Thriller The ultimate choice 38

 Episode 38

Suresh had thought that he could solve the problem in few hours. So, after Roy's call, he had immediately rang the SP of the district as per the suggestion from the FM. Suresh knew Mr Khan, a young, energetic officer beforehand. As a businessman, he had to be in contact with the police, and this guy had been very honest and helpful.

Very briefly Suresh appraised him of the situation, and sought his help. Khan seemed to be slightly agitated by the news. He had tried his very best to solve the crime, as there had been huge political pressure from the top. But despite his best efforts, he could not find any workable lead. Now, he was hearing that some private agency had almost solved the problem. It felt like a slap in his face to him. But, gaining his composure right away, he assured of all the helps.

No matter how much reforms and modernisations are done, the red-tapism was not a thing that would go away so easily. It took 2 days to do the necessary things done. This made Suresh simmer in rage, but he couldn't do anything. He even rang the DG of the state. But, he too sought time for the proper procedure.

After 2 days, Roy rang him.

"Thank you Sir. The local police has at last agreed to take action. The AP police has also arrived. We are going to raid the place tomorrow."

"That's awesome! Can I join you?" Suresh's face glowed in enthusiasm.

There was a complete silence for 30 seconds.

"But Sir, you cannot join us in action, as it might be bloody. At most you can stay in the local police station or a local hotel."

"Okay, okay! I will not be in the place of action. But, I want to be present in Barrackpore."

"Okay! Then book a airplane ticket and come to Kolkata Airport. We will pick you up from there. It will be beter, if you take the evening flight and come tonight. Because, you know, tomorrow we shall be extremely busy."

"Okay done! I am coming tonight. I will call you."

                               ______________________________________________________

When Rajan was taken to perform the same task as his wife was asked to do two days before, he was mentally prepared for doing something which he had never thought of. Like what happened to Archana, the same thing was repeated with Rajan. The only difference was that the Joker didn't instruct Rajan how to get the key. However, being a science student, he had a better grip on the situation.

He had no previous lead like what Archana had, but the moment the Joker instructed and the countdown started, he immediately understood that it couldn't be anything but his blood that he had to shed. He also understood that he had to inhale the toxic air as little as possible. Fortunately for him, he had an experience of doing pranayam after being out of job. He did pranayam with great sincerity. He had been practicing "kumbhakas" for a while. So, he was at a rather advantageous position when he decided to inhale as little as possible.

Like Archana, he, too, searched the room for a sharp object, which could tear his skin. He found none. Then he suddenly looked up and saw the the digital clock on the wall. He estimated that the digital clock was within his reach, if he could jump around 4 feet from the table. After the jump when he tried to cross the boundary wall of this property, he was no short of confidence. So, he ran a few steps on the table and jumped with full force to reach the digital clock.

Rajan had seen a few times in You Tube videos how the eagle, the national bird of his country USA, swooped down on its preys in mid air. He was himself amazed to note how easily he got the digital clock. He landed on the floor rather softly on his legs, as he used his left hand on the wall to give him some friction while falling down. Without any hesitation, he broke the clock, therby getting a sharp piece of broken glass in his hand.

He hesitated for a while, around 10 seconds or so. Then he shut his eyes, folded his two hands and prayed to Lord Shiva. Then he incised his left bicep muscle with full force. Had it been before his entering this dreadful place, he would have screamed with full throttle. But after the pain and suffering that he had experienced here, he had developed the stamina of absorbing this pain. He softly uttered, "Oh Amma!"

The cut he mercilessly made to his own arm was deep. Blood was gushing out of it like a river in mountain stage. Rajan had to take a deep breath, as he was out of breath for so long. Without wasting any time he jumped onto the table. He placed his left fingers on the left side of the scale. The blood was coming down through the fingers.

It didn't take too long for him to get the key. He had to take one more deep breath. He guessed that this lethal gas could be a combination of chlorine pentafluoride and diborane and the God knew what else. But as he took only a few inhalation, the dangerous gas could not show its deadly effect.

As the digital clock was gone, Rajan could not see the countdown, but he was damn sure it didn't take him more than 3.5 minutes. Like a champion he left the deadly room.

                               _________________________________________________________

"Holy Haborym! How on earth could he do that?" Nigella could not believe her eyes. Without batting an eyelid, she took the whole peg of Beluga at a go.

The Joker, too, was amazed. But, he didn't show too much of excitement. He only said,

"Credit goes to Ranjan. He made us richer by a few million dolars, as you know our customers thought that the chances for Rajan to get into the final round were very dim."

"Not only Rajan Sir, we have also earned handsomely in case of Archana, too. Her rating was even lower. That credit goes to you, Sir."


To be continued on Thursday night 

Thriller The ultimate choice 37

 Episode 37

"Two more years! Oh dear! You want two more years? What pious works have you done to seek two more years?

You must have heard the name of Rajiv Gandhi, the youngest, handsome prime minister of India. He was only 47, when I visited him. He was extremely reluctant to come with me. He said that he had lots of dreams to make his country developed. He even shared the dreams with me. I must say that they were indeed great dreams. But, you know what? The timing of every life or death is predestined by Lord Vishnu? So, I was helpless."

Having said that, Yama applied full force on her throat. Just when Archana decided to surrender to her fate, miraculously, she heard the voice of her daughter, Vaishu. She was bawling,

"Mom, wake up. Please wake up. I have an asthma attack. Please bring me the inhaler."

Vaishu had suffered from asthma up to 12 years of age. Sometimes, her suffering was unbearable.

Archana quickly got back to her senses. It didn't take her much time to assess the miserable situation she was in. She looked at her closed fist. There was the giant key. She didn't lose it during the fall.

The door was around 5 feet away from her. There was only 20 seconds left. This time she didn't try to even stand on her feet. Like a reptile, she crawled towards the door. She stopped breathing, as she didn't want to take the poisonous gas any more. She knew that she could afford to do that for 20 seconds.

She didn't know how she did it, as the oxygen level in her body had dipped significantly and her heart rate fell below 60. Perhaps, it was her animal instinct that saved her! She opened the door, dragged herself out, and lost her consciousness.

                              ____________________________________________________________

At night, Rajan went back to two and half decades back in his IIT campus. Mr Satpathy was concluding his class. He said,

"So, boys! The examinations are just a fortnight away. Work hard. Remember no pain no gain! Unless you shed your tear, sweat and blood, you can't do well."

Raman, who was Rajan's best friend, pushed him mildly, and in a hushed tone said,

"Is this guy bloodthirsty? Why does he say these things again and again?"

Rajan laughed rather loudly, and Mr Satpathy heard that.

"May I know the cause of your laughter, Rajan?"

Rajan was a good boy, so Mr Satpathy could not be harsh. Rajan was confounded. He was not a natural liar, who could conjure up a story at the drop of a hat. So, he was fumbling. But, Raman was man enough to shoulder the responsibility. He stood up and said,

"Sir, I said something which made him laugh."

"And what was that?"

"Don't mind Sir, I understand the shedding of sweat and tear. But, why do we have to shed blood?" As a wouldbe-engineer Raman was clever enough to sway things according to his own convenience.

"Oh, that was it? I must say, that's not a bad question. You know what? God loves sacrifices. When you shed blood, the God is pleased, and he fullfils your wish. So, this is rather metaphorical."

