Disclaimer:: Strong language , abuse.

Warning ⚠️: Purely a work of fiction.

***

Shetukala struggled to get free from the vice-like grip of the masked men, and then one of them hit on her head with the grip panel of the gun and she lost consciousness.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a dimly lit room. As her squinted eyes accomodated the faint light, she registered the familiarity of the room and her eyes almost popped out of her sockets. Her breaths quickened and so did her heartbeat as she realised where she was. Her room. The same room where all that happened. She tried to move but found herself tied to a chair with a gag in her mouth.

She squirmed and moved with great force to break free , making the chair fall backwards on the ground along with her. She groaned as she realized the pain in her head once again where she was already hit a few hours before. It was still dark outside as she could see from the window glass.

She looked around at the room. The walls were blackish with soot. Everywhere partially burned rags and papers were scattered. One more thing caught her attention and she closed her eyes again to avoid the painful anticipation.

Teardrops fell from her eyes and disappeared in her hairline and muffled sobs came out of her throat. She lay tied to the chair, her legs dangling from the edge of the chair in the air , reciting 'Aigiri Nandini' in her mind.

Victory and victory to you,
Oh darling daughter of the mountain,
Who makes the whole earth happy,
Who rejoices with this universe,
Who is the daughter of Nanda,
Who resides on the peak of Vindhyas,
Who plays with Lord Vishnu,
Who has a glittering mien,
Who is praised by other goddesses,
Who is the consort of the lord with the blue neck,
Who has several families,
Who does good to her family.
Who has captivating braided hair,
Who is the daughter of a mountain.
And who is the slayer of Mahishasura……

Victory and victory to you,
Oh darling daughter of the mountain,
Oh goddess who showers boons on devas,
Who punishes those who are undisciplined.
Who tolerates ugly faced ogres,
Who enjoys in being happy,
Who looks after the three worlds,
Who pleases lord Shiva,
Who removes effect of sins,
Who rejoices with the holy sound,
Who is angry on the progenies of Dhanu,
Who is angry with the children of Dithi,
Who discourages those with pride,
Who is the daughter of the Ocean,
Who has captivating braided hair,
Who is the daughter of a mountain.
And who is the slayer of Mahishasura.

About an hour later, suddenly the door of the room opened, and a shadow towered over her. She opened her eyes at the sound and let out muffled screams and thrashed her head when she saw the devil of her nightmares.

The man pulled and straightened the chair and moved around her. "Hey, hey, relax. Baby girl. We met again. " The man cooed in her ear as he stroked his finger on her cheek to which she flinched.

"No, no, don't move away from me. Remember what happened last time when you pushed me away." He said as he grabbed a handful of her hair in a tight grip making her wince tilting her head backwards. Her eyes glistened with pain and fear as she looked into his grey eyes.

She shook her head in negation with her pleading eyes and droplets of helplessness rolled down her cheeks.

"Yes, that's how I like you." He came in front of her and pulled her head more backward clenching her hair tightly and traced his nose on her neck making her squirm violently. She thrashed her legs vehemently and kicked him in his shin with full force. Her toes burned with impact but it was worth it when she heard his hiss in pain.

"You bitch!" He slapped her right cheek with the back of his hand, as his ring struck her cheek making it bleed, and she fell down sideways along with the chair with the impact of his blow. " You would never learn, right? It's been almost two years but you won't mend your ways." He yelled with gritted teeth.

She groaned in pain as the armrest dug into her waist. She tilted her head and glared at him with her blazing eyes, and her tied hands fisted in anger.

"Oooh Dugga! Your eyes scare me. No no! Don't look at me with so much anger. I might burn." He brought his fists to his heart and cowered in mock fear. Then he laughed out loud with malevolence.

Her eyes landed on the second man as he came in, a devilish smile on his face as he rubbed his jaw and lust danced in his eyes. 

"Whatever you say , bro, her glow didn't dampen down a bit ,nor did her spirit. Or rather increased since the last time I saw her."
He said as he approached her and scooted down, rubbing his palm on her arm, to which she wiggled.

