Chess & Checkers

8. The Bright Side of Things

TRIGGER WARNING: CONTAINS MENTION OF RAPE AND SUICIDE

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The bright sun rays, hot and prickly, escaped through the dusty windows of the abandoned storage house located at the edge of the Khan's lands. The dust-filled air inside the shed witnessed the pain filled moans of the two men that had dared to attack the Khan and injure his wife in the process.

"Humei kyun maar rahe hou? Sab kuch tou bata dia" Karim, one of the men who was involved in the shooting cried as one of Murtasim's four henchmen delivered another punch to his bruised face.

"Tumhe kya laga tha, Khan par goli chalaoge aur saza nahi milegi?" Bakhtu smirked, observing the multiple bruises on Karim and his partner Faisal's bodies as the men continued to beat them up. The sound of tires on mud filled his ears and he immediately knew who it was. Raising a firm hand in the air, he ordered the men to stop, signalling that the Khan had arrived.

Fear was evident in Karim and Faisal's eyes and their bodies shook as they sat tied up on the dusty floor, the pain momentarily forgotten as their heartbeats sped up and adrenaline coursed through their blood.

Bakhtu stepped out of the storage house into the field just as Murtasim stepped out of his car and approached the entrance.

"Kahan hain woh dono?" He asked angrily before Bakhtu even had a chance to greet him.

"Andar hain maalik" he replied, folding his hands respectfully in front of him with his head lowered slightly.

"Kahan milei? Kuch bataya unhon ne?" Murtasim inquired, his anger intensifying with every passing moment. His fists tightened at his sides as he struggled against the temptation to forcefully confront them, wanting to slam his fists into their contemptible faces for being the cause of his wife's current hospitalization with a gunshot wound and stitches in her stomach.

"Jheel ki dusri taraf raat ko jungle mei sharaab pee rahe thei, wahin se milei. Itne nashe mei thei ussi waqt sab ugal dia" Bakhtu informed.

"Kya bataya?"

"Aap ka shaq sahi tha chotei Maalik! Malik Zubair ke hi bande hain ye. Uss ne paison ka laalach de ke aap pe hamla karwaya tha" Bakhtu disclosed, taking a deep breath as he observed Murtasim visibly trembling with anger.

Murtasim's vision blurred with anger. His thoughts were consumed by Meerab—Meerab in the hospital with a gunshot wound in her stomach, the wound that had bled profusely just hours ago. Her unconscious, pallid face flashed before his eyes, the pain etched in her features. He had spent the entire night contemplating the unbearable pain he felt seeing her like that and wondered about the agony she must be enduring.His mind whirred as he meticulously plotted his next move. Malik Zubair would not escape unpunished. After a moment of unsettling silence, he finally spoke,

"Keep them here. Give them food and water but make sure they stay here" Murtasim ordered, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to alleviate some frustration. "Kuch bande bhej ke unke gharon mei itla de dijiye, ke ye dono hamare qabze mei raheinge jab tak panchayat ya police koi faisla nahi karti. Aur aap chaliye mere saath."

"Kahan, maalik?" Bakhtu asked, scanning Murtasim's face for any clue about his plans. However, Murtasim Khan remained as unpredictable as ever, his blank expression revealing nothing except the fiery determination in his dark eyes.

"Malik Zubair ko eik baar phir uss ki auqat yaad dilane," he growled through gritted teeth.

Realizing the time for questions had passed, Bakhtu hurried to convey Murtasim's orders to the henchmen and instructed others to go to Malik's village, carrying out Khan's directives. Then, he followed Murtasim to Malik Mukhtar's haveli in an SUV surrounded by guards, much like the day before. He couldn't help but sigh and feel a twinge of pity for Malik Zubair, wondering why he consistently engaged in actions that only led to more trouble than he could handle.