The ego of Mr Satpathy seemed to have been satisfied. But, today Raman seemed to be in a very jocular mood. Unsatisfied with the answer, he asked,

"But Sir, if someone takes the proverb literally, how can he shed his blood? Should he cut his forearm, or should he bang his head on the wall until blood comes out?"

Clearly, there was a tone of jest in his voice. There was an outburst of laughter in the class, and that had upset Mr Satpathy to such an extent that he thumped his table forcefully, and in a thunderous voice said,

"I will show you rascal."

No body at that time could guess what he was trying to do. He darted off towards the door and vanished in a moment. The students looked towards each other in disbelief. They had never seen the strict but friendly professor doing this kind of bizarre act. Rajan looked towards Raman agape. The jocular mood in Raman had vanished in thin air. He seemed to be extremely worried.

Raman was going to say something. But before he could say something, Professor Satpathy entered the class hurriedly. Everybody was surprised to the core to observe that there was a shiny dagger, around 8" long, in his hand.

Without giving any time to anyone, he jumped towards Raman like a prowling tiger. He tried to grab Raman's hand. But, apprehending something untowardly, Raman had already moved away from him. He missed him. But, he was not disappointed. He grabbed Rajan's hand, and in a sarcastic voice said,

"You are the one who laughed. Ain't it? So, you will help me to show the demo of how to shed blood."

Rajan was wanted to flee, but he was surprised to see that Mr Satpathy possessed the power of a gorilla. Without wasting any more time, he shoved the sharp dagger in Rajan's belly.

Rajan got up from bed hastily. He was breathing heavily. His heart was pounding hard. Even in the comfort of 24°C maintained by the central ac, he was sweating. Why had he seen this bizarre dream?

Only the initial part of the dream was true. It was indeed Mr Satpathy used to say the abovementioned proverb often. But, the latter part was completely fictional. Suddenly, Ranjan recalled what Ranjan said him in the morning. He reminded him of what Mr Satpathy used to tell his students. Was there any coded message for him?

Rajan clearly understood that Ranjan was duty bound not to open his mouth. But as his ego of taking revenge on Rajan was satisfied, he wanted to help him. So, he must have said something in coded language.

Now, everything was getting clear to Rajan. He understood that the 4th test would require some kind of blood shed on his part. Rajan tried to compose his veering mind.

To be continued on Monday night  

Thriller The ultimate choice 36

 Episode 36

"Yes, Sir. You are a very powerful man. You have contacts with both politicians and bureaucrats in AP. If an important person from your state requests the police department of West Bengal, the local police is bound to act. You might wonder why we cannot do it ourselves! Of course, we can and we will if we don't get any help from the police. The problem you know is that the local police are hand in glove with those criminals.

 If we take any action, they will turn the local police against us. As the agency is extremely dangerous, I am pretty sure that there is a big probability of bloodshed and loss of lives. As a matter of policy, we don't want to create a situation, where we are forced to eliminate state forces. That's why I am asking you for this favour."

"Okay, okay! I will definitely do this for you with pleasure. I will call the finance minister of my state, whom I know personally. I will seek his help. Don't worry about this. In a day, this will be fixed. I will call you when the matter is done."

"Thank you very much, Sir! Good night!" Roy disconnected  the call.

                           __________________________________________________________

When Archana craned out her neck to look at the clock, it appered to her that her head was made of ton of bricks. The clock showed 3 min 10 second. That was the time Archana would survive until she did something. The face of her children appered in her mind, and suddenly she seemed to have heard a frantic call of, "Mom" from her son. This call had suddenly energised her. She had to live. She made up her mind, and she had no more hesitation in doing something which she wouldn't have done even in her worst nightmare.

In their good time during the early period of their marriage, once Rajan had brought a DVD which contained 5 movies. Rajan said they were horror movies. Archana loved to watch ghost movies. She thought they would be some ghost movies. The movie "Wrong Turn" was definitely a horror movie, but it was not a ghost movie. It was a movie about a tribe in West Virginia, who were cannibals. They were trapping humans and tearing apart their bodies to eat them. Archana couldn't tolerate the movie for more than 20 minutes or so, and she had to leave. The scenes of cannibalism made her puke several times.

But, at this critical juncture where there was not much of a gap between life and death, she got inspiration from the movie Wrong Turn -- which once she thought was abominable -- and tried to tear off a large chunk of flesh from her left forearm with full force. Though the flesh was not torn off, the bite made a deep incision. At last, blood gushed out copiously. But, she didn't stop at that, and used her jaws to give two more forceful attempts.

Without canine teeth, it's never easy to tear a piece of raw flesh. But, this time a lump of flesh came out. The excruciating pain didn't perturb her. She spat the chunk of flesh with force. The salty taste of her own blood didn't make her puke. The throbbing veins in her forehead swelled considerably. Her pupils were extended with anxiety. However, she was extremely pleased to watch the gushing flow of blood from her forearm.

She staggered towards the table. The table was hardly 3 ft tall. But when she tried to climb on it, it appeared to her that it was like the Mount Everest. After a valiant effort, she succeded and went towards the left portion of the jar, positioning her left forearm in such a way that the blood could enter the left scale easily. The blood from her left arm was flowing like a river.

It didn't take much time to fill the required amount. The left scale went down and the right scale went up to a range where Archana could enter her two fingers to lift the key. Archana took a look at the giant key. She had never seen such a big key in her entire life. She heaved a sigh of relief. At last, she had done it, she thought.

Archana quickly looked at the clock. There was still 55 second left. Archana got the key. A sense of satisfaction appeared on her face. She jumped from the table, and that proved to be a very bad move!

She hadn't realized that the level of the poisonous gas had reached such a level that was even too little for a lion to jump. She was standing just because of the miraculous voice of her son in her ear. That gave her a strong motivation to live. So far, her strong will had surmounted the asphyxiating effects of the deadly gas. But, the jump had taken a vital amount of remaining oxygen level in her body. She landed on her left tibia on the hard floor.

An instantaneous reaction of, "Oh, Devuda," came from her mouth. From the severe pain, it appeared to her that the bone might have been broken. But, pain was not a thing that she could afford to pay any attention at the moment. So, completely ignoring the pain, she tried to get up. But, she was surprised to see that she could not do it.

There was no energy left in her body. Though, there was no one in the room, it appered to Archana that a very powerful person was choking her throat. Archana, rubbed her eyes, and she was taken aback to see that it was none other than the Lord Yama who was choking her. In Telegu movies, she had seen the Yama many times. The golden crown, the huge moustache, the fearsome big, red eyes, the two threatening horns and all the other traits that the Yama had were present.

Archana had always been a religious person throughout her life. She had always feared the Yama, as she knew that he was the lord of death, who would decide her place after death. She had always feared the hell, as she had heard plenty of scary stories avout the torture that the Yama metes out to the sinners.

"Oh Lord Yama, why are you here? I don't want to die now. I have two children who desperately need me." Archana pleaded.

"Well Archu, I am afraid that your time has come. Death is a hard reality dear. Don't you know every birth or death is predestined? No matter how much powerful the person is, no matter how much wealth he has, he cannot escape death."

Archana knew that, but she didn't want to die. So, she pleaded,

"I have a lot of pending things to do my Lord. My daughter is totally dependant on me. My son loves me so much that if I die, he might also die. Please give me at least two more years."