" Why so? Hmm.....let me think. What was his name? I forgot. Name name name name....." The man with grey eyes spoke.

" Barrister Anirudhh Roy Chowdhury." The third person came in the room and looked at her from the foot end. He removed his shoe and traced her leg under her saree with his toes till her knee , making her flex them to her body and her toes curled in fear.

" Ah! Yes. Barrister. Aniruddh. Roy . Chowdhury. I heard nowadays you are living in that Barrister's house. Hmm? What do they say? Once a whore, always a whore." He laughed evilly.  "Nothing  surprising. Now, a slut would do something to live a luxurious life right. Your father's all money and wealth is anyways poof. " He made a bursting sign with his hand and let out a laugh.
" So, tell me , whose bed are you warming? The barrister's or the doctor's? Or wait? Both? " The three of them laughed together in a chorus at her expense.

Shetukala closed her eyes as tears of sadness trailed down her bridge of nose and then fell to the ground , as she laid on the ground in despair. She felt like her ears would start bleeding after listening to all the heinous things about Barrister babu and .....him.

Oh Dugga! How she missed him! How she  longed to be in the safety of his arms. She dug her nails in her palms drawing out blood from the scarlet crescents in her skin, as if to wake herself up from this nightmare. But alas! It was no nightmare, but the horrendous reality of her life.

He pushed the man sitting beside her and stroked her hair, "Acha , tell me what do you want? I'll give you. You want me to remove your gag? Okay done. We can put your beautiful lips to good use , right?" He stroked her lips with his finger around the gag and  wiggled his eyes suggestively with dirty humour in his voice and she clenched her eyes as she felt nausea building up.

"Darling! Acha, do you remember what we did last time? How much we had enjoyed our little time together? Hah! The good old days." He looked upwards with mock dreamy eyes. " I didn't know you were alive or I wouldn't have kept you deprived of my love, my dear." He gripped her hair in his palm and squeezed it painfully, make him close her eyes in pain.

" Oh wait! You don't remember right. Oh ! God! How could I forget? Yes, our lawyer said that you have what they call , yes amnesia. You —"

" If she doesn't remember, we can surely refresh her memory, can't we?" She heard a voice , and her body turned rigid and cold as a block of ice as she lifted her head . The three men gave way to him and her eyes met his. He came near her and scooted, "I guess you forgot me, sweet girl. Don't worry. This time, I will etch my face in your memory and my touch in your soul so deeply that you won't forget it for the next seven lifetimes." He traced his rough hand on her exposed waist making her shudder, ascending it to her breasts. Her eyes were shedding floods now, her throat felt dry with all incomprehensible muffled screams and she wriggled from his touch.  She tried to drag herself away, from his hold. His eyes blazed in anger and he grabbed her neck with his palm and pressed , constricting the air flow  and aligned his face with hers, lowering on her such that their eyes were at the same level.

A hard blow of deja-vu hit her. She could feel her heart pounding on her chest well, and her breaths became laboured, and her eyes rolled back into her sockets, before darkness engulfed her being.

***

Batakrishna took Subhalaxmi to the hospital , while Debashish left to fetch some things from his place, and they decided to meet at their old spot.

" Dada! Pick up the call, please, please. Where has he gone? He should have come home by now." Said Batakrishna as he dialed the number of his house for the fourth time.
"Subha, we are already running behind. It's been two hours since they took her. I can't wait anymore. You'll be okay right. I have informed a colleague of mine. He will take care of you and then send you home when you are good to go." She nodded.

Batakrishna took his car and met Debashish at the pre-decided place , before they left for Chandan Nagar.

"Have you informed the police?" Debashish asked as he sat on the passenger seat.

"I asked the inspector, but he was out of town. He said he would check and inform at the Roy Chowdhury house. I didn't have much time in hand. " Said Batakrishna as he gripped the steering wheel tightly making his knuckles turn white. 

