Nandini

"Finally, we are here in this room alone after so long," Rishabh says as soon as everyone leaves.

He traces my face with the tip of the gun while I ball my hands into fists, trying my best to control my fear as well as my urge to push him away.

"I can see you are cringing due to my proximity, but this will change soon, Sweetheart," he says, the tip of the gun now tracing the skin over my neck, going down toward my chest.

Angry tears fill my eyes as I feel it approaching my breast, the urge to push him away increasing with each passing second.

Thankfully, he stops, and I don't push him.

Closing my eyes, I deliberately let those tears pour out.

I want him to see them as the tears signifying my helplessness. I want him to perceive the angry shake of my body as me trembling in his fear.

"This is what I like, Sweetheart. I love when you cry," he says, tracing his thumb over my cheek. "That's why there will be more tears when we get out of here. Once we are finally alone in my lair, I'll do such things to you that you'll not only cry but shout and scream in pain. Those painful whimpers and cries coming out of your mouth will be music to my ears."

I say nothing, do nothing, only wait for him to take his finger out of the gun's trigger as he continues to stroke my cheek.

After a few seconds, he lies down on the bed, pointing the gun at my head.

"It's time to start servicing me, Sweetheart," he says, smiling creepily at me. "Begin by pressing my feet like how that other slut was pressing earlier."

Although I want to break his leg, I resort to pressing it as I eye the gun in his hand, disgust whirling within me as soon as I touch him.

Lower your finger from the trigger. I silently will him to do so as I continue pressing his legs.

"This feels so good. Your trembling hands on my legs. You will be doing so every night from now on." He sighs, closing his eyes.

This overconfidence is what will take you down, Rishabh.

I smirk, taking my chance when I look at his closed eyes.

Taking care to be subtle, I slightly bend down, moving myself away from the line of fire of the gun.

Then, bringing my hands up, I harshly clutch his crotch, making him scream.

Due to the suddenness of it, he accidentally presses the trigger, but the bullet gets shot to the wall behind me.

With him distracted, I immediately snatched the gun from his hand, quickly climbing down the bed, looking at him curled up on the bed, his hands over his crotch.

The door opens, and the officers and Vikrant rush inside.

The officers immediately circle Rishabh, pointing their guns at him, while Vikrant comes to me.

"Are you fine, Nandini? We heard a gunshot," he asks, looking at me with concern marring his face.

"I'm fine," I say, blinking my eyes reassuringly at him.

"You fucking bitch!! I'll not spare you," Rishabh shouts, and I turn to him, noticing him still curled up on the bed, groaning in pain.

"You are going to jail, Rishabh. You won't be able to do anything to me from inside the prison," I tell him, but he scoffs at me.

As he sits up, the officers grip his arms, not letting him climb down from the bed and get near me.

"You think they will be able to keep me in that prison for long?" He huffs. "I will get out soon with the help of my lawyers. Mark my words, Nandini. I'll make you pay for the stunt you pulled earlier. I won't spare you. I'll break you one day and make you my whore as I made that other slut."

His arrogance further fuels my anger, and I start walking toward him.

"You think you are high and mighty because you beat up girls, force yourself on them, and make them surrender to you, right?" I ask him. "Let me give you the taste of your medicine then. Let me make you realize how it feels."

Rishabh shakes his head. "The police are here, Sweetheart. You can't do anything to me while I'm in their custody."

Pretending to look around, I frown. "Police? What are you talking about, Rishabh? Only you, Vikrant, Aastha, and I are in this room."

I turn to Vikrant. "Right, Vikrant? Do you see any officers here?" After I ask him that question, I see confusion marring his face for a few seconds before he finally understands.

"Ah, right. I had called the officers before coming here, but they have not reached here yet," Vikrant says.

"We apologize, Mr. Sisodiya," one of the officers holding Rishabh's arm starts speaking. "Traffic has gotten so bad these days that we usually get delayed while getting to the crime scene."

"What the fuck are you idiots talking about? Have you all gone mad?" Rishabh starts shouting, glaring at all of us.

"Now, now, Rishabh," Vikrant says. "Don't get so angry. You are already going to be injured in the fight that we are going to have while trying to save Aastha from you. If police came between that fight and saw you being a danger to us, they might even shoot you to protect us."

I notice the expression of fear flitting across Rishabh's face when he hears Vikrant.

He opens his mouth to say something, but I speak before he can.

"I'll now request the officers to leave your arms for a while. But don't you dare move from that bed. You don't want to die in an encounter, do you?"

Saying that to Rishabh, I request the inspectors to leave him, which they do.

I wonder why they are going along with this, but then Aastha's earlier condition flashes in my mind.

Everyone must have seen the way he was treating her. That's why they must be helping me give him what he deserves.

Rishabh stays on the bed when the officers leave his hand, probably because he has understood the consequences of him not doing so.

Satisfied by him staying put, I turn and walk to the cupboard.

