Thriller The ultimate choice 10

Episode 10

Archana waited there for another 6 hours. Despite the injury on her head, Archana got a sense of hope from the fact of being freed from the chain. She used her brain power to the hilt to guess how she got entangled into this mess! Who could be her captors, and what could be the motive? She tried her best to find out what happened after she boarded the New Delhi bound plane! But despite her brain storming, she could not remember anything. "Is this memory loss because of the head injury?" She apprehended.

Sometimes walking can freshen the mind. Archana stood up after some effort, and started to walk, after a few unsteady steps, to and fro inside the small room. She looked minutely at the door. Rat tat tat! She knocked it with her fist.

"Ouch!" She screamed, as it hurt. But, she didn't mind. From the sound of the knock, it appeared to her that the door was not made up of a thick wood. She thought she could break it, if she got a rod or any hard object. But, all she could see on the floor was thick dust.

Archana shook her head in disgust. She hadn't have the luxury of having any domestic help in her house in Chicago. She had to do all the household chores, be it washing or be it cleaning, herself. Even gardening was imposed on her by Rajan. However, this workload had a positive impact on her body. It made her so strong that she had never fallen ill in the last ten years.

"Why don't I try my bare hands", she thought. It didn't take even a second to implement her plans into action. Bang, bang, bang! She used all the force she possessed to break the door which she thought was ramshackle. But, within 10 minutes she became so exhausted that she fell on the ground. Her reflex  prevented her from getting another injury.

Her head was spinning. She could barely open her eyes. Very quickly she realised that she was sapped of all the energy. It appeared to her that she hadn't eaten anything for eons, and she had the thirst of a desert.

"Help me! Please give some water!" She garnered all the power to say something audible. 

"Feeling thirsty? Ha ha ha!" A voice, slightly nasal in tone, asked the question in a sarcastic manner.

Archana felt slightly better by then. She looked up to check whose voice was that. But she could not find anyone in that room. She, slowly, sat up with the help of her hands. Her head was spinning.

"Looking for me? You can't see me." Again, the nasal voice spoke.

"Who are you? Give me some food. I can't bear it any more." Archana almost cried.

"Ha ha ha ha", the nasal voice laughed as if Archana had cracked a super joke!

"Who am I will be revealed to you in due course of time.  But, food should be your first concern. Ain't It?"

Archana was almost dying of thirst and hunger. That argument seemed very logical to her. She instantly agreed, and said, "Ok, give me some food and water."

"You will get it. But, you have to make a deal with me." This time the voice was very economical with his words.

Archana's brain was still functioning, in spite of her empty stomach.

"Deal? What deal?"

"You have to obey my orders. You don't have much choices, though. You are completely under my control. I can take your life any moment, if I wish so. But, I don't want to take any harsh measures. That's why I want you to cooperate."

Archana realized that without food and water she would not last long. The blue light was on, but light was fading in her eyes. The dizziness in her head was increasing manifold with the passage of each minute.

"What are you thinking? Your pulse has gone down to 50. You don't have much time to waste. Agree, you will get food and water. Else...."

"How the hell does he know my pulse rate?" Archana didn't have too much time to ponder over the question. She said, "I agree."

"No, no! Not like this! I know you Hindu women are very God fearing. Take an oath in the name of your deity."

"In the name of Lord Shiva, I agree." Archana could hardly finish the sentence, as she collapsed on the ground.
                                       

                                          ----------------------'xxxxxxxxxxxx--------

Rajan remembered that it was Siddharth, who after a staggering hours of discussion convinced him to drop the idea of suicide. It was Sid who told him to start life afresh in India. Rajan was hesitant thinking about the kids and Archana. Sid convinced him that Indian institutions were no inferior. When Rajan opened the matter with Archana, he was taken aback by no resistance from her. She said it didn't matter to her.

So, Rajan finalised all the plans, and no doubt he was master at that, to start life from scratch in his hometown in Andhra Pradesh. But, he got a huge setback just a day before his bidding farewell to America. Archana left the house leaving a note. The note said that she was leaving him for ever, and he should make no efforts to find her.

When someone gets a huge shock in life, his life gets upside down. But after due course of time, he becomes accustomed to his new situation. He doesn't feel the same impact of another shock. Exactly, the same thing happened to Rajan when he read that note. He never imagined that Archana, a docile wife who obeyed every decision of him with earnest dedication, could resort to such drastic step. She never gave a hint that she was getting estranged from him.

But this turn of events didn't make Rajan abandon his plans. In his heart, he realized that everything was not normal between him and his wife. Archana wrote that she would be happy to leave him. Rajan, also, wanted to see her happy. So, with a heavy heart, Rajan let it go, and gave final touches to his plan. The fact that his two children were firmly on his side gave him the necessary encouragement.

                                         To be continued on Saturday night