Yama guffowed so boisterously that Archana's whole body shook in fear. Yama said,


To be continued on Friday night 

 

Thriller The ultimate choice 35

 Episode 35

Biting a big chunk of the cake, Ritesh said,

"Yes Sir, I completely agree with Ma'am! This is a global agency, Sir. They have all the cutting age technologies, all the manpower and all the resources in the world to nab the criminals. Give them some time Sir, they will click."

That's what Suresh had been consoling himself for the last few days. Still, he said,

"That may be right Ritesh, but when will they click, man? The lives of my friend and his wife are in great danger. Every second is precious, and they have taken 7 long days! Who knows whether those two poor chaps are still alive or not!"

Maya was going to say something, but suddenly the ringtone "Maghuba Maghuba" on Suresh's phone rang. For the last seven days, every time the ringtone rang, Suresh expected that it was from Somnath. But, he was so disappointed that this time he had no expectations. So, he thought it must have been some advertisement call. Reluctantly, he looked at his iPhone. Indeed, it was not a number that was saved in his contact list. Some unknown person  was calling him. Very reluctantly, he received the phone.

"Hello, Mr Suresh! I am Roy. I am the head of the eastern region of the Ravenous Eagles in India."

Suresh was slightly perplexed. He got off from his couch, and said,

"Yes, I am Suresh!"

"You have been in contact with Somnath, the head of southern zone of this organisation in India so far. But, now onwards, I shall be calling you, because the crime is happening under my jurisdiction." Roy paused for a moment. But, Suresh was too curious to ask,

"That means you have traced them?"

He said that quite loudly, as passions were running high inside him. Hearing that Maya and Ritesh came closer to Suresh with curious face.

"Of course Sir. But, that was not an easy task to locate them. This frigging criminal agency does not leave any evidence. Most of their staff members are masked. Their web hosting technology in the dark net was almost impossible to penetrate. The best techies in the world tried their best in vain."

Roy again paused for a second. Then he continued,

"Our ground workers in India have been working day and night to find where such kind of activities are taking place. They have knocked every police station and the every informer in the suspected areas. But, they couldn't find any lead."

Roy again paused. Suresh was getting anxious, so he shot,

"Then how did you find their location?"

"Pure luck Sir, pure luck! A guy of that criminal agency got overconfident, and took off his mask for quite long time. You know what? Our face recognition software is the bestest in the world. It recognised him as Ranjan Sen, who graduated from IIT Chennai in 2000. He hailed from Burdwan district in West Benngal. When we enquired about his whereabouts, we were taken for a surprise.

His father said that he had perished long ago in an accident. We are not fools. We enquired about the so-called accident, which happened 10 years ago. Our investigation team came to the conclusion that the accident was fake. So, we tried for couple of days to find the truth.

Fortunately, Ranjan's younger brother works as a guard of an ATM of a private bank. From our experience, we knew that he was the most vulnerable member of the family. So, we pampered him. Fortunately, he was too poor to negate the lure of 5  lakh rupees. When we paid him that amount and treated him with best of whiskies, he sang like a canary."

"Please tell us where are they,  and how are you going to rescue them?" Suresh was anxious.

"Yes Sir, I am coming to the point. From his call records, we found that Ranjan is on the outskirts of Barrackpore, which is in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal. We have found that there is a huge property of at least 20 acres surrounded by a 10 feet wall. This property belongs to a non-Bengali businessman, Mr Lakhotia. There are two armed-guards who patrol the front gate. There are three more gates, but they are permanently closed. The stone-faced Gurkha guards don't talk to anyone. They don't let anyone enter the house.

We have gathered information that a man servant of Mr Lakhotia comes out of the gate twice in week for marketing. He does not mingle with anyone. But, he buys huge amount of food items. When we enquired about Mr Lakhotia, we came to know that he has 5 members in his family. If we add 5 attendants, we get 10. But, the amount of food he purchases has to be for at least 50 people.

When we enquired about Mr Lakhotia, we came to know that he is a man of 50 years age having his mother, wife, a son and a daughter-in-law. But, no one has communicated with them for the last 10 years. Mr Lakhotia's relatives told us that he cut off relationships with them. He had a business of exports and imports. But, he had sold it to someone ten years ago. This had made us come to the conclusion that this is the property where lies the key to the riddle.

After pinpointing our target location, we thought it would be very easy for us to find evidence against them. We don't have our own satellite, but we have contracts with a private   organisation of a very powerful country. They have been providing us with very high-resolution pictures, and we have solved many complicated cases with the help of these images.

"Have you rescued them?" Suresh was impatient. He had no intention of listening to the working method of the organisation at that moment, as his main concern was rescuing the abducted Rajan couple.

"No, Sir! There is a problem."

"Problem! What problem?"

"We haven't been able to get any actionable proof, Sir. The private satellite could get pictures of only one day. There was not much in them. We saw a few foreigners working in the fields and in the garden. They are probably held as slaves. But, we couldn't see the Rajan couple.

But from the next day, the private satellite agency reported us, an unprecedented incident happened. They could not get any clear picture then onwards. It appeared to them that the sky surrounding the property was covered with thick smog. But, they could get clear pictures outside the property."

"What are you saying? How is it possible?"

"We don't know Sir! The matter is under investigation by them. But, what happened at night was more inexplicable. When they were snooping at night, there was no smog. The picture was clear, but there was no one outside. Lights were on on many floors. The satellite was trying to get pictures inside the house. Unfortunately, this house has not many windows. The handful of windows that the house has are made of one-way thick glass and have thick curtains behind them. So, there was not much of luck there.

Suddenly, there were laser lights from the roof. The lights showed some messages in some unknown language. When the private satellite agency had decoded them they were in a shock.  It showed the exact position of the spying satellite and threatened it to destroy with ASAT. That might be just gimmick, but our private partner got scared, and stopped working on this project. So, we had to think about more traditional ways. But, there has been not much of luck there, either.

This criminal agency seemed to have greased the local OC's palm. We concocted a case of finding Mr Lakhotia, on the basis of a missing daiary by one of his distant relative in Kolkata. But, the officer-in-charge (OC) of the local police station said that he had seen Mr Lakhotia a month ago, and Mr Lakhotia sometimes rings him. In other words, we are not going to get much help from the local police, unless you help us."

"Me? How can I help? Please tell me."


To be continued on Tuesday night 

 

Thriller The ultimate choice 34

Episode 34

"Good! Very good! I really appreciate your newfound courage. I am sure that you can pass the 4th stage too. But, as a matter of fact, I have to tell you that the 4th stage is the toughest of all. Most of our participants perish at this stage."

A sense of practicality seemed to have entered in Rajan's mind. He knew that if he had to survive in this despicable hell, he had to be wise. He had heard a proverb in his rustic, younger life that when in trouble there is no harm in showing respect to even a donkey. By now, Rajan knew that Ranjan was no donkey. He was a talented man. So with due respect, he said,

"I no longer blame you buddy for what happened to me. As I told you earlier, I am indeed sorry for what I did to you. Now, you have your revenge. But, it's okay. I am at least alive, and as per you, no serious damage has happened to me. So, I have no reason to complain. Now, can I ask you for a favour?"

There was clearly a smirk on Ranjan's face. In a condescending voice he said,

"Well buddy, I have no more grudges against you. But, you know what? I can't save your life. This is the Joker's house, the most powerful man in the world, the best son of the Satan. He is so powerful that even the wind takes his permission to blow. The old, shrivelled leaves of a plant cannot fall on ground without his sanctions. So, I am not in any position to save your life.

