Raavi slowly opened her eyes. They felt so heavy, as if someone has taped them shut.

The blinding lights hurt her eyes, but she was desperate to know where she way. She tried to move around, but her hands and legs were tied up.

She was in some sort of.... Basement? Old vehicle parts, used sofa, it was like a dump yard.

She tried to call out for help, but she was gagged with tape.

She looked around for some clue, and at a distance she saw a calendar. She squinted her eyes to check the date.

2 days. It had been 2 days since she was trapped.

How did she end up here? She simply couldn't recall, but flashes of that day appeared in her mind.

~~~

"Di, mai zara market hoke aati hu, aaj mausam bohot accha hai!" Raavi said, grabbing her handbag.

"Haa, mere bacche, jaa. Mai tujhe ek list dungi, zara woh bhi leke aa jayegi please, jaa hi rahi hai toh?" Dhara asked, reaching for a list.

Raavi nodded her head and took the list from Dhara.

It was such a pleasant day. Gloomy weather, drizzle of rain, cool breeze. It was her type of day.

She walked down the road, noticing everything and everyone, except the four people following her.

Just as she turned to take a shortcut, she felt a searing pain in her head, and everything went black

~~~

"Kidnap kiya hai inhone. Oh god. Raavi. Panic mat ho. Kuch nahi hoga. Yaha se nikalne ka raasta soch." Raavi assured herself.

She frantically looked around, but there was no door, just a bathroom attached to this dump.

Maybe there was way out from there? She couldn't risk it, but she needed to be sure. For that she had to go there.

The tape fell off, due to the sweat it has created around her mouth.

" Hello? Koi hai? Mujhe please nikalo!" Raavi called out.

4 men appeared in front of her. All hefty, gunda types.

"Ae phoolkumari. Itni aasani se nahi jaane denge tujhe." Man 1 slyly said.

"Par mujhe washroom jaana hai." Raavi doubled back.

"Ae Sunil. Isko leke jaa udhar" Man 2 said, pointing towards the bathroom.

Kya buddhu log hai.

The man untied Raavi, holding her arms tight in her grip, and walked her towards

Just then, he got a phone call. God knows who it was. But they had a phone. Somehow she had to get it.

Just as they reached the washroom, and the man was about to put his phone away, Raavi feigned her fall, and slipped on him.

The phone flew out of his hands, at an arms distance. Raavi grabbed the phone and hid it, before anyone noticed.

"Sorry. Pair phisal gaya tha" Raavi innocently said.

She entered the washroom and locked the door. She looked around and saw a small window. Not enough for her to escape, but enough to alert a passerby about her presence.

She also saw a huge board, that said Redpipes Factory, and right behind it was a field. She made a quick mental note of it.

She looked around, and they somehow had left newspapers in here. She balled them up and threw out about 10-15 newspaper balls.

She took out the phone, and put it on silent. If the guy was standing right outside the door, he would hear her conversation.

She opened up his phone and typed in Shiva's number.

How did she remember?

Her fingers trembles, her breath was short and quickened. She had to pull this off, there was no option.

BANG BANG BANG

"Ae ladki, kitna samay lagayegi." Man shouted.

"5 minute." She replied. If she didn't, they become suspicious. She couldn't risk a call.

She opened up his messages, and began to type, 'Shiva. Help. Red pipes factory. Khet. Newspaper.'

It was not a smart phone, it was the button phone, so she had to write whatever she wanted in less words.

She sent the message, deleted it from his phone so that he'd never know, and waited for him to lean on the door.

As predicted, he put his ear to the door, suspecting her to be upto something.

Immediately, she opened the door, and dropped the phone as the man fell face flat.

At least he won't know I had the phone.

The man roughly grabbed her, and tied her to the chair again.