Opening the cupboard, I see his clothes are still there.

When he told me about bringing his things here in this room, I told Mrs. Iyer about everything he had been doing to me.

But her, instead of believing me, had berated me and had allowed it when Rishabh's driver had brought his things the very next day. Not only did she allow, but she also made me arrange all these clothes in the cupboard.

"You said very nasty things about poor Rishabh yesterday. So, this is your punishment, Nandini. Organize this cupboard and clean this room properly. Rishabh had called me earlier to tell me that he'll be coming to stay with us soon," she had said, breaking my heart.

Shrugging myself out of that painful memory of organizing this cupboard, I run my hands through the belt hanging inside.

"Hmm, which belt should I choose to make welts on you today?" I say aloud the exact words that Rishabh had uttered before whipping Aastha. "I think this thick leather one will do."

Taking the thick black leather belt, I walk toward the bed where Rishabh is still seated.

"What are you—"

He is unable to complete the question because his scream interrupts it when I slash his body with the belt.

"Count each strike, Rishabh," I say, bringing the belt down on him again.

He groans in pain, pain-filled cries coming out of his mouth.

"What did you say earlier?" I ask, slashing his skin one more time. "That the painful cries you'll hear from my mouth will be music to your ears?"

I whip him again, eliciting a painful scream from his mouth.

"This is indeed the music to one's ears. The screams of pain from the mouth of the monster who deserves the pain," I tell him, continuing to whip him.

He begins to slide back on the bed, away from me, and I feel the satisfaction rising within me when I see him trying to curl his body, his eyes red due to unshed tears.

"STOP IT. STOP IT," he shouts.

But I don't stop.

I continue whipping him as I remember the way he treated Aastha that night.

Aastha kissing both his feet, rubbing her nose on them.

"You will keep receiving whips on your body until Nandini comes to me."

"Count each strike, Whore."

CRACK! CRACK!

I shower on him another two whippings as I recall how Aastha had begged him to stop beating her.

"I'm sorry, Sir. Please, please. It hurts so much. It hurts."

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The way he had treated me countless times in the past.

"Get naked right now, Sweetheart, if you don't want me to tell everyone how much of a slut you are."

"Come here and unzip my jeans."

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

"Don't shy away, Sweetheart. Let me squeeze those twin peaks."

"Spread yourself properly and show me."

Tears fill my eyes as I remember those humiliating moments he made me endure.

CRACK! CRACK!

With him now trying to stand, I rain the whips over his back.

"WHY THE HELL ISN'T ANYONE DOING ANYTHING? YOU ARE THE POLICE. YOU NEED TO PROTECT ME," Rishabh shouts at the officers, but none of them do anything.

When an officer takes one step toward Rishabh, another officer beside him signals him to stop, letting me continue.

"Police officers protect the victims, Rishabh. Not the criminals like you," I say, and when he turns to look at me, I slash the skin over his chest.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

I remember Vivek's battered body that was brought to our house on a stretcher.

CRACK! CRACK!

Vivek's swollen face almost unrecognizable when I took off the white sheet covering it.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The doctor telling us after the postmortem that Vivek had multiple fractures as a result of a severe beating he must have received right before someone cut open his jugular vein, making him bleed and die in just a few seconds.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

All the tears I cried, all the pain my brother endured, all the hurt and humiliation Aastha suffered.

Rishabh sinks to the floor, unable to take the beating and keep standing anymore. I see him unable to even move to protect himself from the whippings.

But I still don't stop. I continue slashing him, continue to do it even when I see his eyes close, even when he is no longer screaming in pain.

I begin crying and screaming as I continue whipping Rishabh, my pain pouring out of me as I give him what he deserves.

When I feel Vikrant wrapping his arms around me, I stop for a while.

"That's enough, Nandini," Vikrant says. "If you continue, you might seriously injure him, and he might get to the brink of death. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it. In fact, he deserves more than this easy death. He deserves to rot in prison his whole life."

Realizing Vikrant is right, I loosen my hold on the belt, letting it fall to the floor.

"Please take him away," I say to the officers, my voice a hoarse whisper.

I wait until they carry the almost unconscious Rishabh out of the room.

Once they are gone, I finally let my body loose, letting Vikrant hold me as I slump to the floor.

It is then I cry, breaking down in his arms.

"Cry it out, my love," Vikrant says, running his hands up and down my arms soothingly as he holds my shivering body. "Let it all out. All the pain, all the angst you had compressed within you. Pour everything out."

My wails increase, and I scream, doing exactly what Vikrant said.

The pain I felt all these years when my parents made me feel unwanted, Rishabh's revolting touches I had to bear, the disgust I felt when he forced me to touch him, the angst I felt when I lost my brother, the hurt I endured when I was blamed for his death.

I let out all the angst I had kept hidden within me. My whole body clenching, raw pain washing through me as my entire body racks in sobs.