by M. V. Kasi
Meantime, not to raise any suspicion, Varun slowly went towards the boy. The boy continued cowering and sobbing quietly. What struck Varun odd was the clothing and the general look of the boy. He was delicate to the point of frail. He had a jagged hairstyle as though his hair was growing out recently after having shorn it. Varun could even see blue veins on the boy’s painfully bony hands, making him look almost sickly.
Did the monsters not even spare the sick children?
“Sir, on your request, you mentioned that you preferred a private room to a show.”
Varun opened his mouth to answer. He felt his voice to be literally stuck at the sights and sounds around him. He cleared his throat. “I’m not the type to enjoy exhibition. I need privacy,” he gritted out.
Listening to his words, the boy’s sobs intensified.
“VIP rooms are arranged towards the back of the hall, sir.”
Jerking his head in a nod, and even though everything inside him rebelled, Varun moved closer to the boy. “Come with me,” he requested him softly.
The boy shook his head vigorously.
Moving even closer, “I’m not going to hurt you,” he rasped out.
The boy didn’t respond, making Varun feel helpless. He needed the boy’s cooperation. A lot depended on that. He couldn’t simply drag the boy to a corner to explain. Not only was it wrong to frighten an already terrified child, but Varun couldn’t even touch the child to offer him comfort.
“Sir, do you need help dragging him to the room?” someone asked.
“No! Don’t touch him,” Varun snapped vehemently.
At his tone, a lot of heads turned his way. Some even stared for long. He could feel their suspicion leaking even through the masks.
“Come with me!” he ordered the boy in a firmer tone, hoping the child would be terrified enough to jump at his command. To his surprise, the sobbing stopped and the boy whipped his head up to glare.
“I won’t!” hissed out a feminine voice.
Varun was so shocked, that he couldn’t react for a couple of seconds. Even though the frail thin body and the jagged cut resembled that of a boy’s, Varun was pretty sure it was a girl. That news didn’t matter. He needed the help of that girl, and quickly.
Bracing himself, and with a harsh look on his face, he bent over, and threw her frail body over his shoulder. The girl put up quite a fight, yelling and slapping him and clawing his face around the mask, wherever she could reach. Yet he didn’t stop her. Couldn’t stop her. His body shuddered at the contact. He hated that he was touching another human and that too in the role of an aggressor.
He was led towards the private rooms by the uniformed man. When he reached inside the room, he dumped the girl on the bed, and went back to check the lock on the door. His entire body trembled and broke into sweat. It took a great effort but he moved back towards the bed, his vision blurring.
“D-don’t hurt me,” a voice broke through his blank mind, reminding him of the other presence in the room.
He pulled his mask up, and shook his head hard, trying to get rid of the blurriness. Finally a vision comprising of the small terrified form became clear.
“P-please,” she begged.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he rasped out.
She didn’t believe him. She curled up in a fetal position on the bed, making her painfully thin body look even frailer.
“Please,” he begged. “Listen to me. I need you to help me.”
Her body continued trembling.
He moved a couple of steps away from the bed and crouched down on the floor next to it. “My name is Varun,” he began. “I need your help,” he repeated. “I need your help to save the other children outside. I promise, I’m going to get you all out of here. I’m not one of them. I’m not one of the bad guys. I never harmed any children.”
Listening to those words, the girl’s body lost some of the tension, and her sobs slowly subsided.
“Please listen to me carefully. There’s going to be violence out there in a few minutes when the police arrive. I need you to keep the children within this room and lock all of you from the inside.”
“W-what?” she asked, sitting up and watching him huge eyes.
“Please listen carefully. I’m going to get the children here. I don’t know how many of them are out there. But I want you to remain here with them and not open the door until I ask you to. Alright?”
“O-okay,” she whispered.
Then moving away from the bed, he went out of the room and shut the door.
“Varun, please. Don’t,” Sia’s voice begged. “They might be armed, Varun.”
“I don’t care anymore. I need to get those children away.” He knew he sounded deranged. His rational thoughts had shut down the moment he’d seen the deadened eyes of the drugged children in the arms of monsters.
He marched towards the familiar evil bastard first. Quickly he dragged the child away from his lap. In the next instant, he ripped away the mask, revealing Jagadish Naidu’s identity. He did the same with judge Sundaram.
“What the hell?” boomed the judge’s voice.
“We have been compromised. I think we have an undercover police officer here,” a panicked shout emerged. Before he knew it, there was chaos.
He knocked down the people surrounding him with sheer brute strength. And he quickly began to grab all the children. He picked three of them in his arms and ran towards the back room. A few other children followed.
“Listen to me, all of you. I want you all to hide in this room until I say so,” he told them in an urgent tone, even though he had a feeling that the entire place wasn’t safe enough.
The girl was standing and waiting inside the room. Even though she still looked terrified, she pulled the children in.
Varun could only make two more rounds with more children in his arms. When one of the masked guards tried to stop him, Varun caught his throat and crushed it, until the man collapsed.