All she could do was wait.

~~~

It was 12:30 in the night. Everyone had been up late wondering where Raavi was, and how they could find her.

2 days ago, their neighbour called and told them that 4 people had picked up Raavi and taken her hostage. Before they could do anything, they drove away.

These sleepless nights were making Shiva restless. Absence of her warmth beside him made Shiva uneasy. He was worried for her safety. God knows what those men will do to her.

His heart worried for her. He was so happy 2 days ago, but when he reached home, his happiness wilted into worry and fear.

He wanted to see her, to know if she was okay. He wanted to tell her how he felt. What if something happened to her before he could tell her? No, no negative thoughts.

He was so scared, he couldn't lose her.

He couldn't.

Just as he laid down on the bed, he got a message. From some unknown number. He ignored it at first and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and he hastily picked up his phone, only to find some random telemarketing message.

He sighed and threw his phone across the room.

Where could she be? What had they done to her?

His phone buzzed again, he lazily bent down and picked it up to check his messages, thinking it was another telemarketing message.

He kept staring at the words before him.

Shiva. Help. Red pipes factory. Khet. Newspaper.

Finally, a clue after so long. His chipkali was so smart.

But none of these words were connected. He didn't know what it meant. He had a million questions in his mind right now, but first he had to figure out what this meant.

"Gombi! Bhabhi! Dev, Krish, Rishita!" He yelled out for them, knowing no one had slept yet.

They all rushed to him, and he showed them the message.

"Raavi ka message, haaye ram! Phone laga na shiva usko!" Dhara cried.

"Nahi, ye Raavi ke phone se nahi aaya hai. Shaayad woh aadmiyo ke phone se chupke se kiya hai. Phone karna usko khatre me daal sakta hai." Krish said.

"Koi phone nahi lagayega." Shiva warned. "Pehle batao ye jo factory hai, kaha hai?"

Everyone nodded their heads, except Rishita.

"Ab itni raat ko puche bhi toh kis se?" Shiva's voice began to tremble. He nervously ran his hand through his hair.

"Mil jaayegi woh, tension mat le tu." Dev pacified him.

"YAAD AAYA! Woh papa ki factory ke baaju me hi hai. Waha ek khet bhi hai, bilkul jaise usne likha. Newspaper ka toh pata nahi, but jagah mai jaanti hu." Rishita said, sighing with relief.

"Tumhe le jaana khatra ho sakta hai. Aur kisi ko pata hai?" Shiva said.

"Nahi, sirf mujhe aur papa ko pata hai. Aur iss wakt woh Mumbai me hai."

"Promise karo, gaadi me baithi rahogi aur kahi nahi jaaogi. Iss ghar ki ek ladki musibat me hai, tumhe kuch nahi hona chahiye." Dev asked.

They all sat in the car, while Dhara stayed home, praying for Raavi.

As they approached the huge board that read Red Pipes Factory, they looked around for any clue.

Shiva had continuous eyes on the road for any clue. He looked to his left and saw a bunch of balls.

Was that paper? A dim light shone on that part. Newspapers.

"GOMBI. GAADI ROKHO" Shiva yelled, pointing towards the newspapers.

He parked the car a little away, so that the people wouldn't notice their arrival or Rishita's presence.

It was the calm before the storm.

~~~

Raavi was struggling to sit still, since the dupatta she wore was slightly tight around her neck.

"Ae chokri, itna til mila kyu rahi hai?" Man 4 asked.

She just glared at him, they still had her mouth taped shut. He walked towards her and removed her dupatta from her neck, and wrapped it around his, like a scarf.

"Hum bhi toh dekhe, kitni haseen hai tu." He said, with a dirty look.

Man 3 walked over and pulled out some stitches of her dress, causing one sleeve to rip open, revealing a bit of her body.

She was appalled. These people were ruthless. Tears started to form in her eyes. This couldn't be happening.

Man 2 came and grabbed her face in both his hands. "Ab pati toh yaha nahi hai, toh hume maze lene de."

She jerked her face out of his hands, she couldn't stand their touch.

The man felt insulted. He pulled out a pocket knife and slashed it across her cheeks, causing it to bleed.

Raavi winced in pain. What kind of torture was this? Where was everyone? Did Shiva even get the message? Had she messaged the wrong number?

Just as the men proceeded to rip her apart, the front door fell with a loud thud.

What followed, was chaos.

- - - - -

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