The Weeping Stars

Payback Time

Rudra was kept in a dark room. The room did have a very low power bulb, but it did very little to dispel the darkness. If possible, it made the darkness more pronounced. It was not clear if Rudra was in any condition to appreciate the beauty of the room. His head was drooping. It was not clear if he was sleeping or unconscious. But it was clear that he was never been so uncomfortable before.

Indra was watching him from not too far away. His hands were itching. Rudra's andome face already bore marks of his men. Indra did not wish to inflict anymore harm on him. His torture will be psychological. 

Rudra stirred. He was coming round. The  first feeling he had was that of thirst. His throat was parched. He opened his eyes to see Indra sitting right in front of him. Indra smiled.

'Welcome back! You are a real sleeping beauty aren't you? Are you thirsty?'

Rudra just started as Indra opened a bottle and chugged it down. Rudra felt his  thirst grow threefold.

Indra got up from his chair and held the bottle to Rudra. Rudra drank shamelessly. But Indra removed the bottle swiftly. 

'I am here to tell you about the latest developments. Your uncle is in hospital. Doctors are suspecting heart attack, but not quiet sure. He is under observation. The new of his condition has somehow leaked into the media, which has resulted in the share prices falling. So some of the company shares are being sold, by company board members, of course. By the time uncle comes out of the hospital, he will not have the majority stakes in most of his ventures.'

Indra paused to let it all sink in. Rudra's jaw was ticking, and his expression had turned murderous. Indra continued.

'In all this chaos, no one is looking for you. In fact no one has realised you are missing. Your hired  mercenaries have been paid off and now are on their way back home. Your friend, Nitin and a few others, are enjoying our hospitality'

'So now the question is, what exactly do we do with you?'

Rudra smiled, 'Why don't you send Isha to entertain me? She tasted heavenly. Girls taste great when they cry. I have had her, you every time you go near her, you'll smell me'

Indra looked at Rudra thoughtfully, almost absent mindedly. 

'I will have to take your word for  it, as I never make girls cry. Isha does not have any time to spare you right.  She is too busy in making preparations to make me a happy husband. Did you know, We got married a few days back. As for what you did? A bath, a change of clothes is all that it will take to wipe you away from our lives. But you will not find it so easy to get rid of  us.'

Indra leaned in closer. 

'But don't think I will leave you without company. You might not see them, but as soon as we turn off the lights, they come from tiny cracks in the wall. I just hope they like  your smell too much. They eat everything.'

Rudra's eyes darted around the room. Indra took out a torch and pointed it at a corner. Three huge rats scurried out of view. 

'Don't fret. They will come to you'.

Indra pushed the chair back and stood up. As  he walked to the door, Rudra started shouting.

'You can't do this to me! you don't know how powerful I am, I have friends in the Ministry....I hv..'

His voice drowned out as Indra closed the door behind him.  Raghu was waiting outside.

'Switch off the light and occasionally check on him. I don't want the rats to finish him off. Just enough to drive him crazy.'

'Yes, Karta'

'Did you get Nitin.'

'He is in his family home. They did not have many people in the island. But Karta, what do we do about the treasure'

'How many people know about it?'

'Just us'

'Keep it that way'

Indra did not have time to think about treasure now. He has to make sure that Jitendra wakes up to find his business out of his control. Usha, too, needs to wake up to the reality. Nitin, too, needs to learn his lesson. Maybe, after all this, he will find uninterrupted time with Isha, if she will have him.