He smiled a little before shaking his head. “The rain is getting stronger now. I think we should move back to the house”, Aarav insisted with a shy smile.
“And not see this beautiful sight?” she remarked.
He looked towards the sea again, the rains making it appear even more heavenly, hauntingly beautiful.
“That night…” he said after a while. “What was that?”
“That… was a pleasant experience, albeit a drunk one”, she replied with a hint of a smile.
“We should never…”
“Yes. We should never mention it again”, she completed his sentence.
They both became quiet again and just sat there on the beach, gazing at the sea, soaking in the rain, with not a sign of life around. Aarav slowly turned his gaze towards her. Her hair were parted from the middle and fell down equally towards both the sides. Raindrops trickled down her face as she looked at him too. She saw the scars on his face from the time they were attacked at her office. She remembered him jumping in and pulling her to safety as they were pelted by bullets. The moment when he asked her if she was unharmed, she knew that this man deserved her respect. A failed relationship early on in her life had made her stop believing in these feelings, directing her to focus on her career and her ventures. But after so long had a man managed to attract her that she had forgotten about the twelve-year age gap which they shared.
“What are you staring at?” Aarav asked her slowly. “The nature is on the other side.”
She took in a deep breath. “I don’t feel like looking at it anymore”, she uttered as she closed her eyes and went for his lips.
They kissed passionately. They kissed ardently. They kissed for a long time. They both had their eyes closed, their lips moving in perfect sync with each other and their hearts beating faster, for each other. They let themselves get lost on that beach, no one ready to break the kiss, no one ready to ruin their moment, no one ready to accept the fact that this little instant was the only thing that could cheer their lives amidst the threats looming over their quest. That moment was perfect. They sat by the calm beach, admiring the lengths of the azure water that sprawled before their eyes. The clouds had almost stopped storming, making it rain quietly over them as they stuck to each other’s faces passionately. It was something surprising for her. It was something startling for him. It was something unexpected for the both of them. The rain slowly morphed into a drizzle, the clouds started growing thinner, yet they kissed each other; unbothered and blissful.
And that is when they heard it.
At first it felt like the sound of thunder, coming from the looming clouds overhead. But then came another one, and another one; and that is when they realized that those were the sounds of gunshots. They broke the kiss instantly, looked into each other’s eyes with terror and dashed for the cliff top.
The seven guards of WHO were lying dead outside the house by the time they arrived, their blood accumulating in the pools of puddles created due to the rain.
“Is it them?” she asked, terrified.
“Get into a car. Now”, Aarav spoke as he grabbed the gun of one of the fallen guards.
“You are not going in there alone”, she yelled while pulling his coat.
“If they get to you, they have all the books Shayna. They cannot find you. At any cost”, he ordered her. “Stay in a car and drive if they walk out of the door and we don’t.” He slowly moved towards the door, with a gun in his hand, and pushed it a little to witness the movements of everyone inside.
He was able to see the hall, where Rehann, Aanya and Mrs. Jayaratne were forced to sit on their knees their hands held behind their heads. Aarav counted there to be eight assassins, all dressed in a black and red suit and wearing their golden bull masks. He was barely able to see the man who was parading before his friends and shouting at them angrily. He donned a plaster in one of his hands and carried a gun in the other. Aarav knew exactly who he was.
