Chapter-11

1 months ago

aakanksha4

@aakanksha4

A faint voice said,"No, he won't!" and everyone's eyes shot to the speaker.

Placing the knife on Riya's stomach, Sikander grinned and said, "He will never know!"

"I'll let him know!" Riya pushed him.

Arjun's rage flared as Sikander nuzzled in her hair, saying, "You won't live to tell the tale!"

Arjun cried out, "Leave her!" as he noticed bloodstains on her white shirt.

“You want to die the same way his first love did, huh?”, Sikander deepened the cut and Riya’s legs wobbled at the torture.

Arjun aimed the gun at Sikander. A hope had started to bubble inside him saying that Riya hadn’t betrayed him. She was on his side, always.

Just then, they heard footsteps and a familiar figure walked in.

“Sir?”, Arjun looked at him confused.

“You?”, Sikander started walking backwards while dragging Riya along. He had to get out of here, if there was any chance, or if he doesn’t make it, he will have to kill Riya. If he goes down today, so does Arjun’s happiness.

As if to deter Sikander from doing what he was doing, the Commissioner of Police, Dustin Coelho, nodded his head negatively. Grinning at Sikander's impotence, he dragged a chair over.

“I’ll kill her! She will die! I am warning you, let me go!”, he tried threatening them.

“Of course, we are letting you go today, for once and for all, but not alone”, the Commissioner smirked.

In no time, two men were brought in with their face covered. While it was not too difficult to identify the one-legged Pathan Lala, Arjun expected the other one to be Shamsher.

But once his face was revealed, he was shocked. It was Kumar, his most trust-worthy aide.

“Kumar!”, Arjun was confused.

“Shamsher!”, Dustin corrected him.

“No, he is…”, Arjun attempted to counter.

“The actual Shamsher. The one who had been deceiving us as Kumar”, he tried to make him understand.

But in all this chaos, there was another person who was equally shocked. Sikander.

He had trusted Shamsher all this while, when he was out of the country. He had won his trust over with his dedication for him. It was he who had informed him about Arjun’s whereabouts day in and out. But who was he?

And a moment later, the man himself walked in.

“ACP Pratyush!”,Dustin introduced him with great pride. “This is our Shamsher. He has been with our enemies for four long years, won over their trust and brought them to their death today.” he spoke eyeing Sikander and Pathan.

Sikander gritted his teeth. He hated losing. He was growing restless. So, he cautiously used this opportunity and texted for help using his mobile phone. Now he had to carry on with his play until help arrived.

To buy sometime, he shouted, “You all think you can fool me, defeat me! No!”

Additionally, he made sure to keep moving as closer to the exit, so that he can escape easily with Riya when help arrives.

Just some moments later, the warehouse erupted in chaos. Explosions shook the building, and the sound of gunfire rang out. The goons outside started rushing in and the men inside were caught off guard.

Shree, Chotu, Pratyush and Rathore climbed up the stairs to gain an edge in the firing.

There was smoke, bullets flying and confusion in the hall and Pathan’s gunfire provided a cover as Sikander slipped through the secondary exit, a narrow, hidden door with Riya.

Arjun tried to follow him but Pathan blocked his way.

“Itni bhi kya jaldi hai Rawte!”, he smiled.

The day Arjun had waited for was here. Howhe had wished to kill his enemies all this while. For how long had he waited to get justice for Roshni.

He tightened his grip on this gun. And bam! The first bullet hit Pathan’s leg, he shouted in pain and fell to the ground.

Arjun walked up to him. His heart beats faster than usual. To be honest, he enjoyed it. He was feeling a sudden blood rush.

“Aur ye mere pyaar ko dard dene ke liye!”, the second bullet had pierced Pathan’s heart.

“Vo…daga kar…rahi hai…tere….saath!” these were the last words Pathan spoke before closing his eyes forever.

With the death of his first opponent, Arjun stood elated. But his biggest foe was still out, breathing in the same air as him. He quickly gathered himself and picked up Pathan’s gun. He moved a step forward only to look back at Pathan’s corpse for one last time but all he could hear were his last words. Taking a sharp mental snap, Arjun left the warehouse by following Sikander's path.

He made a mental note, "Sikander won't be able to take a hurt Riya far enough," and started to run towards the woods. For a crook such as him, this was the ideal spot to hide. Indeed, he was correct! After walking briskly for seven minutes, he was able to see Sikander standing at the edge of the cliff with Riya.

***

The wind howled as the waves crashed violently against the rocks below.

Riya stood frozen, her heart pounding in her chest, as the cold steel of a gun was pressed against her back. Sikander sneered, his eyes gleaming with the twisted satisfaction of victory. His grip on the weapon tightened as he pulled her closer to him. Ahead of her, there was only the dark abyss, where the ocean's fury waited below.

“You thought you could stop me, didn't you? You thought you could fool me? You thought you could tell Arjun the truth?" he hissed, his voice dripping with venom.

"But how did you find out?", he questioned her mockingly.

"Don't they say- the best place to hide is in plain sight! Am I not smart?", Riya smirked.

"But look where your smartness got you. Trapped. Helpless. I win, once again.”, he whispered huskily in her ear.

Riya gritted her teeth, her body trembling not from fear, but from the sheer force of her will. She couldn’t let him win. Not now. Not after everything she had done.

A crack of branches echoed from behind them, but neither Sikander nor Riya turned. She knew what it was. Hope sparked in her chest despite the deadly situation.

Sikander’s finger twitched on the trigger. “I think it’s time to say goodbye, darling.”

“STOP!,” came a familiar voice, strong and steady, cutting through the chaos like a blade.