" Ohkay! "

The rest of the ride, there was an uncanny silence in the car. Images of Shetukala flashed in front of Batakrishna's eyes as he drove on the empty road, guided by Debashish.

It's all my fault . I should have not left her when the case was so near. Why didn't Dada tell me that he was getting warnings? I needed to know. She had put her trust in me that I would protect her. I just hope she is safe. If they even touched a single hair on her head, I would rip off their limbs.

His teeth clenched in anger at the thought of them hurting her. He was angry at those men, at himself for not being with her , at Aniruddh for not warning him, at Manimala , at Subhalaxmi, at guards, everyone who could have saved her. Anyone who could have saved him from this agony.

He should have been there . He should have stopped this. He pressed the accelerator and changed the gear as the car took in speed. The cold wind was pricking his skin like needles but he cared less. His heart was beating so loudly , it masked the swooshing of air, and he gripped the steering wheel to control his hands from trembling.

"Batuk, slow the speed and take left from at the next turn."

For what has he left the house, he should have at least told Anirudhh. His dada was right. He always took things in hand and then sabotaged everything. He would be so disappointed in him when he would know.

He didn't know if the idea of her being at her house was hopeful as he would find her there or scary as anything could happen. He wished her to be there and did not at the same time. How scared she would be? How will she handle herself? What if she got a panic attack again?

"Batuk, I said slow down and take a left. Are you listening to me?"

The feeling of helplessness was like a string around his neck constricting the windpipe with every passing moment. He had promised her that nobody would never hurt her again —- what if they would have already hurt her? He exhaled a few shallow breaths as he pushed back the feeling of history repeating itself, as the note said.

"Batuk, stop the car. What is happening to you? Batuk?  You missed the left. Batuk!"

Debashish's eyes widened and he held the steering wheel as the car was heading towards an abyss.

"Batuk! Stop ! Batukkkkkkkk!" Debashish turned the wheel to the left with force, as Batakrishna had held it tightly, making it hit a tree with a loud noise of horn blaring. The smoke filled the air and Batakrishna came out of his trance as he coughed out. His head had hit the steering wheel as a trail of blood dripped from his forehead and he groaned in pain.

"Batuk! Are you mad?" Debashish yelled as he got out of the car and opened the driver side door and pulled Batakrishna out at a distance from the car.  "What the hell were you doing, Batuk?"

Batakrishna came out of his momentary unconsciousness and knelt down on the road beside as he saw what blunder he had done, yet done.

"Are you out of your mind? See what you have done, Batuk?"

He held his head in his palms and started crying, his shoulders shook with his sobs.
Debashish's anger evaporated as he saw Batakrishna crying on the road, defeated and broken.

"Batuk!" He said softly as he knelt beside him and kept his hand on his shoulder.

"Debu, I'm so so useless, worthless. I… I couldn't … .keep her safe… .. I… .. don't know what to … do…. Look what I did?" He said as his breath staggered with anxiety and restlessness. Debashish's eyes burned in pain. He felt an unsettling feeling in his heart as he saw him crying for her. He pulled him in a hug and let him cry.

" Batuk! Look at me." He pulled him back.  "This is not the Batakrishna I knew. This is not that person whom we had appointed for our fight for freedom. This is someone else. Bring that Batakrishna back, who knew how to keep himself calm in the most difficult of situations."

" Debu, if something happened to her.. I … .won't be able to.. to… live... I don't know what I would do… ." He sobbed and hiccuped.

" Nothing would happen to her, Batuk. Nothing… .. would…" He gulped ,"...happen to her." Debashish said as he consoled himself too with the same words.  "Keep yourself strong for her sake, okay. The sooner we reach her, the better are her chances of being safe."

Batuk nodded and stood up. He went towards the car and checked it. His hands burned as he touched the hot hood. His shoulders slumped as he realised it was futile to waste time on  the broken car.

He kicked the tyre in frustration and let out a string of curse words as his foolishness and bad luck.

"Dammit!" Debashish punched his fist with his palm and let out a curse.

