Surprise, surprise! Another update for the day. Hope it feels good to receive double updates on the same day ;P

*

Ananya inhaled the fresh air as she stood at the open terrace. The place was barely lit and the sound of the thumping music was faded and low. Letting her head roll back, she closed her eyelids and felt the silence. The splash of gentle breeze across her face was calming as she stood there. How she wished to experience it without being restricted.

She felt caged ever since Neil entered her life to protect her. A bitter smile rolled onto her lips at the thought, protect her. She couldn't do anything at her own will. She was surrounded by cops and was followed everywhere, Stalked according to her. There was so much more she had to get her hands on; and having Neil and his team around proved to be a constraint. She wasn't used to this. Having always worked as per her own will, she felt suffocated to have her actions monitored.

Ali's birthday seemed to be a perfect getaway for her. He owned a small club at Goa and was good with his cocktails and other fancy drinks. They had been in here a couple of times.

She knew sneaking out was not a good option. At least, she realized it now. However, she very well knew Neil would track her down. Though, she hadn't expected him as early as he was. She would have left within an hour's time had he not placed another cop on her. All she wanted to do was rile him up.

She furiously muttered, 'Wasn't it enough that he was pretty much watching each and every step of mine through one of the spy cams?'

She clearly decided to break some more rules before he locked her up into another cage. Probably, he wasn't aware that she knew the place way too well for her to stay under his radar for too long. She sneaked one last time for the evening. Through the narrow passage besides the restroom, she escaped into the open terrace. It was isolated.

The creaking of the old wooden door fell onto her ears. Dizzy with the all the alcohol she had, she still was sober enough to know the arrival of danger. She stayed unaffected as the footsteps were cautious. Various thoughts ran across her mind. She heard the snap as the pistol was loaded and counted while she prepared herself for some action. She smiled with a hint of sarcasm as she thought, too bad.

She rolled her right foot into a back kick. The pistol was already triggered for shoot by then. The bullet released before the pistol landed onto the ground. She had smartly dodged the aim though. Without bothering much about the blasting gunshot, she rolled in another kick onto the face of the murderer. She hit the jaw that was covered under the black mask worn by the murderer. Attacking for a punch into the face, she launched her fist only to have it stopped midway in the air. Her fist held in a firm grip of the murderer, she looked at those livid eyes. Even before she could contemplate her next moves in her tipsy state, her hair was pulled roughly before thrashing her head into the nearby wall.

The last thing she saw before her eyelids rolled shut was the face of the Officer Neil Khanna as he stormed through the door.

*

Closure to the previous cliffhanger or is it another cliffhanger? 😎