You are probably not aware of the fact that all members of this company belong to a particular cult. You will get to know about this in due time. But, the good news is that none of the contestants in this year's show belong to this cult. That means the Joker will not favour any one. All of you should get a fair chance to survive.

Therefore, it's only you, and none but you, who can save your life. The Joker, no matter how much you curse him for what happened to you, has tried his best to prepare you to face the impending troubles. So, before you say anything, I loudly proclaim my inability to get you out of this imbroglio."

"Oh, Ranjan! Do you think I am a dumb-ass? I am not asking you to release me from here."

"Okay, that's good. Tell me what you want from me." Ranjan's ego seemed to have been satisfied.

"I want some tips from you as a friend to pass the remaining tests. Also, I want to know will I be really freed if I pass all the tests? And I could not understand the cult thing!"

"Hmm! That's not a big ask. The answer to your second question is yes. You will be freed with a condition that if you report anything about us to the outer world, you will be killed within a day. We will keep a very close watch on you even when you will be freed. You know we are doing businesses of millions of dollars! We will not let anyone ruining our business.

You don't need to know anything about the cult at this moment. We will let you know at a proper time."

"Okay, I understand that. I will never tell anyone about this if I get freed. But, please give me some suggestions how to pass all the remaining tests."

There was clearly an expression of dilemma on Ranjan's face. It looked as if he wanted to say something, but something was stopping him from doing so. He even seemed to have been under mental stress, as Rajan could clearly see a few droplets of perspiration appearing on Ranjan's creased forehead.

Rajan understood that the protocol and SOP of this company must have been preventing Ranjan from disclosing something which would have been extremely beneficial to him. Rajan would not let this opportunity to go. So he pleaded,

"Ranjan, as you told me, it will be I who will have to pass the tests. As a friend of me all I am asking you is to give me some useful suggestions which will help me to pass the remaining 2 tests."

Ranjan kept quiet for at least 30 seconds. He looked on the ground, and seemed to be undergoing severe mental stress. However, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said,


"I am sorry mate, as per the guidelines of the company, I can't disclose you anything. As a matter of fact, no one except the Joker knows what the final or 5th test will be. Actually, it depends on the number of survivors from the 4th stage. But let me tell you that some people indeed cross the 4th stage, and you have every potential to be one of them"

A sense of deep satisfaction went through the whole body of Rajan. He got emotional for few moments. He closed his eyes for a second and thanked Lord Shiva. Then the sense of practicality again prevailed over Rajan, and he said,


"You have made my day with that news buddy, but you have broken my heart at the same time by not helping me with tips for the 4th stage. I didn't expect it from you!" Rajan tried hard to make a face.

"Sorry mate! I am sorry that I can't help you. But, I will like to remind you about our professor Mr Satpathy, who taught us electromagnetics in our 3rd year first semester. I hope you have not forgotten about his pep talks before our exams. Remember the oft-repeated proverb he used to inspire us. This will help you."

Ranjan winked at Rajan and left the room in hurry. Ranjan was slightly disappointed for the reason that Ranjan refused to help him. It seemed to him that his understanding of the human psychology had again failed him. He could not understand his wife. Now, he assumed that Ranjan's ego had been satisfied after the humiliation and torture he was subjected to. But, he rued that he had again failed.

                                 ________________________________


For the last 7 days there had been no response from anyone from the Ravenous Eagles. Suresh was restless. Last time, Somnath, the head of southern zone of this organisation in India, had told him that they had traced both Rajan and his wife Archana. This news had enlivened the hopes of finding them soon. Both Rajan's and Archana's families had been in constant touch with him. He didn't disclose the information to them, but hinted them that very soon they might get a good news.

But, this long silence had really got on Suresh's nerves. For the first 4 days he had been just waiting for their call, but since the 5th day onwards he had called Somnath at least 10 times. He didn't receive any of them. Only once on the 6th day, Suresh got an SMS that they would contact him soon.

This was the 7th day. It was 7 PM. Suresh was sitting on a couch in his drawing room. His personal secretary Ritesh was still with him. But, he was preparing to leave. Today was a rather busy day for both of them. Today, Suresh visited two of his factories in Ongle and Vijayawada. The distance between the two cities was almost 150 km. No matter how comfortable his new BMW X6 was, the long journey had a tiring effect on both them.

"Where is the coffee Maya?" Suresh yelled. Maya was his wife with whom Suresh shared everything, including the developments of this investigation. Suresh looked at his Apple iPhone to see whether any new SMS or WhatsApp message from the Ravenous Eagles had come. No, there was none.

Within a minute Maya and a domestic help came with a big tray. There was not only coffee, but also salted cashews and cake.

"Hey, Ritesh, wait man. Take the coffee and snacks."

Ritesh was almost going to say goodbye, but the smell of the Flying Squirrel coffee had made him to stay.

Suresh in a disappointed tone said,

"I have paid a hefty sum to the Ravenous Eagles for rescuing my friend. This agency is a global agency with a huge reputation. All my friends had suggested their name. But, I could not guess that they could be so inefficient!"

This is what Suresh had been ruing for the last couple of days. Maya had heard this at least 50 times in the last two days. She was a practical woman. Her father had retired as the DIG of police. She knew a thing or two about police investigations. So, she said,

"Don't get disheartened. It takes time. Any moment you can hear a good news."


To be continued on Saturday night 

Thriller The ultimate choice 33

 Episode 33

You can see that you can't enter more than two fingers of yours. If you think that you can break the glass instrument and get the keys, I am afraid, you are sadly mistaken. These two isntruments have been interconnected with glass pipes. With every jerk to the left one, the very fragile joints on the right will open up, leading to leaking of the gas at a rapid rate, and you will die in few seconds. Some portion of the apparatus on the right is made up of a very fragile material and the pressure of the gas is maintained in such a way that if you try to stop the leakage by putting pressure on its orifice, the vulnerable parts will break up leading to the leakage at a very rapid rate.

By now, you must have understood that I am a man of my word. So, don't commit the mistake of trying to break the glass to get the key or don't try to stop the leakage of the deadly gas by putting pressure on the orifice. Many contestants had lost their lives by trying to do that. So, how do you get the key?

The only way to get the key is to put weight on the left side of the scale to the extent when you will be able to put your two fingers on the right to pick it. But for that you will have to put 750 gm of weight. The weight of the key is only 50 gm, but the scales are unevenly balanced. The diameter of the orifice lets only liquid to be entered. In this room, you will not find a single drop of liquid. So, how do you get it?

You must get it from your body. But, you can't use your urinary bladder as you know we have made it empty just before entering this room. So, how do you get the liquid? The only answer is blood. You have to donate 750 gm of your blood to the left side of the scale to get the key. But, you cannot waste time in doing so.

2 minute is over. You will feel the effect of the gas right now. Your task begins now. Good luck!"

The monitor went blank. Thanks to the input from the Joker, Archana was mentally prepared for the job. She had no hesitation in hurting herself, but she was quite perplexed how to do that! Extracting almost 1 kg of blood in 4 minutes, leaving 1 minute to unlock and escape from the room, seemed to be an unattainable job. Archana looked frantically to see if she could find a sharp object inside the room. But there seemed to be none, as there was nothing in the room except the table and the the bizarre instruments. Besides the tv monitor, there was a digital clock on the walls. But, they were at such a great height that it was beyond Archana's reach. The edges of the table were not sharp enough to draw blood from her hand. Archana's nails were clipped just a day before by the Joker's men.