"Now, what do we do?"

As if on cue, they heard hoofsteps from a distance, and a carriage was seen at a distance. Debashish ran to the carriage as Batakrishna took essentials from the car.

When he reached the carriage panting, he saw Debashish pulling the coachman out of the carriage with his collar and he could hear him cursing.
" Look you oldie! Either you straight away take us to where we are heading, or we know how to get our work done."

" Aye, I'm not scared of your empty warnings, I told you , I ain't going there." The old coachman said as he tried feebly tk get free of his hold.

" Acha, let's see if after this... " He put his hand on his belt to fetch out his gun.

" Debu, wait. Let me talk. Dada! Listen, we are in a hurry. Someone's life is in danger. You just name the price and we would…" Said Batakrishna, but the next moment he saw, the man had ducked and fallen to his feet. He stepped back instantly and made him stand on his feet.

"Saahib! You! I … I don't believe it. I have wanted to thank you for a long time." He said as he joined his hand and his eyes brimmed in gratitude.

Batakrishna and Debashish looked at each other puzzled.

"You didn't recognise me. I ... Prabodh."

"Sorry Dada , I think you have taken me for someone else. We are in great hurry. Kindly help us. We will give you plenty of money." He said as he joined his hands.

Prabodh held his joined hands , " I can never mistake you, Saahib. Remember you came to the Dugga temple last month searching for your fiance, who got annoyed at you because you didn't buy her gold nose ring."

Debashish frowned at his words as, as per his knowledge he didn't remember Batakrishna getting engaged.

Realisation dawned upon Batakrishna and his eyes brimmed at the memory. It feels like a long time ago now.  That day also this man had come like a Godsend when she was lost and now again. Suddenly Batakrishna could feel himself believing in the superstitions of good and bad omens.

"Dada! I … .. I lost her again. Please please , help me. We need to go to Chandan Nagar as soon as possible. Her life is in danger."

Debashish froze as he learned that Batakrishna was talking about Shetukala.

"Yes, yes  Sahib. It's all yours." Prabodh opened the carriage gate and let in both of them.

" Thank you , Dada. Thank You so much." Batakrishna said as they both settled in the carriage.

Prabodh apologised to Debashish , who nodded back grimly , and took his seat on the box and whipped the bulls making clicking sounds with his tongue.
"Hurr! Hurr! Move move !"

"There is nothing to thank me  Saahib. In fact I should say thanks to you, the money which you had given helped me a lot. I got my daughter married and, my son and another daughter are studying in a good school. We got our house repaired and I bought these two new bulls too. It's all your kindness, Saahib."

Batakrishna had a small smile as his heart relaxed a bit as they headed towards the Chandan Nagar. He looked at Debashish who was looking outside the carriage , his elbow resting on his knee and his fist was touching the side of his forehead shielding his eyes.

After about an hour, they stopped in front of a small cottage.

"What happened , Dada? Why did you stop?"

"Sahib, if we go by carriage, by the time we reach Chandan Nagar , it will be morning. Here, a rich merchant lives, who gives a taxi on rent in Calcutta. You can ask him if he has any here. You will reach there soon."

Batakrishna and Debashish came out of the carriage and rushed towards the cottage , but Batakrishna came back and hugged Prabodh. " Dada, thank you so much.
Please pray that she is safe and sound , and I reach her."

" I would, Saahib. I would."
He nodded.

Batakrishna ran towards the cottage when he heard Prabodh calling him.

"Saahib! Are you both married now?"

"Soon dada , soon." He said as he jogged to the cottage with a new found enthusiasm and hope. It felt like a sign from Dugga maa.

After giving a handsome amount and some life threats here and there to the merchant , Batakrishna and Debashish drove off towards their destination. This time Debashish took the charge of driving and Batakrishna complied easily.

It was almost dawn when they reached Chandan Nagar. As they neared the house, Debashish's eyes watered as the last memory of the house slapped him in the face, and his heart churned in extreme agony.

Do tell me how the chapter was.

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