Aarav slowly opened the door a little more and rolled ahead quietly to hide behind a cupboard. He knew he had no chance to take out the eight of them himself. Not only was he vastly outnumbered, he only had five bullets in the gun that he was holding. He sneaked a look from behind the cupboard and saw one of the Bulls standing really close to him. Knowing where he had to start. He took in a deep breath and came out from his place of hiding as he fired at the exposed head of the bull with resolute, unwavering hands. The bullet made home inside his enemy’s head and Aarav dashed ahead as he managed to grab the gun from the his hands before his lifeless body could even hit the floor. Aarav almost jumped behind the sofa near him as the rest of the Bulls heard his gunshot and fired at him. A bullet went past his ear, as he realized how lucky he was… for the time being. The Bulls came at him from all the sides. Aarav managed to pull his hands out from over the couch and fire in their direction, but his attempts were futile. He soon saw a burly body emerge before him and his reflexes made him fire from both the guns at the same time. Both the bullets dug deep into his assailant’s chest as the man went down. However, Aarav failed to realize that another man had come right behind him. He turned his eyes to meet the ones of his killer and he wasn’t able to lift his gun. But all of a sudden, a loud bang went off from outside and a bullet hit that man in the back, making him fall down. Shayna entered the place while grabbing a gun and fired further towards the Bulls as she crashed behind the couch like Aarav. He looked at her, his eyes thanking her a million times, yet he wasn’t able to bring words to his mouth. Shayna looked up and fired again, her shot missing her mark by a lot of distance.
All of a sudden they heard a loud bang as a familiar voice struck their ears. “Calm down now, or I’ll blow their heads to the roof”, the Bull with a plaster on his hand spoke. “I have had enough with you rats. If I wanted it to be you’d be dead already…”
Aarav stood up a little and fired towards the man all of a sudden, cutting his voice midway, but sadly missing him by just a whisker.
“Enough!” the man barked as he fired three angry shots in Aarav’s direction. “You want to play games? Huh?” he asked furiously. “Bring me a knife N. Let me show them what I can do.” He went ahead and held the knife on the cheek of Mrs. Jayaratne. “Have you people seen anyone get skinned when alive?” he said impatiently as Mrs. Jayaratne started weeping.
Aarav looked at Shayna and they knew that K had got them.
“Let’s start with the elderly. Their skin is so soft. It’s like passing a hot knife through butter”, K said as he dug his knife in her cheek and peeled out the skin in seconds. Mrs. Jayaratne’s horrific cries echoed through the house as she tossed her body all around, trying to escape the grip of her assailant. “I think I can see her cheek bone. Both of you should come and see it before the blood starts oozing.”
Aarav looked at Shayna and she nodded.
“Aaaand… it’s gone”, K continued. “Too bad. Let’s cut the other side. I think if I peel her a little more, we could even see her skull.”
“Okay. Stop”, Aarav spoke as he put both his hands behind his head and stood up, Shayna following the suit.
“Good boy”, K spoke as he handed the knife over to N. “Come ahead now. Throw your weapons away. You know how this works.”
Aarav and Shayna dropped their weapons near the door and started walking ahead slowly.
“Oh! Look at your face”, K spoke to Aarav. “Did U punch you a little too hard the other day? I mean, I instructed him to not touch your face. Or maybe I didn’t. But look at the cut on your cheek. I mean, it is not as good as the one I inflicted on her right now. But it is a scar nonetheless.”
K came near Aarav and touched the cut on his left cheek while Aarav darted his eyes towards the plastered hand of K.
“Oh I forgot, you gave me something too. Something better than a scar. I mean I understand that I had him punch you a lot,
and so your friend pulled something of his from a sensitive place. But you, sir, shot at me. You put a bullet, right here, and shattered my collar bone in half. Do you realize how expensive medical treatment is these days? Hmm?” he came ahead and stared hard into Aarav’s eyes.
“I am assured that the Government of India would be glad to bear your expenses”, Aarav replied.
K smiled a little from inside his mask before throwing his other hand on Aarav’s face with might. “U, I am sorry I wasn’t able to replace your punching bag the other day. I hope that the treasure hunter will suffice.”
U removed the gloves from his hands and walked ahead towards Aarav.
“Oh and where are my manners”, K continued. “I haven’t introduced you people to my boys. That is N, standing in the corner. He likes to play with knives. You people already know U. I am K. K for knight or king, whichever may suit you. And there is E. And the fat one is S.”
U went ahead and started breaking his fists on Aarav’s ribs.
“Now that we are done with the pleasantries. I have the Book of Medicine with me. If I were to have the Book of Finance and the Book of Alchemy, I would go ahead and find the treasure for you people”, K continued as he took out his mobile phone and dialed a number.
“I don’t have the books with me”, Shayna spoke up.