Recognising the value of each second, Archana tried to rend her left forearm with her clipped nails. But to her utter disappointment, only a few droplets of blood oozed out from her forearm. There was a digital clock on top of a wall, which was going backwards. It started at 5-00. Now, Archana looked quickly to see that 30 second had already elapsed. Now, Archana could feel the effect of the gas. Her head had started spinning, the food she ate at night was trying to come out of her mouth.

Archana tried harder to cut her skin of her forearm. But, her effotrs seemed to be going in vain, as she could not extract even 20 gm of blood. But, another valuable 20 second had passed. Archana could not withhold vomiting anymore. She bent down holding her stomach, and puked nonstop for another 30 seconds. Now, she felt worse. She thought that someone was choking her throat. She understood that she was losing the battle. She couldn't see any light regarding how to escape from this impenetrable misery. The effect of the deadly gas was clearly seen in not only her body, but also in her psyche. She had already crouched on the barren floor with drooping shoulder and head.

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Rajan had been originally from village, where he had spent the first 18 years of his life. Village boys  are supposed to be very hardy, they are supposed to take a lot of pain as they have to work very hard for living. Unfortunately, Rajan hadn't acquired that painstaking ability during that period.

Rajan had been cursing the Joker since his arrival here. But, he didn't realise that the Joker had tried extremely hard to prepare him for the tests during his brief stay here. It was not as if Rajan hadn't improved. He could clearly feel that his soft body was no longer soft. He never had any muscles in his body. He could not run for more than 5 minutes at a go. But, now he could run nonstop for an hour. When he touched his own shoulder, sometimes,  he himself got surprised to notice the hardness! During his bathing time, he got impressed by his newly formed biceps, triceps, deltoid and pectoral mussels.

But when the time for the test came, nothing worked for Rajan. He didn't hit them, but he tried to wiggle. Rajan had a belief that after toiling hard here, he had gathered quite a bit of strength. But, he was utterly surprised when Rod held his two arms from behind. Did he have iron fists? Rajan could not move an inch. When he tried to twist his body, he received a slap in his face from Rod. Rajan could never imagine in his wild dreams that a slap could be so forceful! He saw stars in his eyes, and almost lost consciousness. At that moment, Roger said, "Sorry mate! My friend is a little ruthless. The more you protest, his brutality will increase further.

The impact of the slap was so forceful that Rajan stopped offering any resistance for few moments. The two gay men merrily undressed him and used him as sex object for one hour. They were not allowed to use any lubricant by the order of the Joker, but they were kind enough to use plenty of saliva as a replacement of lubricant. But, saliva is no alternative of lubricant. So, Rajan was subjected to extreme torture for full 60 minutes. Fortunately, no visceral injury occued to him. He could not bear the pain for long and became unconscious after half an hour. But, the two monsters showed no mercy on him, and used his unconscious body with glee for the entire time.

When Rajan opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed in a place which was not unfamiliar to him. It was same hospital where he had been admitted when he was hurt from the fall during his failed effort to escape from this place. After a few moments, Rajan remembered what happened to him. Rajan got scared, there must have been grave injuries in his internal bodyparts. Rajan quickly inspected himself to find that he was given saline. Rajan tried to sit up. He was apprehensive that it would be very painful to do that. But, when he found no pain, he was slightly amazed.

"Amazing! Ain't it?" Ranjan seemed to have appeared in the room from no where with a cheerful expression on his face.

Unfortunately, Rajan could not bring the same expression and say anything reciprocal in response. In fact, without his knowledge his jaws stiffened.

"Relax man! I am not here to fight. In fact, I am here to congratulate you on your success to pass the third test. Well done man!"

Rajan didn't know what to say. He was apprehensive of the damages done to his inner parts. But, he felt ashamed to ask about that.

But, the guy Ranjan seemed to be a thought-reader. He said,

"Nothing has happened to you mate, nothing! You are as healthy as you were before the experience. Well, first time gay-sex might be painful to some people, but you know what? This is the world's best nursing home! World's best medicos work here and the medicines are simply out of the world. We took just 24 hours to heal you completely. You will have to spend another 24 hour here, and you will be released after that."

"Really, are you kidding?" Who would know better than Rajan that what happened to him?

"You will know yourself man after tomorrow when you will walk into your normal life. However mate, if that's a good news, I have got a bad news for you, too."

The hard life and the horrible experiences that Rajan had received here had made his mind strong enough to shot back,

"I am all ears. Tell me what is next?"

To be continued on Thursday night 
                                     

Thriller The ultimate choice 32

Episode 32

Regarding your effort to clear the fence, It was not just that our viewers gave you 5 star rating, but we have measured that you were almost able to do the unthinkable. You had no traing of jumping with a pole. The pole we kept for you was neither conducive for this sport! I hope you understand that we didn't want one of the contestant of our mega hit show to flee in midst of the show. It was another matter of fact that our snipers were waiting outside the wall for you. No contestant has achieved that feat so far. Naturally, we made things difficult for you.

But, do you know what you did? You were just 1 meter short! Bravo!"

Rajan was discombobulated, he didn't know how to react. He could not understand that whether he should feel happy to know the hidden talent of a polevaulter inside him, or should he feel extremely sad to know that his effort went in vain by a whisker!

Relishing Rajan's dumbfounded expressions, the Joker continued,

"Better luck next time! But, to have another chance you have to pass today's test, which happens to be the third of the five tests that you will have to face to get out unscathed from this house. Believe me this one is a very easy one, you must have already heard it from Ranjan. Ranjan has chosen the test for you. Throughout your life you showed extreme disdain for the gay people. You did a great harm to Ranjan's career because of your extreme hatred towards the gay community. So, it's the time for gays to take revenge on you.

The test is that you will have to face them without showing any resistance for one hour. We have kept them celebate for 7 days. So, they will be aggressive, and they may take you many times during that one hour. But, you cannot raise even a finger at them. It is another matter of fact that even if you do that it will not matter to them, as these two hunks are ten times more powerful than you. But, as I said, it's a test for you. So listen carefully.

If you push them or if you kick them or punch them or even snap a fingure at them, you will be shot on your head. By now you must know that we do what we say. So, if you love your life, and if you again want to live as a free man with your loved ones, bear it and grin."

The screen went blank. With his head down, Rajan came out of the room. Ranjan was waiting for him. He took him to the "***room", and before closing the door from outside said,

"Best of luck!"

The light in the room was very dim. But, even in that dim light what Ranjan saw was indeed frightening. One of the guy Roger, who was 6'5" tall, was already known to him. Roger was full of muscles. But, the other guy, who also was a black, was at least 2 inches taller than him, and was more muscular. They were walking briskly in the room like two hungry lions. Watching their prey, they grinned from ear to ear.

Roger said, "Hello Rajan! Meet my friend Rod. He hails from Jamaica. He is also a gay like me. Today, we would like to explore your body. I don't know whether you have any experience of homosexual sex, but I believe that you are going to love it. We would have liked to use lubes, but unfortunately, by the Joker's order, we can't. So, initially you maybe subjected to intense pain, as you know we are big, really big. But, I assure you if you bear the pain for a few minutes, there would be no problem. Also, you must have seen the hospital. They will make you fit within a day. So, let's begin the fun."

