TWENTY TWO
Urmil tried to get up as soon as she opened her eyes but failed. Her head was still heavy and had a tingling sensation. She couldn’t understand where she was or what had happened to her.
She tried to recall the incidents and a dark cloud of thoughts started clogging her head.
She found herself lying on the top of a big packing box with hands and feet tied up tightly. She had lost her ability to move.
Was she brought there by Sanjay's men or the police?
She rolled her eyes to look around.
She was in some kind of a godown. The walls were covered with cobwebs as thick as dark clouds.
Urmil remembered, she was on the way to Asthaa's house at Ramakrishna Puram.
On Sanjay's instructions, she came back home after cancelling the journey of Patparganj but as she didn’t feel protected in her home, she tried to fly… dark night, black car… silhouetted figures... she couldn’t remember anything else. Her purse, her phone… everything was lost.
She needed to answer nature's call… she was hungry too.
Urmil was attracted by some faint noise at the door by her feet. A man entered the room with his face covered, holding a plate in her hand.
As he approached Urmil, she lifted her little finger indicating her need to use the toilet. The man moved away after untying her hands and feet. He pointed towards a door with her left hand, holding a pistol in his right.
Urmil raised her hands up and walked towards the closed door.
The toilet pot was dirty, the wash basin was dirtier. Urmil sniffed in disgust. There was no water in the bathroom either.
Urmil returned to the room silently and saw a plate of food kept on the top of the packing box. She found the man leaning on an opened box and looking for something.
She found a loose piece of plank lying on top of a packing box. She picked it up and hit the man's head like she used to smash the tennis ball her opponent had served. Urmil was able to hit the back of the man's head quite hard. The man growled and tried to turn round, holding the back of his head with both his hands.
Urmil used the same weapon once again to strike him. It hit his ear and blood started flowing down… he fell and lost his consciousness.
Although Urmil was very hungry, she was afraid to take the food which could have been drugged or poisoned. Urmil was busy looking for a way out without wasting any more time.
She came out of the godown quietly with the wooden piece in her hand and locked the door. She saw two guards engaged in some secret discussions.
Urmil took guard and found another man coming out with an empty plate in his hand through a door on the other side.
… So, they must have captivated someone else too.
As the man went down the stairs, Urmil became careful. It was the best time to use the training of her martial art and move on.
Urmil grabbed one of them by his neck from the back with her left hand. He stood still. The other one got puzzled at the sudden attack on his mate and tried to attack Urmil. She aimed to blow the man with her wooden weapon... but missed.
As the man collapsed from the excessive pressure on his neck, Urmil left him and went forward to kick the man's groin. As she hit the bull's eye, the man fell down and started moaning.
They couldn't be left free, so she tied them together with the ropes, her hands and legs were tied with.
Urmil stood up, she wanted to peep into the other room.
It took a little while to adjust her eyes with the darkness inside. Urmil set her foot in the room quietly. She saw a body lying on a narrow wooden bench. The person turned his head at the sound of the door opening. Nothing could be understood in the shadowy darkness.
The figure tried to get up as soon as Urmil came closer but failed as his hands and legs were tied up.
A food plate was kept on a stool with chapati and vegetables.
Urmil was able to recognise the captive and whispered "Navya!"
Her eyes moved but she didn’t speak as her mouth was gagged.
Navyas was Urmil's first support in that unknown city.
As soon as Urmil pulled out the cloth pieces from her mouth, Navya cried.
"Hurry up, there's no time to cry."
The girls left the room, crossed the corridor and walked towards the staircase. They looked at those tied up fools still lying there.
At the sound of some footsteps on the stairs, they placed themselves against the wall. A very short, dwarf-like man came up. He didn’t notice them. Urmil grabbed Navya's hand and climbed down quickly.
Was that the same dwarf she had met at Black Panther? Urmil was thoughtful.
They ran to the gate to find it locked. They climbed up the gate and got down to the other side to hear footsteps. Urmil extended her helping hand towards Navya and they started running.
Both the police and the NCB had their eyes on Sanjay's haunt.
They saw two girls running and Salman's car came forward.
Rain without clouds! Seeing the car approaching, Urmil and Navya waved their hands frantically.
After interrogating the girls, the police raided the place and collected a lot of evidence. Their work became easier as Urmil had already injured three of them.