“Oh I know”, K replied.
“What?” she sounded surprised.
“I said I know. Your chef told me. You should never trust the French. You never know who they are working for”, he continued speaking. “You’re in the house?” he spoke to the chef over the call. “Good. Now, Ms. Shayna, tell me where the safe is.”
Shayna didn’t speak.
“I have been instructed to not hurt you and your people much unfortunately. So there is only so much creative I can get. Now. Tell me. Where is the safe?”
She didn’t reply again.
“Can you hear me? Don’t make me peel out your skin too. I mean, it would hurt me to carve a face like yours.”
“There is an old man lying in the other room”, E spoke up.
“Dead or alive?”
“Alive.”
“Then let us see how long he stays that way. Bring him out”, he instructed them.
“NO. You have what you needed. Just leave us alone”, Mrs. Jayaratne cried.
“I will walk out of that door ma’am if she tells me where the safe is. I promise”, he spoke to her slowly.
E dragged out Mr. Jayaratne on a wheelchair in the meantime.
“Oh! He looks so sick. What happened to him? Do you not feed him?” K continued with his play as the rest of his men laughed. “Is he the husband?” he slowly asked Shayna who refused to speak again. “Oh she will not speak. I will have to make her speak somehow”, he said again as he walked towards Mr. Jayaratne and held his face forcefully.
“Look at the face of your wife”, K continued with his games. “I flayed her skin off you know. Doesn’t she look hideous to you?”
“You’re sick”, Aanya shouted at him.
“I would have beheaded you all right now darling if I hadn’t been instructed to not hurt you people.
Despite everything, my master has told me to keep you all alive till the very end. However,
the master never said anything about the old man and his wife. So I can get creative with them as much as I want.” He turned to Shayna again. “I’m asking you for one last time. Where. Is. The. Safe?”
Shayna didn’t speak up.
K looked down at his feet with fury before asking for the knife from N.
“Please don’t”, Shayna begged him.
“It’s too late”, K said as he dug the knife in the middle of Mr. Jayaratne’s chest forcefully.
“NO!” Mrs. Jayaratne cried, as she tried to rush for her husband and escape the grip of S who was holding her.
K pulled out the knife as Mr. Jayaratne hardly moved his body and grunted in pain while shivering. He looked up at Shayna before turning back and sticking the blade right in the poor man’s left eye. Aanya and Rehann looked away in horror while Mrs. Jayaratne’s wailing got louder and louder.
“He’s still alive”, K laughed along with his men. “The old man had a lot of life left in him after all”, he said before he held Mr. Jayaratne by his hair and pulled his head over his wheelchair to get a clear vision of his throat. He took in a deep breath before placing his knife on his victim’s neck and started moving it up and down as he dug through. Mr. Jayaratne’s veins popped out, trachea got sliced through and K had to only apply more force once he reached the backbone. The blood spurted out in a hundred fountains and sprayed all around the room, even on K himself, but that didn’t deter him from beheading Mr. Jayaratne with just a knife. Mrs. Jayaratne had fallen on the floor, wailing, as K finally pulled out Mr. Jayaratne’s head and held it up for everyone to see. He slowly moved ahead and took it right before Shayna’s face as he asked for the phone again from one of his men and continued. “Are you telling me where the safe is, or should we throw the missus’ head next?”
“It’s in my room. There is a switch under the table lamp which opens a secret compartment in my wardrobe”, she shivered.
“You heard her”, he spoke to the chef over the phone as he tossed the head he was holding, which landed right before Mrs. Jayaratne.
“You found it? Good. Check her wardrobe. Yes. Got the safe? Great. Oh don’t tell me that”, K grunted in frustration. “It will need your biometric verification to open?”
Shayna nodded her head.
K rolled his eyes from under his mask as he thought for a moment what he should do next.
