The dilapidated factory building stood eerily infront.

"Give me your phone," the stranger said extending his hand. I was too scared to move. This was it. This was where I would be probably left half dead, after he had his way with me. I should have never believed that email.

All the Whatsapp Forwards that caution you about such emails came swimming back to my mind. My parents had always warned me never to get in a car with a stranger.

I thought of making a run for it. However, I didn't know where I was, moreover this serial rapist had a car, not to mention that I was never a good runner in the first place. The only thing I could do, was plead for mercy.

"Wh-why do you need my phone?" I stammered.

"Agency policy." He shrugged. "Listen kid, I don't have all day, so hurry up."

I shakily handed him over my phone. He grabbed it and switched it off, then removed my SIM card from the back, before pocketing both my phone and SIM card.

The stranger climbed out of the car and waved me to follow him. I knew I was doomed. I had just handed over my last weapon to him. Now even the cops won't be able to trace me. I slowly opened the door and stepped out of the car.

He stretched his back and looked at me, casually.

"Welcome to the factory."That was all he muttered before walking towards the back of the building. 

I stood rooted next to the car. Realizing that I had obviously not followed him, he turned around and looked a little perplexed.

"Is there a problem?" He asked from a distance. I once again calculated my chances if I ran. He must have noticed my expression of panic because the next second, he burst out with laughter.

"Don't worry Ms. Banerjee, I am not going to rape you," he guffawed. A slight relief swept over me. I smiled sheepishly before hesitantly following him.

This building was in shackles. The Stage II had taken place in a sports arena with atleast seventy participants. The arena too was a little far from the city, but not isolated like this factory.

We entered the rundown factory building and climbed up a flight of crumbling stairs. He stopped infront of what looked like an elevator. I wondered how he planned to use it, because the building obviously had no electricity.

The collapsible iron door of the elevator squeaked when he closed it behind us. The stranger pressed the elevator buttons in quick succession, as if entering a combination, and immediately we were pulled down. It was so sudden, that my gut lurched.

After what felt like five minutes, the elevator halted to a stop, and the stranger slid the iron door open while a set of metal doors beyond it, automatically parted. I stepped out of the elevator on a brightly lit corridor, completely baffled.

We walked down the corridor and passed through another set of swinging metal doors, and my jaw dropped at the sight that awaited.

There were men and women wearing formals, seated in cubicles in a large hall, their eyes glued to the screens on their tables. A woman with a long bob sat at a reception right next to the metal doors.

The dilapidated factory was merely the front below which the state headquarters of R&AW was situated! The stranger wasn't a serial rapist after all! He was a field agent of R&AW!

"You took quite a lot of time Anwar," The woman at the reception called out at my companion.

"The package Sujata, was not really cooperative you see." Anwar smirked jerking his head towards me.

"You better hurry up, the Stage III tests will start in a minute." Sujata, the receptionist told me, pointing towards a door at the end of the hall with the cubicles.

I was so occupied with my apprehensions of the stranger, that I had completely forgotten why on the first place I had left the comforts of my bed today morning, and taken a cab to the cafe.

"All the best kid," Anwar chortled before leaving me and walking towards one of the glass cabins that were situated along the two walls of the cubicled hall. The glass-walls of those cabins were reflectors, preventing anyone from seeing what happened inside.

I followed the receptionist's instructions and rushed to the room where the Stage III tests were to take place.

It was an indoor firing range. Seven other people stood there looking at the targets that hung at the end of the room. Five of them seemed of my age. The other two were a man and a woman in their early fifties and thirties respectively.

"Aren't we honored by your presence Ms. Banerjee!" The woman sneered. She wore a brown tshirt which hung snugly against her toned body. Her lower limbs were covered by a pair of jeggings and blue converse shoes. The man however was dressed in crisp formals. His salt and pepper hair styled in the same buzz cut as Anwar.

"So, now that you are all here, I would first like to congratulate you for successfully passing Stage II." The man said looking at me and the other five youngsters, who I realized, were my co-competitors. "I am Yogesh Chakraborty, the State Chief of R&AW. Unlike the first two stages, this stage shall give us an insight to your true self, the real you, and tell us whether you are eligible to provide your services as an espionage agent of this country."

"Today you shall first give us a demo of your target shooting skills, then you shall play a game of chess and wrestling simultaneously." Yogesh Chakraborty continued after taking a breath, "Later on you will be interviewed by a panel of senior executives. After that we will conduct a medical examination to find out if you have any underlying medical condition, which may rule you out from pursuing the course at the College of Espionage."

Impossible! My logical brain exclaimed.

Chess and Wrestling? Seriously? I mean I am good at chess, but coupling that with wrestling!

Who does that? These blokes must be sadistic to their core!

I and the other competitors took our positions behind six of the booths of the firing range. A yellow sheet of paper hung nearly twenty feet away from me. It had a red round target resembling a dart board printed on it.

"You have to hit the bull's eye." Yogesh Chakraborty instructed.

I imitated my co competitors, putting on the ear muffs and whisky coloured goggles. There was an assault rifle, a sniper and an automatic handgun.

"You have sixty seconds to shoot the targets. Use the weapon of your choice." The snooty woman with Yogesh Chakraborty barked.

"Targets?" I was a little surprised since there was only one sheet hanging infront of me. I shrugged and picked up the automatic handgun  which seemed lighter than the rest. The boy to my right was already aiming with a sniper.

An instant adrenaline rush, coursed through every nerve of my body, when my palms wrapped themselves around the cold metal of the Automatic. An alien feeling, I had never experienced before.

I have had my share of shooting, bursting balloons with air guns in the Fair Stalls. However, I had never for once felt this voltaic energy, tingling the skin of my palm, which seemed to flow from the automatic hand gun. It then, that I for the first time realized I was attracted to lethal weapons. I prayed that I manage to pass Stage III, so that I could once again wield a gun in future.

I looked at the target and raised my arm that held the automatic. I had read how to unlock a gun in google, so I pulled the safety latch at the top with one hand and it snapped back. I aimed at the target, holding the automatic with both hands and pulled the trigger. My shoulder jerked from the recoil, and the bullet from the handgun tore through the middle of the target.

Overjoyed, I looked at the Yogesh Chakraborty, foolishly expecting some sort of appreciation. He looked impassive like before. A little disappointed, I turned my gaze back to the target, noticing with surprise a fresh sheet with another target covering the one my bullet had just pierced. Taking cue from my fellow competitors I aimed and shot at the fresh target, once again hitting the bull's eye.

I mentally patted myself for watching the YouTube videos on how to change the magazines. The pre-loaded magazine had ran out of bullets when I was taking my fifteenth aim. I had to reload twice, during my stint of sixty seconds.

After shooting nearly forty targets and missing the bull's eye few times, we were told to move to the next room. The second room was comparatively smaller and brighter. A square blue wrestling mat sat at the centre. The chess board was placed on a small table beside the mat, with two wooden stools on its either side.

"Each bout shall be of sixty seconds. After sixty seconds when you hear the whistle, you will get up from the mat and move to the chess board. You will have sixty seconds to move a chess piece of yours. If you don't move atleast one chest piece during that sixty second you shall be disqualified." The snooty woman with Chakraborty informed us "Once you and your opponent have both moved their pieces, you shall again get on the mat and resume your wrestling. This shall continue unless either you or your opponent win the chess game."

I wondered which one of the five competitors was going to be my opponent. Two of them were girls and the other three were boys. None of them sported bulging love handles and prominent paunch like me though.

"Remember if you tap out during a wrestling bout, you shall have two points deducted from your chess points." Chakraborty warned.

"Bring it on!" I muttered, taking a deep breath.

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