A Fight - Part One

“Damm I am late again” moaned Aaryan as the sound of the alarm echoed his bedroom. He stood up in a rush as the clock ticked nine. The neighborhood was quiet, sun was shining bright and the chilly weather of December was perfect which made the day very pleasant. But it was not that pleasant for Aaryan, he had an exam to take at ten and he was late as usual. Aaryan whined “Mom, why didn’t you wake me” as he put on a black Tshirt and denim jeans. It was quarter past eight already. Aaryan was frustrated, annoyed and angry. He grabbed the keys to his bike and left his home in a hurry.

Aaryan, 18 year old college boy, was thin, tall and had a fair complexion. He lived with his parents in the outskirts of a big city. He was the only son, though as many would think of Aaryan as a spoiled kid, Aaryan was shy, introvert but a very strong willed person. Though Aaryan was usually under confident, he was known for his strong determination. He studied science in the city’s best college-St. Peter’s College. St. Peter’s College was located at a prominent place of the city. The place usually is heavily crowded during college hours but quite sparse at other times.

Speeding on his bike, he managed to reach his college parking area at quarter to ten. He felt something odd while he parked his bike, he had a feeling of fear not because of the exam but of something to which he couldn’t find an answer. The feeling built on as he got nearer to the college building. He knew he had an exam to take in five minutes but instead of hurrying, his footsteps slowed down. The college gate wasn’t crowded as the students were seated in for the exam. His anxiety grew. The only thing Aaryan wanted, that very moment, was to turn back and go home just then a strong muscular arm covered Aaryan’s nose with a cloth. Already in a state of fear, Aaryan didn’t know how to react, he was panic struck, he tried to free himself but he felt dizzy and began to lose control over his body. Partially unconscious Aaryan felt two men dragging him. The bright sky was darkened in just few seconds as his eyes shut.

“kudh kdhj dsh odk aaaaa” hit Aaryan’s ears, he was coming back to consciousness. He could hear plenty of yelling and crying amongst a distinct conversation which made no sense to him. Aaryan was confused, “am I dreaming, ya this is a dream, wake up Aaryan, wake up” he kept saying to himself. But the situation was too real to be a dream. Aaryan tried to move his hands only to find those tied behind his back, he tried hard to open his eyes which he thought would get him out of this nightmare, only if it were one. Nothing helped, Aaryan was blindfolded, his hands and legs were tied tight. Aaryan was completely conscious but the dilemma was too complex to understand. The chaos he felt around him made it difficult for Aaryan to understand his situation. He was lying on a floor which definitely was covered with dirt, the screeches that echoed in the room made him realize that like him there were many caged in. “I am kidnapped!” cried out Aaryan, his voice sounded no different than the rest who were abducted. A terrible fear gripped Aaryan, he remembered the whole kidnapping sequence that happened on his way to college.

“Let me go home” someone next to Aaryan kept yelling but soon that voice was muted with a loud thud. Aaryan was still horrified with the whole incident, he wanted to go home, he was hungry but the only thing he could do was cry. The conversation which was going on changed its language, Aaryan heard a harsh, very low pitch voice scream in a strange accent “Shut up, all you cry babies, the next person who screams would be shot in the eye”. The warning was followed by three loud, scaring gun shots and there was complete silence. The very next moment that place witnessed zero decibel sound as though the place had been isolated for ages. Aaryan could listen to his own nervous breath, he could see nothing but darkness and the air gave him a feeling full of fear and trauma.

Aaryan had no sense of time; he had no idea of how many hours had he been lying unconscious, how far was he from his home. “Home” whispered his desperate voice, he missed his cozy bed, he missed his mom, his dad but he could do nothing, Nothing. Next moment he heard a door close amidst the silence. Aaryan knew there were others like him kidnapped but he did not dare to utter a word. He was dying to know where he was, who were with him and more than anything he wanted to be free. The long silence was broken by a grunting sound that Aaryan let out as a hint to initiate a conversation with someone around. Nobody dared to reply with a word but the silence was now gone and the room was filled with intelligible whispers. The absence of silence for a long time gave Aaryan some courage to hesitantly utter his stammering words “who is here”. Again there was no distinguishable reply.