                                           ____________________________________________

The word that instantaneously came in Archana's mind when she looked at the room for the first time was queer. The person who escorted her had already left the room leaving her locked inside the strange sight which resembled like a scientific laboratory to Archana. There were quite a few instruments in the room that Archana had never seen in her entire life.

Archana looked into the room very carefully. The room was not very big; Archana estimated that it would be around 15'×15'. There were only two doors in the room and no windows. The door she entered through was locked from outside within few seconds after her arrival, and the other one at the opposite side was a different one. It was locked from inside with a giant sized lock.

There was a rectangular wooden table at the centre of the room, but strangely there was not a single chair to sit. There were two strange instruments on the table that Archana tried extremely hard to understand what they were. Both the instruments were made of glass, she thought. The first instrument had two orifices. The left was a very narrow one with a diameter of hardly 5 mm. The right one was slightly wider. It had a diameter of around 2.5 cm.

Archana noted that there was a scale like thing inside the apparatus. But it was not like the scale we see in shops. The two sides of the scales were shaped like a bowl. The left bowl was empty. Archana's eyes lit up suddenly to notice that the right bowl had a giant sized key on it. It was hanging low due to its weight.

That must be the key of the giant lock of the other door, Archana guessed. Archana wished she could dig her hand inside the barrel and get the key. But, the diameter seemed too narrow to put her hand inside. She quickly looked to the other instrument. There were few openings on the walls of the instrument which were connected with small pipes with the first instrumeent. There was a very small, around 0.1 mm in diameter, orifice on the top. The isntrument contained a blue coloured gas. Archana could not understand what it was!

Suddenly, there was that creepy sound that Archana had been aghast to hear. She quickly craned her neck to find that there was a 15' LCD  screen  attached to the north wall of the room. The despicable face of the Joker appeared on the screen. In a business like manner he said,

"The way you are looking, it seemed that you are an aspiring detective! I would like to congratulate you on your future profession, but I cannot do that at the moment. Because, you are going to face your toughest test right now. If you survive the test, you will move to the last round.

As you might have understood, the door through which you entered the room has been permanently locked for you. The instrument which is on the right hand side of you contains a deadly gas, which is already emanating at a very a slow rate. You would realize its effect in less than 5 minutes from now. In the next 2 minutes the gas will cross your tolerable limit, and your body will react accordingly. First, you will feel nausea and dizziness. In the next 2 minutes, you will feel being asphyxiated, and I am afraid dear, in the next minute,  you will die.

I am sure you don't want to die, as you desperately crave to see your family as a free person. Therefore, listen very carefully. When I finish talking, you will have only 5 minutes to complete the task. What is the task? The task is to escape from this room. How do you escape? As I said, the door through which you entered has been permanently locked. But, at the opposite side you can find another door, which is locked from this side. That's your escape route. If that's a good news, I have got a bad news for ya. The key to the lock is placed inside the instrument to your left. However, getting the key from the instrument is not a child's work.






 

To be continued on Monday night 

Thriller The ultimate choice 31

Episode 31

The dog would have torn his throat into pieces, hadn't there been a typical whistling sound from someone behind. 

Rajan opened his eyes to note that the aggressive dog went back, and within a minute the armed men accosted him. Ranjan was in the forefront with a sinister smirk on his face.

"Good show, Sweetie! You did well! Better luck next time!" Rajan could not understand whether he was praising him or mocking him! So, he remained silent. Also, he was too frightened to speak.

"Our viewers must have enjoyed your caricature to the core, I am damn sure. That's why we let you attempt this escape."

"Viewers? What viewers?" Rajan was completely flummoxed.

"Tch! Tch! You haven't figured this yet? We are running a reality show, where you are a contestant. We have more than ten thousand viewers across the globe."

Rajan was so terrified that he forgot to apply his brain, thus he blurted,

"Which channel is showing this?"

Everyone burst into laughter. Ranjan had to hold his stomach with both hands, as he was guffawing hysterically. However, he controlled his laughter, and he handcuffed Rajan. He said,

"Let's go to our den. I will tell you during our walk.

Yes Rajan, you are being watched by more than ten thousand of people across the world. Many of them have become your fan. But, our show is too gory and too ghastly to be shown in any television channel. But, we telecast our show live in the dark net among our esteemed viewers."

At last, Rajan had a clear sense of what is happening to him. So he asked,

"You kidnapped me for running a reality show and earn a few bucks? I already offered you money for my release. Pray, tell me what amount of money you want?"

"Ha ha! Don't make me laugh any more. Already, my belly is aching because of excessive laughter. You have already offered me a crore. Do you know that the membership fee for one customer is 10000 US dollar? Do you know that each and every viewer participate in our online gambling, like who will be killed this week, or who will be the survivor? We earn an enormous amount of booty from that. We have many more interesting activities other than this show which give us a steady flow of revenues. So, don't dare to think that you can get away from here with that pittance."

"Oh Amma!", Rajan screamed within a couple of steps. He felt a sharp pain in his pelvic region. This was due the fall from the jump.

"Why do you do what you are not supposed to? I am very much ashamed to know that the IIT has produced a birdbrain like you! How on earth you thought that we would let you escape from this place so easily? Didn't it occur in your dull head that we were playing with you? Tch Tch!"

Rajan didn't say anything. He struggled to walk even a single step. Ranjan was not in a mood of mercy. He clasped Rajan's arm tightly, and literally dragged him on the ground. But, after 20 more steps, Ranjan realised that Rajan was indeed hurt, and was unable to walk. So, with a demeanour of extreme disgust he said,

"So, you can't walk. That's good. This means that you will not be able to give any resistance during your test. It's another matter of fact that if you show any resistance, you will be instantly killed."

He stopped and rang someone saying something in a coded language. Within 5 minutes an ambulance came. Rajan was again blindfolded, and taken to the floor of that hellhouse where the most modernised hospital of the country was situated. Rajan was given a couple of injections. He had to take a few medicines as well. Finally, a nurse massaged him in such way that within half an hour, he forgot about the pain. At that moment, Ranjan appeared in that room.

Looking at Ranjan's stiffened jaw on his boney face, the pain seemed to have reappeared. Ranjan laughed at him and said,

"See, how good our medical facility is! You must be feeling as agile as a bull calf! But, I have to warn you, if you love your life, and if you want to see your family again, don't show any resistance during the test. I know you would have loved to have some rest before the test, but I am afraid sweetie, we are terribly short of time. Our viewers are eagerly waiting to see you mauled by two hunks."

Rajan was taken to the first floor hall, where there was a large LCD screen. Ranjan said,

"Please take a seat on the sofa. The Joker will give you a short message. I will be waiting outside the door to take you to the previous ***room where you made such a fuss."

Within few seconds, the Joker's face appered on the giant screen. In his usual nasal tone he said,

"Good show Rajan! Generally, we write enthralling  plots in this show. We always try to bring new entertainment to our esteemed viewers. But, what you did was indeed amazing! It was not as if we didn't know that you could react in that manner. We apprehended your moves, and we planned accordingly. But, that's not what I am praising. I am praising your innovative and acrobatic attempts to flee. Your pole vault jump was indeed superb, and the chip shot you took at Ranjan!

