The Heart Lies...

Chapter 6

Koyal stood there dazed. Surely I must be dreaming... Bhola was muttering something under his breath. Trying to remove the sweat on his brows he wiped his head on his shirt's sleeves. His gaze fell on Koyal still standing there. "Areee ma'am, run. The police will be here any moment. Don't blame me later." This brought her out of her daze. "The police? Why should I run from them? And why will they come here in the first place?" He again began muttering something inaudible. Finally, the tile came lose. He slid his arm inside and retrieved some packets with white powder. He quickly stuffed them into his shoulder bag. "D..d..drugs? People come here for drugs!?" A shiver ran through her. So that's why the police are coming. There must have been a tipoff. Dammit, where did this stupid driver get me to. "Yaa..now run if you don't wanna be caught." "You bastard, you should have told me. Anyway, I didn't even know all this, I won't run like a criminal." He smirked and ran down the hallway. Yaa Koyal. Why wouldn't the police believe you right? The fact that people come to this shit hole only for drugs would certainly convince them of your innocence. She could hear cars pulling up. She decided to survey the situationtion through the window. A gasp escaped her lips when she saw Bhola struggling in one of the officer's grasp. He was being beaten black and blue. Several people who ran out through the front were being similarly beaten up. Any hope of convincing the officers left her with that sight. They didn't even give the people a chance to explain. Panic gripped her. She swiftly collected her bags and ran in the opposite direction to the commotion. She could hear the police entering the lodge. She ran like she had never ran before. But then she found herself at a deadend. She had hoped for a backdoor. The footsteps were getting closer now. Anytime now she would be caught. She entered the nearest door. I hope this room has some escape route.

On entering, her hand send something flying down. It landed with a clang.Koyal... They must have surely heard the sound. As her eyes adjusted, she realized she was in the kitchen. Her eyes instantly fell on a door which seemed to lead outside. I hope I'm right. She sprinted out. But there was no time to stop in relief. An officer was following her alerted by the sound. Inspite of the weight of her bags weighing her down the adrenaline rush kept her going. Her chest and legs hurt like hell. She ran blindly for quite a while. When she finally turned around to check there was no one behind her. Perhaps he had given up or maybe he was still pursuing her. She was too close to the road to hide behind any bushes. There were scarcely any. She needed to find a cover fast. Her vision was suddenly blinded by white light. She squeezed her eyes shut. I hope it's not one of the police vans. She couldn't run anymore. She was sore all over. "Get in fast." Her eyes opened to a transport bus. Ohh..thank God. Pure relief coursed through her veins. She began getting into the bus. "There is no space in here. You'll have to climb up." "Oh..okk" She laboriously climbed to the top. The bus rattled on. She took deep breaths and tried to calm herself down. She couldn't believe what just happened. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined herself in such a situation. It's over now, calm down. It felt scary to travel over the bus with all it's rattling. It feels like I may fall down. But she was too tired to worry over it for a long time. She settled into the space available and hugged her bag tight. As her gaze fell on the sky she became awestruck. A plethora of stars were scattered on the sky. She had never seen so many of them. It calmed her nerves. The stars always had that effect on her. She was transported to her terrace back home. Exhaustion finally caught up with her and she fell into a deep sleep.