“Where are we?” questioned a soft scared voice. Aaryan replied immediately “No idea, but the way things are I don’t think we are at a safe place”. “We don’t even know why we are here, does anyone have any idea?” mumbled Aaryan. No interruption for a long time eased the abductees and the room was full of whispers.. “Terrorists!” said a familiar voice to which Aaryan replied “Nilesh, is it you?”
“Yes, Aaryan?”
“Ya Nilesh it’s me, How come you are here?”
“I have no idea, I was walking towards college when something happened and the next moment I found myself lying here. I am really scared, my parents are not even rich so why am I here?”
“May be these terrorists are planning something big” said Aaryan.
Soon others joined the conversation and Aaryan realized that about ten to fifteen college students like him were kidnapped and none of them had any idea of who had kidnapped them. Among the abductees Aaryan knew Nilesh, Natasha, Abhishek and Gary. They all were his classmates. Others kidnapped were mostly from St Peters. The conversation eased some tension but every single person was horrified. Some cried, some kept mum and Aaryan was no exception, he cried, the fear of being killed had gripped him.

The recess was over, the door slammed open, roaring voices scared every heart. Aaryan could see the room being lit, through the blindfold, not a single soul dared to speak. Aaryan could hear that strange conversation again which did not make any sense to him but the tone intimidated him. There was a momentary silence but it was soon disturbed by some squeaky sound which gave a sense of some machine being installed. The very next moment the only words Aaryan could hear were “We have 20 hostages at our gunpoint, if you want their safety release out leader Juja”. Every hostage cried like a baby, Aaryan then realized that all of them were in a very serious trouble. The kidnappers were not small gangsters but were the terrorists of world’s most dreaded terrorist organization. Gunshots were heard again, scared screams resonated all over.
“Shut up or else be ready to die” shouted a terrorist in the typical accent.
“We give you an hour time to release Juja if you fail to do so we would shoot one hostage every hour and broadcast it live, the choice is yours”
Aaryan’s eyes were wide open but he could see nothing through the blind fold. Like Aaryan everyone was petrified, the fear of death had traumatized every hostage. Amongst the cries Aaryan heard someone struggle as though someone had taken charge and fought against those cruel terrorists. The very next moment Aaryan heard one gunshot followed by a scream which described the agony of the source. Someone was killed, one of them was actually shot dead. “Sit quiet, or else you all would be killed” ranted a devilish cruel voice.

Aaryan was stunned just as others in the room were, his heart beat so fast that he could actually feel his heart coming out of his lungs. One wouldn’t be surprised if I they found wet pants in such a situation. The brutal murder of a hostage had taken away the strength of all hostages and they lay on the dirt as a piece of log. Not one even had the strength to cry, Aaryan was petrified and the words “we would shoot one hostage every hour” kept marqueeing in his mind. “Not me, Not me” Aaryan said to himself. His thoughts were broken by the thud of the door. The terrorists had left the room.

Every frightened heart prayed for its safety, Aaryan was lost in his scary thoughts. He heard the same door slam open, it was more than an hour after the previous scene. Aaryan was shocked when a firm strong hand held a firm grip on his arm and pulled him towards it. Aaryan burst out into tears, he cried “No, No, for heaven’s sake leave me”. The hand forced him down on the floor and Aaryan found himself in the brightest area of the same room. Two fingers pulled away the blindfold from his face.

Aaryan could see his death in front of him. The room was scary, faces of other hostages scared him more. What scared him the most was the sight of two terrorists holding huge rifles. The terrorists were average build, their face was covered, their eyes had a sharp piercing look. Aaryan didn’t have the courage to look straight at those. “We have given you more than an hour and you still haven’t done anything to free Juja” Aaryan saw one of the terrorists talking at a camera which was being broadcast live. “We give you five minutes to respond, if you don’t we will shoot this kid right away” the terrorists said pointing his armed rifle at Aaryan’s head. Aaryan’s heart was in his mouth, he didn’t know what he could do. He was on his knees at the mercy of the terrorist. He pleaded “Don’t kill me, please don’t ” to which the terrorist kicked hard on his face.

Five minutes were over, a message came from outside the room, and Aaryan could see the terrorists readying themselves for the broadcast. The terrorists obviously didn’t get any positive reply from the government. Aaryan could do nothing but cry at his condition. The camera went live and the terrorist pointed the gun at Aaryan

To be continued…