No, no! Don't think that I am lying! Ranjan has been a champion fighter. In his 10 years of stint in this company, no body could take him down as you did. The way you ran towards the fence was indeed extraordinary.

To be continued on Friday evening 

Dulhan bhag jayegi

 

The marriage of Mighty King has been fixed on next Sunday. The preparations are on. Mighty King surrounded by his entourage and other important dignitaries of the kingdom are discussing the nitti-gritties of the marriage in a closed door meeting.

Redman, the stout minister, who is also a very good friend of Mighty King, asked,

"You have a beautiful wife. Why do you want to marry again?"

Mighty King: I am a king, and I can have many wives. I want this trophy wife at any cost. Almost all the marketing has been done. Only one item is left now. I have heard that she loves Namibian diamond jewellery. I will bring that tomorrow.

Lionman is the court jester. The king loves him very much. That's why he can tell hard truths in front of the king which no one else can. He said,

"But King, I have heard that the bride will elope with Kenneth today."

Mighty King: What? What are you saying Lionman? Why should she do that when I can even bring the Moon for her?

The beautiful queen was seated beside the king. She loves to laugh, even when the situation doesn't warrant so. That's her nature, and she can't control that. So, laughingly she said,

"Think positive man, think positive. All is well. All is well."

Mighty King: Oh Queen! Let me hear the news. Tell me Lionman why would she do so?

Lionman: That's because she has no greed for wealth. She has only one weakness, and Kenneth is exploiting that.

Mighty King: And what's that?

Lionman: She is a bird lover. To be specific she loves only two kinds of birds: kookaburra and kiwi. Kenneth has a large stock of kiwis. That's why she will elope with Kenneth today.

Redman: What? Those two kinds of ugly birds? What kind of choice does she have?

Zipman is the army chief of the kingdom. Being a very important functionary, he was supposed to be in the meeting. When Mighty King called his name, he was no where to be found.

Mighty King: Where is that idiot in this crucial time?

Queen: Oh, I sent him to prepare some fresh tea for all of us. You know he prepares awesome tea!

Mighty King: Oh Queen! Tum kab sudhrogi? Redman, call him immediately.

Queen: Relax my King. Agitation is not good for health. It can even cause heart attack. Take a deep breath, and do 10 minutes of pranayam.

Mighty King: Will you stop?

Zipman: I have come King. Please take a sip and tell me how is the tea.

Mighty King: Stop idiot! Kenneth is going to elope with the bride. Tell me what are going to do to stop him.

Zipman: Sorry my king, I myself cannot do anything as I have to babysit the little princess in the afternoon. But don't worry I will send some battle-hardened, resolute Afghan lions to protect the bride.

Redman: What? Afghanistan has lions? Really?

Zipman: So what if they are not lions? They are faithful, and I am sure they will do the job for us.

Queen: Think positive. All is well! All is well!

At that moment the Mighty King lost his patience,  and something very unpalatable happened. So the short drama ends here.

NB: All the characters are fictitious and this is purely fictional.

Thriller The ultimate choice 30

 Episode 30

The sound disappeared, and Archana was again on her tipsy nerves. Archana had forgotten the problems she had with Rajan during her painful stay in this hell house. Now, she loved her family more than ever. She craved to meet her children.

"I have to live to get back my family. I have to live." She murmured.

She had clearly understood what the Joker was trying to convey. Pain is not a new thing for her in this fiendish place. She no longer feared it. The Joker hadn't clearly stated what she would have to undertake for the 4th stage. But, Archana told herself numerous times that she would embrace pain to save her life and her family.

She looked at the clock. It was 8-30 PM. She started pranayam to calm her mind. During the breathing in and breathing out process, she was constantly telling herself,

"I can, and I will."

She didn't remember how the remaining half-hour passed, but the door opened sharp at 9 PM. She was blindfolded by a masked intruder, whom she hadn't seen so far, and taken to a stange, new place.

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Indeed, Rajan was right: the agricultural field next to the football ground was rather small in size, and within 10 minutes Rajan reached the precincts. It was probably a new moon day, or a day after it. There was hardly any light from the moon. But even in the darkness, Rajan could see there were numerous lamp posts near the 10' tall wall. As Rajan wondered whether there was a power cut, suddenly, all the LED lamps lit up, and the place bathed in dazzling light. Rajan closed his eyes with his palms. His heartbeat increased significantly, as he apprehended that the men of Joker were after him.

He quickly looked back. Still, there was no one to be seen there. So, Rajan looked at the wall. It  looked too tall for him to surmount. Therefore, Rajan looked desperately to see for the crevices in the wall, where he could place his feet and climb up. Rajan moved 50 meters on both sides, but could not see any such crevices. Roger told that he got electric shock, but Rajan could not see any wire on the wall. Rajan tugged his hair in tension. He knew that any moment the Joker's men could arrive and again he would be incarcerated. He didn't want to miss the opportunity. So, he jumped numerous times futilely to reach the top of the wall with his hands.

Time was running out, and for the first time he could hear the angry barking of pitbulls from a long distance. In his earlier days in the US, Rajan's team leader was a dog lover. He raised two deadly pitbulls. Rajan had always been on his toes whenever he visited his house. Those two dogs were never nice to him. They were the ugliest of dogs that Rajan had ever seen. On one occasion when  his  American team leader were slightly late in receiving him, one of the dogs, Bruno, jumped on Rajan. He would have torn his throat, had his owner not intervened in time. So, Rajan was very much aware of the sound of pitbulls.

Rajan understood that the Joker had sent the dogs after him, and from the sound of their barking, he was sure that there were at least 10 of them. He was also sure that the armed men would follow soon. Rajan looked here and there like a mad man. He was desperately searching for something, and Bingo! Rajan  saw an approximately 6' long broken branch of a tree. Rajan took it in his hands and inspected it. It was not very thick but he thought it should thick enough to carry Rajan's weight, because he was not fat. Only thing that worried Rajan was the green leaves attached to it. It meant that it was broken today or a day ago. Therefore, it may contain a lot of water in it, and may not be hard enough to hold Rajan's weight. But, he had to take his chance.

Who hasn't heard the name of Bubka, the great Soviet pole vaulter? Rajan had not been a sports lover, but still he had seen Bubka in action in his younger days. He always wondered how he could jump 6 meters with the help of a thin pole! Now, the time had come for Rajan to emaluate him. His job was much easier. He had to jump slightly over 3 meter. Bubka was jumping for glory, but Rajan would jump for his life. His safe escape would also ensure the safety of his wife, as he would be able to report to the police.

Ranjan was trying to concentrate, but he got extremely disturbed by the sound of the pitbulls. The sound seemed to be approaching him very fast. He looked back, and saw 8 devil-looking, monster-sized, very angry pitbulls, who were just 100 meters away from him. There were 5 men, armed with machine guns, 100 meters behind the dogs.

Rajan understood that he had no more time to waste, as the dogs seemed to be running very fast. So, throwing away all the hesitations, he went back 20 meters from the wall holding the pole in his hand. For a very brief moment, he prayed to Lord Shiva. His jaw stiffened, and he started to run.

If wishes were horses, the beggars would ride! Indeed, Rajan put his best effort. But, he had no sense of timing. The branch of the mango tree didn't have the required elasticity either. So, he jumped too early, and failed to even touch the wall. He hit the ground with a bang. Fortunately, the ground was soft, and he immediately rolled a few times, ensuring less damage to his body.