Sikander whipped around, dragging Riya with him, the gun still pointed at her. There, standing a few feet away, was Arjun- his mere presence brought Riya an overwhelming sense of relief.

Arjun’s eyes locked onto hers, and for a moment, time seemed to stop. His expression was calm, but Riya could see the storm brewing beneath. The anger. The desperation. The resolve.

“Let her go, Sikander! Be a man! It’s between you and me!” Arjun said, his voice low but commanding.

Sikander chuckled, “No, its not! It is not between you and me this time, ACP! Everything is around her! She has spun a web this time, and trapped you and I! We’re just pawns!” Saying so, he pressed the gun in her bleeding wound and Riya winced in pain.

Arjun’s jaw clenched. He took a slow step forward.

“Ask her! I told you, I didn’t hurt her at the college, then who did? She did that to herself! It was all her plan to bring you to your death!”

“No!” Riya pleaded, “Don’t listen to him!”

“Look how she ruined you. How she made a fool out of you!”, Sikander mocked Arjun, adding fuel to the fire of doubt burning inside him.

“Vo…daga kar…rahi hai…tere….saath!”, Pathan’s words rang in his ears for the hundredth time now.

“Arjun, don’t listen to him! Trust me, he is instigating you!”, Riya tried to convince him.

“Aur pata h, ye sab kis ke liye kiya, MERE LIYE!”, and he laughed like a maniac.

Arjun moved another step forward, his gun still pointing at them.

Sikander’s eyes darted between Arjun and the cliff behind them. His confidence wavered, just for a second, but it was enough. Riya felt it, the shift in power. She just needed an opening.

Riya twisted her body, throwing her elbow into Sikander’s ribs with all the force she could muster. Sikander grunted in pain, his grip loosening for a split second. In the same instant, Arjun fired the gun.

This was way more than what Arjun could bear. As a result, he had fired aimlessly. The bullet had grazed Sikander’s waist and he was down on his knees.

Riya, breathless, had moved aside, her legs weak from the adrenaline rushing through her. She glanced at the edge of the cliff, realizing how close she had come to falling.

“Arjun!”, she had just turned to face him, when she felt a strong hold on her throat.

She looked into Arjun’s eyes and saw madness.

“Did you do that to you?”, he shouted like a mad man, not in his senses.

“Ar…junnnn! Trust…me!”, Riya could hardly speak.

“Just answer me! Did you?”, Arjun tightened his grip, towering over her, as her legs wobbled at the torture.

“He…is…lyin…”, Riya tried to make him understand.

“I don’t f**king care about him!” Arjun shouted at the top of his voice. “Did you plan all of this? Just a simple Yes or No!”

Accepting defeat, Riya finally nodded her head in a yes.

Sikander’s lips curled into a smile. “Just what I wanted!”

The next thing Riya did, surprised Arjun. The moment she saw Sikander aim his gun at him, she kicked Arjun on his right knee and his hold on her loosened. Taking advantage of the situation, she picked up the gun lying on the ground.

With lightning speed, Arjun lunged backward and took out the other revolver he had.

***

Both of them stood with guns in their hands and eyes on their aim. Sikander aimed his gun at Riya while Riya at Sikander. Arjun was fuming with anger, he just couldn’t decide which of his foes out of the two deserved death first.

Tightening his grip on his gun, Arjun pointed it towards Sikander. But in what seemed like a split second, two bullets were fired, both aiming the same person- Arjun!

Arjun fell to the ground as blood oozed out of his body. One had aimed his heart, but the bullet hit his left shoulder, while the other hit his leg. He turned his head to face Riya and did the unexpected- he smiled at her.

Riya froze at her spot seeing him smile. She knew that he had realized; realized that she didn’t intend to kill him- she was the one who had aimed his leg so that he loses balance and Sikander misses his aim.

“He was indeed the emotional fool! Oscillating back and forth between love and hatred for her! But this girl was way too difficult to be understood and that is why, he was so attracted to her!" he cursed himself inwardly as he couldn’t stop staring at her, while she moved towards him.

Sikander grinned at the sight in front of him- the hero lying almost lifeless- just what he wanted.

“Now is the time!” he smiled inwardly and aimed his gun at Riya this time.

“RIYAAAA!” Arjun managed to yell as loudly as he could seeing Sikander’s gun aimed at her.

Sikander gave a devious smile seeing the fear in their eyes.

“STOP!” another voice came from behind, startling the three of them.

Seeing the group of police officers approaching them, Sikander pulled Riya towards him and placed the weapon on her head. Shree and Chotu ran to Arjun.

“Not again! I might not be able to come out of this situation alive now. No time for games now!” he thought to himself and began to move near the edge of the cliff with Riya, again.

“STOP IT!” Arjun shouted, barely managing to stand up with Shree and Chotu’s support, as he saw what Sikander was trying to do.

“FAREWELL! I’ll take care of your loved one, you take care of mine!” he smiled and took another step backwards.

“NO!” Arjun nearly cried.

“Take her along!” the Commissioner finally spoke up, startling everybody.

Sikander gazed him intently realizing there was some hidden meaning in his words.

“Take her along!” he repeated and moved closer to the duo.

Sikander took another step backwards cautiously looking down the cliff.

“Take her along!”, was heard again but this time in a different voice and Arjun and Sikander’s head snapped.

“Rathore!” Arjun muttered, questioningly at the sight in front of him, while Sikander couldn’t believe his eyes.

Rathore pulled out his gun and asked “Why don’t you take HER along?” while Mrs. Wadekar wiggled in his hold.

Note: Just another part remaining, and the story's done! How quickly I will write and post it, depends on the response. Really need your encouragement to write the last chapter. Do tell me if you liked it or not!

A