The writer – Farjana Jannat (Tanju)
Those people knocked me and Megh unconscious and carried us into the car…
Three hours later, when I heard my own name from someone's mouth, I opened my eyes with a thudding heart and looked around. I found myself in a dark room. Again that voice…
"Brishti… Brishti… wake up… Barbie Doll, wake up…"
I searched for the sound and turned my head… there I saw Megh. He was tied to a chair with ropes. He was staring at me with teary eyes, but his smile betrayed something else—like the kind of peace that settles on a face only after great fear has passed.
Then I looked at myself. My hands and legs were tied up in vines, leaves, and twigs.
I couldn't understand what was happening. I just stared at Megh, completely stunned.
Seeing me look at him like that, Megh said,
—"Looks like you're finally reaping the fruits of your own jumping‑around. Now both of us are paying the price."
I looked at him with a questioning gaze.
Noticing my expression, Megh sighed deeply and said,
—"That day when I got into that mess with those boys, their boss has brought us here and trapped us."
My fear started to grow. Everything had happened because of me. Because of me, Megh was also stuck like this. Looking at him with guilty eyes made my guilt swell even more.
Megh's entire body was covered in blood. A big part of his forehead was cut open. His right hand was bleeding heavily, and blood was already clotting at the corners of his lips. It was clear they had beaten him badly.
His hair was all messy.
Seeing him in this condition, tears welled up in the corners of my eyes. My heart sank with pain. Because of me, Megh was in this state. Why hadn't I listened to him that day? I felt like I wanted to smash my own head against the wall.
I sat there with a dull, lifeless face, unable to look Megh in the eye. How could I even look at him? I was truly the one responsible.
Megh, watching me like this, snapped,
—"Why are you moping now? Back then you should have thought. Instead of acting smart, you just kept running around chasing thrills."
I was on the verge of crying, trying my best to hold it in…
But when I heard Megh's words, I couldn't hold back anymore. I broke down and sobbed loudly.
Megh looked at me, completely baffled. He hadn't expected me to cry like this.
He tried to calm me by saying all kinds of things, but instead of stopping my tears, his words only made me cry harder.
Finally he snapped, almost shouted,
—"You listen! Shut up. I used to think you were brave, but now I see you're just a cry‑baby."
I stopped crying and looked at him.
—"You're calling me a cry‑baby? How exactly am I a cry‑baby, huh?"
—"If you have any doubt, tell me—besides standing here and crying, what are you planning to do to get us out of here? Instead of sobbing, you should be thinking. Idiot."
—"Now you're also calling me stupid? I'm stupid?"
We started arguing there, both of us.
Then we heard the sound of the door opening and both turned toward it.
The same boy from that day was standing there, his face twisted in a mocking, devilish grin. He spat out a vulgar curse and said,
—"That day you were full of spirit, what's happened now? All your courage has blown away. And what about you, my little filly, you showed such spirit yesterday."
I glared at him with burning eyes.
Megh roared,
—"Mind your language, you bastard! You don't say one disrespectful word about her."
—"Oh, protecting her, huh? Who is she to you, then—a bad partner?"
Hearing his words, disgust coiled tightly in my stomach.
Megh growled,
—"If I hear even one filthy word about her from your mouth again, I'll tear your tongue out myself."
—"Okay, okay, I won't say anything. But I'll come back in the evening and show you everything. Will you drink the honey all by yourself, or shall we share? I'm leaving, my little filly. We'll meet in the evening."
I turned to the other side. Megh's face was flushed with anger, his eyes almost red. His blue irises seemed to glow crimson. He looked like a savage lion of the jungle.
If those people had known Megh's real identity, they might have chosen suicide instead.
Megh muttered to himself,
—"Just wait till I get out of here. I'll make you suffer so much that even your very soul will tremble. I'm already reaching for my weapon. You will be punished, all of you."
Meanwhile....
Everyone had been searching for me and Megh all day but couldn't find us. The anxiety was driving them almost mad.
Mihir and Chhoya were extremely tense. Chhoya had been crying since then, and in her mind one single thought kept circling: she just kept whispering "Allah, Allah," praying that her fear wouldn't come true.
Mihir kept thinking something had gone wrong with Megh—maybe an attack had been launched on him. "Is Megh fine? What condition is he in?" If Brishti hadn't been with him, he probably wouldn't have been this worried about Megh.
Both of us had gone missing together, so no one took long to realize that whatever had happened, we had faced it together. Chhoya felt a little relief thinking that Megh was with me; at least they couldn't easily harm me.
They hadn't called home to tell them, so everyone could stay calm. A police report had already been filed. Mihir had also sent out all his men to search for Megh.
Time passed. Slowly, afternoon slipped by and evening began to fall. The fear inside me kept growing. Megh, on the other hand, remained completely calm. Every time I had seen him this calm, I knew he had already done something… or at least had a plan in his head.
I could say with 100% certainty that escape was already circling in his mind. Maybe he had even prepared a plan.
Suddenly, the door opened. Both of us jumped and stared in that direction.
The same boy had come in. Fear made my hands and feet go cold. Megh, still calm, stared at him.
The boy took one slow step after another toward me. I could shout as much as I wanted, but it was useless—my hands and legs were tied up.
As he advanced, I crept backward, inching away.
When he was about to reach for me, someone grabbed his hand from behind. I turned and saw Megh, transformed into a blazing fury.
In his hand was a big shard of glass; blood was dripping from his fingers. Now I understood why he had been so calm.