But, the dogs were indeed very fast and bloodthirsty. They surrounded him with raised hackles in no time. Rajan was on his feet very soon, but he had no where to eascape. The dogs encircled him giving him no space to escape. The dogs narrowed the daimeter and they were within 3 meters from him. They were showing their teeth, but for whatever reason, not jumping on him. Rajan guessed that the dogs had been trained well not to attack their victim without the order of their master.

However, one of the dogs had different idea, as it broke the circle and jumped on Rajan's throat. Rajan knew that his time was up. He knew how aggressive these pitbulls could be, and how powerful their teeth were. Rajan closed his eyes and surrendered himself to his fate.

To be continued on Tuesday night 

Thriller The ultimate choice 29

 Episode 29

Suresh woke up from his sleep. Who was calling at this odd hour? The dim light of his room was on, and he could clearly see that it was 2 AM. His wife was sleeping soundly on the otherside of the bed. With an expression of disgust, Suresh got up from the bed to pick up the phone.

Suddenly, his expression of disgust turned into an expression of surprise. It was Somnath from the Ravenous Eagles.

"Hello! What's up Somnath?" Suresh quickly moved out of the room, and went to the balcony.

"I am sorry to wake you up at this odd hour. But, I am sure, after hearing the news you will pardon me."

"I am all ears. Please tell me what's the breaking news?"

"Sir, we spotted Rajan and his wife. So far, they are alive and healthy."

"That's an awesome news Somnath. Where are they, and how are you going to rescue them?"

"I will tell you. But before that tell me have you heard of dark net?"

"Yes, some underhand and illegal transactions are done using dark net to evade the prying eyes of the security agencies across the globe. But, I vouch that my organisation has never used it. But, why are you asking this?"

"So, you are aware of the dark net, Sir. But, dark net is not only used for illegal transactions. It is also used for telecasting some reality shows which can't be held in open. These reality shows often indulge in dark fantasies of rich people. They often show violence and perversion of extreme  kind. People are even killed in these illegal reality shows just for fun. Rich people across the globe are secret customers of these shows. The organisers are often criminals of the highest order, and they are extremely powerful people."

"Yes, I have also heard of that. Is Rajan held by these criminals?"

"Yes Sir, he, along with his wife, has been captured by a gang which the security agencies had never heard of so far. We don't know about their activities. That's why it took so long for us to trace them. However, after a humongous amount of endeavour,  we came to know that this new agency has been holding a superhit reality show, "Survivor", for at least 5 years. Every year, around 10 participants take part in that deadly reality show, where only one participant survives, and the others die. They show all kinds of abominably horrific scenes, and their rating is the best in the underworld reality shows."

"Oh my God! What are you saying man? Why did they capture them?"

"Yes Sir! I am afraid, this new gang is indeed loathsome. We came to know that every year they host reality show, but selection criteria for candidates are different every year. This year, they announced that they have selected all the ten candidates who had attempted at least one suicide attempt in their lives."

"What? Suicide attempts?"

"Yes Sir, you heard it right. They have given a brief past life history of each candidate in their website. The brief history of Rajan says that he has attempted a suicide after losing his job. He wanted to jump from the roof of high rise office. They also said that his wife Archana had a love affair prior to her marriage with Rajan, and she attempted a suicide when she heard the news of her marriage."

"Tell me how did you trace Rajan and his wife, and where are they?"

"Well our undercover agent, after a tedious work of over one month, could gain their confidence in becoming a member of the show. He has spotted them. Both of the couple have been participating in this year's show. He has got access to the real time show and also the past videos. From the background, it's extremely difficult to gauge the exact location. However, after a thorough data analysis by a set of technical experts, we are sure, the show is happening in India in a place which is very close to a river."

"A place close to a river? But, there are hundreds of such places in India!" Suresh was slightly disappointed.

"Don't worry Sir! Within a couple of days, I am absolutely sure, we shall locate that place, and we shall rescue them."

"Thanks Somnath! I like your confidence! Let God be on your side." Suresh cut the call, and happily went to bed.





For the last one hour, Archana had been looking at the watch every ten seconds. The moment the clock showed 9 PM, Archana's heartbeat almost trebled. The television monitor had been showing a cartoon show for children, Tom and Jerry. Though Archana was not watching it with interest, she was occasionally glancing at it. In midst of this suffocating tension, it gave her some relief. But at 9 PM, the monitor went blank, the fluorescent light went off and a dim blue light was switched on.

"High Archana!" Archana was startled to hear the nasal voice of the Joker. The television monitor was off. Then how was the voice coming? So far, whenever the Joker spoke, it was through the television monitor.

"You must be wondering where the sound is coming from! No need to tax your brain too much, as there are multiple speakers and microphones hidden in the walls of this room. You can't see me in the television monitor, because this conversation is unofficial. Others will not know about this.

Now, listen carefully. As I told you earlier, the next test, which you will face after one hour, will be the toughest of all. You have a huge mortal risk. As I told you earlier, most participants die in this stage because of their indecisiveness. But, you know what? I have never seen such a nice person as you in these 5 yeas of hosting this reality show. So, I don't want to see you  dying. That's why I am going to help you a bit."

Archana couldn't believe her ears. What? This was a reality show? That meant all the physical and mental torture that she had been subjected to over a month had been watched by viewers? Then, why had the viewers kept silence? Why hadn't they reported this abuse to the police? Archana was indeed confounded.

"Yes, we have been hosting a reality show, which is watched by 11347 viewers across the globe this year. One needs to pay 10000 dollar to watch the complete show. Clearly, our customers are not ordinary people! You know, to watch the happenings in our house, one has to have a specific kind of taste. We are lucky that every year the number is increasing at a nice rate, and we are laughing our way to the bank. But, forget about that. Willingly or unwillingly you have been chosen as the participant for this show. Your life is in danger. You have to live to get back to your normal life and get back your family." The Joker paused for a few seconds.

Archana's head was spinning to hear those frigging words. She had been forced to participate  in a horrific show which was watched by hundreds of perverts all over the world! Those sub-humans would cheer at her death! Archana remained speechless. So, the Joker continued.

"I am going to help you just a bit, because it will be entirely dependent on you to pass it. All I am going to tell you that this test will demand a sacrifice of your body part which will mean that you will have to bear excruciating pain. But, you have got no other option, as there is no escaping. So, don't hesitate for a second to embrace the pain, as every second will be important. Got it?" The Joker stopped, but it looked that he expected an answer from Archana.

"So, you are saying this because you think I am nice?"  The tone of Archana was clearly sarcastic.

The Joker was happy that Archana got the message he wanted to convey. So, in a complacent voice he said,

"You know what? The payment of 10000 dollars that every user pay is just a fraction of our total revenue. We also organise betting among our viewers, and I am proud to say that most of them participate in it. Because, we lure them with a windfall. Unsuspectingly, they invest million of dollars. But the poor chaps don't know that we fix everything. We manipulate each and every move. This year, we are going to make you and your husband as our survivors. Both of you had the worst ratings. So, only a handful of our customers have put money on you. Clearly,  we are going to make huge profits if you win. But, that's just one aspect. I have a soft feelings for you is equally true. Enough of talking. Now, try to ponder over what I said."






To be continued on Saturday evening