priya off the floor and onto the couch. Gopal had also returned after his search outside.

In somewhat of a daze, I broke the news to the three of them, describing what I had seen on the security footage. All three of them listened silently. Even when I finished, nobody spoke.

Priya looked like she had aged a few years. Her dark brown eyes were swollen, her long hair a mess and her body was limp. Gopal also looked exhausted after hours of searching, his eyes unfocused as he seemed to be lost in thought.

Right now, Pa seemed to be the only one who was at least trying to remain collected.

After a few more agonising minutes of silence, Pa was the first to break through.

"Drithi, maybe Priya and Gopal should be the one to file the case. They are Ivaan's parents after all."

I nodded in agreement.

"Take them to the police station with you in the morning and help them out with the process,"

I nodded again.

"I'll print some posters and hand them around. It might help," Pa finished, Patting Gopal's shoulder.

Priya looked extremely pale and weak after so much crying, so I grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and handed it over for her to drink. With shaky hands, she managed to down two gulps of it.

"T-thanks," she muttered, her first word since I had stepped into the house.

"No worries, Priya. Is anybody hungry? I'll make dinner?" I questioned to try and lighten the mood, taking the glass out of Priya's shaky grip and placing it on the table before her.

Immediately, Priya began to cry again.

"M-my boy. My little boy! He must be so hungry," Priya cried, her breath hitching every now and then.

Gopal began stroking Priya's back to try and calm her down.

"Sweetie, I know that we should probably eat something, but none of us have the appetite right now. Let's skip dinner for today," Pa spoke for all of us. In fact, the only reason I asked to have dinner was to try and change the topic, but I had failed miserably.

I nodded, yet again.

"But sitting around is not going to help either. All of us are going to have an early morning tomorrow, so we should all go to bed early," Pa turned towards the couple, "Priya, Gopal, try to get some sleep. You should go to the station tomorrow," he then turned towards me, "Drithi, you too. Go shower and try to rest."

Obeying his words and leaving Ivaan's parents under Pa's wing, I left.

After a quick shower, I approached my bedroom. Sinking into my mattress, I stared at the ceiling.

The room felt surprisingly bare although it remained exactly the same. I had only slept with Ivaan for a few days but his absence in the room was too great to bear. The single bed suddenly seemed too big, and the room was too quiet to my liking.

I turned over to the side and faced the empty space where Ivaan usually slept. The sadness within me was slowly making way for the anger. I could feel it bubbling just below the surface.

I was not going to sit back and watch while Ivaan and the other kids were in grave danger. This case has become a personal mission now. There was no way I was going to stop until Ivaan was by my side again.

With that, I closed my eyes, hoping to get at least a little bit of sleep before tomorrow.

I hope Ivaan is okay.

♧♧♧
Things are getting pretty tense around here...

Tune in next week to find out what happens!

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さよなら
(Sayounara)
(Bye in japanese)

25/06/2022