During the third run, he was outnumbered.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Sia’s heart pounded as she got out of the car to run towards the hotel, a few blocks away. She didn’t have any time to spare, but she called Ajay. Before he could greet her, she spoke to him first.
“Ajay. I’m outside Hotel Citizen. Varun is already in there, capturing proof of my uncle’s activities. I know you asked us not to go ahead with the plan. But I did. I’m sorry.”
“Sia!” Ajay’s voice shouted frantically. “Don’t you dare do anything stupid!”
“I’m going inside, Ajay.”
“Sia, don’t! Don’t go in there by yourself. I’m on my way.”
Tears began to roll down her eyes. “I love you, Ajay. If anything happens... tell Anika I’ll always love her. “
“Shut up! And stay where the hell you are. I’m warning you. DO NOT MOVE!” he roared out.
She ended the call and continued running towards the entrance of the hotel. There were guards outside. She had asked the hacker to cut off any communication from the inside. Scanning her master RFID card and retina, she was led inside. Once the uniform guard led her to where the event was held, they heard shouts and sounds of struggle from the inside.
The guard froze.
The doors were completely locked to not let anyone out. She initiated her master key and unlocked them. As soon as she entered, she shut the door again.
“How did you come in!” a panicked voice shouted.
“Let us out!” another panicked voice shouted.
Before they could surround her, she pushed them away, trying to find Varun.
“Varun!” she screamed.
There was no answer.
“Get her!” someone shouted.
Just then, in middle of the room, she saw Varun overpowered by half a dozen men who were punching him repeatedly. There were a few other guards too next to him, most of them lay unconscious.
Before she could go near Varun, one of the uniformed guards rushed towards her
direction. Immediately, her body braced itself and automatically took on a combat position. She waited until the guard was close, and stepped aside. As soon as he was thrown off balance, falling to the side, her fist connected with his stomach. The man went down with a whoosh of exhaled air and landed hard on the floor.
There were two more guards circling her. From the corner of her eye, she saw one guard, edging around the outside of the room, hoping to come at her from behind. Another was striding towards her to attack her head on. She tackled the one who was in front of her. She smashed his face with a sweeping high kick, breaking his nose, and causing a good amount of blood to be spurted on her as well as on the man.
Not pausing, she twisted around, landing a blow to the guard behind her on his abdomen, until he doubled over. She kicked him again in the stomach to ensure that he remained on the floor.
Immediately, a few more guards tackled her at the same time, getting a few kicks in. It hurt. She almost doubled down in pain. She ignored the pain and attacked them back with speed and ferocity on her side, soon they all lay groaning on the floor.
There weren’t any other guards left. Any help from outside was also blocked since the door was locked. Six guards were still holding onto Varun who was thrashing against them. They didn’t leave him to tackle her. They knew Varun was a bigger threat than her. Listening to his roars, they knew if they let him go, he would tear them apart with his bare hands.
“Let us outside, you bitch,” a well-dressed masked man shouted at her. He was one of the ‘patrons’. That man was taller than her and built quite strong with bulging muscles in the neck, powered mostly likely through steroids. He looked as though he was trying to lunge at her even though he was still a good six feet away from her.
She knew that behind his mask, he must be a pathetic coward, trying to show off near his perverted cronies. She knew he wouldn’t have the courage to attack her. So she decided to use him as leverage.
She calmly removed her gun from her purse and pointed it at his knees. Then not bothering to warn him, she pulled the trigger.
A high-pitched scream rent the air as blood spurted out from the wound.
“That bitch shot me!” the man squealed like pig. “She shot me! Kill her!” he ordered, sobbing out loudly.
“If anyone moves, the next bullet will be inside his head,” she warned in a chillingly calm tone.
It worked. No one dared to move.
“Remove your masks and stand back,” she ordered. When they hesitated, “Right now!” she snapped.
They all complied. Including her uncle.
Slowly, she headed towards her uncle, standing in front of him. Then sweeping her eyes over him in disdain, she shook her head. “Tsk, tsk. You really surprised me. I thought it would be much more difficult, in fact impossible to catch you in the act. But seems like you are just a dumb, pathetic offender who would do anything to get your vile fix. Child trafficking? Is there no low you can go?” she asked.
Her uncle’s eyes flared wide in anger, but he remained quiet. A fat man standing next to him, hissed out his threat. “You will regret this,” he warned.
She directed her cold look his way. “I already do,” she said with a controlled smile. “It should have been your kneecap I shot.”
“Do you know who I am!” the fat bastard, exclaimed.
“Yes, Judge Sundaram. You are the person responsible for all this. The mastermind behind the ‘thriving business’.”
There was fear in his eyes, but he puffed up his chest. “You can’t do anything to me. To any of us. We are not ordinary men,” he grated out.
“Definitely not men,” she answered him. “A real man wouldn’t have to rape an innocent.”