He twisted the boy's arm behind his back with a sharp, cracking sound. The boy's arm broke.
Then, in the same move, Megh drove the glass shard straight into the boy's stomach.
I watched the scene with wide, unblinking eyes.
The boy collapsed instantly. I didn't care in the least.
I felt a dark, almost wicked kind of pleasure inside.
Inside, I thought,
—"Fine, one dirty creature has been removed from the world. At least now girls are safe from this filth."
Megh's voice broke my thoughts. By then, he had already untied the ropes from my hands and feet.
We both started running. Behind us, the rest of the boy's gang was closing in.
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My "Mom" was crying uncontrollably. My "Aunty" was also sobbing.
Through her tears, Aunty kept saying,
—"Who took them? How are the boy and girl doing?"
—"Bring back my daughter… bring back my Brishti…"
"Uncle" and my father were sitting silently, also worried. They couldn't express it openly. Uncle wasn't especially concerned about Megh, but he was thinking, "Is this some rival gang of Megh's doing this? Or…?"
My "sister" had been crying nonstop since then. My "brother in law" couldn't calm her down no matter what.
She kept burying her face in brother in law's chest, sobbing and saying,
—"Bring back my doll…"
brother in law gently stroked her head and said,
—"Be calm. Megh is there with her. Megh won't even let a single scratch touch Brishti."
Mihir had already called everyone and told them everything. He hadn't kept it back from anyone. We had been missing since that morning, and now it was already night.
Uncle had wanted to come here as well, but Mihir had refused. He insisted on handling everything himself and promised to bring us back himself. That's why Uncle was somewhat calmer now.
He knew his two nephews well. He knew how terrifying they could be—how they could laugh while killing someone.
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9:00 p.m.
Mihir and Chhoya had searched the entire area. Chhoya hadn't cooperated, either—she refused to return without me. Mihir had sent everyone else he had, but he couldn't send Chhoya because of her stubbornness.
Megh's men were searching the whole forest. Even in the darkness of night, the area was lit up with torchlights.
I was sitting inside a small hollow of a big tree, with Megh in my arms.
He was leaning against my chest; blood kept dripping from his hands and legs.
A little while earlier…
Megh had been holding my hand as we both ran.
Suddenly, I tripped over a thick tree root and fell.
—"Ah…"
—"What happened, Barbie Doll? How did you fall?"
—"It hurts so much… I can't walk. Please go, Sir…"
—"One slap from me, and I'll knock all your teeth out."
Megh grabbed my leg and twisted it sharply. I screamed, and before the sound could fully escape, he pressed his hand over my mouth.
After a moment, he removed his hand. I was about to snap at him, but before I could, he asked,
—"Does it hurt now?
I tried to move my leg and realized the pain had actually gone. I turned to him with a silly, half‑embarrassed smile.
Suddenly, Megh placed his hand on my head. After a moment, I felt something wet on my cheek. I touched it and saw blood.
I quickly looked up and saw that one of the boys' gang had tried to stab me with a knife, and Megh had blocked it with his own arm.
Megh snatched the knife from the boy's hand, punched him hard, and slammed the knife into the boy's stomach.
Then we heard gunfire again and ran once more, while they shouted behind us,
—"Hey, stop!"
—"If you don't stop, I'll shoot you right now!"
Ignoring their shouts, we kept running.
Suddenly, a bullet struck Megh's leg.
—"Ah!"
—"Megh Sir, Sir, are you okay? Sir!"
Megh tried to get up, but he couldn't. Blood gushed from his leg, and his eyes were starting to blur. The men were closing in.
—"Well, well, Romeo and Juliet, where are you going to run now?"
—"Kill this boy, and take this girl with us."
They started moving toward us. I placed Megh against the tree trunk and stepped in front of them, blocking their way.
As one of them reached for my hand—
I punched him hard in the face.
In a moment, I was fighting with all of them. There were five of them. I managed to beat and knock them all down.
Megh was staring at me with a strange look, as if everything he thought he knew about me had just turned upside down.
I left the boys there and somehow dragged Megh into the hollow of a big tree to hide, because more men were coming.
Present
Megh was lying against my chest, and I was holding him close. I had torn my scarf and bandaged his wounds as best as I could so the bleeding would slow.
I realized we wouldn't be able to leave this place tonight. My own body was covered in cuts and bruises from everywhere.
Megh had finally fallen asleep.
Silence filled the surroundings. Only the faint chirping of crickets broke the stillness.
Amid all that, I could hear only one sound clearly—Megh's heartbeat. Tonight, it felt like the sweetest sound in the world.
I looked at his face; he was curled up, sleeping like a little child.
I murmured inside,
—"Anyone would say this man looks so serious, but right now he looks like a cute little teddy bear. I feel like eating him up this moment…"
—"Ugh… what am I thinking? No, no, this isn't right at all…"
The more I tried to resist these thoughts, the more rebellious my mind became. The more I told it not to go somewhere, the faster it ran toward that same place.
I had no control over it. I kept staring at Megh, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat.
Listening to it, I must have fallen asleep without even realizing it.
—"Boss, it looks like the Queen and the King have joined hands."
—"What do you mean?"
—"Boss, wherever the King is, the Queen is there too. And wherever the Queen is, the King follows. This isn't a coincidence."
—"You're right. They've become one."
—"Then what's our move now, Boss?"
—"Not much. We just have to be more careful and leave this place tonight itself."
—"Sir, I meant, if at night…"
—"Enough, I understand. Don't worry, we'll get what's ours."
The man laughed.
It will continue....