“I will have to take you with me then.” he ordered. “S. E. Take her out to the car. U that is enough. I think that the treasure hunter has learned his lesson, stop beating him. N tie them all up to that table. And did she faint?” he pointed towards Mrs. Jayaratne. “Do people really do that? Anyway, leave her be. I know we are instructed to not kill them, but when have we followed orders precisely? Tie them up and burn this place down. Let the fire kill them all”, he said as he turned around and started leaving. S and E took Shayna out of the house, while U went ahead to help N tie the others to a table’s leg. Mrs. Jayaratne however snapped out of her unconsciousness and her gaze instantly matched the gun fallen right before her.
“That bastard killed three more of my men today”, K spoke as he walked back towards the gate. “I should hire him instead.”
Rehann saw Mrs. Jayaratne reaching for the gun from the corner of his eyes. “No”, he muttered to himself slowly as she held the gun and fired a bullet towards K with her shaking hands, obviously missing him by a lot of distance.
K looked back to his men and nodded as both N and U, fired their guns without hesitation, blowing her head to pieces in an instant.
Aarav woke up around ten minutes later, his head swirling and body aching badly after the heavy beating he took at the hands of U. Fire had almost enveloped the entire building and the roof had started crashing from places as Rehann managed to somehow untie himself and went quickly for Aanya. By then, sirens had started going outside the house, signaling that the police and fire brigade had arrived. Rehann went on to untie Aarav too as Aanya got up and barely managed to look at the disfigured face of Mrs. Jayaratne, lying close to the head of her husband. She almost felt nauseated at seeing the sight and Rehann pulled her away as they all stood up.
“Are you okay? Can you walk?” Rehann asked Aarav, concerned.
Aarav nodded his head before seeing the carnage that laid before him. Suddenly two men kicked the door, making way for the Sri Lankan police to enter the house. They were already shocked upon seeing the dead bodies of the seven guards outside. But then they came in and saw Mrs. Jayaratne’s head blown up and her beheaded husband lying on the wheelchair. They froze. They panicke
d. They pulled out their guns and aimed them at the three men standing near the butchery.
“We are innocent. Help us”, the three of them cried as the rest of the policemen entered the burning building.
“Stay where you are. Do not move”, the policemen said as they kept aiming their guns at them.
“We’ll get toasted alive if we don’t move”, Rehann shouted.
Suddenly the roof over the entrance door broke and the burning pile of wood and bricks came crashing down before the policemen, blocking their way.
“Window. Behind. Quick”, Aarav shouted as the three of them ran for it. The policemen were barely able to see them getting away through the burning flames. They broke a window and leapt out of the smoke filled room, almost stopping for a moment and rolling in the grass outside to grab the clean air.
“The police are behind us. What do we do now?” Aanya asked, scared.
Aarav looked all around. The only way down the cliff was through the narrow road where the Sri Lankan police would definitely greet them. But then he remembered seeing kids jumping off the cliff when he had arrived at Mannar.
“Anyone afraid of heights?” he asked.
“Yes”, their reply came in unison.
“Good. Then close them and don’t look down when we jump from there”, he said pointing towards the end of the cliff.
Rehann gave out a frantic laugh. “No, no, no, no, no. No. I’m not jumping down from there.”
Suddenly a bullet whizzed past his arm as the police came from the other way towards the back of the house.
“Run. Quick. Now”, Aarav yelled as he sprinted towards the edge of the cliff. Rehann and Aanya followed him nervously and they all ran hard. The police continued firing at them from afar, but they rushed, unbothered. Death was behind them and death was staring at them. They almost stopped thinking as they approached closer to the edge. Aarav sprinted harder while the other two reduced their pace as they came on the brink and soon found their feet in the air. Rehann screamed louder than Aanya as they made the jump. Their bodies felt lighter for a moment before they plunged down and hit the seawater with might. They were instantly sucked inside the deep waters and were surprised to find the aquatic life beneath calm and untouched. They swam ahead and came out of the water in a few moments. Everyone carrying a look of surprise and thrill on their faces. Aarav looked ahead at a small white fishing boat he remembered seeing when he sat at the beach earlier. “We have to swim there”, he said as he started stroking the sea water with his hands and moving forward.
Secret of the Himalayan Treasure Page 11