Meantime, Varun got up on his shaky legs and moved closer to her holding the mask that held the camera. His face was a bloodied mess. When he approached her, she took out her phone from her purse and gave it to him.
“Varun, take the rest of the children to safety. The police and reporters will be here shortly,” she said.
She began to rip out the masks from everyone’s face.
“You are making a big mistake,” the judge cried out. “And all for these nobodies. We can pay you how much ever you want. We can—”
“Shut up,” she said quietly. The pure menace shining from her eyes was enough for him to follow her order.
“They are innocent children. Not nobodies. And definitely not commodities to be sold to the highest bidder.”
The judge clenched his hands.
Sia took the mask from Varun’s hands and raised it towards the ‘esteemed’ guests, clearly recording everything.
“I’m going to ask each one of you to tell me your name and your profession along with information on whether you have a family or not.
“Let’s start with my loving uncle first,” she said as she pointed the mask towards him.
Her uncle was quiet.
“Do you need assistance?” she asked. “Don’t make me shoot you between your legs like I badly want to,” she threatened softly.
Her uncle took a deep breath. “My name is Jagadish Naidu. I am a...”
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Varun searched the place for any remaining children. He had already taken most of them to the back room. But he wanted to ensure that all of them were safe before he could stay with Sia while she tackled the men.
As he approached a darkened corner, where a large cage lay open, he noticed a small naked boy, huddled and shivering inside. The boy was so small that Varun could have easily missed him. Only the small muffled sobs gave an indication to his presence.
Varun approached the cage slowly and crouched in front of it, at a distance. He tried not to appear threatening with his six feet four inches frame and his bleeding face.
“I won’t hurt you. You are safe now. Please come out.” Varun spoke softly and tried to maintain eye contact to instill some amount of trust into the obviously frightened child.
The boy got up slowly and when he saw Varun, he began to rush towards him.
Varun braced himself as the little boy’s body collided with his chest, almost knocking him back. The little boy clutched him tightly, shivering against him.
Varun’s body shuddered at the contact, and he tried hard to resist his natural instinct of wanting to throw the child away from him. Instead, he placed a comforting arm around the boy.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said, fully knowing that the days of the little boy’s hell had just begun. He wished wholeheartedly that he could take away the pain and nightmares that would follow the little boy for years.
“I want my mummy.” The boy’s voice vibrated against Varun’s chest.
That simple request reminded Varun, yet again, of how young and innocent the little boy was.
“You are going to be home soon. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get back to your mother.”
The boy clung to Varun as he carried him towards the back room.
Knocking the door, “Open,” he ordered firmly.
“Who is it?” a feminine voice asked.
“It’s me again,” he said, feeling stupid. He didn’t want to give his real name. It didn’t matter if the girl knew, but he didn’t want anyone to know his identity. Unlike Sia, he wasn’t willing to testify against his uncle regarding his abuse.
He felt it would only make him feel abused all over again.
The door was opened by the girl. She looked frightened, but she immediately stepped aside to let him in.
Varun gently let down the boy in his arms on the floor. “Stay here. You see this girl here?” he said. “She’s my friend. She will take care of you all until I’m back.”
The boy didn’t say anything. But he didn’t cling to Varun either.
Varun looked towards the girl and held out the phone. “Call your parents or someone to let them know where you are,” he said softly.
She shook her head. “I-I can’t,” she said, trembling visibly.
“You don’t have anyone?”
She didn’t reply.
He looked at the distraught girl’s face. “How old are you?” he asked.
“Nineteen,” she replied.
Varun was stunned. The girl barely looked twelve with her small pale face and a tiny frame.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
The girl didn’t reply. Her face indicated that she didn’t want to give out any information either.
Varun was frustrated and worried. He wanted to help the children remain safe and also contact their parents or guardians. But he couldn’t stay to make those calls. Sia was alone out there, with a room full of animals that wanted her blood.
“Listen to me,” he said sternly to the girl in front of him, and watched her body stiffen. “You are an adult. I need you to behave like one. Take this phone and call up whoever can help get you home from here. And also call on behalf of the children here. I need to go out to help my friend.”
The girl stayed silent.
“Do you understand?” he snapped, when the girl continued to remain stubbornly mute. “This is not just about you. The children here are frightened and need to be safe.”
Her face fell, and she looked ashamed. “I’ll call,” she said softly, taking the phone from his hands.
“Lock up again and don’t open unless it’s the police this time,” he said.
Swiftly, he headed back to Sia.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
“Jay, slow down or you’ll crash us,” warned Harsha’s voice next to him. Ajay ignored his friend’s warning his mind consumed with worry and fear.
Thirty minutes ago, when he received a call from Sia, he realized that she decided to go headfirst into danger. He didn’t wait a second after that. He began barking out instructions to Harsha, Hari and everyone else working on his team to call the police and also the media to the Citizen Hotel earlier than planned.
“Jay!” Harsha cried out as their car narrowly missed, yet another truck.
